Deja Vu / Trados Compatibility Guide by
www.atril.com, July 1999
(for more detailed information about the processes described herein see also http://necco.ca/dv/dv_trados.htm)
1. Introduction
We at Atril believe in open systems and standards. We have this strange idea that you –and no one else—have the right to choose whichever CAT tool suits you best.
Sure, you have to satisfy your customers by using the resources and databases they provide you, and adapting to their discount scheme. But that doesn't mean you have to buy or use exactly the same tool they used to create or manage those resources.
Besides, in today's competitive software market, no translator or agency can be expected to own all text processing programs, be it Translation Memory tools, DTP programs or simple word processors.
So, when choosing a Translation Memory tool, one important factor in your decision –besides features-- should be compatibility. When choosing a Translation Memory tool, make sure your vendor won't lock you in: make sure your software can open and use other vendors' files, but also that your hard-worked translation resources remain in standard, non-proprietary formats for future use by you or by others –you don't want to force anyone to buy Déjà Vu either, right?
When you rent a movie, they won't ask you what brand your VCR set is. In the same way, if your customer says "can you do it in Trados?", you can safely say "yes" if you own Déjà Vu: you're just using a different VCR –and a newer, better model, for that matter.
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2. Typical scenarios
Please find below a description of a few instances in which you may need to resort to Déjà Vu's Trados-related compatibility features.
Scenario 1
Client sends agency (or agency sends translator) a Trados-pretranslated RTF file (therefore keeping the translation memory) and expects that same file, but properly edited (100% matches confirmed, fuzzy matches duly edited, new sentences translated). They even want you to provide the updated memory, also in Trados format!
Scenario 2
Client or agency or translator wants to migrate from Trados to Déjà Vu, or have a duplicate of all Trados memories in Déjà Vu format for use with either tool, or simply try Déjà Vu with a Trados memory to see how it works.
Scenario 3
Client sends agency and/or agency sends translator a Word file to be pretranslated using a Trados TM and expects in return a segmented, Trados-style translated document.
Scenario 4
Agency wants to implement a Translation Memory tool on a large scale, but can't/won't force their freelancers to buy an expensive tool, and can't afford to buy a license for all of them. Nevertheless, agency would like its free-lance translators to use its client's translation memories and glossaries without spending or having anyone spend money on any specific TM tool.
Solving these cases is a matter of combining a number of simple processes we'll describe in some detail in the next section.
3. Specific processes
This "how-to" reference section describes the basic import/export processes involved in Déjà Vu / Trados compatibility situations. The basic processes can be combined to tackle more complex scenarios.
Importing Trados resources into Déjà Vu format
1. How to import a Trados memory into DV
Please follow these steps:
1. From within Trados, open (in exclusive mode) the translation memory you would like to import into Déjà Vu.
2. Select File/Export. Select the fields you want the exported file to contain. Click OK.
3. Enter the name of the file to be saved.
4. Open Déjà Vu's Database Maintenance Program and open the database you want to add the Trados memory to, or create a new database that will contain the Trados memory content.
5. With the database open, select File/Import.
6. Below "External database system" select "Trados WB database".
7. Set the "external files' character set" to Windows, and set the "Language codes available in Workbench database file" to the proper source and target language of the memory.
8. Select the appropriate .txt file you exported from Trados, and click OK.
2. How to import a Multiterm glossary into DV
This process is a little more complex, since Multiterm and Déjà Vu have different database structures. Please follow these steps:
1. From within Multiterm, define an export filter and select the fields you want to import into Déjà Vu. In order to simplify the process, remember to export only the source term and the target term (in the case of a simple, bilingual glossary). At any rate, the resulting exported items must be in the form of a simple table or text delimited list. For more information on this procedure, please refer to the Multiterm Manual.
2. From Déjà Vu's Terminology Maintenance program, open or create the terminology database you want to import the Multiterm entries to.
3. From the File menu, select "Import" and follow the usual Déjà Vu procedure for importing glossary lists. You must select the appropriate text delimiters, etc. For more information on this procedure, please refer to the Déjà Vu Manual.
3. How to open and process a Trados pretranslated file with Déjà Vu
Please follow these steps:
1. In Déjà Vu, create a new project. Follow the usual steps for creating a Déjà Vu project, but when prompted for the file format of the source files choose "Trados Workbench".
2. Import the Trados Workbench files as usual into Déjà Vu. Source segments will now appear in the left column. Trados pretranslated segments will appear in the right column.
3. Confirm/Edit/Translate the target sentences as usual (in the Déjà Vu edit box).
4. When you finish, export the project as usual.
5. The translated files will be saved in the target file directory in Trados tagged text format. This file(s) can be "cleaned up" with Trados by your customer, thus updating the original Trados memory.
Exporting Déjà Vu resources to Trados (or other) format
4. How to export a DV memory to Trados (or other) format
Please follow these steps:
1. Open Déjà Vu's Database Maintenance program.
2. Open the memory database you would like to export to Trados (or other) format.
3. From the File menu, choose Export.
4. Below "External database system", select the desired option. If it is "Trados WB database", choose "Windows" as the "External files' character set" and select the language codes to be used by the Trados database.
5. Select the destination file and the export filter, if necessary.
6. Click on Export.
5. How to export a DV terminology database for use with Multiterm (or other applications)
Please follow these steps:
1. Open Déjà Vu's Terminology Maintenance program.
2. Open the terminology database you want to export.
3. From the File menu choose Export.
4. Below "External database system" choose one of the many open formats available for exporting the database. All of them can be used by practically any database or terminology application in the market, including Multiterm.
5. Select the destination file and the export filter, if necessary.
6. Tick on the files to be exported. Defaults are Source Term and Target Term.
7. Click on Export.
6. How to export a file translated with Déjà Vu to Trados (or other) format
In order to export a translated file in Trados tagged text format, the source text file has to be processed first in order to tag it into a typical Trados format file. This can be done with Trados (even with the free demo version). The file can then be translated as a regular Trados project in Déjà Vu. Please follow these steps:
1. Using the appropriate application (e.g., MS Word) first save the file as an RTF file. Save a copy of this file, since the processed Trados-tagged file will overwrite it.
2. Open Trados (full or demo version) and open one memory (any one, or even an empty, dumb memory --configured with the appropriate source and target language, etc.).
3. Select "Translate" from the Tools menu. Click on Add and select the RTF file to process.
4. Tick in the box "Segment unknown sentences". Leave all other default settings and click on Translate.
5. The RTF file is now tagged the Trados way and can now be translated as a good old Trados project with Déjà Vu.
Comments?
We hope you enjoyed this report and look forward to your feedback and comments. Please contact us at support@atril.com.
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(c) Atril Software SL, 1999