The CafeTran UI: The Project File (1-7)

To start or set up a project, run Start.jar (and not Cafetran.jar). You will see the following interface:

Click to enlarge

Now people say that CafeTran has a steep learning curve, and if you look at the Project File above, you would probably agree. I hope Igor will do something about it, because it may frighten new users. Setting up a project and start translating is not that difficult at all. But a start-up screen with 28 items (sic!), some of them with a drop-down menu, is not very encouraging. Limiting this interface to the bare essentials would be a good idea, an optional set-up wizard may even be a better idea, since you can change or adjust most settings after you configured the project anyway.

Since this UI is extensive, I will discuss the various items it consists of in a number of blog entries, this one being the first and probably most (only?) really important one.

Click to enlarge

1. The Document button. Click this button to browse to import a document or a folder with documents into CT. The Document button is very prominent in this UI, but you probably use it only once: When you configure your project. You can use it to add documents later, but you can also do that in the workflow UI. You shouldn't use it to resume a project, unless you want to add documents. Instead, to resume your translation without adding documents, just hit Open Project... (25).
2. Set your source language. No comment needed, too obvious.
3. Set your target language.
4. Choose the type of file you want to import. Obvious, although I'd say you would choose this before you choose a document to import (1). [Correction: It seems the file type field adjusts itself to the format of the document chosen in 1. Wonderful, but then why is the field there anyway? To check only?] CT offers you a multitude of file formats - which of course is great - but as far as I know, you cannot translate multiple formats in one project. Apart from that, if you check the available formats, it may come as a shock that there's no ttx, sdlxliff or other (Trados) file format available. Now I'm not much of a Trados fan (to put it mildly), but I have to admit that translating those files contribute a lot to  my miserable income. Luckily, CT can handle those files, but it treats them - correctly - as project files, not as documents. So instead of entering all the information in 1 - 3, you just click Open Project... (25), and browse to its location. You can find more on how to handle these projects here.
5. The date is entered automatically. I don't know if you can change it, and I don't care anyway.
6. Tool-id. You can choose between CafeTran and CafeTran- OpenOffice. Beats me. No doubt, Igor can explain this, and the following:
7. Phase. Choose between Translation, Review, and End. Why?