Strange characters in source segment

I am translating a Word file from a PDF conversion.

It produces the following garbled display in one of the source segments:

Screenshot of Trados Studio editor displaying garbled text with multiple 'box' symbols and question marks in a source segment.

This is with Studio 2017 SR1.

The editor setting for "Formatting display style" is set to "Show all tags but do not show formatting".

I remember seeing things like this happen in the past when Studio was having trouble with fonts. The solution was to use the above setting for "Formatting display style".

This is different. The source file contains two little "box" symbols produced from a PDF conversion. The boxes are from the boxes that were in the legend of a chart in the PDF file.

Here is the test Word file I used to isolate the problem characters. It contains only the two box symbols: 

0574.test.docx

When characters like this are mixed in with regular characters (in this case it was a chart legend, with each of these characters followed by a text label), it is difficult to locate and edit the text that needs to be translated.

Any suggestions? Is there a setting I can change to see something reasonable in the editor? (By the way, these special characters are also stored in the TM when I confirm a segment.)

Best regards,
Bruce Campbell
ASAP Language Services



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[edited by: Trados AI at 12:09 PM (GMT 0) on 29 Feb 2024]
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  • Hi Saerome,

    Thank you for checking. We might be using different versions of Studio.

    I am using Studio 2017 SR1. Are you using a different version?

    Or perhaps it is due to the language combination you are using. These special characters might be part of the regular font in your language. (I was using German to English.)

    Best regards,
    Bruce Campbell
    ASAP Language Services

  • the SDL Trados Studio version of mine is the same one with you
    Source language is English, destination is Korean

    regards
  • Paul, could you try reproducing my problem?

    Sorry to bother everyone with this.

    I wanted to try the same languages as Saerome, but it is not as easy as it used to be to change the 5 default languages. A Windows repair of Studio used to work, but when I tried it now, Studio did not ask me to enter my 5 languages :-(

    A re-installation also used to work, but when I downloaded the Studio installation file from SDL.com, it refused to install over my existing Studio, saying I was running a later version and I would have to first uninstall and then install.

    I am reluctant to uninstall Studio unless I really have to, as Studio is running fine now and I don't want to anger the gods by playing around with it too much.

    I just wanted to find out whether the strange display of these characters indicates a problem with my specific installation of Studio, or with Studio in general.

    If it is my specific installation, then I will uninstall and reinstall.

    As I mentioned before, I am running Studio 2017 SR1 (14.1.10014.38031).

    The test file only contains 2 characters: 2318.test.docx

    Best regards,
    Bruce Campbell
    ASAP Language Services

  • Hi  

    I don't really know what you want me to do? I don't understand the relevance of this file with the screenshot you shared at all.  So I took it, added some text here and there and opened it:

    Screenshot of Trados Studio showing text with color-coded segments, including added text 'This test' and 'now what?' with no visible errors or warnings.

    Sort of to be expected given what's in the source file.  I'm obviously missing something here.

    Paul Filkin | RWS Group

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    [edited by: Trados AI at 12:09 PM (GMT 0) on 29 Feb 2024]
  • Based on what Saerome sees in her Studio, I think I asked the wrong question.

    How do I get a nice display like Saerome's ? (Seeing Asian characters is better than the garbage I am seeing now.)

    I copied the strange character from my test file into Notepad++, changed it to hexadecimal (EF91B2) and then created a series of similar characters (EF91B0 ... EF91B4) that I converted to ascii and copied back to the test file, one per line.

    This is what they look like in Studio (segments 2 to 6).

    Screenshot of Trados Studio showing segments 2 to 6 with unrecognized characters displayed as question marks in a pink highlight, indicating an error in character encoding.

    I guess I have just been lucky not to run into a problem with characters like this in the past.

    Does anyone know of a way to see Asian characters instead, or anything but this garbage?

    (The sdlxliff file comes from a client, so I have no control over its contents.)

    Best regards,
    Bruce Campbell
    ASAP Language Services

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    [edited by: Trados AI at 12:10 PM (GMT 0) on 29 Feb 2024]
  • Thank you Paul,

    That is exactly what I wanted to see. It appears to be a problem with my installation of Studio.

    Do you have any idea why these characters are creating garbage on my screen while displaying nicely as small boxes on yours?

    Bruce
  • I assumed that when I installed Studio 2019 SR1 that the strange characters would be displayed properly.

    I set all of the Studio 2019 SR1 settings manually, made new project templates, arranged windows, etc.

    And then I see this again when I create a test project with the same test Word file as before:

     Screenshot of Trados Studio displaying a test project with rows of strange characters instead of expected text.

    I have to say that Studio is the only program I have ever had so much difficulty installing/updating.

    I did two repairs of Studio prior to installing Studio 2019, to see whether that would get rid of the display problem in Studio 2017. It didn't.

    Now I have to find time to use the cleanup tool for Studio.

    Except, of course, SDL decided not to name it "Cleanup". A search for "clean" also does not find anything. Luckily a search for "uninstall" finds the app "SDL Freshstart". Not what I would call an intuitive name, especially when you have to find this app in a collection of hundreds of other apps.

    Okay, then I install "Freshstart", but apparently SDL decided not to use a normal install. Can't find "FreshStart" in the Windows 10 Start menu.

    So, go back to the description of the app -- and find out that it installs a shortcut on my desktop.

    Every other program I have ever installed also installs a Start menu entry. Why not Freshstart?

    Now I have to create an entry for Freshstart in my Start menu, so I move the shortcut to C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu

    Okay, all set to try out Freshstart.

    But I don't have the courage to try it now, because if it messes up somehow and wipes out both Studio 2017 and 2019, then I will have to spend several more hours (it is already late) getting everything set up for work tomorrow morning.

     

    By the way. Next time SDL announces an update, they should allow people to install it. The announcement for Studio 2019 SR1 was made on 10 December (yes, North America is in a different time zone :-), but SDL decided not to let people install it until 11 December.

    No problem, right? Trying to activate Studio 2019 triggered an error message and the program was not activated. I tried a couple of times.

    But the process nevertheless used up an activation each time in my SDL licences account. Brilliant! Luckily I was able to chat with an SDL representative who reset both activations.

    All in all, not a very productive evening, but I have to admit I was expecting it to be a frustrating experience.

    Best regards,
    Bruce Campbell
    ASAP Language Services

     

     

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    [edited by: Trados AI at 12:10 PM (GMT 0) on 29 Feb 2024]
  • Hi Paul,

    I still have no idea why you see nice little boxes when you display these test characters in Studio, while I see garbage on my screen.

    Here is what I did today:

    I restored my system partition with a backup from the night before I installed Studio 2019.

    Then I installed Studio 2019 SR1 again -- but this time I did not change any Studio settings.

    So, using Studio 2019 SR1 "straight out of the box", I did a "File->Translate Single Document" and loaded my small test file with the strange characters.

    This is what was displayed on the screen:

    Screenshot of Trados Studio displaying a document with unreadable characters, showing a series of question marks and squares in place of the expected text.

    Same garbage as before. The only time I have seen garbage like this is when Studio can't handle a special font, so I changed the "Formatting display style" to "Show all tags but do not show formatting". The garbage was unfortunately still displayed.

    But there was some progress:

    Last time I installed Studio 2019 SR1, Studio would not accept the focus when I clicked in a Studio target segment. I had to click twice. (So if I was in Chrome and then clicked on a target segment in Studio 2019, the focus would remain in Chrome and when I started typing, the text would be typed into Chrome instead of Studio.) Very irritating. That did not happen this time when I re-installed Studio 2019 SR1.

    Last time I installed Studio 2019 SR1, I could not find the "Insert symbol" section anywhere in the ribbon. I had this problem in Studio 2009, 2011, 2014 and 2015 and was very happy when the "Insert symbol" part of the ribbon did not disappear in Studio 2017.

    There initially appeared to be no problem with the ribbon this time -- but then I changed some Studio settings. Now those parts of the ribbon sometimes disappear.

    Yes, I realize this does not make any sense, but that is exactly my experience with Studio. Completely innocuous changes to the settings can cause completely unrelated problems.

    I just want a fully functional version of Studio 2019 without wiping my system disk and installing Windows 10 and all of my programs from scratch. (Which is what I did when I installed Studio 2017.)

    Best regards,
    Bruce Campbell
    ASAP Language Services

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    [edited by: Trados AI at 12:10 PM (GMT 0) on 29 Feb 2024]
  • Hi again Paul,

    I decided to uninstall Studio 2019 and 2017 and then try re-installing Studio 2019.

    Studio 2019 and Multiterm 2019 uninstalled fine.

    Then when I tried to uninstall Studio 2017 I got the following error:

    Error message during uninstallation of SDL Trados Studio 2017 SR1 stating 'Setup did not complete. The error is: Setup has detected a different version of this product already installed. If you still wish to remove or repair that version, you must use that version's installer.' with an OK button.

    Well, it looks like Studio 2019 left a few things behind after the uninstall.

    I guess I have to recover from my backup again (the backup that was done before I installed Studio 2019) and then try uninstalling Studio 2017 again.

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    [edited by: Trados AI at 12:10 PM (GMT 0) on 29 Feb 2024]