XLIFF 2.x format (.xlf, .xliff)

XLIFF 2.x is the modern OASIS XML interchange standard for bilingual content. It replaces the 1.2 element soup with an explicit <unit>/<segment> structure, file-scoped notes, a small set of inline tag elements (ph, pc, sc/ec, mrk), and per-segment translation states. The reader accepts the 2.0, 2.1, and 2.2 namespaces as one compatible family.

The reader emits one block per translatable unit and reads its inline elements as inline codes. A segment nothing edited is written with its own bytes, so unmodified content round-trips byte-for-byte, and an edited one keeps each code with the attributes the document gave it; the annotation markers (<mrk>, <sm>/<em>) an edited segment held are dropped. A unit of several segments is written segment by segment. Content that no longer divides into the segments it was read with, such as an edit that joins two segments or one translation written for a unit translated segment by segment, is refused and the document is left unwritten, so no words move from one segment into another. A translation written as one text for a unit read with no translation goes into the unit's first segment. The writer can emit any 2.x version: by default it preserves the input document's version on round-trip and falls back to 2.2 for content extracted from a non-XLIFF source. This mirrors Okapi's XLIFF 2 filter.

IDxliff2

SourceBuilt-in

Extensions.xlf, .xliff

MIME Typesapplication/xliff+xml

CapabilitiesRead + Write

How kapi reads it

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
codeFinderRules	array		Regex patterns that match inline codes within translatable text
discardInvalidTargets	boolean	false	Discard targets that fail validation rather than rejecting the entire file
forceUniqueIds	boolean	false	Ensure inline tag IDs are unique within each unit
ignoreTagTypeMatch	boolean	false	Ignore tag type mismatch between source and target segments
useCodeFinder	boolean	false	Enable regex-based inline code detection in translatable text
version	string	""	Target XLIFF 2.x version to emit. Empty means: preserve the input document version on roundtrip, otherwise default to 2.2.
writeOriginalData	boolean	true	Output includes original data when available

Configure it live

Configuration

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Configuration output

vs defaultsno changes

apiVersion: neokapi/v1
kind: Xliff2FormatConfig
metadata:
  name: xliff2
spec:
  # (default configuration)

Examples

Force XLIFF 2.0 output

Emit 2.0 regardless of the input document version.

version: "2.0"

Tolerate invalid targets

Drop targets that fail validation rather than rejecting the file.

discardInvalidTargets: true

Processing notes

• One block is emitted per translatable unit; inline elements become inline codes, and an unedited segment is written with its own bytes.

• Content that no longer divides into the segments a unit was read with, or inline codes no XLIFF 2 markup can express, are refused and the document is not written.

• The 2.0, 2.1, and 2.2 namespaces are accepted as a compatible family on read.

Reference documentation

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