Metatexis and bilingual ttx files
Thread poster: Marie-Laure Goujon
Marie-Laure Goujon
Marie-Laure Goujon
Local time: 10:45
German to French
+ ...
Apr 2, 2010

Good evening,

A client who asks me for a proofreading job has provided me with some example files.
Among these files, there is a bilingual .ttx file.
It is the first time I see such a file.

I know how to import Trados files and TMs in MetaTexis, this is not the problem.

What I do not understand is how to make MetaTexis recognize the structure of this bilingual file: there is always a "tu" tag containing 2 "tuv", one in the source language, and o
... See more
Good evening,

A client who asks me for a proofreading job has provided me with some example files.
Among these files, there is a bilingual .ttx file.
It is the first time I see such a file.

I know how to import Trados files and TMs in MetaTexis, this is not the problem.

What I do not understand is how to make MetaTexis recognize the structure of this bilingual file: there is always a "tu" tag containing 2 "tuv", one in the source language, and one below, in the target language.

But I see that MetaTexis just jumps from 1 tuv to the other, each time considering that the segment it finds there is in the source language!

How am I supposed to work this way as a reviewer? If the client gives a bilingual file, I understand that I am supposed to control both texts before validating the target text.
So, in MetaTexis I should logically always have the source text (1st tuv of the tu) in the upper box and the target text (2nd tuv of the tu) in the box below. Isn't it the way it should work?

I might have missed something...

I thank you very much for your help, because I am really lost!
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Natalie
Natalie  Identity Verified
Poland
Local time: 10:45
Member (2002)
English to Russian
+ ...

Moderator of this forum
SITE LOCALIZER
Hi Marie-Laure Apr 2, 2010

TTX is a TagEditor file (TagEditor is part of Trados). Unfortunately, you cannot use Metatexis to work with TTX files.

You should either use TagEditor or the latest version of WordFast PRO to work with a TTX file.

Natalia


 
Marie-Laure Goujon
Marie-Laure Goujon
Local time: 10:45
German to French
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Re: Metatexis and bilingual ttx files Apr 2, 2010

Natalie,

Thanks for your reply.

Strange, because the MetaTexis userguide claims to support these files:
"Import filter for TRADOS TagEditor files (file extension "ttx”)", on page 8 of the manual.

And in the Support section of the http://www.metatexis.com site, there is a demo called "How to handle TRADOS TagEditor files".

I had looked at this demo previ
... See more
Natalie,

Thanks for your reply.

Strange, because the MetaTexis userguide claims to support these files:
"Import filter for TRADOS TagEditor files (file extension "ttx”)", on page 8 of the manual.

And in the Support section of the http://www.metatexis.com site, there is a demo called "How to handle TRADOS TagEditor files".

I had looked at this demo previously, but after you mentioned the name "TagEditor", I looked at it again more carefully...

It shows a slightly different situation: here, they open the .ttx file in MetaTexis (just like I did), but then MetaTexis only opens the 1st tuv in each tu, simply ignoring the 2nd one. Furthermore, the 2nd tuv is empty.
So, I understand that this describes the first step of the project: when the translator translates the .ttx file.

I noticed that, at the end, the final version they obtain (cleaned file) indeed looks like the one I have: the 1st tuv contains the source text and the 2nd tuv has been populated with the translation entered during the translation process they demonstrated.

So my question remains: how should I process this resulting .ttx file now, as a reviewer? Is there a way to come back to the translated file BEFORE the cleaning process?


PS: I previously tried WordFast Pro but it was even worse... it does not even recognize the TM file I was given
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Natalie
Natalie  Identity Verified
Poland
Local time: 10:45
Member (2002)
English to Russian
+ ...

Moderator of this forum
SITE LOCALIZER
Oops Apr 2, 2010

Sorry for wrong information. Marie-Laure, which version of Metatexis do you use?

What about the unedited/edited file versions, you could just save the edited file under a new name, for example, filename_edited.ttx


 
Claudia Alvis
Claudia Alvis  Identity Verified
Peru
Local time: 04:45
Member
Spanish
+ ...
Metatexis Pro Apr 2, 2010

I haven't used Metatexis in a while so my memory is a little rusty. First, I think you need to use the paid version of Metatexis. From the Metatexis toolbar, click Open and select the TagEditor or ttx option from the drop-down menu. Follow the Wizard's steps and you can translate the TagEditor file. Once you've completed the translation, I think you have to export the file, but I'm not sure. It all should be in the documentation.

Good luck,

Claudia


 
Pablo Bouvier
Pablo Bouvier  Identity Verified
Local time: 10:45
German to Spanish
+ ...
Metatexis and bilingual ttx files" Apr 3, 2010

Marie-Laure Goujon wrote:

Good evening,

A client who asks me for a proofreading job has provided me with some example files.
Among these files, there is a bilingual .ttx file.
It is the first time I see such a file.

I know how to import Trados files and TMs in MetaTexis, this is not the problem.

What I do not understand is how to make MetaTexis recognize the structure of this bilingual file: there is always a "tu" tag containing 2 "tuv", one in the source language, and one below, in the target language.

But I see that MetaTexis just jumps from 1 tuv to the other, each time considering that the segment it finds there is in the source language!

How am I supposed to work this way as a reviewer? If the client gives a bilingual file, I understand that I am supposed to control both texts before validating the target text.
So, in MetaTexis I should logically always have the source text (1st tuv of the tu) in the upper box and the target text (2nd tuv of the tu) in the box below. Isn't it the way it should work?

I might have missed something...

I thank you very much for your help, because I am really lost!


Maybe it helps: http://greek-translator.blogspot.com/2007/09/translate-ttx-files-in-your-favourite.html


 
Marie-Laure Goujon
Marie-Laure Goujon
Local time: 10:45
German to French
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Working on bilingual file as a reviewer Apr 3, 2010

Claudia Alvis wrote:

I haven't used Metatexis in a while so my memory is a little rusty. First, I think you need to use the paid version of Metatexis. From the Metatexis toolbar, click Open and select the TagEditor or ttx option from the drop-down menu. Follow the Wizard's steps and you can translate the TagEditor file. Once you've completed the translation, I think you have to export the file, but I'm not sure. It all should be in the documentation.

Good luck,

Claudia


Hi Claudia,

Many thanks for your contribution. But I think there might be a misunderstanding.
I was not clear enough.

As mentioned, my assignment here is not to translate but to proofread a text. So the file I was provided with contains both the source and the target text in each TU. My question was directed to reviewers who have an experience working on this type of already translated file.

I already imported both Trados .ttx and .mtx files into MetaTexis and I had no problem with this manipulation.

But when I started to process the document, I was puzzled to discover that MetaTexis does not take the 1st TUV of a TU as the source segment and the 2nd one as the target segment. Instead, it first jumps on the source segment (here, it populates the target text box with the translation found in the TM) and then jumps TO THE TARGET SEGMENT, and displays an empty box below as if it was a source segment!

Is this a MetaTexis dysfunction/lack of compatibility?
If the situation I describe is normal, how am I supposed to deal with this 2nd segment? If I simply ignore it, then the final version contains TWICE the target text in each TU of the document. I am not sure this is the kind of resulting file the client expects.

Many thanks for any hint or testimony!


 
Marie-Laure Goujon
Marie-Laure Goujon
Local time: 10:45
German to French
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
TTXpress Apr 3, 2010



Hello Pablo!

This is a very interesting information. However, when I tried to install this tool, it proved not to be suited to a Windows Vista environment.

However that may be, I am not sure if MetaTexis would not be perfectly fitted to the work I have to do, actually. Maybe it just does things right.
I only lack of experience on dealing with such files with MetaTexis as a proofreader. This is why I am puzzled by the behaviour I explained in my original post, and I would like to know if this is a normal situation or a problem due to a MetaTexis lack of compatibility.

See my reply to Claudia. I hope it better expresses my concerns.

Thanks for your help.


 
Marie-Laure Goujon
Marie-Laure Goujon
Local time: 10:45
German to French
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Unedited/edited file versions Apr 3, 2010

Natalie wrote:

Sorry for wrong information. Marie-Laure, which version of Metatexis do you use?

What about the unedited/edited file versions, you could just save the edited file under a new name, for example, filename_edited.ttx





Natalie,

Thanks for this suggestion. However, I do not really get your point. Could you be more precise? ("unedited/edited file versions", "save the edited file under a new name")
(I have a full version)

Best regards


 
Jamie Lucero
Jamie Lucero  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 02:45
French to English
MetaTexis version restriction + Wordfast Pro info Apr 7, 2010

I am not sure what could be causing your issue with MetaTexis, but a quick search through the manual yielded the following: Import filter for TRADOS TagEditor files (file extension ttx) (only in NET/Office). Which version are you using?

Marie-Laure Goujon wrote:

PS: I previously tried WordFast Pro but it was even worse... it does not even recognize the TM file I was given


Wordfast Pro 2.3 works great with bilingual TTX files regardless of whether you are translating or editing. Regarding TM files, if you received a standard TMX file, Wordfast Pro has no problem importing and making use of these. If it was a Trados TXT TM file, that of course will not work. In any case, your situation does not require importing a TM if you are only trying to edit a TTX. You could simply open it in Wordfast Pro, create a blank TM, and edit to your heart's content. When you have finished, you just need to export your work back to TTX using File > Save Translated File.


 
Marie-Laure Goujon
Marie-Laure Goujon
Local time: 10:45
German to French
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Wordfast Pro Apr 8, 2010

Jamie Lucero wrote:

I am not sure what could be causing your issue with MetaTexis, but a quick search through the manual yielded the following: Import filter for TRADOS TagEditor files (file extension ttx) (only in NET/Office). Which version are you using?

Wordfast Pro 2.3 works great with bilingual TTX files regardless of whether you are translating or editing. Regarding TM files, if you received a standard TMX file, Wordfast Pro has no problem importing and making use of these. If it was a Trados TXT TM file, that of course will not work. In any case, your situation does not require importing a TM if you are only trying to edit a TTX. You could simply open it in Wordfast Pro, create a blank TM, and edit to your heart's content. When you have finished, you just need to export your work back to TTX using File > Save Translated File.


Hello Jamie,

Many thanks for this very helpful reply!

Regarding MetaTexis: even the full version of this tool, who claims to deal with Trados TagEditor files, does not help at all. As I already explained, it does not consider the 2 "tuv" tags in each "tu" to be the source and the target segment, but just jumps from one tuv to another as if they were all source segments. Very bad.

About Wordfast:
By reading your post, it suddenly became clear to me that I wasn't probably speaking about the same Wordfast that you (and Natalie) were referring to. In fact, I have been using a version of this product which, just like MetaTexis, is integrated in MS-Word and only consists of a .dot file. You know what I mean? I understood that the free downloadable version of Wordfast Pro was limited to a small number of segments and, although it is installed on my PC, I hadn't tried it so far, thinking that it would not bring much more added value than the MS-Word tool...

But I just tried to launch it and open the .ttx file with it, and indeed, it works perfectly, recognizing each segment of a same TU as the source and the target segments, and perfectly saving the updated version of the file without any loss of tags, back to the ttx format.

Regarding the TM, I know that certain tools make it possible to import a Trados TM into Wordfast and export back to the Trados format. Do you use one? Which one would you recommend?

I understand that this type of revision work does not imperatively require a TM... but I am wondering how I would manage in case my corrections to the file would also be needed by the client in the form of a TM?..

Another question: I was asked to provide a cleaned version of my review in the form of a .xml file, and I understand that such a format is produced by Trados. Is Wordfast also able to produce such .xml files?

Many thanks,
Marie-Laure


 


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