Forum: CAT Tools Technical Help
Topic: What are the best free CAT tools for beginners?
Poster: Oliver Walter
Post title: 1. WFC. 2. Segmentation
1
WFC (Wordfast Classic) is a gigantic macro that runs within Microsoft Word and results in an extra toolbar and keyboard shortcuts for doing the CAT's work. You can use it free with TMs (Translation Memories) no bigger than 500 segments. In use, it looks a little similar to WFA (WordFast Anywhere) which, however, I have never used.
2
One feature, that for me is sometimes essential, but is absent from (for example) OmegaT is that segmentation (the process by which the CAT tool decides what is the next segment to be translated) can be automatic but the translator can intervene while s/he is doing the translation and, in effect, say to the CAT, "No the next segment isn't what you think - it's this piece of the text". The manually specified segment can be longer or shorter than the one chosen automatically (but it can't contain a paragraph mark [=new line]). I sometimes use this to specify, for example, that a certain segment includes a piece of text with a semicolon (";") or a colon (":") followed by more words and that in other cases a segment ends at these characters. Also, in some of the work I do, the source text includes some text with a certain formatting of the characters (red colour and strikethrough line) which is not to be translated at all (because it's already been translated or it's a repeat). With WFC it's very easy to ensure that the CAT leaves that text alone.
This aspect of CATs has already been discussed in Proz. For example:
[url removed]
[url removed] #2341936
Topic: What are the best free CAT tools for beginners?
Poster: Oliver Walter
Post title: 1. WFC. 2. Segmentation
1
WFC (Wordfast Classic) is a gigantic macro that runs within Microsoft Word and results in an extra toolbar and keyboard shortcuts for doing the CAT's work. You can use it free with TMs (Translation Memories) no bigger than 500 segments. In use, it looks a little similar to WFA (WordFast Anywhere) which, however, I have never used.
2
One feature, that for me is sometimes essential, but is absent from (for example) OmegaT is that segmentation (the process by which the CAT tool decides what is the next segment to be translated) can be automatic but the translator can intervene while s/he is doing the translation and, in effect, say to the CAT, "No the next segment isn't what you think - it's this piece of the text". The manually specified segment can be longer or shorter than the one chosen automatically (but it can't contain a paragraph mark [=new line]). I sometimes use this to specify, for example, that a certain segment includes a piece of text with a semicolon (";") or a colon (":") followed by more words and that in other cases a segment ends at these characters. Also, in some of the work I do, the source text includes some text with a certain formatting of the characters (red colour and strikethrough line) which is not to be translated at all (because it's already been translated or it's a repeat). With WFC it's very easy to ensure that the CAT leaves that text alone.
This aspect of CATs has already been discussed in Proz. For example:
[url removed]
[url removed] #2341936