How do I set up the Document structure for an .md file?

Question

I actually posted on another thread, but I figured maybe I'd get more help if I started my own post. I'm trying to set up a new file type for an .md file. I'm a veteran Trados user, but new to file types and regex, so forgive my extremely basic question, but how do I configure the Document structure so that Trados knows what is translatable text? I've read Paul's post about the inline tags and I think I might be able to figure those out (I'm sure I'll be back if I can't), but I can't even get Trados to display any text at all if I attempt to process the file.

Paul · Accepted Answer

ok - see it now, sorry.

This does work, but not in Studio. The reason for this is that one of the problems you have with this file is that every line has a hard return at the end, so they are all separate segments. This means you need a few rules, like this for example, all as placeholders:

```
START-OF-\w+
\w+=(\w+|<\w+>\.\w+)
[A-Z]{2}\d{3}
END-OF-\w+
\w+\|\w+\|\w+\|\w+\|\d+\.\d+\|

And maybe whatever else is needed in your other files.

Regards

Paul

Paul · Answer

Hi Beatriz, 
 
Just to follow up on my short response from my phone. The reason we need to see a sample is because of the following: 
 
1. Whether something is translatable or not is not related to the document structure (unless this is embedded content?) 
2. How you handle this could depend on whether it's a text file format, xml file, html file etc. 
 
So if you can provide a small sample it would be very helpful. You can also email me the file if you like? 
 
Regards 
 
Paul 
pfilkin@sdl.com

Paul · Answer

Hi Beatriz, 
 
I have no idea how that would work? Studio segments the lines on the paragraph marks in the file so each line of code is in a separate segment. The regex rule then only applies within each segment. 
 
I think what you might be able to do is create structure rules instead of the inline tags and this could prevent any of the code between these characters from being parsed at all. 
 
Regards 
 
Paul

Paul · Answer

Hi Beatriz, 
 
You've got it. That's exactly how you'd have to tackle it. I was actually just sitting here wishing we had a mechanism for marking up the structure you did not want translated which feels easier!! 
 
It's going to take a couple of rules I think as opposed to just one, so I'll have a play and if I can't do it will ask the filetype developer tomorrow if it's even possible. In which case the first approach I gave you with a library of rules you continually build on is going to be the best approach. 
 
Regards 
 
Paul

Paul · Answer

Hi Beatriz, 
 
Sorry for the late reply. I have not had a response from development on this yet which tells me it's not so easy! It may be that the best approach is to use a developer to create a custom filetype specifically for your needs. If you expect to have a lot of these files I think that's worth investigating and maybe not too hard using the API. 
 
Alternatively, your idea to see if the files themselves can be simplified as you are generating them is probably a very good one! 
 
Either way, if I get a response I will share it in here. 
 
Regards 
 
Paul

Paul · Answer

Unknown said: Regarding your information about using a developer to create a custom file type... do you mean a developer from SDL? If so, how do we make such a request? I do suspect we will see more of these file types in the future, as Markdown documents are becoming more popular in web development, according to some conversations I've had with a few different programmers. 
 Hi Beatriz, 
 I meant your developer, not one of ours. I could also help you find a developer to work on this if you like, one who has experience with creating filetypes? Alternatively you could use SDL via our Professional Services as they could also help you with this. So three options I guess. 
 I think Markdown documents in themselves are ambiguous... in fact I believe there are at least nine different "flavours" already and probably a host of user defined variants. So creating a "standard" would be tricky. I think your guys seem to be following the original syntax rules but even here handling the code blocks with hard returns on every line is tricky and this is where a developer could do a better job. 
 Regards 
 Paul

Trados Studio > 6. Regex and XPath

How do I set up the Document structure for an .md file?