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How to translate a csv-file with 2 columns
Thread poster: Sylvain Leray
Sylvain Leray
Sylvain Leray  Identity Verified
Local time: 09:24
Member (2003)
German to French
Oct 26, 2004

Hi !
I have to translate quite large csv files and want to use TagEditor for this. So I converted them into xls-files, and it should be no problem.
But the fact is that these files are "designed" for translation, i.e. they have 2 columns of the same text, one of which is to be overwriten for the french translation.

How do you handle such cases ? I could translate them as normal xls files and then paste the translation into the second column, but this is quite time consu... See more
Hi !
I have to translate quite large csv files and want to use TagEditor for this. So I converted them into xls-files, and it should be no problem.
But the fact is that these files are "designed" for translation, i.e. they have 2 columns of the same text, one of which is to be overwriten for the french translation.

How do you handle such cases ? I could translate them as normal xls files and then paste the translation into the second column, but this is quite time consuming.
Any other ideas ?

Many thanks in advance !
Sylvain

Edit : well, I put this question in the Trados forum, but Ralf, feel free to move the thread where it belongs


[Edited at 2004-10-26 10:44] ▲ Collapse
 
Jerzy Czopik
Jerzy Czopik  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 09:24
Member (2003)
Polish to German
+ ...
My solution Oct 26, 2004

is to copy one column into a blank new Excel file, translate it, and then copy it back. Takes less than 5 minutes, as you have to select the whole column and paste it back in original place. This works, as TAG Editor keeps even breaks with ALT+ENTER, which are not kept by Word or previoulse with T-Window for Excel. This is not time consuming at all.

Regards
Jerzy
 
Klaus Herrmann
Klaus Herrmann  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 09:24
Member (2002)
English to German
+ ...
Copy column to Word? Oct 26, 2004

Wouldn't it be easier to copy the second column into a word file?
 
Jerzy Czopik
Jerzy Czopik  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 09:24
Member (2003)
Polish to German
+ ...
Not allways Oct 26, 2004

Klaus Herrmann wrote:

Wouldn't it be easier to copy the second column into a word file?


Not, because Word changes the line breaks, generated in Excel with ALT+ENTER to SHIFT+ENTER, and if you copy back, you get cell breaks at this places.
If you copy to Excel instead and work with TAG Editor, you´ll get no problems with formating.

Regards
Jerzy
 
Hynek Palatin
Hynek Palatin  Identity Verified
Czech Republic
Local time: 09:24
Member (2003)
English to Czech
+ ...
Another solution Oct 26, 2004

You can open the CSV files in Word as plain text files, save as DOC and apply a non-translatable style (tw4winExternal) to the part that shouldn't be translated. This can be done by a search and replace operation using wildcards. After translation you would clean the files and save as plain text, no copying and pasting.

If search and replace using wildcards is too complicated for you, then I recommend Jerzy's solution.

If you were using DVX, you could mark one of the co... See more
You can open the CSV files in Word as plain text files, save as DOC and apply a non-translatable style (tw4winExternal) to the part that shouldn't be translated. This can be done by a search and replace operation using wildcards. After translation you would clean the files and save as plain text, no copying and pasting.

If search and replace using wildcards is too complicated for you, then I recommend Jerzy's solution.

If you were using DVX, you could mark one of the columns with red color to make it untranslatable.

P.S. I suppose your original files are in CSV format, not in Excel. CSV is a pure text format and you can open it in Word without worrying about formatting, line breaks, etc.

[Edited at 2004-10-26 20:57] ▲ Collapse
 
Jerzy Czopik
Jerzy Czopik  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 09:24
Member (2003)
Polish to German
+ ...
Once again - do no go outside Excel Oct 26, 2004

As some formats will be missed up in Word.
The most important fact is, that the line break in cells, created with ALT+ENTER in Excell, will become soft line break (SHITF+ENTER) in Word, so you will not restore the file as it was before.
Copying a whole column and pasting it back in Excel is really very easy, so I honestly do not see any necessity to avoid this.

Regards
Jerzy
 
Sylvain Leray
Sylvain Leray  Identity Verified
Local time: 09:24
Member (2003)
German to French
TOPIC STARTER
Thanks! Nov 5, 2004

Jerzy's solution was the most simple and the most secure for the formatting.
Thank you all!

Sylvain
 
tsiebert
tsiebert
Local time: 09:24
English
But what about quotation marks? Nov 8, 2004

Jerzy Czopik wrote:

is to copy one column into a blank new Excel file, translate it, and then copy it back. Takes less than 5 minutes, as you have to select the whole column and paste it back in original place. This works, as TAG Editor keeps even breaks with ALT+ENTER, which are not kept by Word or previoulse with T-Window for Excel. This is not time consuming at all.



One problem that I had, when I opened the csv with Excel and saved it after translating was, that Excel only uses quotation marks for these cells, that consist of more than one line, i.e. those in which breaks with ALT+ENTER are used.
But the original files had quotation marks at the beginning and the end of each cell. So I had to put them in manually. Do you also have a solution for this problem?

Thomas

[Edited at 2004-11-08 13:32]
 


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How to translate a csv-file with 2 columns







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