Exporting compatible XLIFF (XLF) bilingual files from memoQ

Here we go again. Although memoQ is the undisputed leader for compatibility and interoperability among translation environment tools, users still encounter problems exchanging files, particularly XLIFF of some sort, with users of other tools. This is not because of any actual difficulty producing compatible XLIFF files, but rather a matter of deficient tool training and the failure to date by memoQ product designers to make the ease of interoperability a little more obvious. Some other tools, like recent versions of SDL Trados Studio, come pre-configured on installation to recognize the proprietary file extensions for memoQ's flavor of XLIFF ("MQXLIFF") and renamed ZIP packages (MQXLZ) containing XLIFF files, but others (or versions of SDL Trados Studio from many years ago) need to be configured to recognize those extensions, or someone simply has to change the MQXLIFF file extension to an extension that will be recognized by any tool: *.xliff or *.xlf are the choices.

The two-step solution is shown here:

On the Documents ribbon in memoQ, click on the tiny arrow under the Export icon and choose the option to export a bilingual file. There is some blue text which, if clicked, will allow a compatible XLIFF file to be exported, albeit with the MQXLIFF extension that some other programs might not recognize.

When the Export button in the dialog (marked 1, above) is clicked, the Save As dialog (marked 2, above) appears, simply change the file extension (the part after the period) to "xlf", for example. Then any program that reads XLIFF files can work with the file you export from memoQ. Despite the change of extension, memoQ will still recognize the file it produced, so it is possible to re-import it, for example if another person has made corrections to the XLIFF file that you want to use to update your translation or reference resources.

In some much older versions of memoQ, it does not work to change the extension in the export dialog; this has to be done directly to the exported file in whatever folder you save it in.

Of course, all of this will be rather difficult if you are one of those users who has not fixed the awful Microsoft Windows default to hide the extensions of known file types. Fixing that particular stupidity requires slightly different measures in different versions of Windows, but in Windows 10 you can do that on the View ribbon of Windows Explorer by marking the choice to show file name extensions:

The truth about memoQ 6.x and XLIFF

Lately there has been a lot of disinformation and misinformation being spread by people presumed to be memoQ or other CAT tool 'experts'. What is an 'expert' anyway? A good working definition, I think, is that an expert is someone who is clueless at a higher level. Read whatever you like into that; many days the worst interpretations apply very well to me.

It is often assumed and sometimes explicitly stated that, with the introduction of memoQ version 6 and the new MQXLIFF and MQXLZ (a ZIP file with XLIFF and other resources) formats, memoQ has taken a step backward in compatibility and can no longer produce ordinary XLIFF (or *.xlf) files. This is simply not true!

Kilgray doesn't exactly help the situation by talking about renaming MQXLIFF extensions to XLF; in fact, I have roasted the chief developer of Kilgray slowly over hot coals for this and other silliness and told him how I think this all ought to be handled. (And knowing Gábor, when he does fix it, he'll exceed my best imagination in the quality of his concept.)

But as is often the case, those geeks at Kilgray actually solved the 'problem'; they just forgot their own solution or forgot how to explain it coherently.

First of all, it's important to get the settings right. In memoQ, XLIFF files are saved from the Documents or Views tab of Project home > Translations, by choosing Export bilingual, and the correct settings for the bilingual (XLIFF) file to be shared with other environments or older memoQ versions are:

 

I have boxed the relevant area red for better clarity.

When saving the file, simply change the file extension in the name of the file as you save it as shown here:

When the exported bilingual file is saved to a folder in the file system, a quick check confirms that renaming the file extension in the Save dialog works. (I do this all the time in other software like Notepad).

Now the file can be recognized without further ado and imported into most other environments for translation. The only real "troublemaker" here is, of course Trados. As I reported in September 2011, there is a bug in SDL Trados Studio which screws up the import of XLIFF files in many cases if the sublanguages are not specified or the default major languages do not match. SDL has many priorities, but often it seems that compatibility and standards compliance are not among them; to this day AFAIK the bug remains unresolved!

For users of other tools, this means that to exchange data with Trados users for any purpose, you should get in the habit of specifying sublanguages. This means DE-DE, DE-CH or DE-AT instead of DE for German, EN-US, EN-UK, and so on instead of EN for English. Ain't it great? Brought to you by SDL development. Maybe they'll do a better job once the move to Cluj, Romania is complete ;-)

Update 2013-07-24: Here is a short video illustrating the process of exporting XLF files from memoQ and opening them in SDL Trados Studio:

memoQuickie: "compatible" XLIFF in memoQ 6, 6.2 and 2013

The recent builds of memoQ 6 have caused some confusion with Kilgray following the SDL practice of creating its own extension for XLIFF files, so these may not be recognized by other applications and would need the extensions changed to XLF or something else generally recognizable as XLIFF.

This can actually be done directly in the export dialog for the bilingual XLIFF file. Just change the file extension in the File name field. Despite a renamed extension, the file will be recognized as a memoQ bilingual when re-imported, and the translation of the original file will be updated.

If you encounter a compressed memoQ XLIFF export (MQXLZ), be aware that this is just a ZIP file. Rename the extension to ZIP and unpack it to get the real XLIFF (MQXLIFF) file. That file has a generic name (document.mqxliff) and should probably be renamed before it is shared.

Update 2013-07-23: Here is a short video I posted on YouTube to show how to export an XLF file and open it in SDL Trados Studio: