Lorenzo Penta

What version of MultiTerm are you using?  If you have 2019 please make sure you have both of these versions installed (assuming you also have Studio?)

SDL Trados Studio 2019 SR2 - 15.2.6.2831
SDL MultiTerm 2019 - 15.0.6.56482

Also, have you tried reorganising your termbase?

Hi Paul,

thank you for answering. Yes, I have the versions you mentioned installed.

I tried reorganising the database and I get this log: 

"Termbase: Diritto reorganized.
Number of entries: 174
Encrypted: No
Frozen (read-only content): No
Operation start time: 28/04/2020 10:59:06
Error: Id: 114, The entry must contain at least one term.
Id: 154, The entry must contain at least one term.
Id: 159, The entry must contain at least one term.

Operation end time: 28/04/2020 10:59:09"

Lorenzo Penta

Perhaps one more thing to try... delete these files and only keep the *.sdltb:

*.mdf

*.mtf

Then double click the *.sdltb and open the ermbase to see if this helped.  These files will be rebuilt.

I tried, but it didn't work. Same error massage, entry still not accessible.

Lorenzo Penta

In this case I think your best bet will be to recreate the termbase.  Probably a trivial exercise using the Glossary Converter, although you may wish to go the XDT/XML route depending on the features you use in your termbase.

Hi Paul,

I use no particular feature, I created my termbase employing the multilingual glossary template and then added two extra text fields for the term level. However, I'd really like to know if one can access and modify termbase entries without using the standard MultiTerm display nor re-creating the termbase.

Lorenzo Penta

You can use Microsoft Access as the sdltb is essentially an Access database. But I'd advise you to back it up beforehand.

I saved a copy of the termbase in another folder, opened this copy using Access, deleted the aforementioned entries, and then re-opened the termbase with MultiTerm. Now, the "corrupted" entries do not show up in the browse list, but, when I try to create a new entry, MultiTerm stops working. I really don't know what to do apart from this very naive operation. So, I'll try to create a new termbase... Do you have any suggestions to do this with Glossary Converter? I have never used it.

Thank you again for your help!

Lorenzo Penta

Lorenzo Penta said:

Do you have any suggestions to do this with Glossary Converter?

Yes.  I would simply export to Excel, clean up the entries in Excel, and then recreate the termbase with the Glossary Converter again.

I recreated the termbase with the Glossary Converter and it apparently works fine. Not only the corrupted entry has disappeared, but I can finally create new entries with no difficulty. However, the conversion log reports a very long list of different but similar errors: "" is not a valid value for language field  "[field name]", see [language/term] (it is a literal translation, I get this log in Italian).

Lorenzo Penta

It sounds to me as though you might benefit from cleaning up the excel file quite a bit before recreating.  So delete all the columns you are not using at all, and make sure that you have selected the correct field names/types when you recreate the termbase in the Glossary Converter settings.

Lorenzo Penta said:

I created my termbase employing the multilingual glossary template and then added two extra text fields for the term level.

On this basis you probably have a lot of stuff in there you don't really need or use.

I deleted the empty columns and then did the conversion again. This time I got two logs. The first states that no error occurred; the second shows the aforementioned error massages.

I think that the log is just saying that an empty field is not a valid value for a field, and I indeed have empty fields in many entries because I do not need to fill all fields in all entries (e.g. I use the language field "English" in some entries and the language field "English (US)" and "English (OK)" in other entries; I use both a description and a note field at the same level of the entry, but I use only one of the two in other entries; etc.). 

It is possible that a input model I created before the conversion created empty fields in some entries. I may delete the input model and all the empty fields, but this will be a real drag... Moreover, I am not sure that this operation will actually fix the issue (provided that these error massages in the log are actually an issue).

I deleted the empty columns and then did the conversion again. This time I got two logs. The first states that no error occurred; the second shows the aforementioned error massages.

I think that the log is just saying that an empty field is not a valid value for a field, and I indeed have empty fields in many entries because I do not need to fill all fields in all entries (e.g. I use the language field "English" in some entries and the language field "English (US)" and "English (OK)" in other entries; I use both a description and a note field at the same level of the entry, but I use only one of the two in other entries; etc.). 

It is possible that a input model I created before the conversion created empty fields in some entries. I may delete the input model and all the empty fields, but this will be a real drag... Moreover, I am not sure that this operation will actually fix the issue (provided that these error massages in the log are actually an issue).

Lorenzo Penta

Lorenzo Penta said:

I think that the log is just saying that an empty field is not a valid value for a field, and I indeed have empty fields in many entries because I do not need to fill all fields in all entries

Having empty fields isn't a problem.

Lorenzo Penta said:

I use the language field "English" in some entries and the language field "English (US)" and "English (OK)" in other entries;

This is poor practice.  You would be better to use just English and then create new attributes for the flavours; or only use the flavours and don't use plain English at all. This article may be helpful in this regard:

https://multifarious.filkin.com/2014/04/08/yanks-versus-brits/

Paul said:

This is poor practice.  You would be better to use just English and then create new attributes for the flavours; or only use the flavours and don't use plain English at all. This article may be helpful in this regard:

https://multifarious.filkin.com/2014/04/08/yanks-versus-brits/

Thank you for sharing the article — it provides very interesting information and hints. I indeed realized soon that it is not the best way to structure my database and only a few, old entries have different language varieties. I'll address this problem as soon as I fix the corrupted entry issue. However, I don't think that this practice is related to the corrupted entry issue, is that correct?

Paul said:

Having empty fields isn't a problem.

Therefore, I should just ignore the log, right?

Lorenzo Penta

Lorenzo Penta said:

Therefore, I should just ignore the log, right?

No... there must be something else in there causing you a problem, but unless we can see your file it's hard to tell.  Also good to make sure you have defined each column in your file correctly in the Glossary Converter and also make sure any fields you added to picklists for example are correct and include all the fields you have actually used in your entries.

Paul said:

No... there must be something else in there causing you a problem, but unless we can see your file it's hard to tell.

I may share the file, but I don't want to abuse your time and kindness.

Paul said:

Also good to make sure you have defined each column in your file correctly in the Glossary Converter and also make sure any fields you added to picklists for example are correct and include all the fields you have actually used in your entries.

I will go through the converter guide more thoroughly and try again the conversion.

Lorenzo Penta

Lorenzo Penta said:

I may share the file, but I don't want to abuse your time and kindness.

No problem... if you still want to at some point drop me an email with a link to your termbase - pfilkin@sdl.com