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Long-standing Ideas

Michael Friedli

Hello all

I was wondering if the ideas.sdltrados.com is still active, there are a couple of long-standing ideas which have received massive support but don't seem to be going anywhere:

1. Merging across a paragraph break (or carriage return for those who are still in typewriter mode and contribute to the problem): there are 6 different versions of this, one submitted by Paul Filkin no less:

"Ability to Merge Paragraph Segments" as well as "Joining Segments Separated by Paragraph Break" by Fiona Paterson "Allow HR in Expand Segment" by Gary Daine "Allow Merging Segments over Paragraph Breaks" by Horst-Helge Liefers "Segment merging" by Claudine Lavallée"...

2. My own "Source to target drag and drop" which I reposted a few days ago, since it was claimed to have been implemented by SDL but clearly has not.
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    Hi Michael,
    I think your request of the possibility to Merge across a paragraph break and the possibility to work in a vertical way with the source on top and target on the bottom instead of side-by-side have been two long lasting requests that version after version customers are disappointed that still are not available in SDL Trados Studio. The possibility to work vertically instead of side-by-side would facilitate a lot the process of revision and when working on highly fuzzy texts as your eyes naturally would see the source and target on top of the other at the same time instead of having to move your eyes from side to side. If the source is on top and the target right under you can see much faster inconsistencies when revising and exactly what needs to change in fuzzy segments. So much so that many other CAT tools already have this implemented as well as your suggestion of Merge across a paragraph breaks. It would seem like this alternative viewing format would be easy to implement, but unfortunately we still don't have it! :(

    Maybe we can hope that these are implemented in a Service Pack? :P
  • 0 in reply to Jonathan Fray

    Hi Michael, hi Jonathan,

    I prefer the side-by-side layout, actually...

    Neither of the 'precursors' to Studio was top-and-bottom, neither TagEditor nor SDLX, so users who like me grew from those two might also prefer the side-by-side GUI. I like to see each phrase within context, to retain the Source and Target texts' individual perspectives. That may be because I'm principally a reviewer these days.

    I wonder what proportion of users prefer which.

    Maybe a plug-in that switched the view would be a way forward, if it is possible to successfully program this alongside the myriad of other features that Studio already offers.

    All the best,
    Ali
  • 0 in reply to Alison Field
    Hi Ali, Jonathan,
    I have used both layouts and don't have strong feelings either way - I appreciate Jonathan's point though and agree that vertical is better for comparing source and target word by word.
    I have noticed that memoQ have added the vertical option at some point recently.
    I used to work with a Translation Company's proprietary tool (no names, no pack-drill ;-)) which was (and probably still is) seriously awful – one of the few good features it had was the ability to choose between these two layouts!
    As for drag-and-drop, it would be nice to have full drag-and-drop copy functionality in the Studio Editor, e.g. not only source to target, but also source or target to the Filter box, Concordance window to target: the current arrangement is far too fiddly.
  • 0 in reply to Alison Field
    Hi Ali!

    Thanks for the reply! Actually TagEditor was top and bottom. So customers who have worked with SDL Trados 2007 and previous version were used to this format. The source segment was on top and you would translate right below it. I have also used Trados since the 2007 version that was like that and though it may seem like just a preference thing I do believe it makes a difference! :) I also like the side-by-side view when translating mostly new content, but when working on hightly repetative texts, checking if the translation really reflects the source, or depending on the type of translation like with a lot of numbers, names, dates, etc. I really can't see how side-by-side is better than top and bottom as your eyes can naturally see both when translating/reading. A side-by-side view you have to either look at the source side or at the target, especially when working on big screens.

    So I know there might be different opinions I have talked to several who have asked me why they can't work in the horizontal format any more... So yes, the option to toggle the option on/off would be fantastic as I think there are advantages in both! :)

    I don't want to diminish all the other myriads of functionaliteis that Studio does offer, obviously, but I am surprised I must say as why SDL doesn't implement this knowing that it has been asked by several for years now!

    See the following idea that was posted 2314 days ago when Studio 2009 came out and already has 1540 votes: http://ideas.sdl.com/ideas/detail.asp?i=2048&q=vertical. You can access it with your SDL login info. There are also similar requests to this on there.

    In my opinion working on adding functionalities like this would bring far more positive results than changing the UI every time! ;)

    As for the drag-and-drop functionality, Michael, you have a point, but on the other hand a Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V might be as fast as the drag-and-drop, no?
  • 0 in reply to Jonathan Fray
    Hi Jonathan,

    Of course, you're right. I can be SUCH an idiot. Even though my experience goes back to when TagEditor was the latest thing!

    I still use TagEditor to find tag errors in certain circumstances, with customised xml-based file error scenarios that I haven't been able to solve, because it is possible to save as target to xml then open it in TagEditor and, with the right settings files associated, run a verification that will find errors that Studio can't see. However, I don't translate with it any more so I see the entries listed side-by-side. I had completely forgotten that when translating, the entries are opened with source and target one above the other.

    I can see at the address you gave me that opinions are certainly divided.

    For me, TBH, whatever the programmers have been able to put together, so long as it is an improvement on the 'old model', doesn't slow my work down and is sufficiently error-free, new UI or not, I'm a happy bunny...

    All the best,
    Ali
  • 0 in reply to Jonathan Fray
    Hi Jonathan, I'm forced to use 'Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V' (although I dragged this from your post with the mouse!) at the moment, but still have to use the mouse to select the text first, keystrokes, then place the cursor and activate the destination pane, more keystrokes - much faster in memoQ doing everything in one with the mouse. Much as I was a fan of WordPerfect 5.1 for DOS, I think we have moved on since then ;-) ...
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