In this section, we show you how to convert a simple Excel glossary into a MultiTerm termbase and vice versa. There are two options for converting terminology from glossaries into MultiTerm. One is the Glossary Converter app that users with a valid SDL Trados Studio license can download from the SDL OpenExchange App Store, and the other is the MultiTerm Convert tool that is included with the standard MultiTerm installation.
Glossary Converter allows you to convert terminology between MultiTerm termbases and Excel glossaries. It creates a new termbase when converting terminology from an Excel glossary, but does not allow you to import term lists to an existing termbase. MultiTerm Convert, on the other hand, allows you to convert glossaries from various formats into MultiTerm, but not to export out of MultiTerm. MultiTerm Convert is arguably more complex to use than Glossary Converter, but gives users correspondingly more control over the import process, and allows you to add term lists to an existing glossary (provided that the structure of the glossary is similar enough to that of the termbase). For most freelance users, however, Glossary Converter is likely to be sufficient for their needs.
Note that flat file formats such as Excel files are not designed to handle the kind of complex, cross-field relations that database files such as termbases can manage, so some preparation and experimentation may be required to get the conversion to work as you want it to. Whichever tool you use, a number of files are created automatically in the conversion process, so it is a good idea to create a copy of the glossary that you are converting in a new, separate folder.
The Glossary Converter tool is especially useful for freelancers working with simple glossaries. If you have a valid SDL Trados Studio license, you can download the app from the SDL OpenExchange site http://www.translationzone.com/openexchange. You can also access this link from the Welcome view's Navigation pane. The app provides a quick and easy method to convert glossaries in spreadsheet format (.xls, .xlsx, .csv, or .txt) to a MultiTerm termbase and vice versa. The examples described in this chapter were performed in Version 3.0 of the app.
For more information about the various conversion options in Glossary Converter, visit the developer's support pages at http://tinyurl.com/glossary-converter.
Before converting your glossary, ensure that each column in the Excel file has an identifiable heading, as the column headings will form the names of the language fields and descriptive fields in the converted termbase.
When preparing a glossary for conversion in Glossary Converter, consider the following possibilities:
- To import synonyms: To import synonyms, separate the synonyms in each language column using (by default) the | (pipe) symbol. In the following screenshot showing part of a glossary, the English entry outlined in the first row contains two synonyms separated in this way.
- To add information in descriptive fields: One area that requires careful thought is how to add to your Excel glossary information that will appear in the termbase in the form of a descriptive field (see the Essential information about MultiTerm termbases section earlier in this chapter).
To add descriptive field information at entry level, we create a single column that applies to all of the other information in that particular row in the Excel file. In the following screenshot, the Subject column will become a field at entry level after conversion.
To add information at language (index) or term level, we create separate descriptive fields for each language or synonym respectively. In the following screenshot, we have created separate Gender columns corresponding to each of the French and German columns, to allow for the fact that the two languages will have different gender information. Columns other than languages are assigned to the language column on their left during conversion, so we can expect the two gender columns to be assigned to the correct languages in the converted termbase.
Note
At the time of writing, descriptive fields are converted into the text field type. There is no simple way to convert, for example, the Gender field in the glossary in the preceding screenshot into a picklist field in the termbase. Instead, the entries (such as Masc and Fem) will appear in the termbase as text inside a text field. A workaround for this, which is beyond the scope of this book, is to use a termbase template to perform the conversion. See the developer's support pages for more details.
- Assigning descriptive fields to synonyms: A further complication arises when you have synonyms that each require different descriptive field information assigning to them, such as when you have synonyms with a different gender or status. This issue is also dealt with using (by default) the | (pipe) symbol, as shown in the following screenshot:
Here, the English entry contains three synonyms and the French two. The status for each synonym is assigned by separating the statuses with the pipe symbol. In the English entry, no status is assigned to the middle of the three synonyms by leaving empty the place between the two pipe symbols where the status would appear.
First we will show you how to convert an Excel glossary into a termbase:
- In Windows 7, go to Start | All Programs | SDL OpenExchange, choose GlossaryConverter. In Windows 8, choose Start and go to the Apps list (Metro screen), then choose Glossary Converter. A shortcut is also added automatically to your desktop, and you can add a shortcut to your taskbar.
- Open Windows Explorer at the location containing the glossary, and drag and drop the glossary file into the Glossary Converter window, shown in the following screenshot, or onto the shortcut icon:
Notice that the gray frames around the Glossary Converter interface change color while the conversion is being processed, and a progress bar runs at the bottom.
- If your Glossary Converter settings are prepared correctly (see Glossary Converter support pages for further explanations), Glossary Converter uses the column headings from the Excel file to assign the columns to fields in the termbase.
In Glossary Converter, you will see that the column headers from your Excel file are now listed under Name. Check that each field under Name has the correct field type assigned to it under Field Type. Under Language, Glossary Converter lists the language that MultiTerm will assign in the converted termbase to the language columns from the Excel file. Check that the termbase languages (under Language) are all paired with the correct language from the Excel file (under Name).
If any of the information is incorrect, or if Glossary Converter initially shows the word Unknown under Field Type, as shown in the following screenshot, select the row and click the appropriate button on the right to assign or change the language, or to define the level at which the field should appear in the termbase:
Note
Glossary Converter stores the column names and associated field type that you import, so that it can assign the same field type information to those column names the next time you convert a glossary. To check or modify this information, click the settings area of the Glossary Converter window and choose the Fields tab at the top. Here, you can add and delete entries and modify their file type and language associations.
- If all of the Field Type information is correct, click the OK button. The glossary will be converted into a MultiTerm termbase and various settings files in the same folder as the glossary. Note that if you have previously converted a glossary with the same column headers, Glossary Converter may remember all of the column information and create the converted termbase in your folder without showing you the screen in the preceding screenshot.
Glossary Converter is currently the easiest way to convert a MultiTerm termbase into a spreadsheet format. The procedure is very similar to that described in the preceding section. Simply drag your termbase (.sdltb) file onto the Glossary Converter window, make any necessary changes to the settings in the Field Definition screen, and click OK. The glossary is created in the same folder as the termbase in .xlsx format.
Converting glossaries with MultiTerm Convert can be slightly daunting at first, but with practice, you should find that you can do it fairly quickly. Conversion with MultiTerm Convert is a three-stage process, described in the following sections. MultiTerm Convert can convert glossaries from a number of formats, but we will focus on conversion from Excel-based glossaries.
Before importing, prepare your glossary in a similar way to that described previously for the Glossary Converter tool. To import synonyms, however, you must create an additional column with exactly the same language name, as in the case of the two English columns in the following screenshot:
The first step in this three-stage process is to use MultiTerm Convert to split your glossary into two parts: content (filename ending in .mtf.xml) and structure (filename ending in .xdt).
- To open MultiTerm Convert, in Windows 7, choose Start | All Programs | SDL | SDL MultiTerm 2014 | SDL MultiTerm 2014 Convert. In Windows 8, go to the Apps/Metro screen and choose SDL MultiTerm 2014 Convert.
This opens a wizard.
- In the first screen titled Welcome, click Next. In the screen titled Conversion Session, leave the default option (New conversion session) checked and click Next.
Tip
Getting the conversion right can, in some cases, take trial and error, by running the conversion process several times until you get it right. To avoid reconfiguring the settings in the wizard each time, you can save your settings by checking the option Save conversion session and then clicking Save as to save the conversion file (
.xcd). The next time you run the conversion on the same glossary, choose Load existing conversion session, select the conversion session file, and then go through the wizard as shown in the following steps, tweaking the settings as necessary. - In the screen titled Conversion Options, select Microsoft Excel format as the format of the glossary file you want to import, as shown in the following screenshot, and then click Next:
- In the screen titled Specify Files, click the first Browse button next to the Input file field and select your Excel glossary. The other fields are then filled out automatically. Click Next.
- In the screen titled Specify Column Header, on the left, select a column header, and on the right, assign it either as Language field (selecting the appropriate language from the list), or Descriptive field (selecting the appropriate data type from the list). Do this for all column headers, one by one.
In the following screenshot, we assign the termbase language German (on the right) to the column in the Excel file with the header German (on the left). We assign the column headers English and French in the same way, by selecting them on the left and choosing the appropriate Language field on the right.
For the column header Gender, we select it on the left, click the option Descriptive field on the right, and choose Picklist from the list, as shown in the following screenshot:
In our example, the picklist values Masc and Fem from the Excel glossary will be placed in the picklist automatically when we import the terms in Stage 3 of this process. Once you have finished assigning all of the column headers, you can check that you have assigned them to the correct termbase field by selecting them one by one on the left and checking the termbase field that you have assigned them to on the right.
- In the screen titled Create Entry Structure, we add the descriptive fields on the right to the appropriate entry class on the left. In our example, reflecting the two Gender columns in our Excel file, we assign Gender #1 to the French term, and Gender #2 to the German term, as shown in the following screenshot. Notice that there are two entries for English, because the Excel glossary in our example contains two columns for that language to store the synonyms.
- Click Next in the remaining screens of the wizard. You will see a message telling you the number of entries converted followed by the Conversion Complete screen. Click Finish.
In the folder that contains your glossary, these steps will have created three additional files with the same name as your glossary, shown in the following screenshot. Of these, the .xdt and .mtf.xml files will be used in the next two stages.
It is possible to import terminology lists into a preexisting termbase, but the structures of the termbase and the imported file must be compatible for this to work. To simplify our explanation, we will create a new termbase to import into. If you are importing into a preexisting MultiTerm termbase, you can skip this step and go straight to Stage 3.
The process of creating the termbase in MultiTerm is as described earlier in this chapter in the Creating a simple termbase section, but there is now one difference.
In the Termbase Definition screen, to ensure that your new termbase has the same structure as your glossary, you will choose the termbase definition file created by MultiTerm Convert in Stage 1. Choose Load an existing termbase definition file(as shown in the following screenshot), browse to the folder containing your glossary, and select the file with the name of your glossary (ending in .xdt). The Open dialog will display only .xdt files, so unless you have converted other glossaries in the same folder, you will see only the .xdt file that you are looking for.
Follow the wizard through to completion (there should be no need to modify the settings), although you may wish to check in the Descriptive Fields screen to make sure that any picklist entries have been successfully added to fields of that type (such as the Gender field in our example).
At the end of Stage 2, you will have a newly created, empty termbase open in MultiTerm. Alternatively, if you are importing your glossary into a preexisting termbase, you will, at this point, open that termbase in MultiTerm via File | New | Create Termbase. In this final stage of the conversion process, we will import into the termbase the terms themselves, which are stored in the .mtf.xml file created by MultiTerm Convert in Stage 1, as follows:
- In MultiTerm, click the Termbase Management button. In the Catalog Categories pane, under the name of the termbase, choose Import, then right-click and choose Process, as shown in the following screenshot:
- When the wizard starts, in the first screen (General Settings), under Import file, click Browse and navigate to the folder that contains your glossary (it normally appears automatically). Select the file with the name of your glossary (ending in
.mtf.xml). Select the Fast import option. We know that the import file is compliant with MultiTerm XML because it was created in MultiTerm Convert. If this option is not selected, you will be asked in the next screen to create an exclusion file that will list any import errors. The results of doing this for the file in our example are as shown in the following screenshot:
- Click Next. You will see a screen telling you the number of entries processed. Click Next again, and then Finish.
- To see your newly imported termbase entries in MultiTerm, click the Terms button and then the Browse tab just above it, as shown in the following screenshot:
If you are going to import term lists into a preexisting termbase, ensure that any columns in your Excel glossary that correspond to existing fields in your termbase have exactly the same header as those fields.
Language column headers in the glossary must be exactly the same as those of the corresponding fields in MultiTerm; for example, French should be named French and not Fre, otherwise you may not be able to import your content (.mtf.xml) file into MultiTerm in Stage 3 of the process described in the preceding steps.
Columns in the Excel glossary corresponding to descriptive fields in the termbase should have exactly the same name as those in the termbase, or they will be imported as a new, additional field in Stage 3.
Imported terms with an already existing entry in the termbase are added as duplicate entries. It is therefore a good idea, if practicable, to remove duplicate rows from the Excel glossary before conversion. Alternatively, you can delete any duplicated entries in MultiTerm after import.