CafeTran4Mac

Espresso 2012 UPDATE

2012-01-03T02:52:00.000-08:00

Espresso 2012 is only a week young or so, and there is already an update. No, no bug fixes, a genuine update.

Says Igor:

Dear Cafetranslators,

I have uploaded the new build of CafeTran. The update concerns the logic of automatic insertion of translation into the target segment.
The current logic is in the following order:

1. Exact match.
2. Fuzzy match based on the Fuzzy much percentage level set in Options, and if not present:
3. Autotranslation (also called Autoassembly) based on its homogeneous accuracy level set in Options.

The trial version is available for download at http://www.cafetran.com/download.html.
Notice that CafeTran has a new address http://www.cafetran.com now.
The previous address will point to this site.

I will start sending this version to CT users this week. The current version is: CafeTran Espresso 2012010202.

Espresso 2012

2011-12-23T18:17:00.000-08:00

Igor lets us know:

"It is my pleasure to announce officially the new version of CafeTran called CafeTran Espresso 2012. It features a lot changes in the user interface to make it much more intuitive and user friendly.

There are also numerous enhancements to existing functions as well as new important features such as optional prefix matching (stemming), QA, filtering and
sorting segments, implementation of the new Google Translate API v. 2.

The current manual is still outdated but YouTube video tutorials on various workflows will follow next. I hope the first one will appear by the end of this year."

New Project Info User Interface

2011-11-14T18:24:00.000-08:00

CafeTran now has a new Project Info UI. It should make it much easier to set up a new project, especially for beginners.

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New CafeTran Blog?

2011-10-19T22:11:00.000-07:00

To my surprise, I stumbled upon another CafeTran blog. And a very good looking blog at that. At first, I thought Igor wrote it, but I doubt if he would write a very Dutch URL like:

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I now suspect another Hans, a well-known Dutch translator who usually goes by the name Hans List.

Another blog would definitely be a good idea. I haven't been able to add any entries for weeks. That's not out of laziness, it's simply because I was busy using CT, and didn't have any issues. I almost exclusively worked on TTX files, and there's no reason to write about that format again. I admit that I also did a few TXT and HTML files, but they didn't present any problems. CT just works...

Connect My Mac

2011-07-28T03:28:00.000-07:00

I admit that it's all a bit experimental at this stage, but I can connect from my iPad to CafeTran on my Mac using, er, Connect My Mac. The basic app is a free download from the App Store, developed by Hana Mobile. Time will learn how useful this is, but the idea of being able to manipulate your Mac on your iPad is fascinating.

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Dictionaries and Dictionaries

2011-07-07T20:12:00.000-07:00

"CafeTran offers a flexible interface to access and update your dictionaries in the workflow", it says in the CafeTran Handbook. It continues to distinguish between dictionaries and glossaries, and how to integrate a dictionary into CT.

All very well, but when I tried to integrate my main dictionary like I integrated an Internet resource, it didn't work. It turns out that the term "dictionary" applies to wordlists, very similar to glossaries, but not to software dictionaries. Apparently, there are dictionaries and dictionaries.

Mac OS comes to the rescue. With Services, you can easily link your dictionaries to CT. In the menu bar, go to CafeTran>Services>Services Preferences...

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Choose or add your dictionary. In my case, that's Van Dale. Assign a keyboard shortcut to the dictionary, Ctrl+v, in this case.

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Next time you want to look up a word in CT, just double-click it, hit the shortcut, and magically and revolutionarily, your preferred dictionary shows up with the word you selected.

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Pretty neat.

Proofreading in CafeTran (cont.)

2011-07-05T18:46:00.000-07:00

I was aware that I could export/save the project as HTML, but that seemed to me to be pretty useless format for proofreading.

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It is, until you see the light, and open the HTML file in a word processor.

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Get rid of the column with the source text (and convert Table to Text, if you like), and you will end up with this:

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This is a format suitable for reviewing, especially if you print it. Be sure to make changes in the Project so your translation memory is up-to-date.

New Build

2011-06-29T19:10:00.000-07:00

Igor released a new CafeTran build. New features:

Gluing segments of many documents
CafeTran allows you to work with many documents in one project by selecting the folder that contains them when creating a new project. They are available for translation the menu Project>Documents ... . During the translation, you can switch between them or glue them in one view for convenience. Of course, the segments must be first created so it is best to choose Automatic segmentation when setting up a new project with several documents.
Filtering and sorting segments
A very handy feature that allows you to hook into the workflow only selected segments. Filtering can be done by a word, phrase, note, checked or unchecked segments. In addition, the program lets you sort segments alphabetically. The described features are available in the Find menu.
Saving project segments to the HTML fileMenu Project>Save as..., next choose File of type - html. This is useful for displaying segments in the browser, e.g. to review them outside the program or open in the table of Ms Word or OpenOffice.
Highlighting spelling mistakes in red instead of underlining in black them when the program is connected to the OpenOffice spellchecker.

Bug fix
Skip numbers now doesn't skip whole segments that start with a number.

Congrats!

2011-06-14T20:18:00.000-07:00

Internet Resources

2011-05-06T20:43:00.000-07:00

In my previous entry, I mentioned youalign. The developers of that wonderful tool asked me to check out their new Internet resource, webitext. I did, of course, and then I thought of trying to integrate it into CafeTran, one of the many CT features I haven't even looked at.

It's easy. In the workflow UI, you go to Library>New Resource and choose Internet>OK. You will see the following dialogue box.

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I'm afraid I only entered the webitext URL because I had (and have) no clue about Address Start and Address End. Never mind, click OK and go back to the workflow UI. To activate webitext, go to Library>Internet>webitext.

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And there you are. Some things don't work as I would have expected, and it's a bit slow, but then again, this is my very first try.

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UPDATE: Please do enter the Address Start and End fields (see comments below). If you do, the whole lot works faster, plus you can use the CT Search Field to enter terms (by double clicking or selecting them in the source pane) to get results from webitext.

Aligning

2011-05-04T20:44:00.000-07:00

When I was introduced to CAT tools about 14 years ago, I thought the alignment feature would be great. Imagine, all your pre-CAT tool translations instantly retrievable, ready to use for your current project! I was wrong. I tried the alignment process once, and gave up after a page or so. Time consuming, boring, and especially for general subjects, not worthwhile the effort.

However, to prepare for an upcoming project, I changed my mind. The reference files mentioned to me by the customer contain lots of very specific information, a conditio sine qua non for the project. So I gave it another try. In CafeTran.

The alignment workflow is pretty straightforward and - for once - well described in the Handbook. Just don't forget to check the Documents Alignment box (as I did the first time).

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So I followed the instructions, started aligning, and... gave up after a few segments. L'histoire se répète. I simply can't do it. I'll have to live with it. And then I remembered there was a free alignment service on the Web. I typed "align" in the address line of Safari, and immediately got the URL of that service. I was smart enough at the time to bookmark it, not smart enough now to remember I did.
To use youalign, you'll have to register. After confirming your registration, you can upload the documents you want aligned (with a few restrictions on format and size), you wait a minute or so, and you'll see a preview and the link to download the alignment file as a TMX file.

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I checked the result in CT

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and it was wonderful. Better still, it was perfect. I wonder how they do it. Pretty smart algorithms they must use.
I uploaded the other reference files, and the final step was merging them into one TMX file by saving the individual files in one folder, opening the folder in the CT Project File, and then saving the resulting memory as one TMX.

I feel a bit sorry for Igor. Aligning in CT is easy, and the explanation of the workflow in the Handbook is excellent. But you can't beat youalign...

Proofreading in CafeTran

2011-04-17T19:50:00.000-07:00

Usually, I proofread my translations in the final document. The good thing about that, is that you see the text in its final version, the bad thing is that you either have to make the changes in your CAT tool - CafeTran - or end up with databases that don't reflect the final version. In other words, your mistakes will probably show up again in a next translation.
In this case, I had to do the proofing in CT because the final document didn't show all the text. Lots of it was hidden, a known MS Word .docx issue: All .xlm files are equal but MS doesn't stick to the rules, as usual.

So I proofed in CT for the first time. I thought it was a good idea to check the translation in the left-hand panel, rather than in the usual translation pane. So I expanded that part of the UI.

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If you come across a segment that needs changes, just click on the blue segment number, and you go to the relevant segment and you can make the changes in the translation pane. What surprised me, was that CT apparently automatically propagates the changes. Wonderful!
What I didn't realise, is that the spellchecker doesn't work in the lefthand panel. Not so wonderful, but understandable.
The ideal solution would be to proof in the Preview so you could see all of the context, pictures, diagrams, and so on, whereas the changes made in the Preview are propagated in the Project File and the memory or memories. It may even work that way, but I didn't have the time to give it a try.

On Rosetta, somebody expressed the wish that his CAT tool would offer the possibility to mouse-click terms to re-arrange them. According to him, an extremely useful feature for Japanese/Chinese and similarly constructed languages where Auto-Assemble doesn't really work because of completely different syntactical structures. CT can do it. Even better, if most of your terms are in the database, just double-click them so they appear in the right order. I made a screencast of it, but don't get too excited, it's my first attempt. Next time, I'll try QuickTime instead of Jing. Both methods are free, by the way.

The CafeTran UI: The Project File Simplified (3)

2011-03-05T19:05:00.000-08:00

Below, I have tried to summarise the minimum settings required to configure a translation project for four situations. The following ignores most options (including useful ones), reviewing, billing, etc. The sole purpose is to get you started. You can always adjust your settings in the Workflow UI: Project>Project Info.

I. Configure a new translation project without existing databases

This is typically the situation for translators who are new to CAT tools, or who don't have memory or terminology databases at their disposal.

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Click the Document (1) button and browse to the file you want to translate
Select or check your source and target languages (3-4)
Select or check the file extension (5) of the file you imported in 1
Check the New Project Memory box (8)
Click OK

Done. All other settings are either not important at this stage, or their default values will suit your purpose for the moment.

II. Configure a new translation project making use of your existing databases

This is typically the situation for translators who are familiar with CAT tools and/or have database resources of their own, or who received databases from the client.

Click the Document (1) button and browse to the file you want to translate
Select or check your source and target languages (3-4)
Select or check the file extension (5) of the file you imported in 1
Check the Load Database Memory (9) box if you have a terminology database at your disposal (a Big Papa)
Check the Load Memory File (10) box, and locate your memory database (Big Mama) after clicking the TMX button
Click OK

III. Resume a translation project

Click the button for your current project (NEW!, a new CT feature...), go to Recent Projects in the Menu Bar and select one of your recent projects, or click Project (13), and browse to it. Click OK.

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IV. Start a CT supported translation project

CT supports a number of projects, including projects set up in other CAT tools. They typically have the extensions .xlf, .ttx, .tmx, etc. Click Project (13), and browse to the project of your bread and butter. Click OK.

The CafeTran UI: The Project File 2

2011-03-04T18:56:00.000-08:00

Next to the Document Settings (2-7), you'll find two more tabs:

The Memories Settings Tab

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18. Workflow integration. Manual integration - searching the memory for the matches of the current segment takes place only when click the Translate button in the target window toolbar. Automatic integration (default) - searching the memory for the matches of the current segment take place automatically as you take the next segment. The searching may take some time when you work with very large memories. Pretranslation - the memory is being searched for all document's segments in one step in the background. You can translate all your segments during this process and the results are shown instantly as you take a segment. This method is preferable while working with large (big mamas and papas) memories.

19. Matching type. Fuzzy matches. The typical CAT memory matching for the current segment with shown percentage. Subsegment matches. These are 100% matches for the subsegments of the current segment as well as the approximate (statistical) matches for the subsegments of the current segments. Detailed matching. This is character based matching rather than word based matching (for languages where there are no word separator such as a space). By selecting here you decide what kind of matching you want to have during translation. The default setting allows for both Fuzzy matching and Subsegment matching taking place.
20. Character encoding. UTF 8 is default. However, Trados tmx memories use UTF 16 encoding. So if you plan using the TMX in Trados you can change the default setting. I heard that Trados also recognize UTF 8 encoding correctly.
21. Memory for segments. Permits adding segments to the memory.
22. Read only. The memory can be queried but cannot be saved. This option is also very important for tuning the memory performance. The memory uses less RAM, and matching is faster. So it should be used with large memories set for reference only.
23. Memory for terms. Permits adding terms to the memory.

The Segment Properties Tab

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24. Project. Enter the name of the project the segments come from. Based on this property, you can later filter the memory to extract only the segments with the given property.
25. Field. Enter the subject matter of the project (e.g. Medicine, IT, Legal, etc.) you add to the memory.
26 and 27. Define your own property names.

The Menu Bar

On the very top of the UI, you'll find the Menu Bar as usual. I should probably have started with it, so let's call it a proteron husteron (which in itself is a husteron proteron, of course).

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Recent Projects speaks for itself. Header, well..., I hope Igor can help me out on that one.

The CafeTran UI: The Project File 1

2011-02-27T17:50:00.000-08:00

[This entry replaces two older ones. You can still find them here, and here]
Igor has simplified the Project File UI. I will discuss it in three parts, starting with the Document Settings.
To start or set up a project, run Start.jar (and not Cafetran.jar). You will see the following interface:

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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).
The bar with the Document Settings, Memory Settings, and Segment Properties.
Set your Source Language. No comment needed, too obvious.
Set your Target Language.
File Type. Choose the type of file you want to import. Usually, the file type field adjusts itself to the format of the document chosen in 1. 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 location of the project concerned. You can find more on how to handle these project files here.
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.
New Project Memory. Check this box only if you do not use a general memory database (Big Mama), or if you do use a Big Mama, but want to create another database specifically for this project.
Load Database Memory. Check this box if you want to use an existing (general) terminology database (Big Papa).
Load Memory File. Check this box if you want to use an existing memory database (usually your Big Mama).
The path to the memory database mentioned in above.
Billing. Let's worry about that later. Translate first, bill later. If only the other way around were possible...
Project. Click this button to open an existing project, including projects of other CAT tools (ttx, sdlxliff, etc.)
Translation Mode. Segmentation mode - the text is segmented "as you go forward". You create a segment and translate this segment at the same step, then next segment and and so on. Autosegmentation mode - the whole text is segmented first, and only then you start translating. That is how most CAT tools work, I suppose (Igor says). Clipboard mode - a special translation process which automates as much as possible importing from, translating and sending back the segments straight to external applications. The segments import and export takes place via system clipboard. There is a chapter in the Handbook explaining this mode in detail. Image mode - I also wanted CafeTran to be a sort of editor for translation of scanned images or paper documents such as short certificates, forms, etc. Here, you only create target language segments in the target window (without having any source segments) and export them all to the text format. You can open the scanned image in CT interface and query manually your memories and other resources. Of course, you can also OCR and convert the image documents to a word processor as an alternative.
Translation in Review. Checking this box allows you to make automatic searches in memories even when you already have the target segments created, for example, when you review the text.
Documents Alignment. Check this box to align two documents (source and target) in order to put their corresponding segments to memory or extract phrases to a terminology base.
Recent Resources. Check this box to use recently used databases.

The CafeTran UI: The Project File (intermezzo)

2011-02-16T18:25:00.000-08:00

Igor has done it again: He simplified the Project interface after reading my previous entry on this blog.

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However, he's cheating a bit - a few bytes even - because all 28 items are still there, hidden behind tabs (highlighted in yellow). This UI is far less `frightening' than the old one, so it's an improvement anyway.

In my wish list, I suggested to skip this interface all-together, and go straight to the workflow UI. Igor does not agree, and argues this `sounds good only if you want to continue the project.'

My arguments in favour of skipping the Project UI:

You can find the very same Project UI in the workflow UI under Project>Project Info. So why not take the `risk'? If you don't continue a project, set up a new one in the workflow UI.

Igor argues that it would take more steps: `first you would need to close all the memories, glossaries from the previous project and next go to the Project UI to configure them anew, which might be totally different than in the last project.' But is that true? I mean, `totally different'? I asked a question on Rosetta: How many language pairs do you work in, and how often do you switch between them? I don't have the results of this poll yet, but I bet the number of pairs is very limited. And if you work with Big Mamas and Papas for each pair, switching will not take much time. No time at all, if Igor manages to link the Mamas and the Papas (all the leaves are brown) to the various language combinations. That would only leave the project specific glossaries to select, and you'll have to do that anyway.

IMPORTANT NOTE for MAC users: For the time being, close CafeTran via the Project menu instead of using the keyboard shortcut. Igor will fix this soon. SOLVED

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

2011-02-13T19:29:00.000-08:00

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

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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.

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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?

File Formats: InDesign IDML

2011-01-31T17:09:00.000-08:00

There isn't really much to say about translating InDesign .idml files using Cafetran. Just import them like any regular file, and start working. Since I don't have InDesign, I had no idea of the results. They turned out to be more than acceptable to excellent. Below you see a screenshot of a part of the translation before any editing or DTP-ing, in other words, straight from CT.

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Even most of the tables were OK:

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File Formats: Trados TTX

2011-01-23T18:19:00.000-08:00

Trados TTX files may be legacy files, unfortunately they still abound. The good thing is that you can process them in CafeTran. However, you should keep a few things in mind:

CT correctly considers the files to be "projects" rather than documents. This came as a complete surprise to me when I first wanted to change the settings in the Project File. Instead of the usual interface, I got this:

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No way I could make any changes.

The next thing is that you should ask for "presegmented" TTX files, or you should presegment them yourself. The reason for that is not clear to me, since the files in the project have already been presegmented. However, if you don't take that extra step, you may end up with untranslated segments that you are not aware of, but the client will be. You can presegment the files yourself using a demo version of Trados (under Windows, I'm afraid).

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Nelson Laterman describes the process very clearly on his site, so there's no need for me to repeat it.

The problem with formats like TTX is, that there are no empty target segments. If there's a perfect match, you will see it in the target segment, if not, you will see the source text in the target segment. Very annoying, also because your memories won't make any suggestions.

I was going to mention this on my Wish List, but I made the mistake of mentioning the problem to Igor first. He instantly implemented a solution for it. For reference only, I will mention it on the Wish List anyway. Igor added the option to remove the target segments

(see the first screenshot above). A great option, depending on the number of perfect matches in the file and of whether or not the client sent you a TM. In the latter case, you can use the option without having to worry about a thing. The perfect matches will show up, although you will have to insert any tags. If you don't have a TM at your disposal, you're in trouble. You will have to decide whether or not to use the new option. I was lucky. Most files were very short, so I went through them, and added the perfect matches to the memory before removing all target segments.

I'm afraid I didn't even try it, but since TTX files are project files, I don't think you can import them all in one go. I don't even think you import them, you "open" them. Please correct me if I'm wrong. When I started, I wrote down which TTX files I processed. I found out soon enough that that isn't necessary.

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As you can see, the processed/translated files are shown as with different icon.

JUMP!

2011-01-10T19:12:00.000-08:00

One of the items in my Wish List was "jump to the next segment". The Wish List is getting a bit messy because Igor complies with my wishes just about instantly, so I mention it here: DONE, that is, for numbers anyway. Not only can you jump to the next segment that isn't a number, in the process one of my other wishes is fulfilled: The comma/dot conversion. Great for Annual Reports and things!

You will need to change some settings, though. In the Project File, select Auto-Segmentation

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Then go to Translation>Jump Over, and check Numbers

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What a timesaver!

More on Spelling

2011-01-04T18:43:00.000-08:00

So I finally managed to have my spelling checked on the go. But there is more to it. CafeTran not only shows you the word you misspelled, it also offers you alternatives. Select the misspelled word, and hit CTRL+ALT+Space, and if necessary, repeat the process by pressing CTRL+Space till you see the word you want. It will be inserted automatically.

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For several languages, there is also a thesaurus available for OpenOffice. Hold the CTRL key while clicking with the right mouse button on a word. The list of meanings and their synonyms for the word will pop up to check or replace. The keyboard shortcut for this action is CTRL+SHIFT+Space.

Go to the OOo extensions website for an extensive list of dictionaries.

TIP: The OpenOffice dictionaries will only work for OOo. You can't blame OOo, and they are great for working with CT. For as far as I know all native Mac applications and most third party apps, you can try Aspell, a free and Open Source spell checker. It's cross-platform, so it will also work under Linux and Windows, although to my knowledge, support for Windows was terminated ages ago. For the Mac, Aspell comes in handy, especially for "unusual" languages. The list of dictionaries boasts almost 100 supported languages, including Zula, Kinyarwanda, Tetum, and several other languages I never heard of.

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Since this tip has little or nothing to do with CafeTran, I will not mention it in my TIPS entry.

OK then, one more thing (as they say) on spelling: On the Mac, you can even activate the spell checker in Skype, including Aspell. Just right-click in the text field, and choose Spelling and Grammar>Show Spelling and Grammar

CafeTran and Office Suites

2011-01-03T19:02:00.000-08:00

In my entry Configuring a New Project, I mentioned that you can use one of the OpenSource Office Suites to convert a .doc file to a .docx or xml file. CafeTran is XLIFF based, so this conversion is necessary, and although other apps can do the trick, these free Office Suites offer you very useful other benefits: They allow you to review your translation (only file formats supported by OO, of course), and to check your spelling in CafeTran on the go.

It seems most people don't have problems `integrating' an Office Suite into CT, but it took me ages, and without the help of Igor, I probably couldn't have done it, or - more likely - would have given up trying. Finally, I managed to do it, but I still haven't the foggiest of what actually did the trick.

I installed NeoOffice first, but that didn't work. Then I tried the latest version of OpenOffice, 3.2.1, and got the error message that JRE (Java Runtime Environment) didn't work. So I downloaded and installed version 2.4.1, and that was worse: It prompted me to enter something unspecified in the Terminal.

Time for Igor.

Igor suggested to try OOo 3.2.1 again, and to set the path to OOo in CT. Go to Edit>Options>General. In the field next to the Editor button, choose OOWriter from the drop down list. Click the Editor button itself, and in the dialog box that pops up, click the Classpath button. In most cases, you then move to your Applications folder, and you click OpenOffice.

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You should the see the following encouraging pop-up screen:

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Click OK and save. In Options, also click OK, and restart CT. In the menu item Project, you should now see OpenOffice.

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Encouraging, but that didn't mean that the spell checker was enabled. OOo is not a 64-bit application, so I was told to change the settings for Java to 32-bit. Go to Applications>Utilities>Java Preferences, and in the General tab, change the order so 32-bit is on top. Strangely enough, you cannot uncheck 64-bit, but changing the order is good enough.

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Or so I hoped. Nope. Still no spell check in CT. Only when I restarted the Mac, everything was working as it was supposed to do:

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Auto-Completion

2010-12-15T03:43:00.000-08:00

A particularly useful feature of CafeTran is Auto-Completion. Start typing a word, and CT suggests its completion, highlighting it.

Auto-Completion is based on the words in your TM(s), the Google and Bing databases, and the words you typed before.

You can accept the suggestion by hitting Return. If you are not happy with it, just continue typing, or press Esc or any of the Arrow keys.

You can change the settings by going to Edit>Options >Workflow.

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You can even uncheck this timesaving functionality. Not recommended.

The Wish List

2010-12-11T19:47:00.000-08:00

It's the time of the year, I'm afraid, so I would like to present my Wish List. I'm still struggling with my InDesign file - as was to be expected. Although the problems I ran into seem to be inherent to the file format rather than caused by CafeTran, the job inspired me to suggest a few changes in CT I see as improvements. Please add your comments and suggestions for other improvements here, because it is not possible to do so at the Wish List page.

For Real (cont.)

2010-12-07T04:24:00.000-08:00

Going for the real thing turned out to be a good idea. It taught me already a good many things:

The client wanted “proof” CafeTran could handle Indesign files, but I haven't finished the translation yet. Now in the project folder, there’s a file with the same name as the source file, but with the abbrevation of the target language in it. In my case: Katalog2011_52_104_nl.idml. So I sent the client that file, thinking it would do the trick. It didn’t. The file only contained the source language. It will only show the target language after exporting the project (but see the TIPS). Things turned out to be far easier than I thought. In CT, just go to Translation>Preview Document, and there’s your .idml file with (part of) the target text, again in the same folder.

“Add Current Segment to Memory” will take you to the next segment. But I don’t want to add all the numbers of a table to the Memory Database, so in that case I use Control+Option+Right Arrow to go to the next segment. That will take me there without adding the previous one to the database. However, that will not bring up the pre-translation of that next segment. So I use Control+Option+I to insert the next number, followed by Control+Option+Right Arrow again. Until I forgot to insert the number, and went to the next segment anyway. I realised I forgot to insert it, so I went back to correct it. Not necessary. CT inserted the source segment automatically. That saved me a lot of work.

I wanted to use superscript. I didn’t know how to do it, so I asked Igor. He claimed that only Word based CAT tools could do that. I checked with DV3, and he seems to be right. No idea how to solve that problem. It reads “1.” “Tag” in the source text (two segments), and I want “1^e dag” in Dutch. Temporary solution: I joined the segments, so I got “1. Tag” in the source language, and translated it with “Dag 1”. Acceptable, but not up to my standards.

For Real

2010-12-05T01:53:00.000-08:00

I was freewheeling nicely I thought, and all of a sudden, I found myself working in CafeTran. Not testing, working. For the first time in all those years, I got a job I couldn't possibly handle in DV3. The file format is .idxlm - InDesign - and the job is probably ideal for a CT debutant like me: Heaps of repetitions, lots of time to do the job.
I did some 2,000 words today, and that's not bad for a start. That doesn't mean there aren't any problems. A look at the picture below will tell you that there's a lot of nasty tables, and I have some problems with the inevitable tags that come with it.

For more on tags, see Igor's remark in the Tips section.

Question Time

2010-12-02T17:12:00.000-08:00

Everything seems to be working fine now, but I'm afraid I still have some questions on using databases:

Q1: If you include Google/Bing, everybody works with at least 2 databases. Can CafeTran assemble a translation by taking terms from these databases in a particular order? In my case, look for perfect matches first, then for matches in the Lex, then in the TDB?

A1: The assemble order is the following:

1. Perfect (100%) matches within the project itself.
2. Matches in the glossary (the Lexicon in your case).
3. Matches in the Terms memory which is joined to the main memory (menu Memory | Join Terms memory).
4. Matches in the main memory (the TDB) or other memories. (Igor)

Q2: And in continuation of Q1, can CT do so automatically (AutoAssemble in DéjaVu)? In other words, you go to the next segment, and all the terms from the various databases are already there, assembled in the preferred order.

A2: It depends how you integrate you memories in the workflow.
The default Automatic mode does the assembling while you take the next segment. If you notice an unacceptable pause waiting for the results, you should switch to Pretranslation mode.
The Pretranslation mode performs the assembling of all segments in one run. You may continue taking next segments while the program is autotranslating in the background. The matches are available instantly. (Igor)

Q3: In the Project File, I set the path for both my MDB and the TDB to the folder in which they are located (.../cafetran/resources/memories/ENG>DUT), and I checked the boxes for "Memory For Segments" and "Memory For Terms." However, in the Project itself, I end up with one memory database only, ENG>DUT. Did CT combine the two? Merged them?

Click to enlarge

A3: All memories in this folder are merged resulting in one memory. If you do not wish to merge them so, you need to open them separately through the Memory menu. Then, they will open in its own tabs. Alternatively, you may join a Terms memory to the main memory to get their matches in one tab and still keep the memories separate (menu Memory | Join terms memory). (Igor)

Q4: Can I open and edit my databases in CT? If so, how, and if not, what (Mac) software should I use? Clicking to open a database now triggers AppleTrans, and learning one CAT tool at a time is already more than I can handle...

A4: Yes, you can. There are two ways to accomplish this:
1. Open a TMX memory like a regular project (menu Project | Open project). Then, edit and save its segments the same way you would review the project segments. This method has your system memory RAM limitation because the program loads all the segments to RAM.
2. The other way involves the true Database approach, which means creating a Database table and importing the memory segments there for edition and searching (menu Database). Here, you do not have any RAM memory limitation. (Igor)

Back to the Project File

2010-11-29T19:38:00.000-08:00

This may seem a step back, and it sort of is a step back, but I want to go to the opening screen of CafeTran once more. That's where I apparently made my mistakes.

After starting CT, you will see a pop-up screen, the Project File, to configure the project. So I set up the project the first time only, and after that I just skipped that screen by cancelling it when restarting CT. I mean, I already set up the project, didn't I? I think that approach is wrong. Each time you start CT, you have to go via the Project File. Nothing to worry about, a few mouse clicks is all it takes. The screen should look like this:

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Note that I didn't enter the path of the document. Choosing the Project will do.

I also did some organising: I saved all databases for this project in one folder. I checked "Memory", and entered the folder for my MDB and my TDB. I also unchecked "Read Only" because I want to be able to add terms to the memory. Click Project, and choose the current project.

Everything is there, and all I have to do now, is add my Lex: Library>Glossaries>Autodesk Lex.

If I click the Lex bar, and go to Memory>Insert Machine Translation, the terms of the Lex will show up in the translation window. However, the shortcut mentioned after the command, F1, does not work for the Mac. That should read Fn+F1. I think the shortcuts for the Mac may need a revision.

Click to enlarge

Another problem solved, is the one with the Autosave function. The default setting is autosave after 5 segments. No wonder my translation didn't show up after restarting CT. Now you can change the settings in Edit>Options>Workflow, but Igor advises against a low number of segments because Autosave can be processor intensive.

I also added a document, since I finished translating the first one. That's easy, just go to Project>Add Document. You can also import more than one document when you set up a project by entering a folder path instead of a document path in the Project File.

After finishing a document, CT will ask if you want to open it for review*, and will then lead you automatically to the next to be translated document.

No blog entry yesterday, sorry for that, but I learned a lot. Up to the point that I almost have the guts to accept a job and translate it in CT.

*It opens in TextWrangler, whereas I mentioned OOo (NeoOffice does not seem to work with CT, so I installed OOo) in the settings. Minor problem.

The First Translation Effort

2010-11-27T20:55:00.000-08:00

Time to do some work.
I ran Start.jar to open CafeTran, and before opening my tiny project, I activated my databases.

I opened my MDB and TDB* (both in TMX format) by going to Memory>Open Memory, and my Lexicon by going to Library>Glossaries.

I then opened my Project. One of my worries instantly disappeared: No more "Memory 1". Good.

I translated the first segment using the memories (Memory>Insert Autotranslation), but I suppose I need to practice that a bit more. I also added terms to the Lexicon and to the TDB, and they were instantly available. Good.

I clicked "Next segment", and inserted the Bing translation.

Click to enlarge

Since this is the first occasion that I want to continue the Project, I quit using Control+Q instead of Command+Q. Not good.

I opened the project again, and nothing was there:

Click to enlarge

No databases, no translation of the first sentence. I should have saved the project first (using Save As rather than Save? The latter seems to want to save the memory, and then again, which memory?). This may seem obvious, but I'm not used to do that. Another switcher's problem. Anyway, I repeated the process, saved the Project "As", quit CT, opened it again, only to find out that the translation of the first segment was there, but the memories weren't, nor the Bing translation I copied into the translation window.

Click to enlarge

Tomorrow is another day...

*When opening my MDB and TDB, I got the following Error Message: An invalid XLM character (Unicode: 0X7) was found in the element content of the document.

The First Results

2010-11-25T22:29:00.000-08:00

[There are a lot of screenshots - click to enlarge - in this entry, so it may be a good idea to download a PDF file (356 kB) of it from my Dropbox]

If you open the Project, and Start the translation, you will see the first sentence in the source language:

The results of Google and Bing are instantly there:

For the imported databases, select the database, and go Memory>Insert machine translation.

For the TDB, that results in:

The Lexicon:

The MDB (as glossary):

And the MDB as CT TMX:

Plus a strange pop-up screen for the assembled translation:

Importing a Translation Memory

2010-11-25T19:25:00.000-08:00

This is the last of the DéjàVu databases I will import in CafeTran, that is, for this project and this blog. DV3 allows me to export my memory database / Big Mama as a WorkBench or a TMX file, but I prefer to stay away from Trados as much as I can, so I choose export as text delimited file again. No need to repeat the procedure, it's in the previous entries.

The other reason for choosing a text file again, is because I want to try Igor's suggestion in the comment in the previous entry, i.e. convert the glossary into a TMX file within CT.

Open CT if it's not open already,
Open the MDB glossary (Algemeen ENG>DUT MDB)
Select Memory>Conversions>Import entries from glossary

Click to enlarge

When import is finished, save the memory to a tmx file (Memory>Save).

As in the case of the TDB and the Lexicon, I ended up with a *.res file that does not actually contain the data. The conversion, however, resulted in a `real' CT database, so it is safe - I think - to delete the .res file that was created before the conversion, and the original MDB text file.

Time to have a look at what CT can accomplish with those databases.

Importing a Glossary II

2010-11-24T18:41:00.000-08:00

Importing the "Lexicon for this Project" is essentially the same procedure as importing the TDB since it is also a tab delimited file. My first attempt, however, did import the lexicon, but after opening it, showed all terms instead of the terms for the current segment only. Changing the "Entries separator" from Windows into MAC did the trick, but don't ask me why.

Click to enlarge

Lots of colleagues who use DéjàVu just forget about the Lexicon, but I think it is very useful. It is project-specific, and - in contrast with the TDB - you can only add a term and its translation once (an older entry will be deleted after confirmation), so you always have your latest solution for a particular term at hand. For CafeTran, there is another advantage: The lexicon only gives you one suggestion for each term, but since in the process of converting the TDB into a tab delimited file all TDB time stamps disappear, the CT database shows you all solutions, including old and even wrong ones. I'll have to think of a strategy to avoid that. All suggestions are welcome!

*I added a new tip in the Igor Says section on assigning more RAM to CT.

Importing a Glossary I

2010-11-23T18:04:00.000-08:00

Importing a database is surprisingly easy. The fact that it took me all day yesterday to achieve it (so no entry yesterday, sorry!), was due to the fact that my 15 MB text file was corrupt. Cafetran stops importing the data at the point of the error. Igor had to create a new cafetran.jar that forced the program to continue importing. So be sure to get the latest CT build when you run into problems when importing. Be sure to use the latest build anyway.

As I mentioned in the previous entry, I converted my TDB into a tab delimited text file. I want to import the data as a glossary, and not as a dictionary, since data in a glossary are readily available, whereas you have to `actively' look up terms in a dictionary. See the handbook for more information.

To import the data:

Run Start.jar
Go to Library>New resource>Glossary>OK

Click to enlarge

To open the newly created glossary:

Go to Library>Glossaries

Open your project if it's not already open, and click Start, OK. Click the new glossary, and you'll see something like this:

Click to enlarge

It works. And it's blistering fast. However, it doesn't work as I intended, but I'll come back to that. The next step will be importing my Lexicon.

Note: CT does not actually import the database. It creates a 4 kB shortcut to the database, *.res, located at .../cafetran/infos/resources/Glossaries

Click to enlarge

So don't move your database to the trash after importing it, nor move it from the current location.

On Databases

2010-11-21T18:10:00.000-08:00

I doubt if there are (m)any translators around who choose CafeTran as their first ever CAT tool. Most people who consider CT will be "switchers." I am. I have been using DéjàVu for 13 or 14 years now.

The main feature of CAT tools is databases, and some time ago, a DV user suggested to use only one set of databases for each language combination. That idea made sense. In DV, there are three kinds of databases:
MDB, the memory database also referred to as TM (Translation Memory), also called Big Mama if you adapted the idea mentioned above.
TDB, the terminology database, or Big Papa, used for terms, but also for segments that occur frequently, like "For more information, please go to [URL]"
And the project specific Lexicon.
Since I want to be able to use all three kinds of databases, I will discuss all of them, one by one.

Arguably the most useful database is the TDB, so I'll start with that one. My Big Papa is about 50 MB, built up in I don't know how many years. I want to use that database in CT, of course, so I will have to convert it. I have the option to convert to text, several versions of MS Excel, and Catalyst. I choose text, tab delimited, because I have no idea what Catalyst is, I can easily convert txt tab del into Excel, and because I have the feeling a txt file will be a lot smaller than any of the other possibilities. This can be crucial since CT uses RAM to access memories, and even though I have 4 GB of RAM available, a smaller memory file would be accessible faster (me thinks).

Click to enlarge

My Big Papa ended up as a 15 MB text file. So far, so good. The next step will be importing the TDB file into CT. See you later.

Getting Started

2010-11-21T16:51:00.000-08:00

To open my first project, I run, er, Start.jar.

Since you cannot have Start.jar in the Dock, you will have to double-click its icon, or you can hit Command+Space to activate Spotlight (I gave up on QuickSilver, Spotlight is faster and more comprehensive), and start typing: Start.jar. You probably only need to enter S or St, and you can hit Return to start CafeTran. To have an icon in the Dock, you could create an Automator workflow, but that would be an extremely simple one, and its icon may cause confusion if you have other Automator workflows in your dock. Any ideas to solve this minor problem?

Choose your project in the CT pop-up window, and there's your text to be translated. And hardly anything else. To begin translating, click the Start icon, or go to Translation > Start translation (Shortcut: Control+Alt+Home). Now there's the first sentence to be translated, and at the bottom from left to right, Google and Bing suggestions, the complete XML file to be translated, Memory 1 (empty because we haven't done anything yet), and a list of frequent terms. The latter doesn't seem particularly useful to me, but I can be wrong. As a matter of fact, I can be wrong about just about anything on this subject matter, so please educate me.

Click to enlarge

This set-up will probably work fine for first-time CAT tool users. "Switchers" however, will be tempted to use their "old" databases.

Configuring a New Project

2010-11-20T17:23:00.000-08:00

My first CafeTran (test) translation is a very short text in .doc format. You can download it here. To be able to import the text in CafeTran, I'll have to convert it to XLM. Word:mac 2004 cannot do this, and I'm not prepared to buy Office:mac 2011, so I'll use Open Source software for this task. We'll see later that we will need an Open Office Suite version anyway, so you'd better start downloading…

Open Office offers free cross-platform solutions that are as good as or better than Microsoft Office. However, there is a Mac-only version that I use, NeoOffice. Another possibility is LibreOffice, developed by the people who originally wrote OpenOffice. It's also cross-platform, and even though I think LibreOffice deserves our support, I'm afraid I haven't tried it out yet.

So I open my doc in NeoOffice, and save it as XLM:

Click to enlarge

By the way, I could also have saved it as .docx.

The next step is setting up the project, so I'll run Cafetran.jar. As far as I can see, Start.jar also does the job.

Click "Document:", and import the test document. The other settings speak for themselves:

Click to enlarge

Now save the project. I mean, bloody SAVE the project. The first few times I tried CafeTran, I just didn't. One of the switcher problems, I suppose.

*Because of a comment below on file locations, I added a pic that clearly illustrates that:

Click to enlarge

(I added the file CafeTranTDB.txt for one of next week's entries)

The Dock

2010-11-20T17:21:00.000-08:00

Now as a Mac, I'm not sure I can live with this:

It's UGLY. And what's worse, when you quit CafeTran, clicking the icon opens Terminal...

UPDATE: Problem solved. See Igor's comment on Getting Started 1.

HELP!

2010-11-20T17:20:00.000-08:00

It seems CafeTran is not the easiest CAT tool around, so knowing where you can get help, just might be useful.

CafeTran offers a manual, the Handbook. It's a reference book rather than a course in CafeTran. It's like reading a handbook for mathematics, boring, and NO PICS! Not even screenshots. The "Flash Start" is not suitable for beginners because it's too dull, but it's also not suitable for "switchers" like me, because it doesn't deal with existing translation memories. The rest of the Handbook is for reference only.

TranslatorsTraining offers instruction videos for the most popular CAT tools, including CafeTran. The video gives beginners a pretty good idea of how to start working with CafeTran, but it is very basic and as good as useless for switchers. Apart from that, it uses a rather old version of CafeTran.

The developer of the software, Igor Kmitowski, started a Google Group. I think everybody that uses CafeTran or is thinking of buying it, should join. Your questions are usually answered before you can ask them. As with all groups, the CafeTranslators Group is a bit fragmentary.

Or you can e-mail your questions directly to Igor. I'd prefer you'd ask them in the Google Group though, so all other members can profit from it. And if you're afraid of asking a stupid question in public, please do realise that there are no stupid questions, only stupid answers.

Introduction

2010-11-20T17:17:00.000-08:00

I'm Hans. I'm a Mac. I bought my first Mac in 1987, a Mac Plus, usually referred to as the "Big Mac." It was godsend, compared to the computers I used before.

However, in 1994 I started translating. My publisher insisted on me using WP 5.1, hell for people used to MacWrite and Word:mac. No dictionaries for my language combination, English to Dutch. Probably no CAT tools either for the Mac, but I hadn't heard of those tools at that time anyway. I had to switch to Windows, using Macs for everything unrelated to translating.

Some 13 years ago, I bought my first CAT tool. Not the one translation agencies want you to buy so they can rip you off with 100% discounts for "perfect matches", and 99% discounts for 0.0001% matches. No, I bought DéjàVu. DV made more sense anyway, since it's based on databases as opposed to Word macros. I must say that I was - and am - very pleased with DV, and I am grateful for the marvellous service Atril provided.

But the times have changed. Most of the standard dictionaries are available for the Mac nowadays, and the Internet provides a lot of help for us, translators. And Macs can run Windows. However, that's not what I want. I am looking for a CAT tool that runs natively on a Mac. Wikipedia offers an excellent list of CAT tools * for all platforms, and the number of tools suitable for the Mac has increased sensationally the last couple of years. To me, CafeTran looks the most promising. It can handle most formats, it can refer to a number of databases, and it is affordable. However, for someone used to DV for so many years, the learning curve seems to be steep. Hence this blog. It will not only inform you on my progress (if any), but it will also force me to continue my efforts to master CafeTran.

* This list of CAT tools has been edited recently, and for reasons unknown it now omits most tools. You can find the complete list here.