Display Context Note in SDL Trados (like in memoQ or Phrase/memsource)

memoQ displays "Context" in the bottom right corner:

Screenshot of memoQ's 'Context' feature displaying a red error message and a green checkmark indicating a completed action.

but I can't find documentation on this feature.

Phrase (Memsource) has a "context note" panel:

Screenshot of Phrase's 'context note' panel with a redacted key and note section, and tabs for 'Plain', 'Rich', and 'Autoselect'.

Both are extremely convenient to use, when the ID of a segment contains valuable information.

In SDL Trados Studio, .po Gettext Portable Obects' "msgctxt" fields get ignored.

XLIFF's "<note>" content does get added into the "Comment" panel as "Information" entries. This is progress but inconvenient, as you have to manually keep track of which note applies to which segment. You can sort by Segment and see the Segment # but still have to match the current Segment # to the Segment # in the comments panel.

Does SDL Trados Studio have such a feature? What file formats can make use of it by default and how?

EDIT:  PO files: Show Translator Notes in Trados showed me that for PO files, I can see the ID the preview. Not ideal but at least the current segment is highlighted, much better than the Comments and I don't even have to populate an additional field, as I simply see the entire po file.



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[edited by: Trados AI at 12:14 PM (GMT 0) on 29 Feb 2024]
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  • Hello,

    Trados Studio does indeed have a feature that allows you to view context notes, similar to the ones you mentioned in memoQ and Phrase/Memsource. However, the way it is displayed and used might be slightly different. Here's how you can use it:

    Step 1: Open your document in Trados Studio.

    Step 2: In the Editor view, you will see a 'Notes' column on the right side of the screen.

    Step 3: If a segment has a note attached to it, you will see a small note icon in this column. Click on this icon to view the note.

    Step 4: The note will be displayed in the 'Notes' view at the bottom of the screen. Here, you can read the note, add your own notes, or delete notes.

    As for the file formats that can make use of this feature, Trados Studio supports a wide range of file formats, including .docx, .xlsx, .pptx, .idml, .html, .xml, .sdlxliff, .txt, .rtf, .ttx, .itd, .xliff, .csv, .resx, .properties, and many more. The 'Notes' feature can be used with all these file formats.

    Regarding the context matching, in Trados Studio, the context refers to the previous segment. When a Translation Unit (TU) is saved in the Translation Memory (TM), the previous segment source and translation are also saved as Context. If the TM has the context details saved, there will be no changes. If the TM does not have the current TU context, then it will be added into the TM. The same segment can be found multiple times in a file and each time will be preceded by a different segment. In such a case, each previous segment will save a different Context into the TM.

    I hope this helps! If you have any other questions, feel free to ask.

    Best regards,

    RWS Community AI

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  •  

    Indeed... not exactly right.  However, Trados Studio has far more advanced support for context than memoQ and memsource in my opinion and it can be used by pretty much any filetype in various ways.  How you do it depends on the filetype.

    But to view it, you're right, it's not very convenient.  However, we do have the DSI Viewer on the appstore that will support having comments, context info in one place.  For example:

    Screenshot showing the editor view, comments window and the DSI Viewer.

    1. Editor View with an XLIFF file showing only the source segments that were extracted from the file
    2. Comments pane which is the default for extracting notes in XLIFF files
    3. DSI Viewer that shows the context info and the comments in one place for the active segment

    For PO files we display the notes in the preview... surely even easier?  Although the DSI Viewer is also useful in this context too:

    Trados Studio interface showing Comments pane with translator's comments for a PO file, and DSI Viewer displaying context info and comments for active segment.

    For other filetypes it really depends on the filetype as the context info, or rather Document Structure Information, can be used in different ways depending on the filetype and what sort of customisation features are available to you with that filetype.

    Paul Filkin | RWS Group

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    [edited by: Trados AI at 12:15 PM (GMT 0) on 29 Feb 2024]
  • Awesome, thanks!

    In "View" this button opens the DSI panel:

    Icon of DSI Viewer with a green circular arrow on the Trados Studio toolbar.

    Definitely the best solution for me right now Slight smile but to me the actual main feature (document structure info) of the app makes it impossible to use in a compact way:

    DSI Viewer panel in Trados Studio showing a collapsed document structure with a 'test' file and other elements.

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    [edited by: Trados AI at 12:15 PM (GMT 0) on 29 Feb 2024]
  •  

    I can't offer much advice there based on how you have your window organised, or how many screens you have.  But I have ever seen anyone using it like that before.  Maybe you can unpin it so it floats in and out when you need it?  That way you can set the size to something more appropriate and just hover over the DSI tab on the right (or wherever you choose to put it) when you need it open?

    Paul Filkin | RWS Group

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    Design your own training!

    You've done the courses and still need to go a little further, or still not clear? 
    Tell us what you need in our Community Solutions Hub

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  • You're right, I could put it on another screen on my desktop but my last few projects have been so small, I left it as part of the main window.

    Wouldn't work for my 14" laptop though.

    Unfortunately the preview view is very inconvenient after all, because it scrolls in a way, that the current string is *right* at the top edge, so if I want to look at the ID, I have to scroll up a bit each time.

    DSI Viewer is definitely the best one right now, it was especially useful with a PO file where there were comments on how a string is used as a variable inside a bigger string I would have missed.

    I'd be even cooler if one could hide the Document Structure Information section but hey. As long as I don't have to use it on my laptop it's great!

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