How does Trados 2007 handle XLIFF files? Thread poster: AndrewEF
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Hi Does anyone know how XLIFF files are processed in Trados 2007. Does Trados come with a special filter for translating XLIFFs, or does it use an XML filter? If Trados can handle XLIFFs then can it handle attributes in the tag that should tell Trados that those translation units should not be translated? Here's the problem... I am producing XLIFFs for translation that pre-populate the with any previous translations (if there are previous translations), an... See more Hi Does anyone know how XLIFF files are processed in Trados 2007. Does Trados come with a special filter for translating XLIFFs, or does it use an XML filter? If Trados can handle XLIFFs then can it handle attributes in the tag that should tell Trados that those translation units should not be translated? Here's the problem... I am producing XLIFFs for translation that pre-populate the with any previous translations (if there are previous translations), and add in the attribute state="final" so the vendors I work with won't touch those translation units. The vendors are using Trados 2007 (I don't have it here so cannot investigate much) and I assumed that Trados 2007 would be able to handle this as the use of that attribute is in the XLIFF specification, but it seems it doesn't and it wants to translate the previous translations again (and they get included in the word counts). Do I need an adapted filter to be able to do this and supply this to my vendors? Any ideas how I can create such a filter without having Trados? Thanks Andrew
[Subject edited by staff or moderator 2010-01-20 15:33 GMT] ▲ Collapse | | |
Adam Łobatiuk Poland Local time: 16:54 Member (2009) English to Polish + ...
Tag Editor does handle XLIFF files, and has a preconfigured *.ini file for them, but unfortunately it's not much use, because the translation is entered into the Source element. In other words, TE doesn't create the Target element, as it should. If you can add the Target element externally and modify the ini file to lock Source and the Final translations, it will work. However, you can't really do that without Tag Editor. I suggest that you download the freeware Rainbow application ... See more Tag Editor does handle XLIFF files, and has a preconfigured *.ini file for them, but unfortunately it's not much use, because the translation is entered into the Source element. In other words, TE doesn't create the Target element, as it should. If you can add the Target element externally and modify the ini file to lock Source and the Final translations, it will work. However, you can't really do that without Tag Editor. I suggest that you download the freeware Rainbow application from Okapi Tools, and prepare RTF files for your translators to translate in Word. ▲ Collapse | | |
Adam Łobatiuk wrote: Tag Editor does handle XLIFF files, and has a preconfigured *.ini file for them, but unfortunately it's not much use, because the translation is entered into the Source element. In other words, TE doesn't create the Target element, as it should. quote] The TagEditor XLIFF filter is a crap. If you want to handle XLIFF in Trados 2007 (without external tools), use SDLX. Cheers GG | | |
Adam Łobatiuk Poland Local time: 16:54 Member (2009) English to Polish + ...
It doesn't always work for me - it sometimes leaves tags as plain editable text, but it could have been due to the nature of the files I worked with. I've been quite happy with the way SDL Trados Studio handles XLIFF, but since Andrew mentioned Trados 2007, I didn't think of it then. It's a bit sad that the format developed specifically for translation is supported so poorly by many CAT tools or you find that your file will work in one application but not another. | |
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Adam Łobatiuk wrote: It doesn't always work for me - it sometimes leaves tags as plain editable text, but it could have been due to the nature of the files I worked with. I've been quite happy with the way SDL Trados Studio handles XLIFF, but since Andrew mentioned Trados 2007, I didn't think of it then. IMO SDLX is surprisingly good for XLIFF and XLIFF like formats. It preserves well a lot of custom XLIFF extensions (kinda Logoport) and may be used even fo SDLXLIFF (with some quirks). It's a bit sad that the format developed specifically for translation is supported so poorly by many CAT tools or you find that your file will work in one application but not another. Well, no comments. I didn't believe my eyes when I saw the XLIFF "implementation" in TagEditor. Cheers GG
[Edited at 2010-01-20 19:59 GMT] | | |
Jaroslaw Michalak Poland Local time: 16:54 Member (2004) English to Polish SITE LOCALIZER No need to go that route... | Jan 20, 2010 |
Adam Łobatiuk wrote: Tag Editor does handle XLIFF files, and has a preconfigured *.ini file for them, but unfortunately it's not much use, because the translation is entered into the Source element. In other words, TE doesn't create the Target element, as it should. If you can add the Target element externally and modify the ini file to lock Source and the Final translations, it will work. However, you can't really do that without Tag Editor. There is no need to do that - Trados (since 2007, I think) comes with a tool called XliffConvert. Supposedly it is to convert XLIFF files and add the Target element before you open the file in TagEditor, so in TE you already work on Target elements only. I can't vouch for the quality of the filter, though - in those rare cases I had to handle XLIFF I went a different route. Note that the tool is so obscure it does not even have its own shortcut in the Trados group - you need to find the exe in the Trados TT directory. Maybe the creators did not have much faith in it, I don't know. | | |
You cannot add the final status in TagEditor... | Jan 21, 2010 |
...unless you modify the ini for XLIFF files so that you can edit the attributes. I know this does not answer your question, but you can freely set the "final" status (and other values) in Swordfish. XLIFF is the native format of this CAT tool. I recommend using the stable version of Swordfish 1.x. You can try it for free for a month. Yet another option is to add these statuses in a text editor, like Notepad or UltraEdit (that is if you like looking at the XLIFF code... See more ...unless you modify the ini for XLIFF files so that you can edit the attributes. I know this does not answer your question, but you can freely set the "final" status (and other values) in Swordfish. XLIFF is the native format of this CAT tool. I recommend using the stable version of Swordfish 1.x. You can try it for free for a month. Yet another option is to add these statuses in a text editor, like Notepad or UltraEdit (that is if you like looking at the XLIFF code ). HTH Piotr ▲ Collapse | | |
Adam Łobatiuk Poland Local time: 16:54 Member (2009) English to Polish + ...
I've tried the methods you guys wrote about (except Swordfish), and have just given them another shot out of curiosity. I took a less than 4 MB xlf file from an infamous tool. The Trados XLIFF converter worked for a few minutes (on a fast machine) and in fact never said it had finished, but I was able to open the TTX file and it looked good. The size was, however, about 40 MB! In addition, I've noticed before that with less typical tags, like those in XLIFF files, Tag Editor likes to merge tag g... See more I've tried the methods you guys wrote about (except Swordfish), and have just given them another shot out of curiosity. I took a less than 4 MB xlf file from an infamous tool. The Trados XLIFF converter worked for a few minutes (on a fast machine) and in fact never said it had finished, but I was able to open the TTX file and it looked good. The size was, however, about 40 MB! In addition, I've noticed before that with less typical tags, like those in XLIFF files, Tag Editor likes to merge tag groups automatically or change the tag format (i.e. make fuzzy-ended tags out of arrow-ended or square ones and vice versa) in the target segment. It doesn't affect the target XLIFF file, but causes annoying QA warnings that you still want to check. SDLX took a good while as well and produced an almost good-looking file, but again some tags were plain text, only highlighted in purple and yellow. I guess you can still translate such a file but need to be extra careful. SDL Trados studio opened the XLIFF file quickly and accurately. As far as this particular XLIFF file type is concerned, you may want to deselect the initial validation of XLIFF files and "Display trans-unit segments with attribute translate = 'no' as locked segments" (this is because weird gray text is added to segments or as separate segments). Otherwise no problems, except for custom attributes.
[Edited to delete an example piece of code that doesn't display well]
[Edited at 2010-01-21 09:52 GMT] ▲ Collapse | |
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Thanks for replies and help | Jan 21, 2010 |
Thanks to all for taking the time and effort of replying and helping. I took the path of convincing a contact of mine who uses Trados to let me edit a version of their .ini file for XLIFFs so when someone opens the XLIFF now in TagEditor it ignores anything where the state="final" is set in the tag. So I'm happy with the solution! But also, your replies have meant I'm looking at some other tools/ideas going forward as there seem to be some useful tools for XLIFFs. | | |