Under Community Review

Enable Import of All XLIFF-Based Formats (Including memoQ, MXLIFF, etc.) into Translation Memory (TM)

Description:
Currently, Trados Studio only supports importing SDL-specific XLIFF (.sdlxliff) files into TMs, excluding industry-standard XLIFF derivatives such as memoQ’s MQXLIFF, MXLIFF, or other custom variants. This limitation forces users to manually convert these files into supported formats or use workarounds like exporting to TMX, which introduces unnecessary friction into the workflow. What is surprising me is that Trados allows importing such files to work on them in the editor, so using the same concept, it should allow importing them into TM to make sure users can leverage whatever is translated and approved in those other xliff formats into a Studio TM. File import dialog showing a folder structure with an SDL XLIFF file selected and supported file types dropdown menu visible.Cartoon of a robot labeled Trados examining a memoQ XLIFF scroll with confusion, while a man holds a sign saying 'Just let it in! It's still XLIFF!'

Given that XLIFF is an XML-based standard and most of these formats differ only slightly in structure or metadata, it would be relatively simple to implement a parser that either:

  1. Supports direct import of these variants, or

  2. Provides an optional pre-processing step that extracts segment-level bilingual data and converts it to a Trados-compatible format like tab-delimited bilingual text.

Benefits:

  • Promotes interoperability across major CAT tools.

  • Saves time for freelance translators and LSPs who work across platforms.

  • Reduces reliance on third-party tools and manual conversion efforts.

  • Increases adoption of Trados Studio in multi-tool environments.

    Sameh Ragab

Sameh Elsharkawy
  • in reply to Paul

    Thanks for the helpful discussion and for clarifying Trados Studio's approach to handling various XLIFF derivatives.

    As it happens, necessity is the mother of invention—and having faced this exact bottleneck too many times, I ended up building a dedicated application to simplify the whole process.

    Meet Sam’s TWAS – Translation Workflow Automation Suite Dart
    More specifically, the TWAS Bilingual Files Converter module, which streamlines what would otherwise require multiple steps and manual conversions.

    From the attached screenshot, you can see the app allows users to drag and drop bilingual files in nearly any common format—including:

    • Excel (.xlsx)

    • TMX (.tmx)

    • Tab-separated (.tsv)

    • HTML Bilingual

    • XLIFF-based formats (like MQXLIFF, MXLIFF, etc.)

    And instantly convert them to any of the following:

    • Tab-delimited (.txt)

    • Word bilingual files (.docx)

    • Target-only plain text

    • TSV Tab separated format
    • HTML Bitext format
    • MS Word two column format (like external review format, but with plain bilingual data)

    • Or back into other structured formats like TMX and Excel

    It’s all wrapped into a simple UI, with batch conversion, selective output, and cost estimation (This is an advanced feature for token calculation using RAG technology for a totally different purpose) —all in one click.

    So yes, I completely understand the need to normalize formats before TM import—but sometimes it's just easier to automate the normalization entirely. Slight smile

    Happy to share more if it helps others facing the same friction in their workflows!

    Sameh RagabScreenshot of Sam's TWAS Bilingual Files Converter application showing a drag-and-drop interface for bilingual files, supported formats, and export options with buttons for actions.

    ISO 17100 Lead Auditor and Certified Translation Provider
    UN and Worldbank Registered Translation Consultant

  • in reply to Xavier Coutant

     

    As Daniel mentioned "Direct import is not possible as we do need to convert the source formats into one generic format that we can import".  So the process would be something like this:

    • create a project in Trados Team with the XLIFF files (we support pretty much any XLIFF formats)
    • as they are XLIFF you have the source and target already, so you just populate your TM directly from your project.

    How you do this could be a manual process - it is easy enough - or you could use the API to do this from a custom application, or a command line tool via PowerShell for example.

    If SDLXLIFF is specifically important for you then it would probably be easier to use Trados Studio, also using the API if you wanted, to take your XLIFF files, add to a project to get your SDLXLIFF files and copy to some location you wanted them.

    Probably helps to understand what you want to do with them as that would make it easier to provide a more sensible answer for you.  Also better to discuss in the forums I think as this ideas page isn't the most ideal place to discuss something that may be a little off-topic.

  • in reply to Daniel Brockmann

    I am using Trados Team. Does Trados Team allow batch converting third party xliff files to sdlxliff? If so, how does it work?

  • Hi    - I think you can do this:

    1. Batch-convert third-party CAT tool formats to SDLXLIFF as part of normal project preparation (you could even create a custom batch task sequence that would only convert the files and not do anything else with them). As you say, Studio is the most interoperable tool here supporting generic XLIFF, XTM XLIFF, Phrase XLIFF (mxliff) and MemoQ XLIFF, which can all be prepared in this way.
    2. Take the resulting SDLXLIFF files and import them into the TM.

    Direct import is not possible as we do need to convert the source formats into one generic format that we can import, but it should be very easy to achieve using Studio's flexible capabilities. (We cannot implement four or five different import mechanisms, but we do support one conversion mechanism for all).