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XLIFF is a standardized format for localization, specifically designed for interoperability among translation tools. In memoQ, XLIFF is fully supported as a bilingual document format: memoQ users can work on XLIFF documents created in other tools, or export documents from memoQ into XLIFF format for processing in other tools that sufficiently support the XLIFF format.  In many cases, XLIFF enables memoQ users to take part in projects not prepared using memoQ, and allows users of other tools to work in projects that were prepared in memoQ. memoQ currently supports version 1.2 of the XLIFF standard.

In addition to segments of source text and their translations, XLIFF files can contain additional information about the document and its segments. XLIFF files created in memoQ contain all the significant information like locked segments, comments, etc. XLIFF files created in other tools will typically hold similar pieces of information. However, not all of this information is always available after an XLIFF file has been transferred from memoQ to another tool or vice versa. On the one hand, this depends on the level of XLIFF support of the other tool. On the other hand, some of this information can be stored in so called extensions: XLIFF is an extensible format that can store proprietary information that is specific to one translation tool and is not automatically available to other tools.

Note: XLIFF files can also contain matches from a translation memory for the segments of the document(s) contained: these matches are currently ignored by memoQ.

Translating or editing XLIFF files from other tools in memoQ

You can use memoQ to translate or edit existing XLIFF files. These are files that are created from original monolingual documents in other translation tools. These XLIFF files can be imported into memoQ using the Import or Import with options buttons, and can be exported back to the original XLIFF format using the Export (dialog) or Export (stored path) command.

Note: Do not use the Export bilingual command to export the XLIFF file in this case. It will create another flavor of XLIFF: a memoQ specific XLIFF file that is designed to be translated or otherwise processed in other tools.

Note: Real-time preview is currently not available when translating XLIFF files.

Note: When working with XLIFF documents it is recommended to choose the Show Filtered Inline Tags option. This way only those attributes will be displayed that are useful for the translator and disturbingly long tags can be avoided.

Exporting bilingual XLIFF files from memoQ

In many cases, memoQ users need to cooperate with users of other translation software products. For example, you might want to have your translated document proofread by a non memoQ user. Or a project manager might need to work in a team where some of the translators cannot currently use memoQ. If those colleagues of yours use an XLIFF compatible translation tool, the translation documents can be exported into XLIFF format, and handed out to the non memoQ translator or proofreader. To create the XLIFF file, click the Export bilingual button, and choose the memoQ XLIFF option. When the finished work is received, you can “merge” the translated or proofread segments back into the memoQ translation document by selecting it in the document list and clicking the Import with options button.

When exporting XLIFF files, you have several options:

• If you are exporting several files, you can export them into a single XLIFF file (MQXLZ) or several (MQXLIFF).

•You can choose to include the skeleton, in which case you will not need the original project or translation document at hand to be able to receive the finished XLIFF file. In this case, you need to export a MQXLZ.

•You can choose to save the XLIFF file to a compressed ZIP container file with the MQXLZ file extension.

•You can choose to include the major version history (see Tracking changes and version control).

Important: If you want users of SDL Trados 2007 or older to translate XLIFF files created by memoQ, copy source to target where empty before exporting into XLIFF.

Note: memoQ 6.0 and higher can import XLIFF files created by memoQ 6.0 and higher. The project document created through this import contains all segment data without loss. Documents from memoQ 5.0 imported into memoQ 6.0 and higher via XLIFF can be exported back into the original format in memoQ 6.0 and higher.

Translating memoQ XLIFF files in SDL Studio 2011

If you receive memoQ XLIFF files, you can import them into your SDL Studio 2011 project.

You have 2 ways to do this:

1.You receive memoQ XLIFF files (file extension *.mqxliff). Before importing the files, go to the File Type dialog in SDL Studio, then go to the XLIFF filter. Add the file extension *.mqxliff to it. Now you can import the memoQ XLIFF files.

2. You receive memoQ XLIFF files (file extension *.mqxlz). The MQXLZ file format is a compressed format. Use a ZIP tool such as 7Zip to open the package. You will find a document and a skeleton.xml file. The document is the actual memoQ XLIFF file that you can import as describe under 1.; the skeleton.xml file contains the structure/format information for exporting the document. Unzip the file, import the document.mqxliff file into your SDL Studio project.

Translating memoQ XLIFF files in SDL Studio 2014

If you receive memoQ XLIFF files, you can import them into your SDL Studio 2014 project.

SDL Studio 2014 supports the memoQ XLIFF file extension. You do not need to add it separately as in SDL Studio 2011.

You can use an app from Open Exchange to enable MQXLZ import. Install the app. Then go to the File Type dialog. SDL Studio will ask you to enable the app, follow the steps to enable the app. After enabling the app, you will find a XLIFF MemoQ Kilgray category in your File Types.

Note: You need to go to File Types, then choose the XLIFF filter, and remove the *.mqxliff extension from the supported XLIFF formats. Otherwise, you cannot import MQXLZ files.