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I do not understand how to create return packages PLEASE HELP!!!

Nancy Twilley

PLEASE PLEASE HELP! I obviously do not understand options for sending return packages.  I am a new Trados 2015 user, and this is my first time using a CAT tool. I am attempting to send return packages on different projects to a customer, but the customer says they cannot be opened correctly. Here's what I do: complete translation of file, verify file, finalize file, then click on the icon to create a return package. Then everything seems to go smoothly - I get a message that the return package will include a .sdlxliff file, and then a return package is created to the location I specify for the file. But when my customer gets the package, they claim all they receive is the target file, when what they want to receive is the .sdlxliff file. Another time, they claimed all they received was the target file for one of the files in the project, and the .sdlxliff file for the other file in the project. I don't understand how I can control what ends up in the package. I want to create a package that includes both the target file and the .sdlxliff file, I guess. How do I access these different options? I can't open the package to see what's in it after the fact - the program says I'm not allowed to open packages I created.  I know I am sending a return package, because the file name ends in .sdlrpx. PLEASE! CAN ANYONE HELP ME? I have to solve this problem or I will lose this client, and it's very important to me. What am I doing wrong? I am having a lot of trouble getting started with Trados, and I clearly don't know what I'm doing yet.
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  • 0
    I've been having the same kind of problems. What I've been told is to NOT finalize the files. I update the TM, create a target file thru the Export function and then create the Return package. I didn't have any complaints since I use this process. Hope it helps!!!
  • 0
    Hi Nancy

    Michel already gave you the solution: you need to create the return package BEFORE you finalize the project, because if you finalize, the "Return Package" will not include the SDLXLIFF, but only the target file.
    We have asked SDL some time ago to change this behavior and at least issue a warning if the return package is created after finalizing. They have reacted and this has now been fixed in the latest version. So, if you upgrade to Studio 2015, you will not have this problem anymore, the "Return Package" will always include the SDLXLIFF, regardless of when you have created it.

    Walter
  • 0 in reply to Walter Blaser
    Walter: I actually do have Studio 2015 - I just bought it, and it's the first CAT tool I've ever used. Is there a reason my return packages don't include the file? Also: can you help me understand what the purpose of the "finalize" function is? I assumed it was something you just had to do when you were done with a project? I guess I could always send the sdlxliff file separately, couldn't I? Although this seems slightly less professional.
  • 0 in reply to Nancy Twilley

    Hi Nancy

    The batch task "Finalize" is - as you guessed - what you do when you are finished with a project. It is actually a sequence of two tasks:

    1. Update your main TM (it writes again all confirmed segments to your assigned main TM, giving you the chance, if needed, to change field values)
    2. Export the target document(s) (it puts them into the target language subfolder in your project folder)

    You cannot run this task twice unless you make changes to one of the files (the command will be grayed out).

    In a logical flow, you would create your return package before you finalize, but in Studio 2015 it should not make any difference anymore, so I am surprised that you still face this problem. 

    What happens when you create the return package before finalizing? Does it contain the SDLXLIFF?
    You can check this either by renaming the file extension of your return package from .sdlrpx to .zip and opening the archive or by using the OpenExchange app "Package Reader".

    Walter
  • 0 in reply to Nancy Twilley
    Hi Nancy,

    You should also be able to check what is going to be packaged, once you've clicked 'Create Return Package', on the 'Select Files' page of the 'Create Return Package' Wizard. You will see a list of what you can add and the sdlxliff should be visible and ticked. You can tick or untick to choose on this page what to include in your package.

    It is also, as you say, perfectly possible to send the sdlxliff separately. This is what I personally prefer to do because a zipped sdlxliff is smaller than a return package of the same sdlxliff (my internet connection is slow because of where I live).

    All the best,
    Ali
  • 0 in reply to Alison Field
    Great, well, it seems I have my answer then. Even though my Studio 2015 says it is including a .sdlxliff file, and even though it is supposed to be including a .sdlxliff file, it does not. From now on I will send packages before finalizing, and I will send a .sdlxliff file separately, just to be sure.
  • 0 in reply to Nancy Twilley

    Hi Nancy,

    I don't find it logical to create the return package before finalizing, in case you get feedback such as that from a reviewer/proofreader, which you can then incorporate into the sdlxliff before finalizing.

    Now I think about it, I have a vague recollection of someone with a similar problem a few years back with Studio 2009. I wonder if it is because your customer is sometimes sending you the wrong format in the first place. Maybe if they are sending you original format files, that is what the Freelance software version is set to return... 

    If they are sending you all sdlxliffs, then Studio 2015 is capable of returning sdlxliffs so long as you have the correct box/es ticked at the 'Select files' page of the Return Package Wizard.

    This software is huge, there is so much to understand and think about as you use it. I remember how mysterious it seemed when the first version of Studio came out, it was mind-blowing! Even the help pages were mind-blowing to me back then... and I've never stopped learning since, I'm happy to say!

    I hope you enjoy using it,
    All the best,
    Ali
  • 0 in reply to Alison Field

    Unknown said:
    I don't find it logical to create the return package before finalizing, in case you get feedback such as that from a reviewer/proofreader, which you can then incorporate into the sdlxliff before finalizing.

    Hi Ali,

    I must admit, I struggle with the purpose of Finalizing altogether... what's the point?  You can update your TMs with a batch task anyway, and probably already have done, and you can generate your target files with a batch task too.  So why run Finalize when this also closes the project?  I'd just remove it from the projects list when it's done and then if if I have to do anything else with it I won't have to revert to sdlxliff or have any problems as a result of the project being finalized.

    I'm not sure of the point of this really other than to save time by having two tasks run in the one operation.  Is it really how people work?

    Regards

    Paul Filkin | RWS

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  • 0 in reply to Paul

    Unknown said:
    I must admit, I struggle with the purpose of Finalizing altogether... what's the point?  You can update your TMs with a batch task anyway, and probably already have done, and you can generate your target files with a batch task too.  So why run Finalize when this also closes the project?  I'd just remove it from the projects list when it's done and then if if I have to do anything else with it I won't have to revert to sdlxliff or have any problems as a result of the project being finalized.
    Is it really how people work?

    It's not how I work, Paul. I never finalise projects.
    I update the TM as I go along and also save my target file regularly (before I start, at the end of each 'translation session' and when I complete the file). When I'm sure I don't want the project any more I just remove it from the list. I use this workflow for packages, too.

    It's interesting, though, to see how different people work.

    Emma
  • 0 in reply to Paul

    Same here, Emma, Paul,

    I almost said this in my last post... I virtually never finalize TBH. But then I thought, I'd better not say that. I may be missing something here. It may be useful to finalize, to record ongoing work statistics maybe. I haven't looked very deeply into the project management side of things. An agency that uses it to the full would be able to present an argument for finalization, maybe...

    ...and who am I to lead new users astray with my 'bad' habits? So, I decided to keep my own counsel on that one (for once... ;-))

    I do exactly as you said, Emma, it works for me too :)

    Ali