MemoQ xliff to Phrase Xliff Thread poster: BabelOn-line
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BabelOn-line
United Kingdom
Local time: 13:15
English to French
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Dear Phrasians,
A client sent me a 13k job, initially in Word and Excel. They later sent me the same job, but as a a series of files named e.g. name_of_file.mqxliff.xlf (hence MemoQ).
I thought the file extension looked weird – should it have been either .mqxliff OR .xlf?
Client request the delivery in xlif format. This is a bit of a novelty for me, but I know that Phrase handles and exports xlf format. So far, so good.
Just to... See more Dear Phrasians,
A client sent me a 13k job, initially in Word and Excel. They later sent me the same job, but as a a series of files named e.g. name_of_file.mqxliff.xlf (hence MemoQ).
I thought the file extension looked weird – should it have been either .mqxliff OR .xlf?
Client request the delivery in xlif format. This is a bit of a novelty for me, but I know that Phrase handles and exports xlf format. So far, so good.
Just to check things out before embarking on this job, I did a quick test on one sample file: I machine translated it and just checked what changed between the MemoQ xlf and the Phrase translated xlf files. Turns out there are a number of differences in the header, tags, etc. Also asked the Phrase support who said it should not be a factor, I could simply open the supplied MemoQ file and get cracking.
So now asking the community, just to be sure: in your experience, are all "flavours" of xlif files mutually and directly compatible? As in: if I work on these files and deliver Phrase xliff to my client, they will be able to open them without any further processing? Are here any precaution one should take – or can I simply upload the mqxliff in Phrase and get on with the job?
Kind regards. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Stepan Konev 
Russian Federation
Local time: 15:15
English to Russian
| XLF is not memoQ | Aug 19, 2023 |
Your actual file extension is xlf. It has nothing to do with memoQ or Phrase. The mqxliff part now is just a part of your file name inherited after your client converted a memoQ file (with true mqxliff extension) into something else with xlf extension (it could be TWS XLIFF Editor for example). Your xlf files are still xliff files and you can translate them either with Phrase or memoQ but the output file may require additional tweaking depending on your client's software. You'd better ask your c... See more Your actual file extension is xlf. It has nothing to do with memoQ or Phrase. The mqxliff part now is just a part of your file name inherited after your client converted a memoQ file (with true mqxliff extension) into something else with xlf extension (it could be TWS XLIFF Editor for example). Your xlf files are still xliff files and you can translate them either with Phrase or memoQ but the output file may require additional tweaking depending on your client's software. You'd better ask your client how did they generate the xlf file(s). But if you say they don't care much what software you use, you can simply translate the xlf files and send them to your client as is. They seem to know what they do (unless they instructed you to use a specific tool).
[Edited at 2023-08-20 21:35 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 14:15
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
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Note: I'm only a very occasional user of Phrase.
Most questions in the Phrase/Memsource subforum are by/from translators who work with Phrase via agencies, and not who use Phrase as their own CAT tool (i.e. using the Team Start license).
BabelOn-line wrote:
A client sent me a 13k job, initially in Word and Excel. They later sent me the same job, but as a a series of files named e.g. name_of_file.mqxliff.xlf (hence MemoQ). ... I thought the file extension looked weird – should it have been either .mqxliff OR .xlf?
The file name probably says something.xlsx.mqxliff.xlf, right?
I'm confident that the client had opened the Excel file (called something.xlsx) in MemoQ and created the MemoQ XLF file (so then the file's name was something.xlsx.mqxliff) and then they took that XLF file and opened it in another XLF program (we don't know which one... it could be the one Stephan mentions, or some other program) and then created the XLF file that you've just received from the client (and that program added it's own file extension to the end of the file name, leading to something.xlsx.mqxliff.xlf).
However, I'm 99% sure that as far as Phase is concerned, this file is a generic XLF file. Phrase will open it as a generic XLF file, you'll translate it, and then you'll save/export the translated file as generic XLF. Phrase doesn't care that the file had previously been opened in MemoQ or whatever the client's other XLF program is.
Client request the delivery in XLIFF format. This is a bit of a novelty for me, but I know that Phrase handles and exports XLF format. So far, so good.
From Phrase, you'll save the translated file, and it will be an XLF file.
Just make sure the file that is exported from Phrase is named .XLF and not .MXLIFF. If the file is named MXLIFF, then your client may still be able to use it, but I wouldn't count on it. MXLIFF is Phrase's bilingual review XLF format, which is not the final XLF format. If you create a final, translated XLF file from Phrase and the file is an MXLIFF file, you've use the wrong method of saving the file.
(Note the difference: MQXLIFF = MemoQ, MXLIFF = Memsource/Phrase.)
Turns out there are a number of differences in the header, tags, etc.
This doesn't matter. One can write XML in many ways that all mean the same thing, and good XLF programs should be able to deal with it if such changes are made to the file. We don't know what XLF program the client uses, but let's assume he's not using a hobby project, so these types of changes should not affect your delivery.
In your experience, are all "flavours" of xlif files mutually and directly compatible?
It depends on what you mean, but given your next question, I think the answer is "yes", if you mean that it won't matter to Phrase what program the client used to create the XLF file.
If the file your client sent you is a "real" XLIFF file (we assume so), then Phrase is going to create a file that is in the same XLIFF format as the format that your client sent you. Even if Phrase can be used to export an export version of XLIFF (i.e. the MXLIFF file), that is not the file that you're going to send to your client.
Phrase will take the client's XLF file, convert it to its own internal format (which may or may not be XLF), and then (after the translation) convert it back to the client's XLF format.
If I work on these files and deliver Phrase XLIFF to my client, they will be able to open them without any further processing?
Here's an idea: create a test project in Phrase using a small test Excel or PowerPoint file. Then machine-translate it, and then save the translation. If the translation is an Excel or PowerPoint file, then congratulations -- you're using the correct way of saving the translation. If the translation is an MXLIFF file, then you're using the wrong method of saving the file.
Are here any precaution one should take – or can I simply upload the mqxliff in Phrase and get on with the job?
You should be able to upload your client's file directly to Phrase -- no precautions necessary.
However, to avoid confusion when communicating with the helpdesk, don't refer to it as an MQXLIFF file or a "MemoQ file", because it's not an MQXLIFF file -- it's an MQXLIFF.XLF file, i.e. it's an XLF file from an unknown XLIFF program. The file that your client sent you may have been inside MemoQ at some point, but it is not a "MemoQ file" right now.
[Edited at 2023-08-20 07:50 GMT]
| | | | BabelOn-line
United Kingdom
Local time: 13:15
English to French
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Thx. Files sent by client were a mix of Word and Excel converted to Xliff using MemoQ - as this is a first for me, i was not sure what is the correct type of suffix and was unsure about the apparent repetition of what sounds like "xliff" in the source files (mqxliff.xlf). Hence my question.
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BabelOn-line
United Kingdom
Local time: 13:15
English to French
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Thank you very much for taking the time to provide a detailed answer.
For the record, I am a translator first and also a v. small agency, hence the use of Phrase.
Source files supplied by client were a mix of Word and Excel. The one I used to run a small test was actually a Word file. I wrote ".xlf" as this is what the final suffix of the test file (ending in mqxlif.xlf). In this case, it does not point to the source file being in Excel format initially.
I... See more Thank you very much for taking the time to provide a detailed answer.
For the record, I am a translator first and also a v. small agency, hence the use of Phrase.
Source files supplied by client were a mix of Word and Excel. The one I used to run a small test was actually a Word file. I wrote ".xlf" as this is what the final suffix of the test file (ending in mqxlif.xlf). In this case, it does not point to the source file being in Excel format initially.
Important detail I forgot, apologies: Phrase opened these "mqxlif.xlf" files without any problem, tags seems to be where they need to. In my initial test, i found that the Headers and tags changed a lot, but it does not mean the client should not be able to get what they want, i.e. a xliff bilingual file.
My main concern was, as i am not used to delivering target files as "Xliff" (whichever MemoQ plus some extra processing /or/ Phrase flavour they may be), the client telling me at delivery that they can't open my Phrase-completed target files.
I feel the simplest route is now to MT a short file on Phrase as a sample, export the Xliff, send it to client so they can check the xliff opens correctly on their end.
Thanks for explaining that the weird "mqxlif.xlf" suffix was probably the byproduct of files created in MemoQ but subsequently reprocessed with some other app. That explains the strange double suffix.
Kind regards ▲ Collapse
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