Level 2 - Handling Update

Projects with PerfectMatch

Trados Studio 2022

July 2022
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ii Level 2 - Handling Update Projects with PerfectMatch

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Level 2 - Handling Update Projects with PerfectMatch iii

iv Level 2 - Handling Update Projects with PerfectMatch
 Contents
1 What is PerfectMatch? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

2 Handling an update project with PerfectMatch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Creating a new project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Matching the updated documents to the previous SDLXLIFF file . . . . . . . . . 7

Viewing the PerfectMatch and Analyze Files reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Viewing the pre-translated files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Running PerfectMatch again . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Unlocking and editing segments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Applying PerfectMatch without locking segments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

3 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

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vi Level 2 - Handling Update Projects with PerfectMatch
 1

What is PerfectMatch?
 1 What is PerfectMatch?

When the segment that you are currently translating is identical to a previously translated
segment, the TM will provide an exact match. When the current segment is identical to a
previously translated segment and it is preceded by the same segment as last time, the TM
provides a context match (CM).

However, there is another match type that offers even more reassurance than a CM:
PerfectMatch (PM). While the context for a CM is determined only by the preceding segment,
the PM is based on more considerable context information. With PM, you can therefore be
sure that you will never be given a match that does not fit the context.

PerfectMatch is particularly helpful for handling update translation projects. Imagine that
last year you translated a user guide with 100,000 words and that your customer now wants
you to translate an updated version. A file analysis reveals that the documentation from
last year and the update are about 95% identical.

You could of course use Trados Studio’s pre-translate function to populate the updated files
with all of the 100% matches and CMs from the TM. With this approach, however, there is
a slight chance of an incorrect translation being retrieved from the TM, as per the following
illustration:

Original source content:

(1) This is the window. (2) It will be displayed in the UI. (3) Please click it.

Updated source content:

(1) This is the button. (2) It will be displayed in the UI. (3) Please click it.

In the above example, the segment ‘Please click it.’ might have to be translated differently
based on segment 1, as the words window and button can have different genders depending
on your target language.

This can result in mistranslations that not even context matching can help avoid because
even though the preceding segment (2) (on which CMs rely) is identical, segment 1 is
different.

So in German, for example, you would risk getting a translation in which the noun genders
are mismatched, such as:

(1) Dies ist die Schaltfläche. (2) Diese wird in der Oberfläche angezeigt. (3) Bitte klicken Sie es an.

As such mistakes can compromise quality, you would potentially need to proofread the entire
target document to be certain of eliminating them, even if only, say, 5 out of 100 segments
needed to be translated from scratch, which is a significant proofreading overhead when you
are processing update projects.

PerfectMatch is designed to eliminate the possibility of mistranslations such as in the above

example.

One fundamental difference between PMs and exact and context matches is that PMs do
not depend on a TM. While all of the match types that you have worked with until now (fuzzy,
exact, and CM) are produced by the TM, PMs come from a previously translated SDLXLIFF
file.

2 Level 2 - Handling Update Projects with PerfectMatch

 What is PerfectMatch? 1

PerfectMatch is essentially a comparison between an already translated SDLXLIFF file and

the current source file. Any material from the previous file that is determined to have the
same document context will be inserted into the updated file and marked as a PM.

This approach is highly reliable, as the previously translated SDLXLIFF file is always going to
be more specific to the current document than a TM that may contain, say, 200,000
segments and possibly also include many variants, meaning multiple translations for the
same source segment.

By comparing your updated source files with the previously translated SDLXLIFF files, you
can safely focus on the new, updated content without having to re-check thousands of
already translated segments.

Note:

PM is one of the reasons not to delete the SDLXLIFF documents after completing a project.
Even if all of the translated content is centrally stored in a TM, you will lose the potential to
perform PerfectMatch for update projects without the SDLXLIFF files.

Note that the PerfectMatch feature is only available in the Professional Edition of Trados
Studio. With the Freelance Edition, you can open SDLXLIFF files that have been processed
with PerfectMatch (for example by a project manager or customer), but you cannot run the
PerfectMatch batch task yourself.

For this reason, the following exercises apply only to users of the Trados Studio Professional
Edition.

Level 2 - Handling Update Projects with PerfectMatch 3

 1 What is PerfectMatch?

4 Level 2 - Handling Update Projects with PerfectMatch

 2

Handling an update project

with PerfectMatch
 2 Handling an update project with PerfectMatch

For this exercise, we will assume that your client has made changes and additions to a TV
episode guide that you translated some time ago. This is a typical situation for an update
project.

To make the exercise as easy as possible, our sample project contains only two small files. In
your sample files folder, you will find the following:
• ..\Sample Files\09 - PerfectMatch\Episode Guide: contains the previous project, which you
can leverage to pre-translate the updated files with PerfectMatch
• ..\Sample Files\09 - PerfectMatch\Updated files: contains the new, updated source files
that require translation

This exercise uses a project with the language pair English -> German. However, the material
is intended purely to illustrate how the PerfectMatch process works, and you will not have
to translate anything.

Creating a new project

Create a new local project. In the first page of the Create a New Project wizard, select the
two files from the Updates files sub-folder as the source documents for translation. You will
need to select the previous project to supply the settings for the update project. To do this,
take the following steps:

Procedure
1. First give a meaningful name to your update project, for example, Episode Guide Update.
2. Then select the previous project by clicking Browse next to Use settings from.

3. Browse for the folder that contains your update project, ..\Sample Files\09 - PerfectMatch
\Episode Guide.
4. From the file type list select the file type *.sdlproj.

5. Double-click the project file Episode Guide.sdlproj, and then click Yes to confirm that you
want to use the previous project.

6. The previous project functions like a project template in that our update project will

6 Level 2 - Handling Update Projects with PerfectMatch

 Handling an update project with PerfectMatch 2

take over all of the settings from the previous project. Proceed to the Translation
Resources page.

There you will see that the TM from the previous project is going to be used in the
current project. Using PM does not mean that the TM has become irrelevant. It will
instead be a complement to PerfectMatch: segments for which no PM can be found will
be pre-translated using the TM.

Matching the updated documents to

the previous SDLXLIFF file
About this task
Go to the PerfectMatch page of the wizard, which is only available in the Professional
Edition of Trados Studio. On this page, Trados Studio matches the new source files to the
translated SDLXLIFF files from the previous project. In our example, the mapping between
the current and previous files looks as shown in the following screenshot. The Translatable
File column shows the new Word files, and the Previous Matching Bilingual File column
lists the SDLXLIFF files from the previous project:

Remember:

You need to map the current files to the previously translated SDLXLIFF files, not to the
previous source or target files.

Trados Studio can map the previous SDLXLIFF files automatically if they have exactly the
same name as the new source files. For the first file, the previous file (which has the same
name) has been mapped, while for the second file no matching SDLXLIFF file has been found,
as the file name has changed. For this file, you will therefore need to assign the previous
SDLXLIFF file manually by taking the following steps:

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 2 Handling an update project with PerfectMatch

Procedure
1. In the Translatable File column, right-click the project file Ship’s crew.docx, and then
click Add Previous Document.

2. Browse for the previous file, which is located in the folder ..\Sample Files\09 - PerfectMatch
\Episode Guide\de-de and is called Crew.docx.sdlxliff.

3. Both files should now be correctly matched to the corresponding previous bilingual
documents. Click Finish to create the project. This will also start the PerfectMatch
process.
4. When the project creation is finished, note the Apply PerfectMatch batch task in the
list of completed tasks. Click Close to proceed.

Note: If you have not selected any previous bilingual files, the Apply PerfectMatch task will
still appear in the list of completed tasks in the Professional Edition of Trados Studio, but it
will not be executed, as there are no previous files for PerfectMatch to use.

Viewing the PerfectMatch and Analyze

Files reports
You can view the result of the PerfectMatch task in the PerfectMatch report. Switch to the
Reports view, and then select the Apply PerfectMatch report, which is listed below the
Pre-translate Files and Analyze Files reports.

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 Handling an update project with PerfectMatch 2

This report shows the total number of segments in the project and the number of transferred
segments. The latter is the number of segments that PerfectMatch managed to transfer
from the previous bilingual files to the new project files, as shown in the following screenshot:

The Analyze Files report looks as shown in the following screenshot:

The PerfectMatch leverage is almost 72% of the text in the documents for translation (25
segments transferred). Other than the PM segments, one segment has been identified as a
100% match, two segments as fuzzy matches, and three segments need to be translated
from scratch.

Viewing the pre-translated files

Switch to the Files view, which will list both files and their progress:

Select both files, and then click Open For Translation.

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 2 Handling an update project with PerfectMatch

The files will look as shown in the following screenshot, with the majority of the segments
pre-translated with PerfectMatch:

The segments that were transferred from the previous files have the following
characteristics:
• They are marked with the PM translation origin indicator.
• They have the Signed Off status icon ( ).
• They are marked with a lock icon ( ). When you try to edit a PM segment, a message
will pop up telling you that locked content cannot be edited:

PMs are considered ‘perfect’ in the sense that PerfectMatch will never give you an exact
match that does not suit the content. PMs do not usually therefore need to be checked,
proofread, or edited (assuming that the segments in the previous SDLXLIFF files were
correctly approved).

Note:

PerfectMatch uses a sophisticated algorithm to determine whether a translation fits the

context. PM follows the adage: if in doubt, leave it out. This means that if there is the slightest
doubt about whether a particular translation fits the context, PM will not insert the
translation.

This allows you to focus on any segments that have changed or been added.

Segments 15 and 16 are completely new, as they contain the summary of a new episode.
Note that segment 14 is a 100% match, which has been pre-translated by the TM. This is a
good example of how PM and TM complement each other. Priority is given to PMs. The
segments that have not been translated by PerfectMatch are then left to the TM.

10 Level 2 - Handling Update Projects with PerfectMatch

 Handling an update project with PerfectMatch 2

Now, look at segment 6. Here, the TM gives you a fuzzy match, as the updated document
contains character formatting that was not there in the previous file. The same is true for
segment 9, shown in the following screenshot:

You can configure PerfectMatch to ignore character formatting information and thereby
increase the leverage you get from it. PerfectMatch will then be applied to segments with
differences in character formatting, which is useful when you are processing files for which
the character formatting is not important. After all, a difference in character formatting will
not usually cause any change in context.

Imagine that you want to re-run PerfectMatch on the documents in our practice project, but
this time ignore character formatting. Here, this will increase the number of matches that
you get from PM. More generally, however, you should only reconfigure PerfectMatch in this
way if you are certain that the character formatting does not affect the context.

Running PerfectMatch again

About this task
Before you can re-apply PerfectMatch to the same set of files, you need to make sure that
all of the target segments are unlocked and empty. PerfectMatch will not process segments
that are locked or do not have the Not Translated ( ) status.
To unlock and empty the target column, take the following steps:

Procedure
1. Use the display filter to show only locked segments, as shown in the following
screenshot:

2. Press Alt+Shift+A to select all of the (currently filtered) segments.

3. Right-click any segment number, and then click Unlock Segments.

Level 2 - Handling Update Projects with PerfectMatch 11

 2 Handling an update project with PerfectMatch

4. Reset the display filter to show all segments again, as shown in the following screenshot:

5. Press Alt+Shift+A to select all of the segments again. Right-click any segment number,
and then select Clear Target Segment.

The target column should now be empty. Save and close the documents, which will take
you back to the Files view. As all of the segments now have the status Not Translated,
no translation progress should now be shown for the files.

Now re-apply PerfectMatch by taking the following steps:

1. Select both files and then click Batch Tasks > Apply PerfectMatch, as shown in the
following screenshot:

2. In the Batch Processing window, click Next twice until you see the following page:

12 Level 2 - Handling Update Projects with PerfectMatch

 Handling an update project with PerfectMatch 2

3. Select the checkbox for Ignore formattings during PerfectMatch process.

4. Click Finish to re-apply PerfectMatch, and then click Close.
5. Switch to the Reports view, where a new Apply PerfectMatch report will be shown at
the top of the list of reports, as shown in the following screenshot:

The report shows that 27 out of 31 segments have now been transferred, instead of 25
previously. This demonstrates how you can increase the PerfectMatch leverage by
ignoring character formatting.
6. To delete the first (outdated) Apply PerfectMatch report, right-click it, select Delete, and
click Yes to confirm.

Level 2 - Handling Update Projects with PerfectMatch 13

 2 Handling an update project with PerfectMatch

7. Go back to the Files view and open both files for translation. Note that segments 6 and
9 have now been pre-translated using PM, as shown in the following screenshot:

Unlocking and editing segments

Although PM segments are not usually intended to be edited, you can still unlock and edit
them if required. Imagine that you still want to apply character formatting to segment 6. Take
the following steps:

Procedure
1. Select segment 6, and then press Ctrl+L to unlock it.
2. Apply italics to the term Zen Alpha I, and then confirm the segment.
3. To lock the unlocked segment again, select it and press Ctrl+L.

Applying PerfectMatch without locking

segments
About this task

14 Level 2 - Handling Update Projects with PerfectMatch

 Handling an update project with PerfectMatch 2

Unlocking and editing PM segments is not the norm. You may want to unlock a segment if,
for example, you happen to find a spelling mistake or an outdated term that was overlooked
in the previous translation.
However, you can also apply PerfectMatch without locking the segments. This is useful in
situations such as when you do not completely trust the previous translation because, for
example, it was done a long time ago, and it is likely that you will need to change a lot of the
segments.
In this case, you can still make use of the PerfectMatch algorithm to provide reliable, context-
sensitive pre-translation, but not lock the segments so that you can edit them more easily.
Before you can re-apply PerfectMatch, you will need to unlock and clear the target segments
using the steps that we outlined earlier.
When you have done this, save and close the documents, and then take the following steps:

Procedure
1. Select both documents, and then click Batch Tasks > Apply PerfectMatch.
2. Click Next, and on the following page select the checkbox for Keep initial segment
origin and status (instead of the default option Lock segments), as highlighted in the
following screenshot:

3. Click Finish to apply PerfectMatch, and then Close.

The PM leverage should be the same as in the previous exercise (27 out of 31 segments
transferred), but the document(s) will look as shown in the following screenshot:

Level 2 - Handling Update Projects with PerfectMatch 15

 2 Handling an update project with PerfectMatch

You will notice the following:

• The pre-translated segments are not locked.
• They do not have the Signed Off status or the PM translation origin indicator.
• The segments have retained the original match value and segment status from the
previous file. For example, if a segment was auto-propagated (like segment 5), it retains
the auto-propagation information.
• Any comments added by the translator are transferred as well (see segments 3 and 10).

16 Level 2 - Handling Update Projects with PerfectMatch

 3

Summary
 3 Summary

• PerfectMatch provides a context-sensitive way to pre-translate large volumes of updated

source files. PMs are more reliable than exact or context matches.
• The PerfectMatch feature is only available in the Professional Edition of Trados Studio.
• PMs do not come from a TM, but from the SDLXLIFF files of a previous project. The PM
process is much therefore more specific to the updated source files than a TM-based
pre-translation. This means that there is no risk of inserting exact matches that do not
fit the new context.
• PM is ideally suited for update translation projects where a large portion of content can
be taken over from previous project files.
• PM allows you to focus exclusively on the new or changed content, and there is no need
to proofread pre-translated segments again.
• When creating an update project, you can choose the previous project as a reference to
supply the original project settings.
• Trados Studio will automatically match the new project files to the previous SDLXLIFF
files based on the file names.
• If a file name has changed in the meantime, you will need to manually assign the
previous file to the current file.
• The Apply PerfectMatch batch task transfers as many segments as possible from the
previous documents to the new files.
• PM complements the TM. Trados Studio will first try to find PM matches. If no PM match
can be found, Trados Studio will look for exact and fuzzy matches in the TM.
• By default, PM locks the pre-translated segments. You can unlock segments by pressing
Ctrl+L if required.
• You can configure PM to ignore character formatting during the PerfectMatch process,
which will usually increase the PM leverage.
• You can also configure the PM process not to lock segments. This is useful if you consider
the previous translation to be outdated or otherwise unreliable in some way. This makes
it easier to edit the segments pre-translated with PM.

About RWS

RWS Holdings plc is a unique, world-leading provider of technology-enabled language, content and intellectual property services. Through content
transformation and multilingual data analysis, our unique combination of technology and cultural expertise helps our clients to grow by ensuring they
are understood anywhere, in any language.

Our purpose is unlocking global understanding. By combining cultural understanding, client understanding and technical understanding, our services
and technology assist our clients to acquire and retain customers, deliver engaging user experiences, maintain compliance and gain actionable insights
into their data and content.

Our clients include 90 of the world’s top 100 brands, the top 20 pharmaceutical companies and 19 of the top 20 patent filers. Our client base spans
Europe, Asia Pacific, and North and South America. We work in the automotive, chemical, financial, legal, medical, pharmaceutical, technology and
telecommunications sectors, which we serve from 80+ global locations across five continents.

Founded in 1958, RWS is headquartered in the UK and publicly listed on AIM, the London Stock Exchange regulated market (RWS.L).

For further information please visit www.rws.com.

© 2022 All rights reserved. Information contained herein is deemed confidential and the proprietary information of RWS Group*.

*RWS Group shall mean RWS Holdings PLC for and on behalf of its affiliates and subsidiaries.

18 Level 2 - Handling Update Projects with PerfectMatch