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
- 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).
- Set your source language. No comment needed, too obvious.
- Set your target language.
- 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.
- The date is entered automatically. I don't know if you can change it, and I don't care anyway.
- Tool-id. You can choose between CafeTran and CafeTran- OpenOffice. Beats me. No doubt, Igor can explain this, and the following:
- Phase. Choose between Translation, Review, and End. Why?
