"Can I feed an Excel glossary with incomplete entries" Meaning "feeding" the termbase with an Excel glossary with incomplete entries, or feeding it into the base

Hi Marta Kiezik 

I am going from memory but if you have an existing termbase, what you need to do is export the termbase definition (xTD) and ensure its referenced within the app. 

Ensure your XLSX columns / structure match your termbase definition otherwise your import wont align.
It would create a second TB which I know you dont want. But you can then export the new entries into a *XML

Once you have the XML you can import them into your main TB, including any that are deemed incomplete.

That said, I am aware Glossary Convert has improved significantly over the years and Im pretty sure it supports other workflows.
But my suggestion of working against a XTD and then converting the Excel term entries to XML is "old school logic" that seldom fails me and if there are issues I am more likely to identify and correct. 

I hope this helps a bit

Let me know how you get on. 

Lyds

 Marta Kiezik 

In addition to the answer from Lydia Simplicio  which is the way to go, here's a little more food for thought....

Marta Kiezik said:

1) I have a XLSX glossary that I want to update my termbase with. How is that done, in very simple terms? (I've tried dabbling in the Glossary Converter, but the only output format available is XLSX, and I apparently need XDI?)

The Glossary Converter offers a lot more than XLSX. Just click on the Settings in the UI and look at the formats:

The second one in the list would get you the Multiterm xdt + xml you would need to be able to import into your termbase.  You don't need the xdt for the import, you only need the xml, but as Lydia pointed out you must make sure that the definition (xdt) of your termbase matches the definition you would get from your Excel.  Just for interest this article may help if you're not sure of these concepts:

https://multifarious.filkin.com/2016/10/17/square-pegs-in-round-holes/

Marta Kiezik said:

2) Let's suppose the termbase is comprised of entries in 4 languages. Can I feed an Excel glossary with incomplete entries (meaning no 100% coverage of all languages for all entries?), or do I need to complete all of them?

Yes, no problem.  The method from Lydia is the most useful because you'll have better control over duplicate entries etc. but if you have a pretty simple termbase and excel spreadsheet then you could also use the Glossary Converter to merge them for you.  So for example. I have two files:

original.sdltb - this is my termbase

update.xlsx - this is my updated spreadsheet

My original termbase contains these entries:

My spreadsheet looks like this:

It contains some completely new entries and some that are already there in English but I have added terms for other languages.

Now this is a simple structure and my actual termbase follows exactly the same definition, so this is a simple example.  But I can use the "merge" feature of the Glossary Converter like this:

I will merge on the English (my choice... you can do whatever you need), and I selected my original.sdltb as the master termbase.  I also check the box to merge languages.  Then all I do is drag the spreadsheet onto the Glossary Converter as normal, but I have these buttons lit up because of my settings:

This will create a new termbase for me, so I won't mess up my original at all (but I always back them up first anyway!), called original.output_merged.sdltb.  This now contains these:

You can see I now have 9 new entries and the separate languages have increased varying numbers based on what was in my spreadsheet.

Hope that helps and gives you a little to think about.

 LydiaPaul

Thank you for your ample explication and patience with me. This process may still be quite challenging for someone who is attempting it for the first time without much computer background. I feel like I am slowly getting my head around it but there's still so much I don't know/understand. Do you see a possibility of this process being performed on a more automatic/intuitive/in-app level some time in the future? I understand it would probably involve lots of programming work, but it might just be a worthwhile direction to follow within the evolution of MultiTerm?

Marta Kiezik 

Marta Kiezik said:

Do you see a possibility of this process being performed on a more automatic/intuitive/in-app level some time in the future?

In MultiTerm... I doubt it.  But if you want a feature like this then the place to ask is here -  MultiTerm Ideas 

That's where user ideas are considered by the product management teams, and also where other users can vote for them too.