Multilingual Excel and delimited text files

The settings are a bit different for Excel files and for CSV or tab-separated files.

On the Base format tab, choose between Excel and Comma or tab-separated.

If you translate into one target language only: Check the Simple bilingual configuration check box, and work with the columns at the bottom of the window. For more details, see the Dealing with columns section.

Under the Segmentation section, you can:

• Use segmentation based on language rules:

  • Never - <segment> elements will not be segmented based on the language rules. This option is set as default.

  • When there is no target - <segment> elements that have no <target> elements will be segmented based on the language rules.

  • Only with the same number of segments in the source and target - <segment> elements containing <target> elements will be segmented based on the language rules, but only if the number of source and target segments is the same.

    Need more information? Read about segmentation rules in memoQ

• Segment on line break - start a new segment each time there is a line break in the cell (Excel only).

• Include manual line break as inline tag - insert an inline tag for each manual line break in the cell (insert in Excel with Alt+Enter).

1. On the Base format tab, click the Excel radio button.

2. Click the Excel options tab.

   You can set the following:

   

You can import content that is formatted – or not formatted – with specific background colors.

First, click one of the two radio buttons:

• Do not import if background color is: This is the default setting. While importing the document, memoQ skips rows where the source cell is formatted with the listed background colors.
• Only import if background color is: Click this radio button if you want memoQ to import content that is formatted with the listed background colors.

To add colors to the box below the radio buttons:

• Type a color code in the RGB text field, and click Add.

  The color code is a six-digit hexadecimal number: the first two digits are for blue, the third and fourth for green, and the last two are for red. For example, the code 00FF00 stands for pure green.

OR

• Pick the color in Excel.

  1. Click the Pick in Excel link. memoQ opens the source document in Excel (Excel must be installed). Then the Add colors from file window appears:

     

  2. In Excel, select a range that contains the background colors you want to use. Then click Add colors of selection. The colors appear on the list in the Document import settings window.

  3. To add more colors to the list: Repeat step 2.

  4. Click Finish. This closes the Add colors from file window, and Excel, too.

You can also:

• Remove a color from the list: Select the color, and then click Remove.

• Import text from hidden worksheets: Check the Include hidden sheets check box.

• Import text from hidden rows: Check the Include hidden rows check box.

• Import numbers or formulas in source and target cells: Check the Include cells containing formulas or numbers check box.

• Keep the previous formula or number in the target cell: Clear the If a target cell was not included check box.

  This option is useful when the target cells already contain (different) numbers or formulas. By default, memoQ will overwrite these by copying the number or formula (or text) from the source cell.

• Keep extra formatting inside cells: Check the Maintain inline formatting in cells check box. memoQ will export the translations (and the source text) with the same formatting as it was imported.

1. First, on the Base format tab, click the Comma or tab-separated radio button.

2. Then, click the Comma or tab-separated options tab.

   

   Here you can:

   • Choose an encoding: Normally, memoQ detects the encoding (the code page) of the files you are importing. If the encoding cannot be detected, memoQ uses Unicode (UTF-8). To use a different encoding, choose it from the Codepage if not detected drop-down box.

   • Export the translation in a different encoding: If the source encoding is not Unicode, and you're translating into a language with a different writing system (for example, from English into Japanese), choose a different encoding (code page) for the exported translation. To export the translation in a different encoding, choose it from the Export codepage drop-down box.

   • Add a BOM even if it wasn't there in the source: BOM (Byte Order Mark) appears at the beginning of a text file and signals the text encoding. If you don't want to keep the same BOM as in imported file and add another BOM to all files or delete it from all of them, select the correct option from the drop-down list.

   • Choose the character that separates the columns: Normally, memoQ uses the Tab character. You can choose any other character, though: Use radio buttons to choose other common separator characters like the Comma or the Semicolon. If your file uses a different separator, click the Other radio button, and type the character in the text box to the right.

   • Watch the preview: At the bottom of the window, you can see how memoQ would import your file with the current settings. Check if the characters appear correctly, and if the columns are separated properly. If you are importing several files, memoQ shows the preview from the first one. If it's too small, or not typical enough, choose a different file for preview: Click Load preview from sample file, and choose the file to use for the preview.

Are there double quotes or line breaks in the CSV file? The CSV specification has complicated requirements for handling these characters (see section 2., points 5., 6., and 7 of the linked document). If a CSV file does not meet these requirements, memoQ fixes the issues before exporting. This means the imported and the exported files will be different. Keep this in mind if you are using non-standard CSV files.

Normally, memoQ shows every meaningful field in the preview.

If you want to hide a column or two from the preview:

1. Select the column in the list.

2. Then clear the Show in preview check box.

   The result will look like this:

   

1. On the Base format tab, make sure that the Simple bilingual configuration check box is cleared.

2. On the Columns tab, set the meaning of each selected column.

Set column as a source text

To set a column as source text:

1. Select the column in the list.
2. In the Meaning of selected column drop-down, choose Source text.

If a source cell in a row is empty or contains spaces only, memoQ won't import that cell, its translations, contexts and comments.

Set a column as translation

To set a column as translation in a target language:

1. Select the column in the list.
2. In the Meaning of selected column drop-down, choose Translation.
3. In the For column drop-down, choose one of the columns that are already marked as Source text. If there is only one column that has source text, the list will contain that column only.
4. In the Language drop-down, choose the target language of the column. You can choose any language that memoQ supports. But if the project doesn't have that language, the column won't be imported.

If you don't choose a language: The column will be set to In-place translation. memoQ imports this column as source text, and replaces this source text with the translation.

Set a column as start or end time for the segment

To set a column as start or end time for the segment:

1. Select the column in the list.
2. In the Meaning of selected column drop-down, choose Starting timestamp of subtitle or Ending timestamp of subtitle, as needed.

Set a column as length limit

To set a column as length limit:

1. Select the column in the list.
2. In the Meaning of selected column drop-down, choose Length limit (characters).

3. From the For column drop-down, choose which column this length limit belongs to. If you choose a target column, memoQ uses the limits for those cells. If you choose the source column (it has "(all translations)" next to it), memoQ uses the limits for all translations.

Choose settings for the memoQ video preview tool

Do this on the Subtitles tab.

When you are working on a video translation, it is important to know how much text you can put on the screen at once. Change the value of the Line length limit (characters) field as needed.

Density means how much text is on the screen over time. You can set limits for Words per minute and Characters per second - the two most common measurements.

No warnings in memoQ itself during translation: when you confirm a segment, memoQ does not warn you if you are over these limits. You see which lines are longer than the limit only when you export the file.
However, the memoQ video preview tool shows all three values in real time when playing the video:

"Online" means a file on a server: At the moment, streaming video services such as YouTube are not supported.