Issues With Generating Target File from an Xliff I created

Question

Hi, 
 I have tried to generate target files from a project xliff that has been returned by a linguist. I received the message &ldquo;failed to save target content: object reference not set to an instance of an object&rdquo;. 
 Previous online help conversations say to repair the programme, and various other steps, with the final option being re-installing Studio; all of which I have done. However, I still get the same error message. 
 Any help would be most welcome. 
 Many thanks.

Paul · Accepted Answer

Chris Barella 
 ok - thank you. So this is not an XLIFF, we are talking about an Excel file, monolingual, and you are working with Trados Studio 2019. 
 There isn't anything obvious in the stack trace, and the software is too old to be looking for a bug, so the best solution I think would be this: 
 
 open the original Excel file as a single file project 
 pre-translate from your TM 
 use File -> Save Target As instead of the batch task to create the target file (be careful to rename the target file so you don't overwrite the source) 
 
 That may at least get your target file out. If it doesn't test this: 
 
 open the original Excel file as a single file project 
 use File -> Save Target As to immediately save the target without translating 
 
 If that also fails then the problem is either a bug or a problem with the Excel. To solve you'll need to divide and conquer. So take a copy of the Excel source and put it into a new folder. Then go through this process (it's faster than you might think): 
 
 split the file into two, save each one so you have file#1, file#2. 
 open the file#1 as a single file project 
 use File -> Save Target As to immediately save the target without translating (save as t_file#1) 
 open the file#2 as a single file project 
 use File -> Save Target As to immediately save the target without translating (save as t_file#2) 
 if they both fail you probably have a more serious problem and you could try saving the file as an xls perhaps? Then translate that. 
 If one fails then split the one that fails and repeat with the split files. 
 Repeat this until you get down to a single worksheet, or a small part of the worksheet that fails. 
 Remove that part from the original source and process the file again. 
 Hopefully that will work, and then you can manually update the translated file for the small part that failed to process. 
 
 If you're struggling I'd be happy to take a look at the file for you if that's acceptable? You can send the translated SDLXLIFF and the original source Excel to pfilkin at sdl dot com.

Paul · Answer

Chris Barella 
 Chris Barella said: “failed to save target content: object reference not set to an instance of an object” 
 It's highly likely that your message appears in a small error popup. In that popup there is normally a small disk symbol that you can click and then download a file to your desktop that can then be attached to this forum. That file contains the full error stack and will provide better information related to where the error might be coming from. 
 If you don't see this, maybe since you are using a batch task to generate the files, there should still be a way to get to this in the UI you see. Look for horizontal scroll bars that allow you to find off screen links to these error details. 
 If none of that seems obvious can you share a screenshot of the error you see?

Paul · Answer

Chris Barella 
 Chris Barella said: Actually, I am wondering whether the fact that it is a trial version (because my licence won't activate) has anything to do with it. 
 I doubt it... trial versions are normally full Professional versions. I am curious how you are managing to run a trial version of something that old though? Might be worth running a 2024 version if you're on a trial.

Paul · Answer

Chris Barella 
 I sent you an email with the target Excel files and a Translation Memory for each file. There wasn't anything helpful for others I could share here. Rather it was just a question of solving a few issues and running the processes I described earlier. So I'll close this thread off as done and suggest the earlier approach as the way forward.

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Issues With Generating Target File from an Xliff I created

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