Rajendra Gupta
Azure Logic Apps for text translations

Azure Automation: Translate documents into different languages using Cognitive Services with Azure Logic Apps

June 9, 2021 by

Suppose you write a technical blog in the English language for your website. You have good followers in a country where the primary language is not English. You want to translate the document content in their native language for a wider reach.

SQLShack is a widespread knowledge-sharing platform for database professionals for SQL Server, AWS, Azure, MySQL. If you browse to SQLShack.com, you get all content in the English language on this site. However, it also translates a few documents into the Spanish language. You can browse to URL for all Spanish language documents.

Text Translation

Similarly, if you require to translate documents into multiple languages, it isn’t easy to translate manually. You require specific language experts for translation. Sometimes, I receive emails from a client written in their native languages. They also send documents, attachments specific to their language. Usually, I use Google translator for text translation.

translate documents

However, it is a manual process. Therefore, I tried looking for an automated way of translating documents into multiple languages. This article explores how to achieve text translation into different languages using the Azure Logic Apps.

Steps for implementing Azure Automation for text translations using Azure Logic Apps

Azure Logic Apps enables you to automate workflow, business logic using a variety of connectors, actions. Previously, we implemented the following azure automation using logic apps.

  • Scale-up and down service tiers for Azure SQL database with Logic Apps
  • Extract email attachments, store them into Azure storage container and import them into Azure SQL Database
  • Performing sentiment analysis and storing Tweets in Azure SQL database
  • We created an Approval based automated workflow for importing data into the Azure database

Therefore, In this article, I would assume that you have a basic understanding of Azure resources and familiar with the Azure portal.

A quick overview of the Azure Cognitive Services

Azure Cognitive Services uses artificial intelligence (AI) to build solutions in the following categories using REST APIs and client library SDKs.

  • Vision
  • Language
  • Speech
  • Decision
  • Search

In this article, we use Language APIS that supports a service called Translator. It is a cloud-based machine translation service that can translate your text into multiple languages( more than 70 languages) in near real-time. It also supports language detection, text transaction and transliteration.

You can refer to Microsoft Docs for more details about the Cognitive Services. To use the cognitive services, logon to the Azure portal and search for Cognitive Services. Here, create a new service for Translator.

Azure Cognitive Services - Azure Logic App

Click on Create in the Translator and enter the following details:

  • Subscription
  • Resource Group
  • Resource Region: You can select a global region unless you require a specific region.
  • Pricing tier: In this article, I use a free pricing tier that offers 2M characters for language translation.

Create in the Translator

You can refer to Cognitive Services pricing—Translator for details regarding available pricing options suitable for your requirements.

Once the cognitive service resources are deployed, click on Key and Endpoint. Here, note down the access keys. These keys are required in the Azure logic apps connector.

available pricing options

Azure Logic Apps for text translations

In this article, we implement an azure logic app for the following scenario.

  • The logic app detects a new email with a specific subject. The email has a file for the English language text in a text file as an attachment
  • It uses a cognitive service translator and coverts the attachment contents into specified languages and sends the email with specific language content. Here, we convert a single email attachment into 3 different languages – Hindi, Spanish and French

Azure Logic Apps for text translations

Step 1: When a new email arrives (V2)

Create a blank template logic app in the Azure portal. The logic app requires a trigger for workflow execution. Here, search for Outlook.com connector and select When a new email arrives (V2).

If you have not authenticated your outlook profile using a Logic app, it asks for your credentials and permissions. In the new email arrival form, enter the following.

  • Folder: Here, we specify the folder name for monitoring the target email. By default, it monitors Inbox for emails
  • From: If you receive an email from a specific email address, enter it to filter emails
  • Importance: Any
  • Only with Attachment: Yes. We want the Logic app to check the email with attachments only
  • Include Attachment: Yes. We will covert attachment texts into a different language; therefore, select yes from the drop-down
  • Subject Filter: Specify the subject for further filtering emails by logic apps

When a new email arrives (V2)

Step 2: Add Microsoft Translator V2 connector

Click on New Step and search for Microsoft Translator V2 connector.

Add Microsoft Translator V2 connector - Azure Logic App

In the Microsoft Translator actions, choose the Translate text (preview).

Translate text (preview).

It requires the following inputs.

  • Connection name: You can specify any name for the connection
  • Subscription key: Enter the access key from the azure cognitive service, we implemented earlier

Connection name

Once the connection to cognitive service is successful, it ass you to specify the target language and text.

connection to cognitive service

  • Target Language – Hindi
  • Text: Select the Attachment Content from the dynamic contents

Target Language

It automatically places a for each loop as shown below.

for each loop

Step 3: Add Send an Email(V2) action

Click on Add an action and select Outlook.com connector with send an email (V2). In this send an email, enter the body, subject and recipient email address.

Click on Add new parameter and select Attachments. In the attachment, do the following configuration

  • Attachment Content – Select Translated text from the dynamic content

    Add Send an Email(V2) action

  • Attachment Name: Give a suitable name for the attachment

    Attachment Name

We have done Logic app configuration for converting text from English to the Hindi language. To covert the texts into different languages, we can either do a serial configuration or a parallel configuration. The parallel configuration executes all tasks parallelly and reduces the time in completing the workflow.

converting text from English to the Hindi

Step 4: Add a parallel branch

Click on the connector between the new email and for each block. It gives you an option to add an action or add a parallel branch.

Add a parallel branch

Click on Add a parallel branch. In the parallel branch, configure the Microsoft Translator V2 and send an email task for the Spanish language.

Microsoft Translator V2

Similarly, add another parallel task for the French language as well.

add another parallel task

At a high-level, once we execute the logic app and it detects an email with a specified subject and an email with an attachment, it triggers the workflow of the language transaction for Hindi, Spanish and French parallelly.

execute the logic app

Step 5: Validations

Save the Logic app and click on Run. Now, send an email with the “Translate Email Attachment” subject and attach the sample text in an attachment.

Validations

Send an email with a specified subject and text in the attachment.

email with specified subject

As shown below, all the workflows steps are completed successfully.

workflows steps

It triggers an individual email for Hindi, French and Spanish language.

individual email

Let’s view the original text and translated texts into the respective language.

Original text:

original text and translated texts

Translated Hindi text

Open the email for Hindi language content. It has an attachment named Hindi.txt.

Translated Hindi text

Open the attachment and view the translated content from English to the Hindi language.

Open the attachment

Translated Spanish text

Similarly, we open the email for Spanish text attachment and view its content.

Translated Spanish text

Spanish text Spanish text

Translated French text

You can view the translated text from English to French language using the Azure Cognitive service with Azure Logic Apps in the below screenshots. We get the content configured in the email body to send an email(V2) action item.

Translated French text

French text

French text

Conclusion

This article explored another azure automation feature using Azure logic apps for translating the document into a different language in near real-time. It supports around 70 languages for conversion. You can configure the logic app and Microsoft Translator for converting text into your required language automatically.

Table of contents

Azure Automation: Export Azure SQL Database to Blob Storage in a BACPAC file
Azure Automation: Create database copies of Azure SQL Database
Azure Automation: Automate Azure SQL Database indexes and statistics maintenance
Azure Automation: Automate Pause and Resume of Azure Analysis Services
Azure Automation: Automate data loading from email attachments using Azure Logic Apps
Azure Automation: Building approval-based automated workflows using Azure Logic Apps
Azure Automation: Auto-scaling Azure SQL database with Azure Logic Apps
Azure Automation: Analyzing Twitter sentiments using Azure Logic Apps
Azure Automation: Use Azure Logic Apps to import data into Azure SQL Database from Azure Blob Storage
Azure Automation: Publish LinkedIn posts and tweets automatically using Azure Logic Apps
Azure Automation: Export Azure SQL database data to CSV files using Azure Logic Apps
Azure Automation: Translate documents into different languages using Cognitive Services with Azure Logic Apps
Azure Automation: Azure Logic Apps for face recognition and insert its data into Azure SQL Database
Azure Automation: Automatic scaling Azure SQL databases based on CPU usage threshold
Rajendra Gupta
Latest posts by Rajendra Gupta (see all)
168 Views