Metatexis or Wordfast
Hanae
Wordfast. I want to get old my old files and larn that TM some good
sense before I set it to work.
...However, I notice that some people are using Metatexis - before I
take the plunge, please tell me why I should choose Metatexis (or maybe
Deja Vu) instead!
I have a gazillion old aviation-related Word file J/E pairs that I want
to scavenge for terms and phrases, and I want to be able to
export/import from Star Transit and Trados, use Powerpoint files, and
minimize nasty freezes and crashes. Using WinXP, which is bad-tempered
enough, no plans to change (unless my evil son installs React OS one day
when I'm not looking).
Regards
Helen H
Akebono Translation Service
Dear Hanae,
> ...However, I notice that some people are using Metatexis - before I
> take the plunge, please tell me why I should choose Metatexis (or maybe
> Deja Vu) instead!
If Japanese is your source language, you might want to read http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/CAT-Tools/D%C3%A9j%C3%A0Vu_X/Specific_languages:_Japanese before considering DVX.
Best regards,
Loek van Kooten
--
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bendooley
You can use Metatexis for free with all features for 90 days, I
believe. I tried both Metatexis, Wordfast and Trados, and felt that
Metatexis was the superior product. The reasons for my decision are
somewhat lost in the mists of time, but I remember that one of the
deciding elements was that Metatexis handled Powerpoint and and Excel
files better than the other two. In addition, the interface is much
cleaner than Wordfast (you don't have to worry about deleting segment
delimiters or closing your translation, which annoyed me), the
customer service is superb (virtually instantaneous), it imports and
exports to Trados with zero problems, and it has a host of useful
features, which I discover on a daily basis. Plus, it's cheaper than
Wordfast (if you license it) or Trados.
Good stuff!
Best
Ben Dooley
Hanae
I appreciate the comments, because I've only used Transit, and that
briefly. Despite all the comment on the internet, it is surprisingly
hard to get an image of how each product handles the translation process.
Any comments on creating dictionaries/databases of terms? Apart from a
few Transit jobs which come with their own dictionaries, I would be
creating and using my own dictionaries, so ease of use and maintenance
is a big point for me.
...and does anybody use voice-recognition input with CAT tools? Just
curious...
Regards
Helen H
Akebono Translation Service
Dear Hanae,
> Any comments on creating dictionaries/databases of terms? Apart from a
> few Transit jobs which come with their own dictionaries, I would be
> creating and using my own dictionaries, so ease of use and maintenance
> is a big point for me.
I can only speak about DVX, which is the tool I've been using for about 8 years at a stretch now. When it comes to (memory/terminology) database maintenance, user-friendliness and flexibility, I believe nothing can beat DVX. Importing/exporting from/to other formats, like CSV files, Excel files, Word files, TMX files, Trados WB files, et cetera, is an absolute breeze. What makes DVX really different I think is the fact that you can maintain the databases using SQL. I have to admit this is for pretty advanced users, but it *can* be done. Here http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/CAT-Tools/D%C3%A9j%C3%A0Vu_X/SQL you can read more about using SQL in DVX databases and projects.
I don't believe any other TMA can do this, but please correct me if I'm wrong.
> ...and does anybody use voice-recognition input with CAT tools? Just
> curious...
Other users claim that DVX is fully compatible with Dragon Speech, which seems to work like a breeze.
The official support for DVX is... shaky to say the least. It used to be the best in the world (Emilio Benito, the founder of Atril Software was notorious for answering e-mails sent on Sunday 4:00 AM within 5 minutes). After his death support became a lot worse, and now it can easily take up to 2-3 days until you receive an answer (if you receive an answer - you often have to encourage them a bit). This is made up however by a very knowledgeable user community (a bit like Honyaku really) and actually, for the vast majority of the questions you won't need official support at all.
Atril Software says that near the end of February, a new version of DVX will be launched, which will offer full support for Windows Vista and Office 2007.
Contrary to many other tools, DVX was tailored to freelance translators and not PM's. It will actually speed the translation process up, instead of down. A famous example is the fact that in DVX, there is no need to glue and unglue documents using unreliable tools. If you want to import 863 HTML files, 266 Excel files, 287 Word files and 875 txt files in one single project, it can be done. You can then 'switch' between individual files or the whole project with one mouse click. If the text behaves like one project, you can auto-propagate one translation through all 863+266+287+875 files. The same goes for other functions, like sorting, search and replace, etc. etc. Press your mouse button once and you're back at individual file level again.
AFAIK, no other TMA can do this. It is an absolute must for translating larger websites.
More questions are welcome ;-)
Hanae
As far as SQL goes, I have access to an in-house consultant (until he grows up and moves out, that is!).
>> If you want to import 863 HTML files, 266 Excel files, 287 Word files and 875 txt files in one single project, it can be done. <<
I read here http://tinyurl.com/246eew that Metatexis presents concordance searches in a single list rather than jumping from one to the next. Sounds good, but is that unique to Metatexis, does anybody know?
Elsewhere I read that Metatexis is only partially compatible with file formats such as .doc or .ppt - have any users had problems importing or exporting files? Most of my source files are Word or Powerpoint, or occasionally Excel.
Transit XV is fast because you can edit projects or TM files in text, and Star Japan gave me a free training session, but their sales policy seems to be to hide it under a rock and wait to see who finds it! You needto buy the expensive full-function version to build your own TMs and import your own files, so it would have to come complete with angels and trumpets for me to pass up one of the cheaper alternatives and buy it.
Thanks and regards
Helen Hanae (the Hanae part is my surname)
Akebono Translation Service
Dear Hanae,
|
> |
Loek...didn't you earlier post a link to remarks about DVX failing to find Japanese terms in a concordance search? That would be a pretty big bump in the road for me. I have years of paired files from one client which I want to scavenge for terms. |
True - however, I have to add that it happens only very rarely. Personally I've never found it very disturbing.
And if all else fails, you can simply open up your database in a separate instance of the program and search it using the old-fashioned search function.
Personally I do this like once a month or so. That should say something about the severity of the issue.
Akebono Translation Service
Dear Helen (sorry about using the wrong name),
|
> |
I read here http://tinyurl.com/246eew that Metatexis presents concordance searches in a single list rather than jumping from one to the next. Sounds good, but is that unique to Metatexis, does anybody know? Elsewhere I read that Metatexis is only partially compatible with file formats such as .doc or .ppt - have any users had problems importing or exporting files? Most of my source files are Word or Powerpoint, or occasionally Excel. |
DVX does this too. DVX is also fully compatible with DOC and PPT (you don't want to translate PPT though, no matter which tool you use - the lay-out is often very messy, as only very few people know how to operate PowerPoint correctly).
bendooley
batch processing. The prices, however, make me cringe. Metatexis may
be lacking several of those cool functions, but it has some DVX
doesn't have, as well. If you do a lot of web pages, the price is
probably justified.
As for .doc and .ppt files, I've not had any trouble. The only time I
had a problem was with a web page that had been saved as .doc, but I'm
not sure if that was my fault or the program's fault. Whatever the
case, it wasn't a great way to save the file, and I've only had to
deal with it once.
What I'd be curious to hear is the argument for Wordfast? I know a lot
of people use it, but... other than the VLTM, I'm not sure where the
appeal lies.
Best,
Ben
Jean-Christophe Helary
On 9 févr. 07, at 23:31, bendooley wrote:
>
> I have to concede that DVX has some awesome features, particularly the
> batch processing. The prices, however, make me cringe. Metatexis may
> be lacking several of those cool functions, but it has some DVX
> doesn't have, as well. If you do a lot of web pages, the price is
> probably justified.
>
> As for .doc and .ppt files, I've not had any trouble. The only time I
> had a problem was with a web page that had been saved as .doc, but I'm
> not sure if that was my fault or the program's fault. Whatever the
> case, it wasn't a great way to save the file, and I've only had to
> deal with it once.
>
> What I'd be curious to hear is the argument for Wordfast? I know a lot
> of people use it, but... other than the VLTM, I'm not sure where the
> appeal lies.
If TTX support is not a requirement, then any tool can fit. Regarding
web site translation I'd say that OmegaT is particularly convenient.
OmegaT can also be used with MS0 2007 files (this feature is still
beta) but if it is acceptable to convert MS files to RTF for
translation in other tools, then it should certainly be acceptable to
convert the same files to ODF for use in OmegaT. OmegaT is free and
since it is a Java app, it runs everywhere Java runs (Windows, Mac,
Linux etc)
TTX files can be handled by Heartsome's tools if I am not wrong, and
Heartsome's pricing is extremely reasonable. Plus it is a Java app too.
Jean-Christophe
Hanae
about CAT tools over the years. Never sure whether that's because the
converted don't think it's worth talking to the unwashed; or whether
people use Trados Translator's Workbench to deal with files from
agencies, hate it, and are not interested in full-function CATs for
their other work; or maybe most people do useTrados and love it, but are
afraid of Trados-bashing if they post?
SDL Trados has a special deal up to the end of February, so it's still
on my short-list, along with Transit. I think DVX is just too expensive
for me, and I think I'd like more reassurance on the future of their
customer support/updates. I definitely need to import and export Word,
Powerpoint, and Excel files, but I haven't so far had HTML/XML/DTP files
to deal with.
I've been using Wordfast for a couple of days, and so far the glossary
is my biggest bugbear.
1) Unless I've missed something, it takes way too many keystrokes to
access a word in the glossary, and so far I haven't found anything in
the manual that tells me how to transfer glossary terms any faster than
copy-pasting or typing the darn phrase in.
This is a big problem for me, because I get a lot of material on similar
topics, but very little word-for-word repetition. I need to keep not
just words but whole phrases consistent, even if they haven't been used
in 5 years. Even with a 50% fuzzy match, not much shows up from the TM,
leaving the glossary as the best way for me to maintain consistency. But
so far, it seems way too clumsy. I imiagine that many translators are in
the same boat?
2) Problems with glossary function. I find that this is a well-known WF
problem: terms that are in the glossary are not always marked in the new
text. Further, sometimes they are marked, but the glossary doesn't pop
up unless I highlight the whole thing, and click the glossary item on
the toolbar. And even then, sometimes the selected glossary stubbornly
refuses to appear in the glossary window. On the other hand, on rare
occasions a simple mouse-over will bring the item to the glossary
window...sorry, but if this is really the level Wordfast functions at,
40,000 yen is too much.
I got my dyed-in-the-wool Transit-expert husband to trial Wordfast, and
he thought it was extremely like Trados. He particularly liked the
Wordfast TM Editor, which is text-based and fast. However, the glossary
functions of Wordfast don't seem to compare to Transit (judging from my
limited use of Transit) in ease or reliability.
Regards
Helen H
Roland Hechtenberg
> 1) Unless I've missed something, it takes way too many keystrokes to
> access a word in the glossary, and so far I haven't found anything in
> the manual that tells me how to transfer glossary terms any faster than
> copy-pasting or typing the darn phrase in.
You seem to have missed Ctrl+Alt+right or left arrow to select a
glossary term and then Ctrl+Alt+down arrow to copy the term into
the translation.
In addition, Ctrl+Alt+up arrow offers some additinal
functionality.
> 2) Problems with glossary function. I find that this is a well-known WF
> problem: terms that are in the glossary are not always marked in the new
> text.
While I agree that this can happen, it is a rare case for me and
normally can be corrected by reindexing the glossary.
Have fun (and Wordfast),
Roland
Word file
Roland Hechtenberg
Technical translator
Iruma-shi, Japan
rol...@ictv.ne.jp
Gururaj Rao
>
> I've been using Wordfast for a couple of days, and so far the glossary
> is my biggest bugbear.
>
> 1) Unless I've missed something, it takes way too many keystrokes to
> access a word in the glossary, and so far I haven't found anything in
> the manual that tells me how to transfer glossary terms any faster than
> copy-pasting or typing the darn phrase in.
Roland has already replied about this. Adding terms to the glossary is
extremely convenient. And if comes up highlighted in the very next
segment.
>
> 2) Problems with glossary function. I find that this is a well-known WF
> problem: terms that are in the glossary are not always marked in the new
> text. Further, sometimes they are marked, but the glossary doesn't pop
> up unless I highlight the whole thing, and click the glossary item on
> the toolbar.
The glossary function in WF/transfer to target text/quality check is
probably the best feature of WF that sets it apart from its competitors.
I don't know which version of WF you are using, but in WF 5.0zo, it
works just great.
I do have Trados too, and DV. I prefer Wf for most of my jobs.
--
Gururaj Rao <honya...@gmail.com>
Akebono Translation Service
Dear Hanae,
> SDL Trados has a special deal up to the end of February, so it's still
> on my short-list, along with Transit. I think DVX is just too expensive
> for me, and I think I'd like more reassurance on the future of their
> customer support/updates. I definitely need to import and export Word,
> Powerpoint, and Excel files, but I haven't so far had HTML/XML/DTP files
> to deal with.
Have you considered buying the Standard or Professionalal edition instead? Go to www.atril.com and click on The DejavuX Editions. DVX Professional (personally I think Standard is too lean) is only 990 euros.
As a freelancer you don't need the Workgroup edition.
Akebono Translation Service
Dear Gururaj,
> The glossary function in WF/transfer to target text/quality check is
> probably the best feature of WF that sets it apart from its competitors.
> I don't know which version of WF you are using, but in WF 5.0zo, it
> works just great.
DVX has a function for that too. You can even enable it on the fly.
kotani
I'm following the discussion about "Metatexis or Wordfast".
Basically I have tried a few years ago a demo version of Wordfast, and
it was quite disapponting. Not so user friendly.
I'm quite interested in CAT tools, as I'm trying to find a way to
speed up my job and to rearrange all the material I have already
translated.
What I wanted to know from somebody using Metatexis is: in which cases
do you think it is really useful? Only for, let's say, instruction
booklets, or also in other cases?
In my case, I work as translator for a company and the material is
always very homogeneous, so for example, the same sentence or one
quite similar, comes out many times. Do you think that in such a
context Metatexis can be of some help?
Regards
Roland Hechtenberg
> Basically I have tried a few years ago a demo version of Wordfast, and
> it was quite disapponting. Not so user friendly.
The difference between the Wordfast of a few years ago and the
present Wordfast may be larger than the differences between
Windows 3.1 and XP.
Hanae
glossary term and then Ctrl+Alt+down arrow to copy the term into the
translation.<<
Thanks for the tip, Roland, but this is not working for me, for some
reason. It just takes me to the next entry in the glossary (i.e. only
the down arrow is acknowledged).
>>>>terms that are in the glossary are not always marked in the new
text.<<<<
>>While I agree that this can happen, it is a rare case for me and
normally can be corrected by reindexing the glossary.<<
Didn't fix the problem, sadly. And more problems have developed - I'm
getting yellow "100% match" boxes that contain totally, totally
unrelated text (as often as 20-30% of segments). Example of mistaken
100% match:
13時54分31秒 高度2,272 ft、風向271.8°、風速16 kt
Wordfast gives me this from the TM: Although it was a little misty, I
could see the runway approximately 10nm ahead of me.
The other new problem is that the down-alt key combination is skipping 2
segments every time...and I can't "get at" those skipped passages of
source text by going up or down, expanding the segment above it, or
ending and trying to re-start the translation.
I tried closing and re-opening the document and Wordfast, but I think
somehow the installation has become corrupted, and I should delete it
and re-install. I will do that some time, because I really want to see
why so many people use Wordfast (or do they?).
Meanwhile, I will also try Metatexis. My biggest doubt with Metatexis is
whether it handles Powerpoint, but it seems that it does.
I hear the recommendations for OmegaT, but find Java applications are
sometimes hiccuppy in operation...although maybe that's just prejudice.
Loek, the DVX price of 990 Euros is about 160,000 yen. That compares
with 130,000 for the equivalent edition of Transit, and just under
110,000 for the February special offer on SDLX Trados 2006, and 40,000
for Wordfast (less for the Proz site special price valid till
Wednesday), and 14,000 for Metatexis (I think). Maybe I'll put the
difference towards an airfare to visit my relatives in den Haag, and
jump on a train so you can show me the wonders of DVX for next time!
Meanwhile, I'd love to hear more about the direction that Atril is
taking - will this year's DVX purchasers be able to get updates and
support in future? I don't mind investing in the products that cost
100,000 yen or more if they really do buy me rocksolid reliability
(dream, dream...).
Regards
Helen H
Akebono Translation Service
Dear Hanae,
> Meanwhile, I'd love to hear more about the direction that Atril is
> taking - will this year's DVX purchasers be able to get updates and
> support in future? I don't mind investing in the products that cost
> 100,000 yen or more if they really do buy me rocksolid reliability
> (dream, dream...).
I have very good reasons to believe they are bettering their lives ;-) I got like 20 mails from the CEO this week, which is more than ever before.
I really think they will improve their support and communication, starting this week.
Roland Hechtenberg
>
> >>You seem to have missed Ctrl+Alt+right or left arrow to select a
> glossary term and then Ctrl+Alt+down arrow to copy the term into the
> translation.<<
>
> Thanks for the tip, Roland, but this is not working for me, for some
> reason. It just takes me to the next entry in the glossary (i.e. only
> the down arrow is acknowledged).
Somehow we do not seem to be on the same page.
When I press Ctrl+Alt+down arrow after selecting a highlighted
term, the glossary has not been opened and I just get the target
term copied into the target.
There is no way this can take me to the "next entry".
From your scanty description I get the impression that you open
the glossary, which is not required.
> I tried closing and re-opening the document and Wordfast, but I think
> somehow the installation has become corrupted, and I should delete it
> and re-install.
Uninstalling Wordfast just requires deleting Wordfast.dot in the
startup folder of Word,so it shouldn't take longer than a minute.
Have you downloaded a recent version?
Which version are you using?
For reinstallation, just copy a fresh copy of Wordfast to the
startup folder of Word.
Again, that shouldn't take more than a minute.
Also, rename your normal dot to something like normal.not and
restart Word.
Normal.dot frequently is the cause of problems.
> whether it handles Powerpoint, but it seems that it does.
Wordfast also handles Powerpoint, although depending on hte file,
you may run into problems. (You mau also run into problems with
Trados.)
Hanae
5 demo installation. There could also be some problems with Windows or
Word which are affecting WF.
Thanks for your info, it makes it obvious that "my" WF is not behaving
the way it should, so I don't want to assess it until I have it working
properly!
Thanks & regards
Helen H
Jean-Christophe Helary
On 12 févr. 07, at 21:22, Hanae wrote:
> I hear the recommendations for OmegaT, but find Java applications are
> sometimes hiccuppy in operation...although maybe that's just
> prejudice.
It works flawlessly on my Mac (OSX) and on my wife's Windows XP
machine. As the user group owner, I have yet to hear about any
hiccups while using OmegaT :) There are plenty of user-support
related questions (that could be answered with a "read the fantastic
manual" 99% of the cases though).
JC
bendooley
translations and have had no problems. As far as I am aware, it
doesn't deal with DTP files, which would be a major adavantage of DVX,
but once again, I can't possibly justify the price when Metatexis does
most of the same stuff for less thatn $200 US.
Metatexis and TM tools in general are extremely useful when
translating files that have lots of recurring phrases and terms. I
think that you'd find Metatexis (or Wordfast or whatever) would save
you a lot of time. In fact, I can't imagine working without it. Even
without the TM and glossary functions, which are practically magical,
there are many other benefits, such as presentation of the text in a
way that makes it much easier to work.
Once again, if the question is Metatexis or Wordfast, I cannot
recommend Metatexis enough. Except for the lack of the VLTM, I believe
Metatexis to be a much better product. More user friendly and better
features.
Best,
Ben
Madelon Mottet
However, at least for now, it seems that the only Japanese material that has
been donated to this huge translation memory is about computers. Or am I
missing something?
Madelon
marc...@gmx.yamaha.com
Helen,
Just a comment on this - I had a salesman from SDLX Japan visit me at my office two weeks ago to give me a presentation on their products. He advised me against purchasing SDLX Trados 2006 as the 2007 version coming out late this year will be very different, due to it being the first release which that integrates the feature set of the SDLX and Trados packages.
Regards,
-Marc Ward, Shizuoka
--------------------------------------------------
>
> Loek, the DVX price of 990 Euros is about 160,000 yen. That compares
> with 130,000 for the equivalent edition of Transit, and just under
> 110,000 for the February special offer on SDLX Trados 2006, and 40,000
> for Wordfast (less for the Proz site special price valid till
> Wednesday), and 14,000 for Metatexis (I think). Maybe I'll put the
> difference towards an airfare to visit my relatives in den Haag, and
> jump on a train so you can show me the wonders of DVX for next time!
> Meanwhile, I'd love to hear more about the direction that Atril is
> taking - will this year's DVX purchasers be able to get updates and
> support in future? I don't mind investing in the products that cost
> 100,000 yen or more if they really do buy me rocksolid reliability
> (dream, dream...).
>
> Regards
> Helen H
>
Hanae
my office two weeks ago to give me a presentation on their products. He
advised me against purchasing SDLX Trados 2006 as the 2007 version
coming out late this year will be very different,<<
Thanks for the warning Marc, I understood from the February campaign
that the current price includes update to the 2007 version. I will be
sure to check if and when I do buy!
Thanks Madelon for the info on using the WF glossary, I've especially
noted your info on propagating. I had no trouble getting things into the
glossary, and I could confirm that they were there, they just
highlighted less and less frequently in the source text. I'm going to do
a clean re-install and see what happens. I may have done something
deeply wrong to my original installation with my first bumbling keystrokes!
Regards
Helen H
Hanae
out there haven't got off the ground with this either...
I started Metatexis and had a happy hour or two until Word started
crashing every time I tried to close or open a segment. I found
information on a troublesome Microsoft Office security update issued
last year which has apparently been causing several CAT tools to crash
in this way. It wasn't an instant fix (and I DID set a recovery point
for Windows before deleting the security update, just in case!), but
after re-installing Metatexis, everything seems fine.
So far, I'm finding Metatexis very interesting. The terminology database
is a pain to update properly, but correspondingly more actively used by
Metatexis (although I don't really like having the terminology inserted
into the source text in open TUs.
I will certainly try Wordfast again later, now that I think I've cleaned
up the Windows/Word environment a bit. I'm suremost of the problems were
not essentially Wordfast problems.
However, in all CAT tools I've tried so far, the single most useful
aspect has been the Moral Pressure Function: opening another TU with an
expectant waiting box underneath it forces me to type something in it,
instead of wandering off for a coffee!
Thanks to all who have helped so far, I hope it has been as useful to
others as it has been to me.
Regards
Helen H
kanji saito
先日このMLで紹介されていた、Trados2007のPre-orderをいたしました。
そうしたら、Trados2007がリリースされるまでの間、使っていてもかまわない
と言うことでTrados2006が付いてきました。
Hi Kanji,
Yes you are entitled to use SDL Trados 2006 Freelance now. When SDL
Trados 2007 is release this will be put into your account.
Regards
Product Services Manager
SDL TRADOS Technologies
Trados5.5からのアップグレードなのでTrados2006をおまけしてくれたのかも
しれませんが、とりあえず一報。
斉藤 完治
Hanae
The onsite manual says helpfully "install full version", but I'd like to
be a little more sure that it is going to work before I pay up!
1) What's with the blacked-out reverse-highlighting in some TU target
boxes? Can't find a mention of this, and these TUs seem to be the ones
that trigger the problem (though once the problem occurs, it isn't
limited to these reverse-highlighted boxes).
2) When I try to close, end, or open a TU, word closes with no warning,
and I get a "recovered" document, and lose any unsaved work.
I'm running MS Word 2003 on XP. I can't believe that other CAT users are
finding every single CAT tool unusable...
Regards
Helen H, sleepless, behind schedule, and grumpy!
Geoff Trousselot
1. Have you checked all your Microsoft updates are up to date? If one
security patch causes problems the likelihood of the next one fixing the
previous problems is pretty high I would have thought.
2. Are you making sure that all the CAT tools are not competing against
one another in word. You sound like you must have an enormous amount of
macros flying around the place.
Geoff Trousselot
Hanae
Yes, I did an update thinking the same thing. Haven't yet done a clean
reinstall of MT after that.
>>2. Are you making sure that all the CAT tools are not competing
against one another in word. <<
Think so...I hunted down every scrap of WF and re-booted before
installing MT. I don't have Trados on my system at all, and while I do
have a translator's version of Transit, it doesn't operate in a Word
environment.
Thanks, Geoff - your comments at least make me feel as if I had
something of the right idea when I took the above steps - I feel it's
more of a conflict than an internal problem with WF or MT.
Meanwhile, back in the world of the unadorned Word translation
environment...
Regards
Helen H
Alan Siegrist
> Metatexis...Word shut-down problem has resurfaced...advice most welcome.
> The onsite manual says helpfully "install full version", but I'd like to
> be a little more sure that it is going to work before I pay up!
I know nothing about this, but I did look at the MetaTexis web site. It says
that the trial version will work for only "60 days or 600 usages maximum."
Have you exceeded these limits?
Regards,
Alan Siegrist
Orinda, CA, USA
AlanFS...@Comcast.net
Hanae
Well within those limits - only managed to do 1 page of 1 job, the day I
downloaded and installed the software!
Regards
Helen H
Alan Siegrist
> Well within those limits - only managed to do 1 page of 1 job, the day I
> downloaded and installed the software!
Are you sure you installed the right version of MetaTexis to match your
version of MS Word?
Have you contacted MetaTexis support about the problem? They might have a
simple solution.
bendooley
Was there an error message? You might try contacting their user
support. They are very quick to get back to you and very helpful.
Also, you might try finding the file normal.dot on your computer and
renaming it. Sometimes this file, which is a template, becomes
corrupted and causes macro based programs to crash. To fix this
problem, close word, find normal.dot--usually under templates in your
application settings file for word (I think, thought don't quote me on
that)--rename it to something else (normal2.dot or whatever) in case
you need it again, restart word. When you restart word, a new template
will be created.
Also, you can change the metatexis settings so it doesn't
automatically insert your matches. I don't have it in front of me, but
I believe this is changed under general settings-> translation memory.
There are several display options including displaying in a dialogue
box, adding to source text, etc.
Good luck!
Ben
> AlanFSiegr...@Comcast.net
Roland Hechtenberg
> 2) When I try to close, end, or open a TU, word closes with no warning,
> and I get a "recovered" document, and lose any unsaved work.
Sometimes a specific Word document can behave very badly because
of problems in the file.
Try selecting entire document except for the last paragraph mark
and copying it to a blank document.
Saving as rtf or even saving as text also can get rid of
problems in some cases.
Have fun (instead of problems),
Roland
David J. Littleboy
From: "Roland Hechtenberg" <rol...@ictv.ne.jp>
> Hanae <flyin...@nifty.com> wrote:
>
>> 2) When I try to close, end, or open a TU, word closes with no warning,
>> and I get a "recovered" document, and lose any unsaved work.
>
> Sometimes a specific Word document can behave very badly because
> of problems in the file.
This is what has me leary of the CAT tools: added complexity on top of an
already fragile system seems to be asking for trouble. And I'm already
getting files from customers in Word that are so complex that they manage to
find the obscure bugs; can't be opened at all, only save as .dot files (this
one seems to be a common glitch). Embedded Excel files as figures usually
causes problems.
I really hate the possibility that a 100-page document will explode
following a week of work.
But customers that will accept text files are getting fewer and further
between. Sigh.
> Try selecting entire document except for the last paragraph mark
> and copying it to a blank document.
> Saving as rtf or even saving as text also can get rid of
> problems in some cases.
Yep. The selecting all but the start and end is new to me; thanks!
David J. Littleboy
dav...@gol.com
Tokyo, Japan
Akebono Translation Service
Dear David,
> This is what has me leary of the CAT tools: added complexity on top of an
> already fragile system seems to be asking for trouble. And I'm already
> getting files from customers in Word that are so complex that they manage to
> find the obscure bugs; can't be opened at all, only save as .dot files (this
> one seems to be a common glitch). Embedded Excel files as figures usually
> causes problems.
DVX does not work inside Word. Instead it saves the file as RTF and imports it into its own interface.
Hanae
kind of thing I have nightmares about. They usually make an
overwrite-translation file so huge that the client's own firewall chokes
on it when I e-mail it back, yet they never want me to do the "copy
everything but the last marker into a new file thing" because they want
to retain all the tedious file history. And yes, that's the kind of
set-up where so many fingers have been in the pie that no single person
in the client's company knows how the document was put together.
I copied the file to .rtf file, minus final paragraph marker, and got a
new version of the same error - instead of shutting down at TU stage,
Word shuts down as soon as I try to use metatexis, in the middle of the
start assistant. That time it gave me a "microsoft vb basic error -
automation error". I tried the whole thing again with a .txt copy, same
type of close-down, but no error message.
I see that this is mentioned in the Metatexis FAQ too - this is where
they suggest you buy the full program to solve the problem! I will
contact their support - I asked Honyaku first, hoping/afraid that I'd
made some extremely basic error, and of course I'm using the evaluation
version.
I checked the match between Word version (2003) and metatexis version
when I did a clean reinstall of it last night, and did the normal.dot
thing at the same time.
Still positive that there is a problem out there that can be solved - it
can't be coincidental that WF and MT both had big problems on my system.
I plan to evaluate DVX and Trados later in the month, after I've used
Transit for a job later this week. (I've never done more than dabble in
Transit in the past). I'd really like to stabilize my system to the
point where WF or Metatexis would run smoothly before I invite any of
the big boys to come and play, especially Trados, which is so closely
linked to the Office environment.
Meanwhile, the actual translation job awaits me...
Regards
Helen H, thankful that she at least she postponed telling the bulk of
her clients that she was back translating full-time so that she could
"play" with CATs. Pity they scratch!
Hanae
as it is probably corrupted since I am having trouble with Wordfast too.
While mildly surprised, since I don't recall any other problems with
Word (in fact, Word 2003 must be the most stable Word product I can
remember), I'm willing to accept that the problem is not part of MT or WF.
Just wanted to pass that on, in case I had unwittingly prejudiced
anybody against either product.
Regards
Helen H
Charles Aschmann
> Sometimes a specific Word document can behave very badly because
> of problems in the file.
> Try selecting entire document except for the last paragraph mark
> and copying it to a blank document.
> Saving as rtf or even saving as text also can get rid of
> problems in some cases.
>
>
software that works within Word. It appears to be a constant headache
for all developers of TM software. SDL/Trados has used a double-headed
approach to this by offering the ability to work within Word or work in
an external editor (Tag Editor). Wordfast and Metatexis (I am not sure
how its PowerPoint and Excel translations work) require the Word
environment and will always suffer from the problems of interfacing with
it, but give access to most of its features. SDLX, DejaVu, OmegaT and
some others work only in an independent Editor (solving the problems
with Word, but not providing many of the functions we like to use).
TransAssist works in multiple MS program environments, requiring the
environment for each file type it translates but giving the native
environment for all files. The problems are 1) Translators like to work
in Word because of macro, language and other features as just plain old
familiarity, ability to be within the environment of the original
document, etc. 2) Word is pretty quirky in the way it interfaces with
these large macro templates and various templates interfere with each
other. 3) Most users do not have the knowledge of Word's inner workings
to be able to fully control all these interactions. 4) As Japanese
translators, we tend throw Japanese into the equation, which
particularly when it is the source and set as the default language for
the OS (often required by the TM software for reliable operation with
Japanese as the source or target), causes all kinds of problems (such as
misinterpretation of symbol entry font and language at times and the
like). 5) We often have another piece of software running that has some
conflicts with the macro operation (Dragon Naturally Speaking symbol
entry, for example, is messed up by running Trados with the default
language set to Japanese). Much of this has to be accepted because TM
developers have a difficult time keeping up with the changes in Word and
because they are primarily focusing on European languages (notable
exception being Ryan Ginstrom and hit TransAssist). Word has a very
cumbersome, bloated, branched and added on design (or lack thereof), and
it even conflicts with itself at times, so essentially most of these
problems are really Word problems or must be solved within Word.
One of the best ways is to clean up your template folder and only run
what you absolutely need. Another is to clean up what starts
automatically on your computer. Lots of programs, like Adobe Acrobat,
throw a template into Word. If you do not use it, eliminate it. Another
is power. A fast computer with lots of memory solves many problems.
Yet as Roland says, poorly designed Word files (and it think that
defines most of the Word files I get out in Japanese) can raise havoc
with TM software because of the problems they cause in Word. The RTF
solution is good, but sometimes causes other problems. If the file is
simple and you are not responsible for formatting, saving as text also
eliminates Word garbage and bloat. They you can open the file in Word
and save as a new Word document. Of course, this is often not an
option. Suffice it to say, the more complicated the Word document, the
more likely you are to have these problems.
Charles Aschmann