Pulling up translation memories from previous translations
Thread poster: Nina Halperin
Nina Halperin
Nina Halperin  Identity Verified
Peru
Local time: 18:07
Spanish to English
+ ...
Jun 25, 2020

Hi,

As I mentioned in my other post, I am new to OmegaT (and CAT tools in general). I have been completing some test translations in OmegaT version 4.3.2 for Mac to try to get the hang of it. How do you pull up translation memories from previous translations to use in your current project, so that previous sentences and segments appear as matches? I tried going into the file labeled "TMs" of a previous translation to see if I could copy and past it into the TM file of my current pro
... See more
Hi,

As I mentioned in my other post, I am new to OmegaT (and CAT tools in general). I have been completing some test translations in OmegaT version 4.3.2 for Mac to try to get the hang of it. How do you pull up translation memories from previous translations to use in your current project, so that previous sentences and segments appear as matches? I tried going into the file labeled "TMs" of a previous translation to see if I could copy and past it into the TM file of my current project, but it didn't work. Moreover, the TM file from the previous translation, labeled "Auto," is blank when I try to open it. Any thoughts? Thank you!
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Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 00:07
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
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@Nina Jun 25, 2020

Nina Halperin wrote:
How do you pull up translation memories from previous translations to use in your current project, so that previous sentences and segments appear as matches?


You're going to have to explain to us what you mean by "pull up". It is not an expression that I'm familiar with.

If you want to re-use translation memories from previous projects, you must copy those previous projects' "{projectname}-omegat.tmx" files into your current project's /tm/ or /tm/auto/ subfolder. Whenever you regenerate target files in a project (i.e. press Ctrl+D), OmegaT creates or recreates three exported translation memories, and the one that is named {projectname}-omegat.tmx" is the best one to save and to use in subsequent projects, by copying it into the new project's /tm/ subfolder.

So, in the long term, you should create a folder somewhere called "my old translation memories" and create subfolders for each client or each subject field, and save these {projectname}-omegat.tmx files in those folders, for when you want to re-use them in a subsequent project.

I tried going into the file labeled "TMs" of a previous translation to see if I could copy and past it into the TM file of my current project, but it didn't work. Moreover, the TM file from the previous translation, labeled "Auto," is blank when I try to open it.


It appears that you are using the word "file" for both files and folders. It's better to use separate words -- it helps everyone to better understand what you mean.

The subfolders called /tm/ and /tm/auto/ in a project are folders where you (the user) can copy previous translation memories into. These folders are empty unless you yourself copy old translation memory files into them.

Again, I'm not a Mac user, so I'm not sure if it's not possible to open an empty folder (your statement that the /auto/ folder is blank when you "try to open" it seems to suggest that your operating system doesn't allow you to open the folder if it is blank), but the fact remains: the /tm/ and /tm/auto/ subfolders are normally empty until you yourself manually put files in them. And if you're looking for the translation memory of a completed project, it's called {projectname}-omegat.tmx and is re-generated every time you press Ctrl+D in that project.


 
Susan Welsh
Susan Welsh  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 19:07
Russian to English
+ ...
pulling up old TMs Jun 25, 2020

She just means accessing the old TMs.
Nina, as Samuel explained, there will be NOTHING in the TM folder or AUTO sub-folder until you manually copy/paste something there.


 
Nina Halperin
Nina Halperin  Identity Verified
Peru
Local time: 18:07
Spanish to English
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TOPIC STARTER
Where can I find {projectname}-omegat.tmx? Jun 25, 2020

Thank you both very much for your help! Samuel, you're right, I was using "file" and "folder" interchangeably. Sorry for the confusion. I'm still confused about where I can access the translation memory "{projectname}-omegat.tmx." I thought that the translation memory for each project, created by saving each translated sentence segment in the document, would appear in the TM section under "Access Project Contents." However, as I mentioned, there is only the "Auto" folder within that section, whi... See more
Thank you both very much for your help! Samuel, you're right, I was using "file" and "folder" interchangeably. Sorry for the confusion. I'm still confused about where I can access the translation memory "{projectname}-omegat.tmx." I thought that the translation memory for each project, created by saving each translated sentence segment in the document, would appear in the TM section under "Access Project Contents." However, as I mentioned, there is only the "Auto" folder within that section, which has nothing inside of it. How can I copy a TM from one project and paste it into the TM folder of another if the TM of the first project doesn't even appear in the section for translation memories? I guess the crux of my question is where can I find the TM of each project, so that I can subsequently copy and paste it into the TM folder of another project. Thanks again!Collapse


 
Milan Condak
Milan Condak  Identity Verified
Local time: 00:07
English to Czech
The omegat subfolder Jun 25, 2020

Nina Halperin wrote:

I guess the crux of my question is where can I find the TM of each project,


https://omegat.org/documentation

https://omegat.sourceforge.io/manual-standard/

https://omegat.sourceforge.io/manual-standard/en/project.folder.html#folder.omegat

6. omegat

The omegat subfolder contains at least one and possibly several other files. The most important file here is the project_save.tmx, that is the working translation memory for the project. Backups of this file (with extension bak) are added progressively to this subfolder, first at the beginning of the translation session, at its end, and while the translation progresses.

Milan


 
Nina Halperin
Nina Halperin  Identity Verified
Peru
Local time: 18:07
Spanish to English
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TOPIC STARTER
Found the TM but can't open it Jun 25, 2020

Thank you so much, Milan. When I went to Finder, Omega T, and then clicked on each individual project, I found the subfolder omegat and then project_save.tmx. The problem now is, when I tried to open the TM, it said that no application was set to open it. Not sure which one to choose, I set it to open with Word. Then when I tried to open the TM again, it said "We're sorry. We can't open the document project_save.tmx because we found a problem with its contents.
Details
No error detai
... See more
Thank you so much, Milan. When I went to Finder, Omega T, and then clicked on each individual project, I found the subfolder omegat and then project_save.tmx. The problem now is, when I tried to open the TM, it said that no application was set to open it. Not sure which one to choose, I set it to open with Word. Then when I tried to open the TM again, it said "We're sorry. We can't open the document project_save.tmx because we found a problem with its contents.
Details
No error detail available
Location: Line: 2, Column: 9"

The same error screen appears for any TM I try to open in OmegaT. Is there another application other than Word that I should be opening them in? Should I be opening it in OmegaT? Afterwards, I did try to open the TMs in OmegaT, but it just opened up the program OmegaT and not the translation memory. And if I could in theory open up the TM in OmegaT, how can I then export it as a Word document if needed? Thanks again!
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Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 00:07
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
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Answers Jun 26, 2020

Nina Halperin wrote:
I thought that the translation memory for each project, created by saving each translated sentence segment in the document, would appear in the TM section under "Access Project Contents."


That is a common misconception. The /tm/ subfolder is meant for reference TMs (i.e. your previous TMs), and OmegaT does not write anything to those TMs or to that folder. OmegaT only consults the TMs in that folder, but does not edit them. If you don't copy any TMs into the /tm/ or /tm/auto/ subfolder, then it will be empty, and that is okay.

I'm still confused about where I can access the translation memory "{projectname}-omegat.tmx."


It should appear in the root folder of your project. So, suppose you have a project called "cocacola1", then whenever you press Ctrl+D in OmegaT, the translations are automatically exported to a file called "cocacola1-omegat.tmx", which is directly inside the "cocacola1" folder.

Milan Condak wrote:
The /omegat/ subfolder contains at least one and possibly several other files. The most important file here is the project_save.tmx, that is the working translation memory for the project.


Milan is quoting the user manual here, but his quote does not answer your question. As a new user, you should not use the TM called "project_save.tmx" that is generated inside the /omegat/ subfolder. Instead, you should use the TM that contains the project name, that appears directly in the project folder itself.

Nina Halperin wrote:
The problem now is, when I tried to open the TM, it said that no application was set to open it.


You're not supposed to open the TMX file directly. You should copy the file from one folder to another.

I understand that some people try to "copy" files by opening them and then resaving them in the new location, but you should find out how to copy files (e.g. in the "Finder" application) without having to open those files.

Is there another application ... that I should be opening them in? Should I be opening it in OmegaT?


No, you should not try to open TMX files in OmegaT or in any other program.

You should create a new project (if you haven't created a new project yet), and then copy the relevant TMX files into that new project's /tm/ or /tm/auto/ subfolder. Then press F5 in OmegaT. OmegaT will then open the TMX files automatically in the background. For new users of OmegaT, there is never any need to open TMs -- just copy them.

And if I could in theory open up the TM in OmegaT, how can I then export it as a Word document if needed?


Tell me, why would you want to export the TM to a Word document? What are you hoping to be able to do with the TM that is exported to Word format?

Nina, I get the impression from your comments that you do not know how files and folders are displayed, navigated to and/or copied or moved around on your computer. OmegaT assumes this knowledge. It is important that you learn the difference between files and folders and that you learn how to copy or move files and folders from one folder to another.



[Edited at 2020-06-26 09:25 GMT]


 
Nina Halperin
Nina Halperin  Identity Verified
Peru
Local time: 18:07
Spanish to English
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TOPIC STARTER
Makes sense Jun 26, 2020

Thank you so much for your detailed response, Samuel. Everything makes sense to me now. I was successfully able to copy a TM from a previous translation into the TM folder of a new translation, and I saw that a segment from the former appeared as a suggestion in the new project.

I was trying to export the TM as a Word document because a translation test for a new agency requires me to send them the TM, but now I see that I can just send the file called "project name-omegat.tmx." I
... See more
Thank you so much for your detailed response, Samuel. Everything makes sense to me now. I was successfully able to copy a TM from a previous translation into the TM folder of a new translation, and I saw that a segment from the former appeared as a suggestion in the new project.

I was trying to export the TM as a Word document because a translation test for a new agency requires me to send them the TM, but now I see that I can just send the file called "project name-omegat.tmx." I suppose I wanted to open it to see what it looked like before sending it out. Also, I do know how to copy/paste and move files around on my computer, but I did not know where to find the TM folder that needed to be copied and pasted. Thanks again!

----
As an unrelated note, I feel like there should be a more efficient way to post on this forum. My last post before this took half a day to get approved because there is no moderator monitoring this forum. I'm not sure why each individual post needs to get approved by a moderator before being posted, especially if there is no moderator actually overseeing this forum.
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esperantisto
esperantisto  Identity Verified
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Level 1 Jun 27, 2020

Nina Halperin wrote:

I can just send the file called "project name-omegat.tmx."


Better send the level 1 file (unless the client uses OmegaT too).

Nina Halperin wrote:

there should be a more efficient way to post on this forum.


Members’ posts appear immediately, without approval.


 
Nina Halperin
Nina Halperin  Identity Verified
Peru
Local time: 18:07
Spanish to English
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TOPIC STARTER
Level 1 file Jun 27, 2020

Thank you for the tip about the level 1 file, esperantisto.

I suppose the delay in the approval of posts must come from the fact that I'm not a paying member. It often takes several hours for approval, and, like I mentioned, once it took half a day. It just seems bizarre to me that, for example, in the forums to ask about terms only the original publication needs to be approved for non-members, which happens within minutes.

[Edited at 2020-06-27 15:43 GMT]


 
Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 00:07
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
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@Nina Jun 27, 2020

Nina Halperin wrote:
I suppose I wanted to open it to see what it looked like before sending it out.


You can view TMX files in a number of programs, but one option is Virtaal. You can also edit TMX files in Virtaal. Other TMX viewers and editors do exist.


[Edited at 2020-06-27 21:45 GMT]


 
Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 00:07
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
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@Nina Jun 27, 2020

Nina Halperin wrote:
I suppose the delay in the approval of posts must come from the fact that I'm not a paying member.

As far as I'm aware, non-paying members whose identity has been verified, can also post without delay:
https://www.proz.com/?sp=vid_application


 
Nina Halperin
Nina Halperin  Identity Verified
Peru
Local time: 18:07
Spanish to English
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TOPIC STARTER
Virtaal Jun 28, 2020

Samuel, thanks for the heads-up about Virtaal. Also, I just had my identity verified on ProZ, so let's see if my post shows up right away!

 
Nina Halperin
Nina Halperin  Identity Verified
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Local time: 18:07
Spanish to English
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Identity verification worked Jun 28, 2020

The ID verification worked--I can now post without delay. Thanks again!

 


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Pulling up translation memories from previous translations






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