FrameMaker 12 & SDL Trados 2011

From FM 12, I am only being given the option to save as mif12 or mif7.
Unfortunately, SDL Trados only supports MIF files from versions 8 to 11. So mif12 throws an error that the FM version used to create is too new, and mif7 throws an error that the FM version is too old.
I've already tried "tricking" trados by editing the header of the MIF file manually to show version 9 point something, but it doesn't make any difference.
How can I get around this?

Never mind, I figure it out. I was editing just the FM version in the header and forgetting the MIF version number.
as you were.

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Hi,
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There are a number of so-called translation memory tools that can translate MIF files. There's a Wikipedia article on translation memory tools: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Translation_memory
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Setting up Figure and Table Titles for Translation Import and Export?

Hi,
I use InDesign to write User Manuals. Once the manual complete, I use SDL World Server to translate the document which works wonderful. The way it works is the document is parsed by the xml data and when you export the document from SDL, the translated data replaces the English data, it’s pretty slick! The problem that I have is that my Figure and Table numbers are hard coded with the word "Figure" and "Table” as part of the numbering system and will not translate nor export (see screenshot below). Is there A.) A way I can make the code become a reference to a text box in the document that then can be translated? B.) A common or different way to handle this?
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The problem that I have is that my Figure and Table numbers are hard coded with the word "Figure" and "Table” as part of the numbering system and will not translate nor export (see screenshot below). Is there A.) A way I can make the code become a reference to a text box in the document that then can be translated? B.) A common or different way to handle this?
I've always avoided that auto-figure-naming stuff, in any application, for the sole reason that it often doesn't localize well. I'm not a WorldServer user, but a SDL Trados Studio user, so I don't know exactly what to tell you. If you're the kind of person to pop your IDML open in a text editor, you'll find that the actual "Figure" text appears in Styles.xml, and I doubt that SDL's IDML filters look there for text for translation. I don't actually know for sure, and I do know you're using an SDL product with which I have no familiarity whatsoever.
A different, somewhat kludgy way to handle this would be to use auto-numbering to create an invisible paragraph number (color of Paper, size of 0.1 pts, glyph width of 1%, or something along those lines), and then have the phrase "Figure" in your live text, followed by a cross-reference to the paragraph number.
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InDesign to Excel - Export & Import Utility

Hello,
My wife is a freelance designer & im a software developer. We worked together on one of her freelance assignments which involved transcreation of indesign document in variuous languages.
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(without graphic designer spending time on copy-n-pasting in to indesign file)
Actually, over the last fifteen years I've spent as a DTP wonk in the translation industry, I've found that graphic designers are pretty universally bad at this task. Each language has its own typographical conventions, and the graphic designers that recognize this fact are unfortunately quite rare. Furthermore, you only have to do one control-c alt-tab control-v job before you realize that there must be a better way to do it.
Sorry to rain on your parade, but you're kind of reinventing the wheel here. That being said, the firms that have a lock on the Compuer-Aided Translation tools (CATs) or Translation Environment Tools (TEnTs) tend to have fairly high prices, even on their introductory toolsets. There may be some slack points in that market that I don't see. I'd suggest asking someplace else, like ProZ or Translator's Cafe, or places where InDesign expertise is less common.

Error message: Unable to cast object of type 'System.DBNull' to type 'System.String'

Hi everyone, I have recently installed a trial version of SDL Trados (a computer-assisted translation software) and at some point (when I try to create a new translation memory) this error message appears: Unable to cast object of type 'System.DBNull' to type 'System.String' Is this a problem with the software or the laptop ? If it's the laptop, can you please help me solve this ? Thank you,Caroline

Actually there was not problem witg the laptop ! Please ignore this topic. Thanks.

InDesign expert

Hi mr. expert,
I am looking for at very specific feature /(script). I know a company has allready made it (here in Denmark) but it is very expensive and mayby there is something similar out there.
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We have a lot of basic texts and it is quite difficult to keep track of them.
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The danish company has done that, but is there a script out there, which can manage my request?

Well, translation memory apps can be expensive, like SDL/Trados, although there are some free/open source ones like OmegaT that will work with InDesign. Either one is overkill unless you spend a measurable amount of your time on translations of documents. However, if you're spending any signficant time on handling translated documents, then the hours spent on setting this workflow up will pay for themselves absurdly quickly. (SDL/Trados costs so much that I wouldn't suggest it to you unless your job was more than 60% localization, or if there were more people like you updating translated documents in your organization. You may want to talk to them anyways, if I'm underestimating your translation workload.)
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Then, your superior tells you that there's a changed graphic on the English document. You then open up the English doc, note the new graphic, and export an INX file. These files were originally meant for backsaving to previous versions of ID, I think, but they're useful if you need another app to parse an InDesign file.
Then, you run that INX file through your translation memory app. It automatically finds matching sentences and pastes 'em in. If something isn't a perfect match - say, they changed a word or moved some punctuation, or if a sentence has been signifcantly revised - your TM app will point it out, and inform you of how much it's changed (a percentage usually based on a new character count).
So, you only have to make graphics updates to one file, and all the rest of the text for the translations flows straight in. Often, some adjustment of the size of text boxes is necessary, but if you set up your ID files well, a twenty-language update can be completed in forty minutes. (That's obviously a best-case scenario.) Does this make any more sense now?
My advice against using layers to manage translations is simply because a) people who do this usually rely on manual recordkeeping to manage their translated documents, which is okay for small projects but usually falls apart completely when you try to scale it up. If your organization plans on 0% growth in international markets, sticking with manual management of translated documents will work great for you. However, let's just say that all of a sudden your translation needs skyrocket (big EU contract?), and you need to move your old-fashioned I-keep-track-of-everything-in-spreadsheets workflow to a contemporary translation workflow with structured authoring, legally-mandated controlled language, et cetera. In that situation, trying to tease apart five-language files into one-language files is tedious but doable, if and only if you've exhibited perfect information hygiene.
As I work on big localization projects on a regular basis, I often inherit other people's manually-managed documents, and part of my reputation is built upon being able to figure out how to revamp a workflow like this. Basically, I do detective work to reconstruct other people's philosophies of how duct tape and Perl hold the world together. In the last decade, I've only seen one layers-and-spreadsheets workflow that wasn't pure hell to untangle.
However, the method you describe is actually okay; if it works the way you say it does, and you document your actions, and you disappeared without a trace, then when I was brought in to clean it up, your workflow might be the second such non-hellish workflow in my professional career. If your translation needs are minimal, and it's only a small part of what you need to do with ID, then I see no reason to try to talk you into spending a lot of money and time on a workflow revamp with translation memory tools. However, that's what you are asking for, really - a translation memory tool written in Javascript, sitting on top of a multilingual InDesign document. Doing this is currently barely within my scripting abilities, but since I know that I'd be needlessly duplicating a custom solution for which there are already a few mature commercial applications and some general industry standards, I'd be reluctant to agree to such a development project without a ludicrous hourly rate and a disclaimer signed by all parties "We understand that the custom workflow we're asking you to develop is a step back fifteen years in time, and will furthermore be difficult to integrate with commonly accepted standards should we ever elect to drag our workflow, kicking and screaming, into the 21st century."
Or, if you wanted to do it the cheap way, do you know that you could just check the box upon placing a Word or Excel file that treats it as a link, and lets you update it like any graphic link? After writing all of the above novel, I just realized that there is in fact a way for you to get what you want, without changing your workflow at all.

Images for other languages

Hi,
are the gif's available for other languages? I mean I have now english installed and this will give for the GO button a image on the button named go.gif. Is the go.gif also available in other languages or should I change the gif file myself?
Thanks
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There are a number of so-called translation memory tools that can translate MIF files. There's a Wikipedia article on translation memory tools: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Translation_memory
We use Star Transit, but SDL Trados can do the job as well and there are a number of other tools. These tools separate text from formatted. Then the text is segemented. This allows you to reuse previous translations when the source documents is modified. Only new and modified segements will have to be translated then. These tools are very useful, but most of them are very expensive. A pretty new tool which is more affordable is memoQ (which I have never used myself). It is available from http://en.kilgray.com/.
As for screenshots, I think the most important thing is to make sure that they are imported by reference.
HTH
Susanne

Is there any SDL Author Assistant add-on for Adobe Framemaker 8?

I know that there is the SDL Author Assistant for Framemaker 9 but I would like to know if there are any add-on for FM 8 or not.

Check with SDL on that one - I've never seen any freebie like the one they've got for FM9.

Cross-reference tag errors in Trados preventing MIF creation

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As far as I know, FM cross-references (which came into Trados via MIF and S-Tagger) are handled as placeables. I suppose the mismatches stem from a "placeables differences penalty", which by default is 2%, even for otherwise exact matches.
A possible solution could be to impose no penalties for placeables in Trados, i.e. set the placeables differences penalty to 0%. But be careful, this may overshoot the mark, as there might be relevant differences in placeables that must be reviewed. I'm not aware of a setting in Trados where you could specify this more selectively.
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Recommended tool for technical illustrations to be embedded in FrameMaker document?

I'm new to Framemaker and don't know, if this is the right tool for me.
I have written a technical document of about 500 pages using MS-Word. Now I want to figure out, if FrameMaker would be a good alternative. I think it could be.
But one of my needs is to be able to create technical illustrations (diagrams with shapes with text and arrows, lines and arrows linked to the shapes when repositioned).
In my opinion the capabilities of FrameMaker to create such illustrations are very limited.
Currently I create the illustrations using MS-Word-2010. I think concerning illustrations MS-Word is more capable than FrameMaker.
On the other hand the capabilities of Adobe Illustrator are plenty too much for me.
Can you recommend some external tool for creating illustrations, which can be easily integrated into a FrameMaker document?
Regards,
Martin

Import the ai file directly into the FrameMaker doc.
Select where you want the illustration to be located (use the smart select tool and click on the area in your text flow)
File>Import>File
If you want to have the illustration in the document to automatically update when the drawing changes, select Import By Reference.
Once imported you have the option of positioning where you want it to be located relative to the text.
Right click the anchored frame, select Anchored Frame
Select the Anchoring Position, Alignment, etc.
Adobe Illustrator is all you need to create quality Technical Illustrations.
http://tekarttechnicalillustration.blogspot.com/2011_08_01_archive.html
http://tekarttechnicalillustration.blogspot.com/2011/07/glassware.html
http://tekarttechnicalillustration.blogspot.com/2011/05/line-illustration.html
For premade elements get familiar with your symbols libraries.

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