Forum: CAT Tools Technical Help
Topic: CAT tool for XML
Poster: Samuel Murray
Post title: OmegaT, MemoQ, Trados 7, Wordfast Pro 4, ...
[quote]Hans Lenting wrote:
I was wondering: is there a CAT tool for XML that doesn't need conversion to XLIFF?
(Of course it should allow the user to hide all non-translatable content.) [/quote]
OmegaT theoretically offers this, but its generic XML filter isn't very powerful, so if you have a special XML file you'd have to write your own filter (which is not simple but not impossible). OmegaT parses source files on the fly -- there is no intermediary format and the conversion remains resident in the computer's RAM i.e. it is not stored in a separate file but instead OmegaT re-parses the file each time you press F5 or restart OmegaT. This is why it's so easy to edit the source text file in mid-translation in OmegaT, because when you press F5, OmegaT simply re-parses the file.
MemoQ also doesn't convert XML to XLIFF... instead, it converts XML to a database format, and the user can then choose to export the file as e.g. as XLIFF or RTF, but it is not required for the file to be in XLIFF format for a MemoQ to be able to translate the file.
Of course, Trados 7 and WFP4 don't convert the XML file to XLIFF either, but they do convert to another file format (which happens to be an XML format), so file that you work on in the CAT tool is not the original XML file. Also, both those tools don't have very powerful XML filters, so your mileage will vary w.r.t. how much untranslatable text gets hidden.
There are PO editors that can take XML files that have been converted to PO. I'm not sure what it is that you're trying to achieve -- are you trying to avoid XLIFF or are you trying to avoid an intermediary format or are you trying to get a workflow that does not involve conversion?
Topic: CAT tool for XML
Poster: Samuel Murray
Post title: OmegaT, MemoQ, Trados 7, Wordfast Pro 4, ...
[quote]Hans Lenting wrote:
I was wondering: is there a CAT tool for XML that doesn't need conversion to XLIFF?
(Of course it should allow the user to hide all non-translatable content.) [/quote]
OmegaT theoretically offers this, but its generic XML filter isn't very powerful, so if you have a special XML file you'd have to write your own filter (which is not simple but not impossible). OmegaT parses source files on the fly -- there is no intermediary format and the conversion remains resident in the computer's RAM i.e. it is not stored in a separate file but instead OmegaT re-parses the file each time you press F5 or restart OmegaT. This is why it's so easy to edit the source text file in mid-translation in OmegaT, because when you press F5, OmegaT simply re-parses the file.
MemoQ also doesn't convert XML to XLIFF... instead, it converts XML to a database format, and the user can then choose to export the file as e.g. as XLIFF or RTF, but it is not required for the file to be in XLIFF format for a MemoQ to be able to translate the file.
Of course, Trados 7 and WFP4 don't convert the XML file to XLIFF either, but they do convert to another file format (which happens to be an XML format), so file that you work on in the CAT tool is not the original XML file. Also, both those tools don't have very powerful XML filters, so your mileage will vary w.r.t. how much untranslatable text gets hidden.
There are PO editors that can take XML files that have been converted to PO. I'm not sure what it is that you're trying to achieve -- are you trying to avoid XLIFF or are you trying to avoid an intermediary format or are you trying to get a workflow that does not involve conversion?