Under Community Review

Make ‘Quick Add New Term’ completely skip showing and giving focus to Termbase Viewer?

This is something that has been bothering me for a very long time, and so much so that I recently even stopped using Studio's built in termbases altogether, both the regular ones and the Language Cloud one. I am currently (quite happily) using the amazing ‘RyS Termbase & Translation Assembler’ (https://appstore.sdl.com/language/app/rys-termbase-translation-assembler/766/) as a complete replacement for terminology in Studio 2019.

Sorry, I will now get to the point: if you ask me, Studio's terminology system suffers from two serious problems:

1. Adding terms is a horrible experience because every time you add a term, you have to wait and watch the Termbase Viewer window jump around like crazy for up to 15 seconds, while it tries to wrestle away focus from the segment editor window. The UX is similarly bad for the Cloud Beta version. 
2. Term recognition is flaky, still, after all these years and updates/upgrades.

I know that it should be possible to improve it, because the RyS Termbase & Translation Assembler suffers from neither of these problems:

1. Adding terms is instantaneous. The screen doesn't jump around refreshing, and you can immediately continue working (which is so refreshing after using Studio's built in system!)
2. Once added, they show up immediately. Also, no matter how big your termbase is, recognition just works, which cannot be said for large Studio termbases.

 

My initial proposal would be:

 

We currently have:

 

‘Add New Term’+
‘Quick Add New Term’

 

However, they seem to do essentially the same thing. Could you make it so the so-called ‘Quick’ variant completely skips showing and giving focus to the Termbase Viewer, for those cases where the user simply wants to quickly add a term and keep working? Pretty please.

 

Michael

Michael Beijer

  • Btw, regarding whether ‘RyS Termbase & Translation Assembler’ uses SQLite, or Microsoft's JET DB, the developer got back to me and said that in fact it is something they developed themselves. I quote:

    ---------------------------------------

    Michael Beijer <michael@beijer.uk>

    Sun, Nov 11, 9:29 PM (2 days ago)

    to David

    Hey, just a quick question: what underlying database technology does RYS use in Studio?

    It's amazing how fast and well it works compared to very large Studio termbases. Is it SQLite or something like that, or something you created yourself?

    David

    3:00 AM (17 hours ago)

    to me

    yes, it is a special db developed for efficient term management only.

    ---------------------------------------

  • Another very interesting/promising initiative regarding alternative terminology handling/display/searching in Studio = deeptranslation.blogspot.com/.../sdl-trados-studio-plugin-advanced.html (such a shame it doesn't work in Studio 2019!)

  • @Do Lee: Indeed I am. Since I have a very keen interest in terminology, and in particular interesting ways of handling it inside CAT tools, any new approach or solution like ‘RyS Termbase & Translation Assembler’ get me very excited.

    The problem sketched in this Idea is not the only issue with Studio's terminology system, there are others, as I know you are aware. One very big problem with Studio's term handling is the Recognition Window, which is pretty terrible at showing useful info when you use very large termbases.

    It also only shows terms in order of appearance, whereas alphabetical, and all kinds of other views come to mind which would sometimes be much more useful.

    CafeTran, e.g., has an amazing array of ways of accessing/finding/using terminology, one of which is an alphabetical, pop-put menu which allows you to quickly find anything in your termbase, instantly. Say you are looking for a translation of a source-language term starting with an "e", there are MANYways to find it:

    (1) you just press F2, and can navigate down to the "e" entries in the alphabetical tree menu.

    (2) you can also just press Shift 2x, and then click "e", to be taken directly to all entries with an "e"

    (3) you can look if it is in the auto-complete list when you type a taget-language letter

    (4) you can look at the "Matchboard", which is relatively new inn CafeTran, and contains an integrated view of all termbase, TM and MT hits, and can be endlessly customised (sort alphabetically, sort by quality, sort by length, etc.

    (5) you can look in a termbase window (the old-fashioned way to view termbases in CT), which has a bewildering array of different display options (vertical/horizontal, show/hide specific metadata fields, clickable URLs, etc)

    I could go on and on, but my main point is: TERMINOLOGY HANDLING IN STUDIO COULD REALLY USE SOME LOVE.

  • @Burim: How do you ‘deactivate the view of Termbase Viewer’? No matter what I try, if I add a term to a Studio termbase, this window pops up.

  • For making things easier for the moment and avoid the Termbase Viewer window jumping, you can deactivate the view of Termbase Viewer or deactive the automatic hiding of the window.