Need advice on file preparation (Error: Sequence contains no element)

Hello!

I need help on one of my projects

The agency gave me a Word file that contained 300+ pages, which had (as you see below) ID, Type, Source, and Translation columns with occasional Slide summaries with preview images.
They want me to work directly on the Word file and insert the translation in every single segment, but I find it too tedious and need the help of Trados.

Screenshot of a Word file showing a table with columns labeled Slide ID, Preview Image, ID, Type, Source Text, and Translation, with text and image placeholders.

However, upon importing it, Trados returns "Sequence contains no element" error:

Error message window from Trados Studio stating 'Sequence contains no elements' with an OK button.

Which was not much of a surprise because the file structure looked a bit unusual.

So, my question is how can I properly prepare the file for Trados?
Neither the agency nor their client can offer me any help on this.

Any reply will be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.



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[edited by: Trados AI at 6:58 AM (GMT 0) on 29 Feb 2024]
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  • Hi, Kelly.

    Sure!
    It goes like this:


    1.1 Title goes here

    Slide ID Lock

    231298657slide_aaa11

    Preview Image

    (Image goes here)

     

    ID Lock

    Type

    Source Text

    Translation

    qqAgrwmp9LLL

    Slide

    About the segment

    About the segment

    gawregjj

    Text Box 13

    1About the segment

    2Continuing the segment

    3>

    4Still continuing

    About the segment

    Ktds7787a

    Continuing the segment

    jaGGtha6

    >

    ttfgjuH89

    Still continuing

     


    The table continues for several hundred pages with slide summaries in between.

    The client want the delivery file to be in this exact format.
    So, yes, to translate it I can just extract the entire source column to import it into Trados, but I would need to copy and paste every single target segment into the original file.
    That is why I am looking for a solution that lets me import (more or less) directly the file into the 2017 ver.

    Do you have any idea how?

    As the time is pressing, right now I am manually extracting the source to paste the target back, but still a better solution would be nice.

    Thank you!

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  • What would happen, if you copy this table to Excel and use Excel Bilingual or—in Studio 2022—the Multilingual Excel file type, which would fit excellent for your task.

    Before copying to Excel make sure, there are no soft line breaks in Word. To do so, run a search for ^l
    Should you find any, replace by something not present in Word, like # or @ sign. In Excel, run a replacement for this sign and replace by ALT+010 (typed on numeric keyboard with ALT key pressed and released after entering the code). You will see nothing in the replacement box, but the replacement should work and replace all signs by a soft line break in Excel. This is because Excel treats soft line breaks from Word as cell breaks and this would destroy your table. When copying the table back to Word, Word will treat Excel soft line breaks properly.
    Other solution could be to use the sign like # or @ as a segmentation rule in your TM. Then you would need to replace these signs in Word after translation, which is typically easier.

    _________________________________________________________

    When asking for help here, please be as accurate as possible. Please always remember to give the exact version of product used and all possible error messages received. The better you describe your problem, the better help you will get.

    Want to learn more about Trados Studio? Visit the Community Hub. Have a good idea to make Trados Studio better? Publish it here.

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  • Thank you for another idea.

    I have just tried it.
    Luckily there was no soft line break.

    Copying it to Excel worked fine.
    However, Trados ignore completely the Source and Target columns, instead it treats the first two columns from the left (e.g. "ID" and "Type" / "gawregjj" and "Text Box 13") as Source and Target.
    In result, the actual Source and Target, being the two right columns, do not appear at all in Trados.

    If I can tell Trados to ignore the first two columns, it might work.
    (Copy and Pasting only the right columns to Excel is not ideal either because there are a lot of reference tables in-between that prevents me from selecting the entire relevant columns. I would have done so if the volume had had been much less).

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  • Use the Multilingual Excel file type https://appstore.rws.com/language/app/multilingual-excel-filetype/1307/ and configure as described here: community.rws.com/.../multilingual-excel-filetype

    _________________________________________________________

    When asking for help here, please be as accurate as possible. Please always remember to give the exact version of product used and all possible error messages received. The better you describe your problem, the better help you will get.

    Want to learn more about Trados Studio? Visit the Community Hub. Have a good idea to make Trados Studio better? Publish it here.

    emoji
  • In hindsight, now that they are in Excel, I can simply delete the first two of four columns because luckily all the relevant columns are the two on the right.
    I am going to need anyway to insert the translation back manually, but for now it might be the best solution I have without upgrading the software.

    I will take a look at Multilingual Excel file type and the instructions.
    I might try it.

    Thank you!

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