SDLXLIFF in Word Proof-reading SDLXLIFF files in MS Word Best practice guide
Author Klaus Kurre, kurre@loctimize.com Translator Hugh Cairns, hugh@cairns-net.de Printed 5. August 2011 Copyright 2011 Loctimize GmbH This document is the property of Loctimize GmbH, Fuchstälchen 30, 66123 Saarbrücken, Germany. The products and trademarks mentioned here are the property of their respective manufacturers and owners.
Table of Contents 1 Introduction 1.1 System Requirements 1.2 Installing Microsoft OpenXML SDK v2 1.3 Installing the SDL XLIFF Converter 2 Translating in SDL Trados Studio 2009 3 Preparation for correction in MS Word 4 Proof-reading in MS Word with change tracking 5 Translating in MS Word 6 Getting ready to reimport the corrections 7 Further editing of a project in SDL Trados Studio 2009
1 Introduction Translations are frequently proof-read by the end customer's staff or by experts, since only they have the necessary linguistic, marketing or technical knowledge and thus represent the final authority within the translation workflow. In such cases, proof-reading is often performed without any translation tools either because the proof-reader is not familiar with this technology, or because the company often does not have the licences required. In practice, this often means that corrections made externally do not find their way back to the translator, and that the translation memories used for the translation are thus not updated. Mistakes that have already been corrected can thus be repeated in subsequent translations. In this document we should like to present a solution to this problem, on the basis of the application SDL XLIFF Converter for Microsoft Office, which is provided free of charge by SDL. SDL OpenExchange and used to proof-read SDLXLIFF files in Microsoft Word or Microsoft Excel. In the past this was not possible, and any corrections always had to be inserted manually into the SDLXLIFF document, but with the current version and MS-Word it is also possible to import corrections directly back into the SDLXLIFF file.
1.1 System Requirements Your system must meet the following requirements to ensure that the application functions correctly: SDL Trados Studio 2009 SP3 must be installed Microsoft OpenXML SDK v2 In particular if Microsoft OpenXML-SDK is not installed, the following error message appears when you try to convert the file: Fig. 1: Error message if MS-OpenXML SDK 2.0 is not installed. 1.2 Installing Microsoft OpenXML SDK v2 OpenXML SDK free of charge from the following Microsoft-Website: Fig. 2: Downloading OpenXML SDK 2.0 from the Microsoft website
It is essential that you use the installer OpenXMLSDKv2.msi. After you have downloaded the file, you can execute it and begin with the installation: Fig. 3: Installing OpenXML SDK 2.0 by Microsoft After installation has been completed successfully, you will see the following message:
Fig. 4: Completing the installation of OpenXML SDK 2.0 by Microsoft 1.3 Installing the SDL XLIFF Converter To download the installer from the SDL website, you must log into your customer account. In the menu on the left you will then find a pane SDL OpenExchange: Fig. 5: Downloading the SDL XLIFF Converter from the SDL OpenExchange website After you have downloaded the file SDLXLIFFConverter.msi, you can execute it and begin with the installation: Fig. 6: Installing the application
Installation is then terminated with the following dialog, and you can now use the program: Fig. 7: Completion of the installation You will now find the program in the Start menu under SDL > SDL OpenExchange Apps: Fig. 8: Open Start menu in Windows 7
2 Translating in SDL Trados Studio 2009 Proof-reading a file translated using SDL Trados Studio 2009 is done on the basis of the bilingual work file in SDLXLIFF format. You can either duplicate this file in a separate folder by saving a copy from the editor, or, as described in the next section, you can load it directly from the project in the SDL XLIFF Converter. Fig. 9: Translation editor in SDL Trados Studio 2009 In the translation there are some mistakes that the translator has overlooked. All segments have been set to "translated" status. Fig. 10: Translation editor in SDL Trados Studio 2009 The mistakes marked in the above screenshot must therefore be found and corrected by the external proof-reader.
3 Preparation for correction in MS Word To convert the SDLXLIFF file, we must start the program SDL XLIFF-Converter for Microsoft Office from the Start menu. To check the current settings, we switch to the Settings tab: Fig. 11: Settings tab in SDL XLIFF Converter for Microsoft Word Here we can adjust several settings, for example format (MS-Excel or MS-Word), the type of comparison of source and target text in the Word document (Layout type): one above the other in double lines (Top-down) or in columns one beside the other (Side-by-side). If required, you can set the status to a certain level when importing the corrections. Here it is important to ensure that all segments have this newly assigned status, that is, also those segments that have not been corrected! To convert the file you must then switch to the Convert to MS Word tab and load the file to be prepared for correction, either directly with Add or from a project with Load files from project. The advantage of loading the file from a project is that the Word file is then not simply somewhere in the file system but, like all other files associated with the project, is in the correct project folder. Note: The tool also allows you to export an SDLXLIFF file to MS Excel, but it is not possible to reimport the corrections!
Fig. 12: Convert to MS Word tab in SDL XLIFF Converter for Microsoft Word When the file has been selected and loaded, it appears in the list of files to convert: Fig. 13: List of files to convert tab The conversion of the listed files is started by clicking the Convert button. After conversion, the following message appears:
Fig. 14: Settings tab in SDL XLIFF Converter for Microsoft Word The path and the file name are also highlighted in green in the list: Fig. 15: Successfully converted files are listed in green. If conversion is not successful, the file name is highlighted in red: Fig. 16: Files not successfully converted are listed in red. By right-clicking the path you can then use the context menu to open the folder containing the file. The Word file is automatically saved in the same folder as the original SDLXLIFF file. It has the prefix Generated_ as selected on the Settings tab (see above): Fig. 17: Converted files in the Windows Explorer
4 Proof-reading in MS Word with change tracking If you as project manager or translator wish to see and accept or reject the proofreader's changes in the Word file, it is recommended that you enable the Track Changes function in Word during proof-reading. Fig. 18: Enabling the Track Changes function in MS Word However, to ensure that the file can be reimported into SDLXLIFF format, all changes must be accepted. If you try to reimport a Word file into SDLXLIFF format with changes that have not been accepted, you will see the following error message: Fig. 19: Error message with Track Changes enabled Note: In SDL Trados Studio 2011 you will also be able to import the changes and see them in the editor. Before converting the Word document back, you must therefore open it again and accept the changes. In the Review menu select the Accept option and the last menu item Accept all changes in the document: Fig. 20: Accepting all changes in MS Word The document can now be saved and imported back into SDLXLIFF format.
5 Translating in MS Word Not only is it possible to proof-read in MS Word, it is of course also possible to "misuse" this function for the actual translation, for example if a translator does not have the current version of SDL Trados, or has neither SDL Trados nor any other translation tool. In this case you must pretranslate the document as described in Section. However, to ensure that empty segments, that is, segments for which no pretranslation was available, can also be translated later in MS Word, all empty segments must be filled with the source text using the Alt + Ins shortcut. The source text in the target segments (the right-hand column of the exported Word file) can then be translated without any CAT tool, by overwriting it in MS Word. In this case, of course, none of the functions for increasing productivity or checking consistency and quality such as those offered by a professional translation tool are available. The modified texts (= the translations) are then inserted into the SDLXLIFF file when they are reimported.
6 Getting ready to reimport the corrections To reconvert the files, start the SDL XLIFF Converter for Microsoft Office program again from the Start menu. On the Import from MS Word tab, first open the SDLXLIFF file into which you would like to import the corrections: Fig. 21: Opening the SDLXLIFF file into which the corrections are to be imported Then open the relevant Word file on the right beside the SDLXLIFF file. If you are importing corrections from several files, you can use the AutoMatch button so that you do not have to assign each file individually: Fig. 22: Opening the Word file to be imported Fig. 23: Assigning the SDLXLIFF file to the Word file Start the import by clicking the Import button.
Fig. 24: Starting the import After the import has been successfully completed, you will see the following message here: Fig. 25: Message after successful import Please note that the file can only be successfully reimported if the relevant SDLXLIFF document is not opened in SDL Trados Studio 2009.
7 Further editing of a project in SDL Trados Studio 2009 The updated file can now be opened in SDL Trados Studio 2009: Fig. 26: Updated SDLXLIFF file with imported corrections Note: At the moment, changes in the status of individual segments are unfortunately not supported, so you will have to rely on Word here, as it is not possible to track changes in SDL Trados 2009 Studio. However, this will be implemented in the SDL Trados Studio 2011 version, and there you will also be able to import documents with the Track Changes function enabled.
Your notes:
This document is the property of Loctimize GmbH, Fuchstälchen 30, 66123 Saarbrücken, Germany. The products and trademarks mentioned here are the property of their respective manufacturers and owners. Copyright 2011 by Loctimize GmbH Fuchstälchen 30, 66123 Saarbrücken, Germany www.loctimize.com, info@loctimize.com