In this section, we discuss a number of project-related features that are primarily of interest to project managers, but which are also useful for translators to know about.
PerfectMatch is a more reliable version of context matching for use in situations where the source documents are updated, either periodically or during translation (as is common in localization projects). If a client sends an updated source document without indicating what has changed, you may feel the need to recheck even segments with a 100% match from the TM to make sure that wider changes in the context do not require a change in the translation. PerfectMatch addresses this problem by checking the document context of each segment against the corresponding segment in the originally translated bilingual (SDLXLIFF or TTX) file, rather than against the TMs, to provide a strongly context-based match.
PerfectMatch segments can be generated during project creation, as described in this section, or on one or more files in an existing project, via Batch Tasks | Apply PerfectMatch. PerfectMatch segments appear in a separate category in the Analyze Files report, for inclusion in or exclusion from the billable word count, as desired.
The easiest way to create a PerfectMatch project is to re-use the settings from the original project (before the source documents were updated):
- In the Projects view, go the Home tab and choose New Project.
- In the Project Type screen, choose Create a project based on a previous project, and select your original project from the list, as shown in the following screenshot. If it does not appear in the list, click Browse and, from your original project folder, select the project file (extension
.sdlproj).
- Follow the wizard. When you get to the Project Files screen, add the updated source documents as the files for translation in this project. You should be able to leave all other settings unchanged, because they will have been picked up from the original project. Continue until you reach the SDL PerfectMatch screen.
- In the SDL PerfectMatch screen, you will see that any documents whose filename has not been changed have been paired up with the SDLXLIFF file from the original project to provide PerfectMatch segments based on their original document context. In the example shown in the following screenshot in step 5, the first file in the list has been renamed (from v1.0 to v2.0), and so has not been paired, but both the other two files have been paired automatically.
- To pair an unpaired file in the list, right-click in the area under Previous Document and select Add Previous Document as shown in the following screenshot, and browse to the original project folder:
- You will need to locate the target folder created by SDL Trados Studio (it will have a name such as
fr-FRoren-US). From the target folder, select the corresponding SDLXLIFF or TTX file. In our example in the preceding screenshot, this is the file namedadvanced_topics_v1.0.docx.sdlxliff. Leave the Translation transfer options setting at the bottom of the screen as Apply PerfectMatch and lock. - Once all of the PerfectMatch file pairs are in place, go through the rest of the project wizard as normally.
In the new SDLXLIFF, PerfectMatch segments have the PM segment type, signed off status, and are locked with the text grayed out, as shown in the following screenshot:
For more details, see the PerfectMatch help files at http://tinyurl.com/perf-match.
Project packages are a tool for project managers to share some or all of the files and the settings in a project with a translator or reviewer by placing those files and settings in one file (the project package) that can easily be delivered by e-mail, FTP, and so on.
Project packages are created from a project configured by the project manager to send to a translator or reviewer. When the translator or reviewer receives the project package and opens it in SDL Trados Studio, the project will appear exactly as set up by the project manager, with the project files, resources (such as TMs and termbases), and other settings (such as QA Checker) already in place. By the same token, when the project manager opens the translated or reviewed files sent back by the translator or reviewer in the form of a return package, the project files will have been updated with any changes made by the translator or reviewer, and should import back into and update the original project. The project manager can then, if necessary, use the same project to create another project package in which to send the material to another participant in the project cycle.
The following is a summary of the procedure for creating a project package:
- In the Projects view, select the project and, from the Home tab or right-click menu, choose Create Project Package (or if the package recipient is using SDL Trados Studio 2009, Create Project Trados 2009 Package).
- In the Select Files screen, select the project files to include by ticking the box(es) under Name.
- In the Project Package Options screen, specify the target folder where the package will be created. If your project has more than one target language, you can also specify whether to create a separate package for each one.
- In the Review Project Packages screen, you must assign the project package to a user under Assign to. To create a user, click Users. Assigned users do not have to be real people; you can use aliases such as "Translator (En-Fr)" if you prefer.
You must also choose a Task from Translate or Review. This setting determines whether the files will open in Translation or Review mode when opened by the recipient. If you add entries to Due date and Comment, they will be seen by the recipient when the package is opened.
An example of these settings is shown in the following screenshot:
- The Additional Options screen allows you to specify the material that is included in the package. Under Project Translation Memory, if you do not want the translator or reviewer to work with project TMs, select Do not include any project translation memories (see the section later in this chapter for an explanation of project TMs). Under File-based Resources, choose the TMs and other resources that you want to include.
Click Finish to create the project package.
- To access the project package (
.sdlppxfile) so that you can send it to the intended recipient, in the Creating Packages screen, click Open Target Folder.
To open a project package that you have received from your project manager, choose File | Open Package. When you select the package, you will first see the Review Package Contents screen displaying a list of the files for translation or review, word count information, and any comments from the project manager. Under Project Folder, specify a target folder to store the project, and then click Finish (if the project package was created in SDL Trados Studio 2009, you will be prompted to choose the target folder after you click Finish). Wait until the project has imported and click Close. The project now appears in the list of projects in the Projects view.
Project packages are also commonly used in SDL Worldserver and SDL TMS environments. Users can open and process SDL Worldserver or SDL TMS packages in SDL Trados Studio as normally (such as by adding local termbases and TMs of their own). Return packages have to be created by the same ID/person who opened them. Each saves back to the appropriate format for upload to SDL Worldserver or SDL TMS.
To return the translated or reviewed files to your project manager, you will create a return package to send to your project manager. In the Projects view, select the project and, from the Home tab or right-click menu, choose Create Return Package. Follow the instructions in the wizard, specifying the location for your return package (the .sdlrpx file).
Note
The return package includes only the translated or reviewed SDLXLIFF files, the project file (.sdlproj), and a folder called File Types. It does not contain any translation resources (TMs, termbases, or AutoSuggest dictionaries). Once the translations in the SDLXLIFFs are considered final, the project manager can update the TMs using the Update Main Translation Memories batch task, as described earlier in this chapter.
To open a return package from a translator or reviewer, choose File | Open Package and follow the instructions in the wizard. This will update the SDLXLIFF files in the original project on which the project package is based with the translated or reviewed versions.
The return package can therefore only be opened in an instance of SDL Trados Studio in which the original project is open. If the original project was created on a different person's machine, for example, you must open the project (.sdlproj) file on your own machine first (by copying the entire project folder, or over a network, for example).
In SDL Trados Studio, the TMs that you create and select to use in a project are known as main translation memories. A project translation memory, on the other hand, is a subset of a main TM that is sometimes used in project management situations. To create a project TM, SDL Trados Studio compares the main TMs selected for use in the project against the project files. Only those segments in the main TMs that will produce a match in the project files are then extracted and placed in a separate project TM.
Imagine a project manager with a large TM containing far more material than is relevant to the documents needing translation. Rather than passing the entire TM to the translator, he can instead generate a smaller project TM containing only matching segments.
A negative consequence of this is that project TMs may, in some cases, prevent the translator from finding potential sub-segment matches via a concordance search. It is therefore good project management practice to provide freelance translators and reviewers with larger memories for such sub-matches, thus helping to maintain consistency with clients' terminology.
Note that when the translation is done using a project TM, the project TM gets updated, but the main TM from which it was created does not, even if it is set to update. This is because project TMs are partly intended to be a means for the project manager to ensure that the main TM does not get updated until the translations have been approved. Freelance translators who use a project TM can add a separate TM to the existing project, in which to store their translations and generate matches as they work.
To use project translation memories, in the Project Preparation screen of the New Project wizard, choose the task Prepare instead of Prepare without project TM.
A project translation memory is generated for each main translation memory in a subfolder of the project folder, named Tm.
Project translation memories appear as follows in the Project Settings window:
