Importing a PowerPoint file into MemoQ

Usually translators will receive an XPR or an SPR project with all of the files to be translated already in the project itself. However, sometimes due to the size of the imported file the translator will receive and empty project and be asked to import the file himself. The links to the TM and the TB as well as the Project Settings will have already been set up by the PM.

To import a PPT file it is quite simple. If the PM asks you to a simple import you can click on Add Document in the Project Manager tab (see image below) and choose it in the dialog window that will follow or you can simply drag and drop the file into the main window.

Project Manager Window - Add Document

If the PM asks you to import the slide master then click on Add Document as instead.

Project Manager Window - Add document as

Choose the file from the dialog window and then tick the Include Slide Master… tickbox as shown below.

Import Settings - PPT file

Once the importation process has been completed you can start translating. You need to always use the XPR file that has been sent by Lexcelera since it is in this project that the TM, the TB and the settings are configured.

Delivering a translated file in MemoQ

Error in segment

Once a translation or edit has been finished on MemoQ some checks need to be done to ensure that everything has been covered and the best quality in the translation. Here are the steps to be followed:

1. Run the Spell Check by pressing F7. This will show a dialong window as the one shown below. Go through all the segments there are none to be reviewed.
   

   Spell Check

2. Check that there are no errors shown in the status bar in the bottom. You will also notice them by the red circle with the exclamation mark to the right of the target column.

   Correct the error by going into the segment and adding the appropriate tags so as to have as many as in the source and in similar places and reconfirming the segments until the red circle disappears. See Handling tags in MemoQ and DV X.

3. Go back to the Project Manager tab and choose all those files that you want to export that are at 100% status, right click them and choose Export Bilingual.
   

   Export Bilingual

   This will create an MBD file that will contain both the source and target and will be the file used by the editor if you are translating, or by the PM to reexport if there’s any problem with the final file delivered.

4. Go back to the Project manager window and choose all those files that you want to export that are at 100% status, right click them and choose Export (dialog).
   

   Export (dialog)

   Deliver both of these files to the PM and editor (if applicable).

Editing in MemoQ

Even though the interface is the same working on a MemoQ project editing differs slightly from working on a translation project in MemoQ. In this section you will find some helpful tips for when editing in MemoQ.

The project always starts with importing an XPR (in some cases SPR) file. The procedure to import an XPR file is covered in Importing a Complete Project. After having imported the XPR file sent by Lexcelera, which contains the links to both the necessary TMs and TBs you need to import the files sent by the translator in MBD format.

To do this go into the Project Manager tab and click on Import/Update bilingual highlighted in the picture below:

Import/Update Bilingual from Project Manager view

In the dialog window choose the MBD file sent by the translator. If prompted overwrite the original file in the project which is not translated. The file will then appear on the Project Manager window with a 100% status. See below.

100% status in Project Manager Window

Double click on the file which should bring you to a translated two-column view such as the one shown below:

Translated Two-Column view

You will notice that all segments will appear either as a 100% or a 101% match. This is because the file has already been translated in its entirety and sent to the memory by the translator. The file will also appear with a 100% on the status bar on the bottom and with all segments confirmed.

The editor will have to then go segment by segment reviewing the translation. Each time a segment is modified its status changes from confirmed to edited. This can be viewed on the status bar at the bottom where there will be fewer segments Confirmed and more segments Edited. You will also be able to monitor this on the column to the right of the target column where the green tickmark will become a red cross on the status is changed as is shown in the picture below where 5 segments are edit and 159 are confirmed with a status of 96%.

Edited Segments

The editor needs to confirm all of these segments before exporting and delivering the project. To confirm the segments the CTRL + ENTER keyboard shortcut is used. If the editor prefers to edit abatch of segments and then confirm all those that he has edited he will use the CTRL + SHIFT + U keyboard shotcut. The follwing dialog window will appear:

Confirm and update all edited rows window

After confirming all of the segments on the active document the status will go up considerably and the editor can save his work for later or carry on with another batch. It is recommended in Big collaboration projects that the editor does not pass too long without confirming segments.

Once the edit has been finished the same steps that are used for delivering a Translation are followed. Please see Delivering a translated file in MemoQ.

Importing a MemoQ Complete Project (XPR file)

When a translator is assigned a MemoQ project an XPR file is sent. This file with an .xpr extension is a file that contains all the necessary ressources for the project:

• the files to be translated
• a Translation Memory (TM) on the server
• a Terminology Database (TB) on the server
• and project specific information (project number, domain, etc.)

In order to import a Complete Project you can either double click the file or open MemoQ and go to the File menu and choose Import Complete Project as seen below.

Importing Complete Project (XPR file) into MemoQ

Once the project has been imported there’s only one thing to be checked before starting the translation. In the Settings tab in the Project manager window check that in the created by field your name appears in the correct format – first name initial and last name. For example: Jdoe, Pdiaz, Fmartin.

Project Manager's settings tab

Once this has been done you can start translating by going back to the Translations tab and double clicking in one of the documents available.

Translations tab

Handling tags in MemoQ and DV X

Sometimes in a document there is formatting that needs to be maintained but cannot be displayed on the translation view of CAT tools. MemoQ and DV X use the same solution to show these formatting changes: a tag is inserted there where there is a formatting change. These formatting tags look like this {1}. Files cannot be exported unless the same amount of tags appear in the source an in the target.

In DV X these tags can represent bold, italics, underlined, non-breaking spaces, superscript, hyperlinks and others. it is therefore important to place them somewhere that resembles their position on the source. For example:

La {1}voiture{2} de John est rouge

needs to be translated by putting the tags around the same word since it represents a formatting change specific to that word.

John's {1}car{2} is red

Putting both tags at the beginning of the segment one next to the otherwill give a result a translation where the formatting is lost.

{1} {2} John's car is red

This is to be avoided.

There are other cases when clearly the tag stands for a non breaking space. Such as when translating from French and a tag systematically appears before a question mark, or a colon. In that case, if the target language does not allow a space between the work and the question mark, the tag should be put after the question mark, or before the last word. For example:

Où est la voiture{0}?

should be translated

Where is the car?{0}

or

Where is the{0}car?

This will ensure that the translation is grammatically correct on the target language too.

In MemoQ the same thing applies, however since MemoQ allows the use of bold, italics, and underlined tags should be fewer. The use of MemoQ’s preview will also help the translator know where to place a specific tag.

Working on DV X’s external views

For some projects, specially multilingual localization projects, Lexcelera works with DV X; a very powerful CAT tool that allows the creation of exports that can be translated on other CAT tools or no tool at all.

These exports come in two formats, both of them RTF, that can be opened in Microsoft Office Word.

Two-Column external view

If you don’t use any CAT tools this is the file that you need to use. The file will usually have the _2col.rtf extension and once opened it will look like shown below:

DV X"

In the first column you will find the codes needed for reimportation into DV X. These should not be replaced, modified or deleted under any circumstance since by doing so reimportation becomes impossible.

In the second column you will find the source – the text to be translated. This column should not be modified either. The translation needs to be inserted into the third column. You might already find in this column some translated text. This text is to be edited since it can range from fuzzy to exact matches extracted from the memory.

In the fourth column you will have the possibility of adding any commentary that you consider relevant for the Editor, Project Manager or client. Please tells us that you have added comments when you deliver the files so that we check them.

When translating please pay special attention to tags (See this post)

Trados RTF external view

For those translators that work on MemoQ, Wordfast, Trados or other there is the possibility of using your own CAT tool on the file sent. You will receive a Trados segmented RTF file that can be translated on any of these tools.

Note: if you are working on Trados please do not use TagEditor, nor send TTX files.

The file will usually have the _trados.rtf extension and once opened it will look like shown below:

DV X"

The files that you will deliver need to follow exactly the same formatting as the one sent to you. No changes, modifications, deletions anywhere are permitted, this includes cleaning the file.

Adding extra spaces anywhere in the code will also damage the file. Only modify the target section of the segment. The file that we need for importation needs to be in RTF format, unclean and without changes in the font style or code.

When translating please pay special attention to tags (See this post)

Contact the CAT department if you have any issues.

Changing the server address for TMs and TBs

Due to technical issues Lexcelera had to change it’s server address for MemoQ. If you still have TMs of TBs with the memoq.lexcelera.com address you need to change it in order to avoid getting error messages.

To do it please follow the steps described below.

1. Go into the translation memories tab in the project manager window
2. Choose the memory on the left and click on remove
3. Choose the same memory on the right and click on unregister
4. Click on register remote on the third column
5. On the register window replace memoq.lexcelera.com with 80.118.183.98 and click on select
6. Choose the same memory you had before and click on add
7. Select the memory on the window on the right and click on add on the second column

The memory should now appear on the left window with the IP address 80.118.183.98 next to it.

Follow the exact same procedure with the term bases.

CAT support website launched

Welcome to lexcelera.wordPress.com.

In order to provide better support to our translators I’ve decided to launch this website that will help answer the issues most frequently encountered. It will be organized in such a way that articles can be read isolated without having to read others except in very specific cases.

Should you not find what you are looking related to the technical issues that you encounter working for Lexcelera please send an email to eduardo@lexcelera.com and I will get back to you as soon as possible.