Plain text or Word export from sdlxliff file from unsupported source file.

Hello all,
Is there a routine for creating a target text version of an sdlxliff file when the translation is completed?
My particular need arises in projects sent to me from a translation company, created from InDesign files (which I can't open) for example. It is useful to open them in Word for a final check, which sometimes reveals typos which aren't picked up within the Studio editor. At the moment my rather cumbersome workaround is to open the sdlxliff file in memoQ, which does have this capability.
I have searched Help and the Knowledge Base to no avail.

  • Michael

    There is no function to save the target document in another format than the original source format (for understandable reasons).
    However, if you need this for the purpose of reviewing typos, you have two choices:

    1) Use the function "Export for bilingual review", which creates a bilingual Word file. You can then open this file in Word and do a spellcheck. Correct the typos and reimport the updated file using the function "Update from bilingual review".

    2) Use CTRL-P to display a bilingual preview in your browser, which you can look through to detect typos. In that case however, you will need to make the corrections directly in the Editor.

    Walter
  • Or use the Legacy Converter from the OpenExchange which will create the same kind of Bilingual DOC that memoQ does.

    Paul Filkin | RWS Group

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  • Hi,

    Which spellchecker do you have enabled in Trados Studio the default Hunspell or the MS Word Spellchecker? If you have not changed the spellchecker in Trados Studio since you installed it, then I would suggest you change it to the MS Word option and that may also help while you are translating/working in Trados Studio.

    Phil.
  • Thank you Paul and Walter, I found the "Export for bilingual review" and yes, it produces a similar result to the corresponding memoQ function, with the 2 or more columns and tags. However, for my needs, I find a plain text target file more useful (it can be obtained by cleaning up the bilingual file, but it takes time and involves creating a macro to clean out the tags.

    In memoQ there is an additional function - not easy to find in 2015 - this is the routine I was given:

    • Open the project - open the document for translation - then on the ribbon select the "documents" tab, find the "Export" function and click on the arrow symbol below it. Then you should see the export active document as plain text function there.

    Walter, no sure I follow what the "understandable reasons" are, can you enlighten me?

    All the best

  • Michael

    By "understandable reasons", I meant that the usual expectation people have when they use a CAT tool is that it is capable of translating various file formats without any loss of layout and formatting. This is why I considered it normal that the "Save as target" function would generate the same format than the one of the original file.
    Honestly, I can't see why I would need to save a document as plain text, loosing all the formatting. I What do you need this for actually?

    Walter
  • I quite agree, normally Walter but it is only in cases where I receive an sdlxliff file or package created by my client, a translation company, from a format I can't open. It is just one more final check before returning the sdlxliff file or return package - Word finds things which are not strictly spelling mistakes. I find reading through the target document in isolation without the distraction of the source text or formatting puts me in the position of the end-user of the final document.

    After all, there must have been a good reason why memoQ included this functionality...