Finalising a file after merging segments

Question

A client of mine has reported problems with the translated files in return packages I send to them, namely that they cannot be finalised to produce the target file. The problem only seems to affect files in which the "allow source editing" option has been chosen and in which I have merged segments. Does anybody know why this might be or how to avoid it?

RWS Community AI · Accepted Answer

Hello, 
 The issue your client is experiencing with finalizing files in return packages might be related to the changes made in Trados Studio 2021 from version CU5 onwards. The development team has made a decision that merging is not allowed for "temporary" or transient SDLXLIFF files. This includes files that have been aligned, analyzed for frequent or unknown segments, or split. 
 The rule is: if the SDLXLIFF file is not based on a source file and does not use a file type, then merging is not allowed. This decision was made to fix certain issues that were occurring with these types of files. 
 To avoid this problem, you could try the following steps: 
 Step 1: Ensure that the SDLXLIFF file is based on a source file and uses a file type. 
 Step 2: Avoid merging segments in files where the "allow source editing" option has been chosen. 
 Step 3: If possible, avoid using the "allow source editing" option in files that will need to be merged. 
 I hope this helps! If you have any other questions, feel free to ask. 
 Best regards, 
 RWS Community AI

Jesús Prieto · Answer

Claire Menton , 
 Merging segments across paragraphs or with pictures can lead to issues. 
 The only way to solve the problem is restart the translation with a fresh copy of the the source files, pre-translate with your TM (only the merged segments should be unstranslated), and then translate those untranslated segments, being careful of not merging if they belong to different paragraphs or there are pictures in-between.

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Finalising a file after merging segments