Term base Excel import settings

memoQ can import tabular Excel worksheets into term bases. These files contain rows and columns, but the columns are not always the same as the fields in a memoQ term base.

Most of the time, the file you import does not have all the columns that memoQ would expect.

Sometimes the columns have names, and sometimes they do not. In the Term base Excel import settings window, you can convert the columns to term base fields, no matter whether they have names or not.

Mark any forbidden terms before import: If translators must not use some of the terms in the Excel file, format those terms with red text color in Excel. memoQ imports these terms into the term base as forbidden terms.

How to get here

  1. Open a project. In Project home, choose Term bases.

    From the Resource console: Open the Resource console. Choose Term bases.

    From an online project: As a project manager, you can open an online project for management. In the memoQ online project window, choose Term bases.

  2. If you need the terms in a new term base, create a term base first.
  3. Right-click the name of the term base you need to import the terms into. From the menu, choose Import Terminology.
  4. An Open window appears. Find the file you need to import. Click Open.

    If the file is an Excel workbook, the Term base Excel import settings window opens.

What can you do?

memoQ imports each row from the table in a new entry in the term base.

Each column is imported in a field in the term base.

If the file has column headers, memoQ will try to find the right field for every column.

To make this work, check the First row contains field names check box.

Two or more terms in one cell? If a column contains not one term but several alternatives, memoQ can still import them if it knows how they are separated. If there are alternatives like this: Check the Split alternatives in field by check box, and type this character in the box next to it.

To match the columns and the fields to each other, use the settings under Fields.

For each field, you can select how it should be imported. A field is a column in the table. Under Fields, you can match (or not match) fields in an Excel file to fields of a term base entry. (You can omit fields from the Excel file.)

  • Fields list: Go through every field name listed, and select how they should be imported. All changes in the controls to the right apply to the field that is currently selected in this list.
  • Import as term: Click this to import the contents of the selected field as terms in the language you specify.
  • Import as definition: Click this to import the contents of the selected field as definitions in the language you specify.
  • Import as other field: Click this to import the contents of the selected field as Subject, Domain, Note, Creation Date, Creator, Last Modification Date, or Last Modified By.
  • Do not import: Click this if you do not want to import the contents of the selected field.

    In the columns and the fields, a term is not called 'Term': It is called by the language it is in. When memoQ imports terms, memoQ looks for the English name of the language at the column header, not for the word 'Term'.

    Want to put together a table that memoQ can use immediately? To learn what field names memoQ uses: Export a term base in a CSV file from memoQ. Open the file in Excel, and examine the column header.

memoQ can automatically detect fields if the first row of the table contains these column headers:

  • Entry_ID: Identifier of the entry, normally a number. If you are putting together the table manually, you do not need to use this.
  • Entry_Subject: Subject field of the entry.
  • Entry_Domain: Domain of the entry.
  • Entry_ClientID: Name or identifier of the client involved with the entry.
  • Entry_ProjectID: Name or identifier of a larger project that the entry belongs to. Do not mix this with a memoQ project.
  • Entry_Created: Date and time when the entry was created. Example: 12/2/2015 11:12:36 AM. If you are putting together the table manually, you do not need to use this. memoQ can fill it in from the system.
  • Entry_Creator: Name of the user who created the entry. If you are putting together the table manually, you do not need to use this. memoQ can fill it in from the system.
  • Entry_LastModified: Date and time when the entry was last modified. If you are putting together the table manually, you do not need to use this.
  • Entry_Modifier: Name of the user who modified the entry for the last time. If you are putting together the table manually, you do not need to use this.
  • Entry_Note: A comment that belongs to the entire entry.
  • <language>: A term in the specified language. The name of the language must be in English, and it must be one of the languages that memoQ supports. For a list of supported languages, see this Help topic. In the same row, there can be several terms - and related fields - for the same language.
  • <language>_Def: Definition of the concept in the specified language. The name of the language must be in English, and it must be one of the languages that memoQ supports. For a list of supported languages, see this Help topic.
  • Term_Info: This column should always follow a term in one of the languages. It contains the matching settings of the term - case sensitivity followed by prefix matching. Example: "CasePermissive;Custom"

    The possible values are the following:

  • Case sensitivity: CasePermissive; CaseSensitive; CaseInsensitive
  • Prefix matching: HalfPrefix;Exact;Fuzzy;Custom
  • Term_Example: This column should always follow a term in one of the languages. It contains a usage example for the term.

If some entries need to be updated, not added: You can do this if the Excel file comes from memoQ originally, and it still has the identifiers of the entries. If the same entry is still there, but it was edited, memoQ can update it. To do this, check the Update existing entries based on ID check box.

If these details are missing from the Excels file, you can still add them to the new entries.

Type the details in the User name where not specified, Subject where not specified, and Domain name where not specified boxes.

If these details are there in the Excel file: memoQ will use those, not the ones you type here.

When you finish

To import the Excel file in the term base, and return to Project home or to the Resource console: Click OK.

To return to Project home or to the Resource console, without importing entries: Click Cancel.

Term base may have duplicate entries after the import: To get rid of duplicate entries, open the term base for editing. In the term base editor, filter the term base for duplicates. To learn more: See Help about the term base editor.