Hopelessly confused about Total Recall and TMs
Thread poster: Sabsi
Sabsi
Sabsi
Austria
Dec 12, 2019

Hi everyone. I feel like quite an idiot, but I just cannot get CafeTran to work the way I expect it to. I used SDL Trados for 11 years before moving to a new company, and I've kind of been thrown into the deep end on this. I've read through all the help topics, but I don't know what to do.

What I'd like to do: I want to have one TM that I read from and write to. That's it. I'm a small-scale translator. Please help.

You can skip this, but my issue: With CafeTran,
... See more
Hi everyone. I feel like quite an idiot, but I just cannot get CafeTran to work the way I expect it to. I used SDL Trados for 11 years before moving to a new company, and I've kind of been thrown into the deep end on this. I've read through all the help topics, but I don't know what to do.

What I'd like to do: I want to have one TM that I read from and write to. That's it. I'm a small-scale translator. Please help.

You can skip this, but my issue: With CafeTran, I don't know where my TUs are being saved. I have 10 different TMX files loaded, coming from all kinds of different sources (that I'd like to merge), but I have no clue if my new TUs are being saved to any of them. The only place the documentation refers to is the Project TM, which I don't really see the point of. Can't I choose a different place for them to land? I want to be able to use all my TUs for every project.

Furthermore, for the longest time, I didn't realize that I had to manually save the Project TM to Total Recall everytime I close a project, so I guess those TUs were just never imported? But if I open a project just with the Total Recall TM checked on the dashboard, it doesn't show me things that I literally just translated, even if I did import the last Project TM. If I do a concordance search on a term, I can click on TM as much as I want and nothing shows up.

I've also tried merging my many translation memories to make them easier to deal with, but I can't figure that out either. When I check one and try Project type - Edit TM, a regular translation project interface will open, but without the TM that I checked on the dashboard. When I try "join memories", I can choose a memory, but I don't know which other memory it's being joined to.

I must be coming at this from completely the wrong direction, but I'm super lost. Any advice would be really appreciated.
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Jean Dimitriadis
Jean Dimitriadis  Identity Verified
English to French
+ ...
  Dec 12, 2019

Hi Sabsi,

CafeTran's flexibility can be daunting, since this CAT tool does not impose a specific methodology to follow (although it IS recommended to use Project TMs).

Given the confusion you describe regarding CafeTran's workings despite the fact you have read the available documentation, it is difficult to put a full explanation in writing that will guide you through everything (and I currently don't have the time and inclination).

If you wish to recei
... See more
Hi Sabsi,

CafeTran's flexibility can be daunting, since this CAT tool does not impose a specific methodology to follow (although it IS recommended to use Project TMs).

Given the confusion you describe regarding CafeTran's workings despite the fact you have read the available documentation, it is difficult to put a full explanation in writing that will guide you through everything (and I currently don't have the time and inclination).

If you wish to receive one-to-one video guidance, feel free to contact me privately so that we can discuss how I may be able to help (I currently offer paid CafeTran training/consulting services).

Here are a few pointers:

- You can achieve what you wish without using Total Recall. I suggest you leave Total Recall alone for now if it confuses you. It's a more advanced topic, and you don't need to use it to start working with CafeTran, unless we are talking about massive TMs (100,000 thousand TUs and more).

- What you want to achieve is called the "Big Mama" approach. If you google "big mama cafetran", a fellow translator (unfortunately no longer with us) explores various considerations related to this approach.

- When you create a new (native) project in CafeTran, you can specify the project folder location (where the files related to the project are copied and located). By default, Project TMs (and glossaries) are located in that folder. To see where project folders are saved, try creating a new project (just drag and drop a new file in the dashboard) and check where the default folder location points to.

- If a resource (Memory, Glossary) shows up in the Dashboard apart from Project TMs and Project Glossary, you can see its location by hovering over it with the mouse.

- You can create a Memory and add any TMX content you wish, save it at the location you want and reuse it across projects, while keeping it writable.

Here is one method to achieve what you wish:

Open CafeTran. In the Dashboard, under Translation memories (TMX), click on "New". Specify the required TM settings (make sure for example the TM is not set as read only [note: these settings can be tweaked later on]) and press OK. Then choose a name and a file location for the new memory. Now you know where your memory is stored.

Create a new project in the appropriate language pair. For now, only keep this new TM ticked in the Dashboard before doing so. Uncheck all other resources, to avoid confusion.

When the project is created and you have the translation interface before you, first, go to the View menu and make sure "Show memory menu" is enabled.

Now, you can add TMX files to this memory. If you have several that you wish to "import" in one go, add them all to a single folder. Then, go to Memory and tick the option "Import files from folder". Then, Memory > Join memory and select the folder containing the TMX files. All contained TUs will now be imported to the memory you have created. Just use Memory > Save memory to make sure the imported content is well saved, and close the Project.

You can now create a new CafeTran project, making sure you tick the newly created memory as an active resource.

Translate as usual. All segments will be stored to that memory as you go, and you will be able to perform concordance searches and use matches from this "Big Mama" memory.

Jean

[Edited at 2019-12-13 07:50 GMT]
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Hans Lenting
Hans Lenting
Netherlands
Member (2006)
German to Dutch
Merge Dec 13, 2019

Jean Dimitriadis wrote:

Now, you can add TMX files to this memory. If you have several that you wish to "import" in one go, add them all to a single folder. Then, go to Memory and tick the option "Import files from folder". Then, Memory > Join memory and select the folder containing the TMX files. All contained TUs will now be imported within the memory you have created. Just use Memory > Save memory to make sure the imported content is well saved, and close the Project.


And:

Sabsi wrote:

I have 10 different TMX files loaded, coming from all kinds of different sources (that I'd like to merge)


You should rename the 10 ProjectTM.tmx files, e.g. to ProjectTM1.tmx, ProjectTM2.tmx, ... You can do this either manually or via a file commander (e.g. TotalCommander). Then copy all TMs to one folder, as instructed by Jean.

Once you have created the Big Mama TM, you should remove any duplicates via:

Screenshot 2019-12-13 at 07.55.19


 
Sabsi
Sabsi
Austria
TOPIC STARTER
Thanks! Dec 13, 2019

Thanks very much for the detailed description, Jean. It was very helpful. I was having a hard time finding the memory manipulation tools, not realizing I had to create a project before I could access the memory. I managed to combine all my memories into one new one.

Thanks for taking the time.


 
Jean Dimitriadis
Jean Dimitriadis  Identity Verified
English to French
+ ...
  Dec 13, 2019

You are very welcome!

Note: If needed, you can also access the translation interface (and the Memory menu for memory manipulations) without having an project opened. To do so, just click on the Dashboard menu button > Close the Dashboard. When done, to return to the Dashboard, go to Project > Close project.


 


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Hopelessly confused about Total Recall and TMs






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