CSV software file with quotes - how can I best prepare it for translation in Trados?
Thread poster: Heloísa Helena Benetton Costa
Heloísa Helena Benetton Costa
Heloísa Helena Benetton Costa  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 15:23
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Sep 19, 2018

Hello all,

I have an CSV file from an extracted software. The lines have the following format:

ID#,ENU,PTG
1,"Activate",""
2,"Active Profile",""
3,"Alarm",""
4,"Alarms",""

The client needs the translation between the two quotes after the comma. Do you know how can I prepare this in SDL Trados 2017 so it is faster to translate?

Thank you very much in advance!

Heloisa


 
Roy Oestensen
Roy Oestensen  Identity Verified
Denmark
Local time: 19:23
Member (2010)
English to Norwegian (Bokmal)
+ ...
Try to prepare the document in Word Sep 19, 2018

I would try to open the file in Word, and hide all unwanted codes.

Then import it into Trados.

After that you would unhide the codes and recreate the original file.

There may also be possible to create a filter with segmentation at the quotation marks, but I don't know sufficient on how you would do that.

Roy


 
Mair A-W (PhD)
Mair A-W (PhD)
Germany
Local time: 19:23
German to English
+ ...
Excel Sep 19, 2018

Roy Oestensen wrote:

I would try to open the file in Word, and

Roy [/quote]

Why word? I would use Excel to open a CSV file:


Open the file in Excel
Delete all columns except the source text
Save the file under a new filename (in excel format, doesn't matter)
Translate this new file in Trados
Open the original file and the translated file in Excel, copy the translated column into the first file
Save as CSV

BUT:
You still have to manually type the quotes "" around all your translations...


 
Heloísa Helena Benetton Costa
Heloísa Helena Benetton Costa  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 15:23
English to Portuguese
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Most automation I could use Sep 19, 2018

Thank you for the ideas, guys!

I managed to clean the file in the most automated way in my knowledge. I opened the csv in Excel, transformed the text into columns:

Captura de tela 2018-09-19 11.46.33

Captura de tela 2018-09-19 11.45.05

Captura de tela 2018-09-19 11.45.16

Captura de tela 2018-09-19 11.45.29

Captura de tela 2018-09-19 11.53.43

I know the formula looks a bit complicated for those not too familiar with Excel, but my husband says it is a matter of organizing the data you have. This way you don't have to erase and type back all the commas and quotes, which makes the work much more fluent thank you!

I bet there are other ways to do this even from inside Trados, but I don't know how and I don't have the time to test this time!

Please let me know if I can be of help!

Heloisa


 
Roy Oestensen
Roy Oestensen  Identity Verified
Denmark
Local time: 19:23
Member (2010)
English to Norwegian (Bokmal)
+ ...
To avoid having to deal with the quote marks. Sep 19, 2018

Mair A-W (PhD) wrote:
Roy Oestensen wrote:
I would try to open the file in Word, and
oy

Why word? I would use Excel to open a CSV file:

BUT:
You still have to manually type the quotes "" around all your translations... [/quote]

You misunderstand. The problem is not how to open csv files, but how it is best to handle the quotation marks and the other formatting information. To me that seems much easier to handle in Word, since it is fairly easy there to hide all unwanted text. This way you don't have to retype all the quitation marks, so it seems the Word way is easier than the Excel way in this instance.

You can, of course, mark unwanted codes/text in red in Excel, but I don't totally know how to handle that in Trados.

[Edited at 2018-09-19 17:00 GMT]


 
Michael Beijer
Michael Beijer  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 18:23
Member (2009)
Dutch to English
+ ...
btw, Studio has a CSV filter Sep 19, 2018

Heloísa Helena Benetton Costa wrote:

Hello all,

I have an CSV file from an extracted software. The lines have the following format:

ID#,ENU,PTG
1,"Activate",""
2,"Active Profile",""
3,"Alarm",""
4,"Alarms",""

The client needs the translation between the two quotes after the comma. Do you know how can I prepare this in SDL Trados 2017 so it is faster to translate?

Thank you very much in advance!

Heloisa



… meaning you should be able to just import it into Studio. See e.g.: https://gateway.sdl.com/apex/communityknowledge?articleName=Translating-a-multiple-source-column-CSV-file-in-SDL-Trados-Studio-2017

Michael


 
Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 19:23
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
Trados' CSV filter Sep 21, 2018

Michael Beijer wrote:
btw, Studio has a CSV filter


Yes, but since CSV is not a standardised format, any CAT tool's filter for it is likely to support only some use cases, and it can't always be predicted how the filter will deal with broken CSV (and then there is the question "what does the developer consider unbroken CSV").

The original poster's sample is a case in point. ProZ.com's forum software doesn't show it, but her CSV file has a tab before the line break in the first three lines:

ID#,ENU,PTG[tab]
1,"Activate",""[tab]
2,"Active Profile",""[tab]
3,"Alarm",""
4,"Alarms",""


This is what Trados does to it in the translated version:

ID#,ENU,PTG[tab]
1,"Activate",""Aktiveer
2,"Active Profile",""Aktiewe profiel
3,"Alarm","Wekker"
4,"Alarms","Wekkers"


When I saw this, I did a couple of tests with other oddities in the CSV files, and discovered the following:


A. General:

1. If the first column is empty (in a situation where column 2 is the source text and column 3 is the translation) (i.e. there is a comma but nothing before the comma), it doesn't affect Trados's reading of the file. For example:

ST: ,"Activate",""
TT: ,"Activate","Aktiveer"

2. Blank lines are ignored, and are retained in the translated file.

3. Trados does not appear to distinguish between line-breaks and carriage-return line-breaks in CSV, and the translation contains carriage-return line-breaks only. I haven't tested this extensively, but presumably if your source file contains a mix of line ending styles, the translated file will not retain it.


B. Well-formed CSV files:

4. If the field in any column is quoted in the original, it will be quoted in the translation.

ST: 1,"Activate",""
TT: 1,"Activate","Aktiveer"

ST: "1","Activate",""
TT: "1","Activate","Aktiveer"

5.1 If the field in any column is non-quoted in the original, it will be non-quoted in the translation.

ST: 1,"Activate",
TT: 1,"Activate",Aktiveer

ST: "1",Activate,""
TT: "1",Activate,"Aktiveer"

ST: "1",Activate,
TT: "1",Activate,Aktiveer

5.2 Except: if you edit any non-quoted field and include a comma or a line break, that field becomes quoted in the translation.

ST: 1,"one two",
TT: 1,"one two",een twee

ST: 1,"one two",
TT: 1,"one two","een, twee"

ST: 1,"one two",
TT: 1,"one two","een
twee"


6. If a field is unquoted and contains one or more spaces and/or tabs as it's value, there's a bug: those space(s) and/or tab(s) are ignored and not considered to be the value of that field (i.e. Trados considers the field to be empty). And there's an even more severe bug: if the field is quoted, and it's value is only space(s) and/or tab(s), Trados also considers the field to be empty.


C. Somewhat unwell-formed CSV files:

7.1 If there are spaces and tabs before the quotes of each field, they are retained.

ST: 1,"Activate",[tab]""
TT: 1,"Activate",[tab]"Aktiveer"

ST: 1,"Activate",[space]""
TT: 1,"Activate",[space]"Aktiveer"

7.2 If there are spaces and tabs after the quotes of each field, there's a bug: the space or tab is removed in the translation, and the field's value comes after the two quotes instead of between them.

ST: 1,"Activate",""[tab]
TT: 1,"Activate",""Aktiveer

ST: 1,"Activate",""[space]
TT: 1,"Activate",""Aktiveer


D. Very unwell-formed CSV files:

8. If the CSV file contains this:

1,"Activate","[space]
2,"Active Profile","[tab]
3,"Alarm","Wekker
4,"Alarms","Wekkers


...then Trados considers there to be only two segments, namely:

Segment 1 ST: Activate
Segment 1 TT: [empty]
Segment 2 ST: Alarm
Segment 2 TT: Wekkers

9. If the CSV file contains this:

1,"Activate",[space]"
2,"Active Profile",[tab]"
3,"Alarm",Wekker"[space]
4,"Alarms",Wekkers"


...then Trados considers there to be only two segments, namely:

Segment 1 ST: Activate
Segment 1 TT: ,[tab]
Segment 2 ST: Alarm
Segment 2 TT: ,Wekkers



[Edited at 2018-09-21 20:53 GMT]


 


To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator:


You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request »

CSV software file with quotes - how can I best prepare it for translation in Trados?







Wordfast Pro
Translation Memory Software for Any Platform

Exclusive discount for ProZ.com users! Save over 13% when purchasing Wordfast Pro through ProZ.com. Wordfast is the world's #1 provider of platform-independent Translation Memory software. Consistently ranked the most user-friendly and highest value

Buy now! »
CafeTran Espresso
You've never met a CAT tool this clever!

Translate faster & easier, using a sophisticated CAT tool built by a translator / developer. Accept jobs from clients who use Trados, MemoQ, Wordfast & major CAT tools. Download and start using CafeTran Espresso -- for free

Buy now! »