Another year has passed since the first release of this TechBytes newsletter bringing it into its 3rd year already! With spring around the corner, we all have set our goals for the year. With them in mind, we continue to strive for better, more efficient processes and working habits. This is where this newsletter comes into its own, providing you with in-depth knowledge you can tap into anytime.
Not to forget a little bit of fun with our competition.
All the released articles are available on our website, in the Support section. Use your Support Centre login to access all the past articles along with other resources available to our premium support members.
I would like to thank you all for the positive feedback regarding this newsletter, keep it coming.
This month, I wanted to go with a themed release, and I thought we should focus on the Translator users. Whether this benefit you directly or you want to pass on the materials to your translators, I wanted to create some videos and articles to help translators and engineers alike get started with Catalyst and make the most of the tool.
Now, time to reveal our November 2013 TechBytes competition winner. As all of you have cleverly decrypted, the secret word was Halloween.
Congratulations to Jana Kleckova, Coordinator i.l.s. at Abbott Laboratories in the Czech Republic, winner of November 2013 TechBytes competition.
Thanks Jana for sending on a picture (right). It's always nice to put a face to a name.
As always, don't hesitate to let me know if there is any topic you would like covered in this TechBytes newsletter.
Cyril Vallin
Product Support Manager at Alchemy Software Development.
News and Updates
On the road
Alchemy are delighted to announce some of the opportunities we will have to meet our clients in person this year.
- We will be attending Localization World which is in our home town - Dublin this year.
- We also host a User Conference in Dublin around the same time, which we are very excited about. Our user conferences have taken us to many places (such as Tel Aviv, Vancouver, Boston, London, Santa Clara) but it has been a while since we held a conference in Dublin
- To wrap up the year, we are delighted to have the opportunity to talk at the Write2Users Help & Localization Workshop in Denmark in November
Hotfixes to date
Did you know that the agile development team at Alchemy has delivered no fewer than 21 hotfixes to you our Premium Support customers, and that is on top of 2 Service Pack releases. That is what I call continuous development.
Hotfix releases are the result of queries sent in to Support plus our own enhancements. Some of these releases contain new or extended functionality which originates from your feedback and suggestions. Here are some examples...
- Leverage from multiple TMs can now take place using the TMListFile parameter. The syntax is: Catalyst /L user TMListFile:tmlistfile.txt OldVersion
- Flip Win32 dialogs and .Net Winforms in ezScript. The syntax is: Catalyst /flip TTKName.
- Win32 binary files - Change Dialog Font functionality now includes the option to select Virtual Fonts
- Applying keywords to a TTK now available in ezScript.
- Validate Expert - new test introduced for missing spaces around tags. Please see here for full information
With the recent update to our website, you can check anytime if there is a new hotfix available in the Support > Support Centre Area, under Downloads.
As usual, if one of your queries has been addressed in a Hotfix release, you will be notified directly by the Support team.
Watch this procedural video which shows how to Download, Install and setup a Translator/Lite license.
Watch this video to quickly learn to translate Alchemy Catalyst translation projects. Although the video is created using a Translator/Lite free license, it is also an excellent starter material for Translator/Pro new users.
In this article I want to talk about the differences between the Translator/Lite and Translator/Pro editions available for Alchemy Catalyst.
The Translator/Lite Edition is the fully functional and FREE version of Alchemy CATALYST. It comes with a limited range of functions compared to the Translator/Pro licensed version.
Opening Catalyst project files
First and most important fact about the free Translator/Lite edition: only TTK files (Translation ToolKit, or Catalyst project files) that have been created with the Developer/Pro edition can be opened.
If the TTK opened in Catalyst Translator/Lite was not created in a Developer/Pro edition, the following error will be displayed:
And the Result Pane will display the following error:
The translator/Pro edition can open a TTK created in any edition.
Translation Memories
Translation Memory formats available in the Translator/Lite edition which can be attached are limited to Alchemy formats: *.ttk, *.tm and *.ppf.
No other formats can be attached as an Active TM.
The Translation Memory formats available in the Translator/Pro edition include: *.ttk, *.tm, *.ppf, *.txt, *.tmx, *.txml, *txlf, *.tmw, Google Paid MT services, Google Translate, PROMT, Idiom WorldServer, Wordfast server, Alchemy Language Exchange and Trados TM Server.
Validate Expert
The Validate Expert is the only expert tool available in the Translator/Lite edition; however, it is available in interactive mode only. This means only one object at a time can be validated by selecting the resource in the Navigator Pane.
If the user clicks on the Project Title and then selects Tools, the Validate Expert will be greyed out and equally pressing “Ctrl+J” will yield no reaction.
Only if an object/resource is highlighted in the Navigator Pane does the Validate Expert become active in the Translator/Lite edition.
Hint: each individual string translated can be validated by pressing perform Validation button or pressing the F5 key.
The Translator/Pro edition has the Validate Expert enabled on the project level, meaning translators can choose to validate the entire TTK in one step rather than validate only one object or resource at a time.
Also, with the Translator/Pro edition, it is possible to validate as you translate (string by string) with the Automatic Validation option selected in the Translator Toolbar. With the option selected, a translated string is automatically validated on pressing the Return key to move to the next string.
More with Translator/Pro
Both the Translator/Lite and Translator/Pro editions have full use of the Power Translate Toolbar, the Recycle Translation, Concordance and Reference Browser tab, Find & Replace, Statistics and Filter functions.
The Translator/Pro edition however offers more productivity tools, such as the Clean Up and the Analysis Experts. Users can create their own Glossaries using the export function, extract translated files or insert files for translation.
Summary
All the key differences between the two editions of Catalyst are summarized in a handy small table below.
| Translator/Lite | Translator/Pro |
| Only TTKs can be opened that have been created/saved by a Developer/Pro edition | All TTKs can be opened |
| Validate Expert on one resource at a time only Automatic validation unavailable |
Full use of Validate Expert including Automatic Validation |
| Limited range of TM formats can be attached | All TM formats available |
| Analysis and Clean Up Expert available | |
| Files can be insert/extracted | |
| Terms can be exported to Glossary | |
| "Revert Object" option available on resource/file level in navigator pane (not just folder). |
Here is a short list of useful shortcuts which I hope may enable you to improve your productivity while translating in Catalylst. Having talked to many translators, I realise that many professional translators do not reach for the mouse and try to translate only using the keyboard. Reaching the mouse is only slowing them down!
On the string list
1 |
Signed Off | Ctrl+Shift+S |
2 |
Locked | Ctrl+Shift+L |
3 |
Flag Segment | Ctrl+Shift+F |
4 |
Concordance | Ctrl+Alt+Up Arrow |
5 |
Cycle Through Views | F7 |
| Validate Expert | Ctrl+J | |
| Advanced Find & Replace | Ctrl+F | |
| Save Project | Ctrl+S |
On the Translator Toolbar
1 |
Get Translation | Alt+Home |
2 |
Copy Source to Target Translation | Alt+Ins |
3 |
Revert Translation | Alt+Del |
4 |
Get Previous Term | Alt+Left Arrow |
4 |
Get Current Term | Alt+Down Arrow |
4 |
Get Next Term | Alt+Right Arrow |
| Auto-Translate™ | Alt+* | |
| Concordance Search | Ctrl+Alt+Up Arrow | |
| Translate Duplicates - Automatically | Alt+PgDn | |
| Add Glossary Term | Alt+Ctrl+Y |
Complete the puzzle below to find out the letters to form the Secret Word. Then Email the Secret Word to techbytes@alchemysoftware.com with the title "February 2014 competition".
We will draw a winner prior to the next installment of the newsletter.
The winner will get a €25 Starbucks© card to spend on your favorite Coffee Break treats in your local store. Congratulations again to our November 2013 winner, Jana Kleckova from Abbott, Czech republic, and I look forward to your entry.
Let's play!
Across 2. Month the first techbytes was released 4. Terminology file 5. Adjacent bits, usually eight, processed by a computer as a unit 6. One of the 4 views in Catalyst 8. Tab to search for previous translations in a TM 11. Key stroke combination Down 1. Filter displaying identical strings grouped 3. Number of Experts in Catalyst 6. Check string for potential errors 7. One who changes text from one language into another 9. Pane listing files included in a TTK project 10. _______ validation. Validating strings on pressing return. |
 |
| Secret Word Hint: Follow an occupation for gain. |
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Thanks for taking the time to read this instalment of TechBytes. It has been fun to write and I hope you found some if not all of it beneficial. We always welcome new article ideas, so if there is a feature you feel works really well and is worth mentioning, or indeed if clarification on a particular topic would help you, please let me know so together we can make TechBytes as useful as possible for everyone.
My best wishes
Cyril Vallin
