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SDLXLIFF Converter Tool for Microsoft Word - "Document Layout Cannot Be Identified" Error

Mary Menzemer

There is an error that pops up sometimes when I attempt to import changes from a bilingual word table into an SDLXLIFF. This error message reads, "The document layout cannot be identified."

I was wondering if anybody knew where this error stems from. I know that there are a few ways to fix this error, such as copying the target column from the corrupted file into the source table to overwrite the text or to re-export the Word file, but it would be ideal if this step was not necessary to complete every time that this error occurs.

Thank you! Your thoughts are appreciated.
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    Hi ,

    It sounds as though not enough care was taken to maintain the structure of the DOCX. We use information hidden in the file for this transformation and if you open the file and save it on old version of Word you can break it, or if you add hard breaks in the DOCX you can break it. This article elaborates a little but I think the only way to work with these files is very carefully!

    multifarious.filkin.com/.../

    Paul Filkin | RWS Group

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  • 0 in reply to Paul

    Same error here, unfortunately:

    So, basically, two errors: if the file is open in Word, Trados throws an error (the first error above). And then it is the mysterious 'The document layout cannot be identified' error, which is very unfortunate. I cannot further advise linguists who do not have Trados installed to be even more careful with a word file. The way I see things, SDL needs to streamline the process and make it reliable. I have never had such problems with Atril Déjà vu X3 and if they can do it at the smaller scale, SDL should be able to figure it out as well.

    It is inconceivable that now I will have to copy all translations manually into the Editor one by one!

    Best regards,

    Pavel
  • 0 in reply to Pavel Tsvetkov
    Hi!
    Same error today. And I can assure you we have been very careful with the structure of the DOCX file.

    Pavel, depending on your files, you don't have to copy-paste the translations in the editor. It's too late now, but there is a workaround in this happens again:
    - Convert the DOCX containing the reviewed translations to TMX.
    - Import the TMX to Studio in a new TM
    - Retranslate the file using that new TM.
    This worked well, because there were not too many tags. Because tags in DOCX have this format <134>, so you want to be careful and replace them with the real tag in the editor. Luckily, Studio repaired some of these segments. Nice!

    However, this is a workaround, not a fix. It would be nice to know what has caused this error in the first place.


    Regards,
    Christophe