How to…
Exchange data with other CAT tools

If you have previously used another CAT tool, it is very likely that you have translation resources which you want to use in memoQ. It is also possible that a translation agency you work for has prepared a document in another CAT tool, made it available for you in a specific file format, and you are expected to send its translation back in the same format after working on it in memoQ.  But how can you migrate documents and resources across different translation environments?

 

Migrating translation documents

There are three file formats created to make this migration possible. If you want to import or export translation documents, you should use one of the bilingual formats supported by memoQ:

· XLIFF (*.xlf or *.xlz): This format is supported to ensure compatibility between CAT tools.
· TTX (*.ttx): This file format is supported to ensure Trados compatibility.
· Bilingual DOC/RTF: One advantage of a bilingual DOC file or a bilingual RTF document is that when opened with a text editor (such as Microsoft® Word®) it can be written to and manipulated. Therefore it is a suitable format for giving out memoQ translations for proofreading on computers where memoQ is not installed.

 

Migrating translation memories

The migration of translation memories is also supported by memoQ. The format most CAT tools use for translation memories is TMX, which allows the seamless exchange of translation memories between memoQ and other applications such as Atril Déjà Vu, SDL Trados, Wordfast, SDLX, Heartsome and Across. What is more, you can also import TMX files into term bases created in memoQ.  memoQ is unique in the sense that it can even change the language pair – you are able to create an English-German translation memory out of a German-English translation memory.

The length of a translation unit can have dramatic effects on translation memory hits. If segment has different length in the source text and in the translation memory, translation tools are not likely to find the similarity. One workaround for this is the use of fragment search, but a better approach is migrating also the segmentation rules used for translation memories.

 

Migrating term bases

With term bases you provide for the consistency of your translations. Terms are special dictionary entries, and if memoQ finds a term in the source document, it automatically offers you the translation.There are two ways to export term bases:

· When you use another CAT or terminology tool, you can export CSV files from term bases created in memoQ and then imported to that tool.
· You can export MultiTerm XML files from term bases created in memoQ, that can later be imported into MultiTerm, the terminology application of Trados.
 

memoQ is not meant to be a full-fledged terminology application able to cater for all the needs of professional terminologists. memoQ is a translation assistance software, and its easy-to-use term base function covers only those features that may be necessary for a translator, not supporting the free definition of descriptive fields, for example.

 

See also:

Exchange data with other CAT tools