Can you tell which version of Trados was used for a translation?
Thread poster: Joanne Parker
Joanne Parker
Joanne Parker  Identity Verified
Local time: 07:32
Member (2002)
German to English
+ ...
Dec 17, 2003

One of my clients insists that Trados 6.5 be used from the beginning of January. I use Freelance 5.5, so it looks as if I will be forced to upgrade to 6.5 too, or lose my client. To be honest, I'm reluctant to do either of these.

Will my client be able tell which version of Trados I have used on a file? What are the differences between Trados 5.5 and 6.5? Do you think it's necessary for me to upgrade?

Many thanks,

Joanne


 
Tobi
Tobi
Local time: 08:32
English to German
+ ...
I dont think so Dec 17, 2003

Dear Joanne,

If you send a cleaned file, your client can not know the tool you used for translation. And I think its the same with an uncleaned file.
Ask your client for what reason he wants you to update. Ask him for your benefits. Maybe you find out, what he wants and then you can decide whether to update or not.

Best regards,

Tobi


 
IanW (X)
IanW (X)
Local time: 08:32
German to English
+ ...
Perhaps, but ... Dec 17, 2003

Joanne Parker wrote:

Will my client be able tell which version of Trados I have used on a file? What are the differences between Trados 5.5 and 6.5? Do you think it's necessary for me to upgrade?


I don't know if you can tell which version of Trados has been used, but there are other ways of letting the cat out of the bag. For example, if your customer sends you a PPT and asks you to analyse it, you won't be able to do that with your 5.5 version. Which might be rather embarrassing for you.

If I were you, I'd do as your customer asks - it's a small price to pay for peace of mind.


 
Ralf Lemster
Ralf Lemster  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 08:32
English to German
+ ...
Depends on file types and exchange of data Dec 17, 2003

Hi Joanne,
No straight answer, I'm afraid. This largely depends on

which file types you're working on
If you're working on file types requiring TagEditor, there could be some obvious differences (some additional functions were introduced with T6.0). The most important new feature in T6.5 is the ability to process MS PowerPoint and MS Excel files in TagEditor - you wouldn't be able to provide a .ttx file in these cases.

The case is somewhat different
... See more
Hi Joanne,
No straight answer, I'm afraid. This largely depends on

which file types you're working on
If you're working on file types requiring TagEditor, there could be some obvious differences (some additional functions were introduced with T6.0). The most important new feature in T6.5 is the ability to process MS PowerPoint and MS Excel files in TagEditor - you wouldn't be able to provide a .ttx file in these cases.

The case is somewhat different if you're "just" using Word, but even then you could give yourself away if the texts contain special characters that require Unicode support. T5.5 was not fully compliant in this respect: for instance, the "greater than or equal" sign was changed to "equal to" when editing a segment containing it. The nasty thing about this is that the change took place both in the source and the target segment. Although this wasn't a Trados issue to start with, but a Word issue, this has been solved with new functionality in T6.x, so this could turn out to be a problem.

how you exchange data
Apart from the Unicode issue I described, compatibility isn't an issue if you exchange pre-cleanup files or TM exports. You won't be able to open a TM that was created under T6.x. (Mind you, I don't see the point in sending a TM rather than a text export, but some people insist...)

Have you asked why they insist on your upgrading?

HTH, Ralf

PS I'm moving this thread to Trados Support.
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Ralf Lemster
Ralf Lemster  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 08:32
English to German
+ ...
T5.5 and PowerPoint Dec 17, 2003

Sorry Ian,
For example, if your customer sends you a PPT and asks you to analyse it, you won't be able to do that with your 5.5 version.

...but that's not quite correct. T5.5 can handle PPT files (provided you also have T-Window for PPT, of course) - all you need to do to analyse a file is to create a text export and analyse that. Of course, this is a tad bit more complex.
The major issue with PPT files, however, is that under T6.5 you would expect to receive the translated file in .ttx format, which is impossible using T5.5.

Cheers, Ralf


 
Joanne Parker
Joanne Parker  Identity Verified
Local time: 07:32
Member (2002)
German to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Reason Dec 17, 2003

Is that "any translations delivered in anything other than Tr 6.5 could cause formatting errors". If this is the case, then they say they won't accept the translation.

Looks like I'll be treating myself to an extra Christmas present this year then

Thanks to everyone for your feedback (and Merry Christmas!).


 
Ralf Lemster
Ralf Lemster  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 08:32
English to German
+ ...
I don't buy that one Dec 17, 2003

Hi again,

Is that "any translations delivered in anything other than Tr 6.5 could cause formatting errors". If this is the case, then they say they won't accept the translation.


TBH I'm not impressed by this statement at all. But I cannot even begin to discuss it if I don't know which files you're working on, and how you exchange data...

Best regards, Ralf


 
Joanne Parker
Joanne Parker  Identity Verified
Local time: 07:32
Member (2002)
German to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Sorry, Dec 17, 2003

of course, file types.

Well, generally I translate Word documents. They always ask me to send uncleaned documents, but I also have to ensure that these uncleaned files can also be cleaned up without any problems. They check through my translations and then clean them up in-house, but don't want to have to deal with any messy Trados problems and expect me to have fixed these already.

Occasionally these Word files contain embedded objects such as Visio or PPT files, but I
... See more
of course, file types.

Well, generally I translate Word documents. They always ask me to send uncleaned documents, but I also have to ensure that these uncleaned files can also be cleaned up without any problems. They check through my translations and then clean them up in-house, but don't want to have to deal with any messy Trados problems and expect me to have fixed these already.

Occasionally these Word files contain embedded objects such as Visio or PPT files, but I would say that 99.9% of the work I do for this client is in Word.

This client also insisted that I use a certain version of Word for working on their documents, for the same reasons but I've been using a different version - they haven't complained about formatting so far.

Thanks,

Joanne

[Edited at 2003-12-17 21:04]
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Joanne Parker
Joanne Parker  Identity Verified
Local time: 07:32
Member (2002)
German to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
They also send me exports Dec 17, 2003

when we exchange data. Oh, except that (very) occasionally they send me a whole new TM to use.

 
Ralf Lemster
Ralf Lemster  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 08:32
English to German
+ ...
Special characters / TM compatibility Dec 17, 2003

Thanks, Joanne.
Well, generally I translate Word documents. They always ask me to send uncleaned documents, but I also have to ensure that these uncleaned files can also be cleaned up without any problems.

Not a version issue, as far as I can tell.

They check through my translations and then clean them up in-house, but don't want to have to deal with any messy Trados problems and expect me to have fixed these already.

Unterstood, but this would relate to broken tags, bookmark issues, etc. - again, not a version issue. As far as an uncleaned document goes, I wouldn't mind if a freelancer used T3 - except for the issue involving special characters, which was only solved with T6.


This client also insisted that I use a certain version of Word for working on their documents, for the same reasons but I've been using a different version - they haven't complained about formatting so far.

I'd say that this is probably a more dangerous strategy than using T5.5 - although the general file format is identical for Word 8 (Office 97), 9 (2000) and 10 (XP), there are some features - particularly in XP - that might get lost when editing a document in Word 97.

In summary, the explanation given by the outsourcer doesn't give me the impression that they have significant experience in handling Trados issues.

Good luck, Ralf


 


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