tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20155610.post7915021180558403659..comments2024-03-06T02:46:19.929+00:00Comments on Translation Tribulations: The experience of a new MemoQ userKevin Lossnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14727800526216764023noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20155610.post-45307157257985755862011-12-23T19:38:04.877+00:002011-12-23T19:38:04.877+00:00@Doug: I missed this comment when you made it. The...@Doug: I missed this comment when you made it. The current versions of memoQ allow editing of the source and target text of an alignment.Kevin Lossnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14727800526216764023noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20155610.post-60828158166196095522010-02-03T21:18:14.830+00:002010-02-03T21:18:14.830+00:00I am fairly new to MemoQ and just jumped in with t...I am fairly new to MemoQ and just jumped in with the Server version after spending 1.5 hours downloading, installing, configuring, loading termbase and TM, then analysing a file. Very impressive and kudos for ease-of-use! <br /><br />Is there a way to edit text in the Alignment window? Is that something coming in 4.0?<br /><br />DougUnknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00017380207501900709noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20155610.post-78252779571825431632010-01-14T00:42:53.994+00:002010-01-14T00:42:53.994+00:00There's no way around that export step. What y...There's no way around that export step. What you can export depends on the version, however. It may be hard to believe, but there are still plenty of customers with old version 5 formatted termbases.Kevin Lossnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14727800526216764023noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20155610.post-51815005676834632692010-01-14T00:16:52.172+00:002010-01-14T00:16:52.172+00:00Sorry, I've obviously got my TMX and XML mixed...Sorry, I've obviously got my TMX and XML mixed up. In fact, I don't think I have attempted importing XML to MemoQ, although I do frequently simply change the extension of XML files to CSV or TXT with no problem. (I've been a bit distracted trying to retranslate the documentation for a medical product that itself hasn't been localized properly - the client was bright enough to spot that the documentation stinks, but not enough to see that the product localization is a dangerous nightmare.)<br /><br />I don't know of any way to get termbases out of MultiTerm without directly exporting them, so I'll shut up now! I'm curious to know if there is a way.Rodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04229724488178529402noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20155610.post-85705563108706490482010-01-13T16:35:35.620+00:002010-01-13T16:35:35.620+00:00@Arkadi: The previous comment's "you"...@Arkadi: The previous comment's "you" was Rod, of course. If your client doesn't know how to give you the export as you need it or you have an ancient version of MultiTerm here, we can make appropriate suggestions or provide help. Find out first what version you are faced with. That is the most important information.Kevin Lossnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14727800526216764023noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20155610.post-70995508316609392972010-01-13T16:33:15.497+00:002010-01-13T16:33:15.497+00:00MemoQ currently specifies CSV and TMX (an XML vari...MemoQ currently specifies CSV and TMX (an XML variant) as possible import input. I'm surprised that you say it swallows the MultiTerm XML export as "TMX". I'll have to try that; it would be a fine thing if it works.Kevin Lossnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14727800526216764023noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20155610.post-20914035066350265642010-01-13T08:35:22.706+00:002010-01-13T08:35:22.706+00:00@Kevin
Thank you,Kevin. If I don't solve it my...@Kevin<br />Thank you,Kevin. If I don't solve it myself, I'll contact you privately as you kindly suggested.<br /><br />@Rod<br />The problem is I don't even have Multiterm installed on my machine, so I don't think I can use the default option and convert the M-base to XML (if I understood you correctly).Arkadinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20155610.post-65282211186290464222010-01-12T22:44:22.709+00:002010-01-12T22:44:22.709+00:00Arkadi
Have you tried exporting Multiterm termbas...Arkadi<br /><br />Have you tried exporting Multiterm termbases using the Default setting (XML) and simply importing that into MemoQ? That works for me.<br /><br />Generally if something doesn't work first time, you can open XML and CSV files in Excel and hack them about until they do work. I haven't found the need to use any external other tools.<br /><br />The flexibility of MemoQ in handling legacy Trados resources is yet another of its attractions. I was overjoyed at how simple it is.Rodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04229724488178529402noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20155610.post-36054486787639822572010-01-12T18:01:23.346+00:002010-01-12T18:01:23.346+00:00It might indeed be easy, Arkadi. But version is st...It might indeed be easy, Arkadi. But version is still important. There are still companies maintaining old MultiTerm 5.5 databases. (BTW, certain older versions of MultiTerm do not need a license to operate. So if you must use a v5.5 database for some reason, this is technically possible. Of course the legalities should be sorted out with the customer and SDL.) In any case, find out the version and maybe I can give you a clear answer. Contact me privately if you need some conversion help.Kevin Lossnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14727800526216764023noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20155610.post-29093279062187317842010-01-12T17:49:49.724+00:002010-01-12T17:49:49.724+00:00@Kevin
Thanks a lot.
Never used Multiterm in fact....@Kevin<br />Thanks a lot.<br />Never used Multiterm in fact.<br />I just thought there was a (relatively) easy solution. But it looks like there is not. I think I'll ask the client if he can send me a source file so I can convert it to a MemoQ termbase.Arkadinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20155610.post-84657883531191547592010-01-12T17:33:11.433+00:002010-01-12T17:33:11.433+00:00@Arkadi: regarding Multiterm migration, sure. But ...@Arkadi: regarding Multiterm migration, sure. But I need more info. What version of Multiterm are you using, do you have synonym structures, etc.? Most of the converters you'll find in online Yahoogroups forums and elsewhere are not good, because they assume 1:1 source/target data structures.<br /><br />Back before the new Multiterm data structure appeared with version 6.x I wrote a drag & drop WSH macro to convert v5.x MultiTerm data into complete sets of pairs for import into any program that takes tab-delimited data. Thus if four source term synonyms were paired with two target term synonyms, you would get eight pairs for your data import. The script I wrote is ugly, because I had been out of the programming game for a few years when I wrote it, but if you need a good laugh and can improve it, I'll be happy to look for it and send it to you. I think the Microsoft objects I was instantiating also had some issues with different text file formats, but I never looked into the matter much.<br /><br />Some tools also read various MultiTerm formats and can theoretically export them. Déjà Vu, for example. However, this function always used to crash for me, and I haven't re-tested it with Build 316 to see if it works now. That also means I don't know if it resolves pairs correctly. Across is also theoretically useful for data migrations; it's the only program I know that will read the exports from Star Transit (MARTIF?). But when I tried to export from my older version the results were not pretty. You might look and see if the program claims some sort of MultiTerm compatibility and test the latest version. As you know, MemoQ can export MultiTerm XML, but I'm not aware of any plans to permit an import. <br /><br />For MT version 6+, if you are competent with XSL or other tools for transforming XML, you might just do that and convert the XML files to whatever you want.<br /><br />I know that's not much of an answer. I haven't had the need to do this for a while, so I'm not currently up to date with the latest options. Maybe someone who is aware of the latest, greatest things can share a tip. But it will, in any case, be important to know what version you are concerned with.Kevin Lossnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14727800526216764023noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20155610.post-76664585881476990372010-01-12T17:07:50.984+00:002010-01-12T17:07:50.984+00:00@Rod: Those spoiled mutts are too stuffed with roa...@Rod: Those spoiled mutts are too stuffed with roast duck and other delicacies to take an interest in chewing up TEnTs. They would probably get indigestion anyway.<br /><br />Watch this space for comments on "improvements". So far what I have seen is simply encouraging, not overblown.Kevin Lossnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14727800526216764023noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20155610.post-70697581175461761112010-01-12T16:56:44.459+00:002010-01-12T16:56:44.459+00:00@Kevin
That's somewhat off the topic, perhaps....@Kevin<br />That's somewhat off the topic, perhaps.<br />Do you possibly know how to convert a Multiterm base to a MemoQ termbase other than using the Multiterm convert?Arkadinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20155610.post-15232697949611068312010-01-12T05:01:43.424+00:002010-01-12T05:01:43.424+00:00It's gratifying to see that you can't even...It's gratifying to see that you can't even get your partner to use that ridiculous "TeNT" expression. Time to feed that to the hunting dogs perhaps?<br /><br />My experiences match those of Ms. Simmer quite closely. I'm looking forward to mouse editing.<br /><br />I love the way that termbases work in MQ, and the 'dump all the terms in the edit box sometimes provides something surprisingly usable. <br /><br />I'm hoping MQ doesn't improve beyond it's usefulness and develop functions that I don't need.Rodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04229724488178529402noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20155610.post-54902980358121847772010-01-11T08:09:21.468+00:002010-01-11T08:09:21.468+00:00@Arkadi: OK, now I understand. I haven't compa...@Arkadi: OK, now I understand. I haven't compared the concordance matching in TWB & MQ much. My comparisons have been more with respect to my main tool, DVX, which is currently not as good as MemoQ for concordancing.<br /><br />I can definitely recommend that second monitor. My partner used that arrangement for years; I even bought a second monitor for someone that worked with us in the summer a few years ago. After he was gone it sat unused for nearly a year, and when I finally connected it and saw the huge benefits (for the LG Flatiron Slim also the ability to rotate 90° and show me full A4 pages larger than a paper printout), I was very angry with myself for not using it sooner. Now I want a third monitor....Kevin Lossnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14727800526216764023noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20155610.post-53409200674887809062010-01-11T07:10:43.759+00:002010-01-11T07:10:43.759+00:00Kevin
Thank you for your comment.
I think I should...Kevin<br />Thank you for your comment.<br />I think I should have made myself clearer. Yes, you can use wildcards but that means the extra moves that are avoided if you use Trados (sorry to sound so stubborn on this one). Then, if I key in unquoted phrases, the MQ concordance often comes up with that error message I mentioned ("expression x occurs in too many segments") and doesn't show anything - that's annoying. Fuzzy searching (if I can put it this way) in the Trados concordance simple works better for me:). Maybe I just have to learn how to use this feature in MQ more efficiently.<br />Yes, with an additional monitor, the concordance window is not a problem. Perhaps, I should try a two-monitor configuration.<br />But overall I am very happy with MQ for reasons you have so convincingly exposed in your several MQ posts.Arkadinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20155610.post-25034371827612175502010-01-10T21:13:23.691+00:002010-01-10T21:13:23.691+00:00@Arkadi: I haven't used the MQ align feature y...@Arkadi: I haven't used the MQ align feature yet so I can't comment on it, though in all my time as a DVX user, I did tend to prefer doing aligment in Trados WinAlign. My main issue with Trados Classic is its inefficiency as a translation environment; some of the other features were not bad, really. Hard to beat the speed of import/export from the TM with other tools in that price class or below. <br /><br />As for the concordance, it's two-dimensional. I can resize it on the x-axis and the y-axis. What is your definition of fully resizable? I can't change the column sizes in the window. Is that it? MQ can indeed ignore endings by using wildcards; I do this all the time for German adjectives or cases where I want to avoid variations for plurals, etc. So I don't understand the advantage you claim for Trados in that respect. As for cluttering the view, I just pull the concordance over onto my second wide-screen monitor and leave it. Don't know what I'd do without that extra screen space.Kevin Lossnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14727800526216764023noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20155610.post-7894890886123017372010-01-10T21:00:38.252+00:002010-01-10T21:00:38.252+00:00Though I am a loyal MemoQ user, I must say that I ...Though I am a loyal MemoQ user, I must say that I like the concordance and align features in Trados (classic) better. First, the concordance in Trados does not produce any of those annoying "expression x occurs in too many segments" results as MQ does. Second, it gives the user more search freedom, ignoring the endings (critical for Slavic languages). Third, I can set it to "show most recent translation units first", which is often very useful. Fourth, the concordance window is not fully resizable - so I have to close it so it doesn't clatter the view. <br />Now for align: it is simply easier to understand and produces better results than the align module in MQ.<br />But these are my only issues with MQ.Arkadinoreply@blogger.com