ToolBook Translation System 11.5 is now available! With a new user interface, the ability to have identically-named objects in different groups, explicit support for Text Panes and other catalog objects, a Word Count feature, ToolBook 11.5, 11, 10.5, 10, 9.5, and 9.0 support, and more, this is a MUST HAVE version.

Store (and restore) ALL content from your ToolBook application in an Access database.

Multilingual Applications Made Easy 

Use ToolBook Translation System (TTS) to swap field text (including formatting), button captions, question feedback, captions and body text of Text Pane catalog objects, text of Marquee, Shadowed Text Field, and Bullet catalog objects, and user properties, all based on language or another criteria such as reading level. It will even restore hotword hyperlinks and action sequences. TTS will even let you set different object positions and fonts by language. It will notify you and even fix problems like unnamed objects or ones with duplicate names. Change database sources “on the fly” if deploying natively or just build for a particular source and then publish to the web.

Streamline Development  

Manage your content within the database and “rebuild” your book whenever content needs to be updated.

Special Tools

TTS has special author-level tools for creating the database based on your ToolBook file. It will validate your object names, automatically grab user properties if desired, allow you to stick with plain text if desired, and more. 

Determine Translation Level of Effort  

Use the new "Word Count" feature to display the number of words and number of characters (both including and not including spaces) per language source.

"Translator" Application Included

Use this special application for creating and editing your other source databases field by field, caption by caption, and definition by definition. You can even send the Translator application onto your translation team! One copy of the Translator is included with your development license. Additional copies are available for $695.

ToolBook Translation System Price

Call: 1-888-ToolBK-1 (1-888-866-5251)
or use the Platte Canyon Web Order Form to place your order on-line!

TTS is available for ToolBook 9.0, 9.5, 10, 10.5, 11, and 11.5. Educational and multiple-copy discounts are available.

User Comments

• Prior to having Content Connection, we would have a separate set of books for each language and we would spend hours copying and pasting (which leaves lots of room for error - especially when we don't speak or read the translated language).

• Here is what you get for $895: 1. The ability to take your ToolBook program and essentially with the touch of a button dump all of the text into an Access database. 2. A Translator tool that you send off to your translators. Your translators do not need to have ToolBook to use it. The translator tool shows the "English" text on the bottom of the screen. Your translator puts the foreign language translation in the top of the translator screen. When the translator is done, he/she saves the file and sends the database file back to you. 3. You can now add buttons to your program for English version, Spanish version, etc. Your users can select the language they wish to use and the ToolBook will be populated with that language.

• Important things to note: ONE ToolBook with all languages - a huge file management benefit. Ease of use for your translators. If somewhere down the line you find that you need a new language - no problem. You are all set up to very easily add the new language assuming that you can find someone to do the translation. If you have media that also needs to be translated, Platte Canyon has a similar product for media. (They sell a bundled connection package for under $2000.)

• We use the TB Connection products from Platte Canyon (actually just finishing up an English to Portuguese project :-). We primarily use Content Connection, but also Media Connection for graphics with text in them. They work very well and our translators (Portuguese and Chinese) both like using them.

• I've used TB Connection for a very large project, a math application in Danish that needed to be translated into Norwegian. And it is a very very cool tool indeed. Another side effect besides translating is that you could use it to speed up development by creating "template" applications. So instead of different languages, you could "translate" from one level to another (a Physics app from 5th to 6th grade and so on.) Doing it this way allows your subject matter experts to create new courses based on the same "framework" as one original book. And they don't even need ToolBook to do so. This puts some restrictions on the structure of the new files, so it won't work on all applications. But it is a very cheap/quick way to get stuff done. (BTW I don't work for Platte Canyon:-), I just think it's a cool tool).

• I wanted to let you know that we use the TB Connection products from Platte Canyon and are extremely happy with them. The products are not cheap but a quick and dirty cost-benefit analysis convinced us that we needed to make the investment in the product. TB Connection makes the whole translation process go VERY smoothly :-) We are a small company and don't have the financial resources to contract a professional translation firm to do our translations so instead we barter with distributors of our products in foreign countries to do the translations. That means that we have subject matter experts, but not skilled translators doing the work for us. We needed an easy to use way for our translators to do their work with minimum hassles. We also don't have a large staff to maintain multiple versions of each of our products. The TB Connection product allows us to maintain ONE (yes ONE) version of each program (natively) and the audio and graphics are swapped out with the click of a button depending on the language. If you have experienced any of the nightmares of maintaining multiple versions of your products, you know how valuable just this feature alone is. (I know that I am sounding like an official spokesperson for the product, but I am not in cahoots with Jeff and Chris. I just think this is a great product.) By the way, we have successfully translated our products into Portuguese and Chinese and are now going to begin working on Spanish. I would recommend that at least you demo the product to see for yourself how well it works.

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