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Idea Delivered Partially

Setting to Partially Delivered as an app is available for doing this. Also virtual merge can be used flexibility to open files as one in the Editor.

See Merging files virtually in our documentation for more information on virtually merging files in Trados Studio.

Enable Merging Multiple Files into One SDLXLIFF After Project Creation in Trados Studio

Currently, in Trados Studio (desktop software), multiple files can only be merged into a single SDLXLIFF when adding files at the initial stage of creating a translation project. Please enable the option to merge multiple files into one SDLXLIFF even after the translation project has been created.

For example, during the translation process, if a translator adds 10 new files to be translated, it should be possible to merge these 10 newly added files into a single SDLXLIFF, or to merge them together with other pending translation files in the current project into one SDLXLIFF file.

Trados Studio interface showing a list of files with a red box highlighting the text 'Always allow users to combine these documents into one sdlxliff document.'

jack zhong
  • in reply to jack zhong

     

    Thank you for your considered thoughts on this.  I don't agree with this because the AppStore plugins are sometimes unstable in the same way as the core product can be unstable, but at least they can be fixed from one day to the next.  There is no need to wait for a core product release or update in order to have something resolved.

    Studio plugins that are heavily used are always updated quickly.  If they are only compatible with an older version then it's more likely this is because they are not heavily used, and in this case why would we even want it in the core product?

    Putting these features into Studio to work the way you seem to think would in practice be an additional step, that could be added to the plugin if it was needed.  That step would be to import the file into the project.  Studio would not handle this any differently being in the product because Studio does not work with a database backend... it's a file.  This carries advantages and disadvantages.  The feature you have asked for would indeed be trivial if we did have a database backend!

    I also don't agree with you that all functionalities should be added into the desktop product.  For years our user base has asked for less complexity, not more.  This is because many features are not used by all users, or just occasionally used.  So the majority preference would be a simpler, smaller, core product with an easy way to add features when needed.  This is what we have tried to do.

    Sometimes you write as though we are new here and have never spoken to anyone!  We have held many focus groups all over the world in the almost 20-years that Trados Studio has been around, and you can be sure that the product team did the same thing for many years prior to that.  The product evolves to support the needs of our customers, and we certainly speak to more users than you do (it would be rather unusual if this wasn't the case!!).  At the end of the day we have to adopt a strategy for the product that works for the majority, while doing our best to support the needs of more niche users.

    I also think that this statement "having more features within the desktop client of Trados Studio is feasible and desirable" is very likely to become less and less required as time goes by.  The way we work is changing, desktop technology is less used today than it has even been used and that trend of moving into the cloud is unlikely to slow down any time soon.  The type of content we work with is changing, how it's delivered is changing, and you can be sure that the way in which we translate it is changing too.

    So I would not support putting valuable resources into adding features to an already heavy desktop tool to do something that is already possible with a particularly good plugin.  The effort involved would not be trivial.  If your biggest complaint is having to add the files in manually then your idea is more likely to see success by enhancing the studioViews plugin to do this automatically.  Perfectly possible using the APIs and what's especially good is that any developer could do this as we open source it - https://github.com/RWS/Sdl-Community/tree/master/StudioViews

    Funny thing is we don't see many people taking advantage of the ability to improve them.  I wonder why?

  • in reply to Paul

    Dear Mr. Paul, 

    Thank you for your response.

    Studio View is expected to be achievable; however, there are certain issues to consider:

    1. The RWS AppStore plugins are sometimes unstable and may not deliver the functionalities as described. Moreover, there is often no timely technical support available to address these issues.
    2. The RWS AppStore plugins are typically only compatible with specific desktop versions of Trados Studio. As Trados Studio continues to be upgraded and updated, these plugins frequently fail to adapt to the latest versions and may even become unusable.
    3. The process of installing Studio View and merging several files to export them as a single SDLXLIFF file (note that this SDLXLIFF file exists independently) requires the file to be re-imported into Trados Studio for further operations. In contrast, merging files directly within Trados Studio allows for immediate use within the software. Using plugins often requires four or more steps to achieve the desired result, whereas Trados Studio itself can accomplish this in just one step if direct merging is supported. Such translation assistance software is essential for improving efficiency.
    4. Integrating all functionalities directly into the desktop version of Trados Studio is a more popular, efficient, and convenient solution. With increasingly advanced computer configurations, having more features within the desktop client of Trados Studio is feasible and desirable. RWS AppStore plugins should serve as supplementary backup tools, to be used when the desktop client’s functionalities are unavailable or fail.

    I recommend conducting surveys and statistical analyses by distributing many of the ideas and suggestions from the Trados Studio community to a broader group of translators and translation managers. In particular, it would be beneficial to reach out to those who previously used Trados Studio but have since switched to other CAT tools. These individuals typically do not participate in community evaluations, but their reasons for switching to other CAT tools are certainly worth investigating.

    best regards and thanks 

    Jack

  • in reply to jack zhong

      

    This is already possible using the studioViews app from the appstore:

    https://appstore.rws.com/Plugin/12

    The reason we can have an appstore is because the platform Studio supports was built specifically for this to allow the core product to be as light as possible.  We already have too much in the product that should really be in the appstore, and I personally would not support making this a core feature.