Internet Resources

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.

Click to enlarge

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.

Click to enlarge

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.

Click to enlarge

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

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).

Click to enlarge

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. 

Click to enlarge

I checked the result in CT

Click to enlarge

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...