Using NWP as a CAT tool
Posted: 2014-02-21 07:24:27
Well, not exactly, but something like that. CAT (Computer Assisted Translation) tools are software that helps translators compare different versions of a document, and reuse existing translated text. This is usually done by dividing the original and translated documents in sentences (segments), compare different versions of the original document, and find what has remained unchanged and what has changed. Unchanged text is matched to the older translation and automatically added to the target translation, while changed text is offered for translation.
The Compare Documents macro in NWP does something similar, while leaving some tasks to the manual work of the translator. You start by opening the older and newer version of the original language, and let NWP create a comparison document showing the sentences that have changed in the original language. (If the document is in a format other than RTF, just copy & paste it into a new NWP document – formatting will get lost, but you probably don't need it for this work).
You then open a copy of the older translation, and use the comparison document as a guide to quickly locate the changed sentences. It is easy to edit, add or delete text from your translation by following the comparison document. A real CAT tool would automatically offer you the original text to be translated in the target translation document; with NWP you have to manually copy the original text, or just read it from the comparison document. You don't work in the CAT window, but in the original application. It's just a different way of working. The great thing, with Macs, is that it is easy to work with different documents from different applications open onscreen.
As a side note: reading from the comparison document is fine if you are dealing with simple text. Copying and pasting is better if your text contains a lot of formatting and special codes.
Paolo
The Compare Documents macro in NWP does something similar, while leaving some tasks to the manual work of the translator. You start by opening the older and newer version of the original language, and let NWP create a comparison document showing the sentences that have changed in the original language. (If the document is in a format other than RTF, just copy & paste it into a new NWP document – formatting will get lost, but you probably don't need it for this work).
You then open a copy of the older translation, and use the comparison document as a guide to quickly locate the changed sentences. It is easy to edit, add or delete text from your translation by following the comparison document. A real CAT tool would automatically offer you the original text to be translated in the target translation document; with NWP you have to manually copy the original text, or just read it from the comparison document. You don't work in the CAT window, but in the original application. It's just a different way of working. The great thing, with Macs, is that it is easy to work with different documents from different applications open onscreen.
As a side note: reading from the comparison document is fine if you are dealing with simple text. Copying and pasting is better if your text contains a lot of formatting and special codes.
Paolo