Opinions on Idiom Worldserver
Thread poster: Jaroslaw Michalak
Jaroslaw Michalak
Jaroslaw Michalak  Identity Verified
Poland
Local time: 03:06
Member (2004)
English to Polish
SITE LOCALIZER
Jan 5, 2011

I have been approached by a new client who offers translation in Idiom.

As I do not have time to test out the tool just to make this one offer (which is potential anyway), I would like some opinions on that. I realize it is very subjective, let's say that I would like to know your perception of its annoyance on the scale from 1 to 10 (e.g. MemoQ for me is at 3 and Trados 2007 around 7).

Also, I would like to know the potential for CAT hopping...

[Edited at
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I have been approached by a new client who offers translation in Idiom.

As I do not have time to test out the tool just to make this one offer (which is potential anyway), I would like some opinions on that. I realize it is very subjective, let's say that I would like to know your perception of its annoyance on the scale from 1 to 10 (e.g. MemoQ for me is at 3 and Trados 2007 around 7).

Also, I would like to know the potential for CAT hopping...

[Edited at 2011-01-05 19:07 GMT]
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Natalie
Natalie  Identity Verified
Poland
Local time: 03:06
Member (2002)
English to Russian
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Hi :-) Jan 5, 2011

I am not a Idiom guru at all, but one of my clients sends me Idiom files about three to five times per year; he sends me TTX files along with idiom ini, and I translate them in Tag Editor without any problems. Just ask the client if it would be possible to obtain the files for translation in TTX format.

Natalia


 
pcovs
pcovs
Denmark
Local time: 03:06
English to Danish
Nuisance factor: 6-7 Jan 5, 2011

For me at least.

The projects I have worked on in Idiom Worldserver had comprehensive and multiple TMs as well as Termbases, and so there was no way to download the files for translation in another tool.
This was a BIG nusiance, since server crashes, downtimes, network connection failures etc. made everything really tiresome, slow and sometimes resulted in double work!

And then there's the way it behaves - not really intuitive and not at all the best tool for qual
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For me at least.

The projects I have worked on in Idiom Worldserver had comprehensive and multiple TMs as well as Termbases, and so there was no way to download the files for translation in another tool.
This was a BIG nusiance, since server crashes, downtimes, network connection failures etc. made everything really tiresome, slow and sometimes resulted in double work!

And then there's the way it behaves - not really intuitive and not at all the best tool for quality assurance.
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Olaf (X)
Olaf (X)
Local time: 03:06
English to German
Nuisance factor 2-3 Jan 6, 2011

I mostly used the external Idiom WorldServer Workbench translation tool and never had any major problems with it. The workbench is basically a stripped down version of Atril's Dejavu and has similar features.
BTW, SDL Studio can process WorldServer packages as long as they were exported as .wsxz files, which is the default in WS 9.2. and higher.
In older Idiom WS versions, the default export format is xlz. (XLZ files are .zip files containing an XLIFF file.) These packages need to
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I mostly used the external Idiom WorldServer Workbench translation tool and never had any major problems with it. The workbench is basically a stripped down version of Atril's Dejavu and has similar features.
BTW, SDL Studio can process WorldServer packages as long as they were exported as .wsxz files, which is the default in WS 9.2. and higher.
In older Idiom WS versions, the default export format is xlz. (XLZ files are .zip files containing an XLIFF file.) These packages need to be translated with the WorldServer Workbench.
However, since older Idiom WS versions can also export .ttx files, you could simply request .ttx files.
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Nicole Schnell
Nicole Schnell  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 19:06
English to German
+ ...
In memoriam
I like Idiom Jan 6, 2011

I have to say that I receive all my projects already neatly prepared by my client and with my own TMs, though. I am spoiled.

 
Wolfgang Schoene
Wolfgang Schoene  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 03:06
Member
English to German
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Opinions on Idio WS Jan 9, 2011

I use Idiom quite extensively, but only to check correctness of the files which I translate with MemoQ which seems to be the only CAT tool (so much for Atril!) capable of handling .xlz Idiom files.

Wolfgang


 
Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 03:06
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
Annoyance scale 5, CAT hopping possibilities Jan 9, 2011

Jabberwock wrote:
I would like to know your perception of its annoyance on the scale from 1 to 10.


Between 4 and 5. But that is very subjective because I hardly use any of its features (I CAT hop it most of the time).

Also, I would like to know the potential for CAT hopping...


Idiom Desktop can't export to an intermediary format and re-import it. The Idiom file (that you get from the client, i.e. the XLZ file) is a zip file with an XLIFF file (and optionally a TBX file) inside it. The file is real XLIFF but it has some vendor-specific stuff in it, so you may not be able to translate it using your CAT tool's XLIFF filter (I wouldn't).

When you get an Idiom file from the client, you open it in Idiom Desktop, work on it, and then "export" it to the export format (which is uploaded back to the WorldServer). The export format is also a zip file, also with an XLIFF file in it.

The preferred method of hacked CAT hopping with Idiom depends on how many pre-translated segments there are (if any).

If there are virtually no pre-translated segments, then my approach is to turn the file into source=target first, then export the export file, and then translate the XLIFF file as a tagged XML file by overwriting the target field. This is a very safe method, but remember to validate the XML before uploading it.

If there are quite a few pre-transated segments, then my approach is to use the display filter in Idiom Desktop to display only untranslated segments, and then to use the "Export... Segments" feature, which exports a tab delimited plain text file with all the displayed segments. I then reduce this file to a one-segment-per-line file, translate it in MS Word (in my CAT tool), and then paste each segment one by one back into Idiom Desktop (using one of my little scripts), before exporting the final file. This method is also reasonably safe but you have to ensure that the segments are pasted correctly. This paste-the-segments method can also be used to paste segments directly into the WorldServer web site's text fields, if you can figure out how its display filter works.

These two methods may not work if your client requires you to do other stuff as well, such as editing.

I'm told the SVN version of Virtaal has some support for the Idiom XLIFF file.




[Edited at 2011-01-09 13:22 GMT]


 
Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 03:06
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
TTX format Jan 9, 2011

Natalie wrote:
Just ask the client if it would be possible to obtain the files for translation in TTX format.


The Worldserver can sometimes export the translatable text in TTX format, yes, and if so, then it would also be able to accept the TTX file as an import file.


 
Jaroslaw Michalak
Jaroslaw Michalak  Identity Verified
Poland
Local time: 03:06
Member (2004)
English to Polish
TOPIC STARTER
SITE LOCALIZER
Thank you! Jan 9, 2011

Thank you for all the opinions on the software, they have helped me to make up the mind. I have decided to accept the project, working within the interface while exploring the hopping alternatives.

Jarek


 
Nils Ramsauer
Nils Ramsauer
Germany
Local time: 03:06
English to German
Idiom Worldserver Desktop <-> Atril Deja Vu May 20, 2011

xxxOlaf wrote:

I mostly used the external Idiom WorldServer Workbench translation tool and never had any major problems with it. The workbench is basically a stripped down version of Atril's Dejavu and has similar features.



Hi all!

I have worked with IWS some years ago. Back then it just modified my existing installation of DV with the server interaction, without interfering with my usual work in DV. Is this still possible?

BR,

Nils


 


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