Organizing Your Files

Before you begin using Déjà Vu X2, the first thing you must do is organize your work and decide where you are going to store your source files. During this tutorial, for simplicity, we will use a folder on your desktop to store the files DVX2 will work with, but for normal use you may wish to use a different folder structure.

On your Desktop, create a folder and call it “My Project.” You can create a folder with the File Explorer. Then, download the files SP720.docx and SP1440.docx, and copy them to them to the My Project folder.

Now open these files, take a look at them, and note that they have a significant amount of formatting (including bold, italics, and hyperlinks). Close the files.

Creating a Project

Project files are created in the main interface of Déjà Vu X2. You can use the same interface to open projects you have created previously, or you can create and open translation memories, Termbases, and SGML/XML filters.

To create a project:

1. Open Déjà Vu X2.
2. On the File menu, click New, or click the button on the toolbar.
   
3. Double-click Project or select it and click OK.
4. The New Project Wizard appears.
   
5. Click Next >.
6. The wizard prompts you to create a project.
   
7. Click Create..., select a directory in which you want to have the project saved (for this exercise we will save it in the My Project folder), and type a name for the project. For now, we will call it "Printer Manual".
   
8. Click Save.
   
9. Click Next >, and, in the next page, select the source language and the target language(s) for your project. To select the target language(s), you can either double-click on it/them or select it/them and Click Add ->. You can select whatever language you prefer for this exercise.
   
10. Click Next >. In the following page, you can choose to use an existing translation memory, or to create a new one for this project.
11. For this example, create a new translation memory. Click Add Local TM....
    
12. Give the translation memory an appropriate name (for this tutorial "Printing") and select the folder in which you want that translation memory to be stored (for this exercise we will save it in the My Project folder). Click Yes to create the TM.
    
13. Click Open, then Next and then select or create the Termbase for this project.
14. For this example, create a new Termbase. Click Add Local TB....
    
15. Give the Termbase an appropriate name (for this tutorial "Printing") and select the folder in which you want that Termbase to be stored (for this exercise we will save it in the My Project folder). Click on Yes to create the TB.
    
16. Click Open and Next >.
17. The next page lets you specify what Machine Translation provider you want to use for the project. Since MT providers require that you have a paid account, we will not use one for this tutorial. Click Next > to skip this page.
    
18. A dialog is displayed in which you can select a client and a subject for your project. We will use the default ones for now.
    
19. Click Next >. A dialog is displayed in which you can select the file(s) that must be translated.
20. Click Add..., select the My Project folder, and double-click on the file SP720.docx.
    
21. Click Next >. The New Project Wizard displays the current settings.
    
22. If you want to change any of the settings, you can click < Back; otherwise click Finish. The wizard displays the progress of the import process.
    During the import process, Déjà Vu X2 performs the following tasks:
    • Filters the text to make most formatting codes hidden and inaccessible.
    • Replaces character formatting codes with place-holders (embedded codes) that are difficult to delete by accident.
    • Splits paragraphs into sentences according to the set of rules and exceptions specified under Options.
    • Builds the project file with all the source sentences in one column and an empty column for (each of) the target language(s).
23. Click Close when the process is finished. The main interface of Déjà Vu X2 is displayed with the imported file in the Project Explorer pane on the right, and the imported text in the main grid.
24. The figure [231] next to your project name indicates the total number of words within the project. (0%) is the percentage of segments that are translated.
    

Translating the File

1. Double-click on the file name. The display of the file should look similar to this:
   

   Notice the {1} symbol at the beginning of the second sentence. This is what we call an embedded code. An embedded code contains formatting from the original document that could not be hidden because it is right in the middle of a piece sentence.

   In this case, {1} contains formatting information for the table cell in which the sentence appears. In most cases, you do not need to know what the embedded code contains, as long as you maintain its correct place in the translated text. For example, if a word has an embedded code on each side, we can probably assume that, in the source text, this word is marked as bold, italics, etc.
2. Locate the source sentence in the table. If you are not at the beginning of the file, use the table scroll bar to move to the beginning, or press Ctrl+Home to jump to the first line.
3. Click on the first sentence in the table and place your cursor in the target column.

   Enter the translation and press Ctrl+↓ to move to the next sentence. You will notice that a check mark ( ) appears to the left of the translation to indicate that you have translated this sentence.

   

   The second row contains embedded codes. Déjà Vu X2 displays a warning symbol to remind you to copy the embedded codes from the source to the target.

4. To copy the embedded codes: Press F8 (or Ctrl+D).
   –Or–
   Right-click on the target text box to bring up the context menu and click Copy Next Code.

   The {1} symbol should have been copied to the target sentence. Now you could type in the translation and copy the next code using the process described above.

   However, because this second sentence consists of a product code and a proper name as well as some codes, you do not need to translate it. Instead, you can copy the source text directly.

5. To copy the current source sentence to the target: Press F5.
   –Or–
   Select the menu command Insert>Populate>Current Sentence.
6. Once you have copied the sentence, press Ctrl+↓ to advance to the next sentence.

   Notice that the warning symbol in the second sentence disappears.

   In the status bar, the position indicator has gone from sentence 2 (of 95) to sentence 3 (of 95). You can use this indicator as a reference to gauge your position inside the project:
   

7. For the third sentence, you may want to copy the source sentence to the target and then modify it. However you do it, remember to place the embedded codes correctly.
8. If you look at the sentence you just translated, you will notice that the term ink cartridge appears not only in this sentence but also in the sentence two rows down. To make the most of your translation efforts, it would make sense to add this term to the Termbase. The best way to describe what a Termbase does is to imagine an interactive glossary that proactively supports your translation work.
9. Highlight ink cartridge and your translation of ink cartridge with your mouse.
   
10. To send the highlighted terms to the Termbase:
    On the Translation menu, click Add Pair to Termbase.
    –Or–
    Press F11.
    –Or–
    Click the button on the toolbar.
    
11. Add any specifications, including grammatical information (word class, gender, or number) and semantic definition (such as context information; subject and client information are filled in by default), that you think are relevant.
12. Click Add.
13. To activate the AutoSearch feature that automatically searches for matches in your database and displays them to you: Select Tools>Options>Environment and check Enable AutoSearch.
    –Or–
    Click the button at the bottom of the screen.
    
    This will open a new window in the bottom right corner of your screen as soon as you select the next sentence.
14. Notice that, in contrast to the previous rows, the fourth and fifth rows contain one sentence that is split in two. A look at the .docx file reveals that this sentence contains a period and a space that are not present in the two previous sentences. While we cannot correct the original .docx file, we can make sure that this inconsistency does not carry over into the translation. To begin with, we need to join the two sentences.
15. Join the two sentences by clicking on the first sentence and: Select Join Sentences from the Edit menu.
    –Or–
    Click the button on the toolbar.
    –Or–
    Press Ctrl+J

    The two sentences should now be joined, and you will notice that in the lower right corner of the screen the AutoSearch pane automatically displays the term you have just entered into the Termbase.
    

16. To copy the term into the target column, press Ctrl+1 (or whichever number is associated with that entry).
17. When entering the rest of the translation, you will probably want to remove the inconsistent period and the space.
    

    Continue translating until you come to the sentence that reads "720 x 720 dpi;". Translate this sentence, too. You will notice that the next two sentences are very similar. Naturally, we do not want to translate the same kind of thing twice, so we will use one of Déjà Vu X2’s most useful features: scanning for a sentence.

    Before we can look for anything in the translation memory, we must add something to it. Since we want to use the current translation to save us some work, we will begin by sending this sentence pair to the translation memory.

18. To send the translated sentence pair to the translation memory:
    On the Translation menu, click Add Pair to Translation Memory.
    –Or–
    Press F12.
    –Or–
    Click the button on the toolbarnote.

19. Once you have added the sentence to the translation memory, press Ctrl+↓.

    We are now going to scan the translation memory for a sentence similar to the current one (which happens to be the sentence you just translated).

20. Scan the translation memory for a sentence:

    Click Scan on the Translations menu.
    –Or–
    Press Ctrl+S.
    –Or–
    Click the button on the toolbar.
21. A dialog appears to show you all the matches that were found, along with the proposed translation for the sentence you were scanning for.
    
    Notice that Déjà Vu X2 automatically replaces numbers and removes unnecessary embedded codes from the translation it proposes.
22. Since there is only one match, and it is the one we want, click the Insert button on the right side of the dialog.
23. Continue translating until you finish the project. As you translate, practice using the features we have seen so far.

Finishing the Translation

Once you have finished translating, don’t forget to send all the sentence pairs in the project to the translation memory. This will ensure that everything you have translated will be available for future use, and that any incorrect translations you may have sent during the course of the translation are replaced with the final ones.

1. To send all the sentence pairs from the project to the translation memory, click the button on the toolbar.
2. The Send Project to Translation Memory dialog appears.
   

   You have the option of sending the sentence pairs for the current language only, or for all the target languages in the project. Since our project only contains one target language, both options have the same effect.

3. Click OK.
   

   After sending the whole project to the translation memory, the final step is to export the project, i.e., to generate the translated .docx file.

Exporting the Finished Translation

1. Access the menu option File>Export>Translated project.
2. Déjà Vu X2 will prompt you to select the Export directory and set other options.
3. Select the Export directory (for this exercise we will select the My Project folder).
   
4. Then, it will validate all the translated sentences, checking for problems with embedded codes. If Déjà Vu X2 finds a problem, it will prompt you to fix it.
   
5. Fix the problem and click OK.
6. If Déjà Vu X2 asks you to add spaces at the end of each segment, click Yes. This is so that each sentence in the exported file will be separated by space, as they should be.
   
7. Déjà Vu X2 will create a subfolder inside the export directory, named after the code for the specific locale of your target language. For example, if you were translating the file into French, the new directory would be called C:\Users\lbenito\Desktop\My Project\fr_fr.

Doubling Your Productivity

In the previous section you had to translate the project manually. It probably wasn’t very difficult, but it could just as well have been carried out in a word processor; the only advantage was that your work was made more comfortable by hiding all formatting and layout information. But we have not yet made any use of the translation memory features. Before the translation was sent to the translation memory, there was nothing in it that we could use. Now that you have completed your first project, however, there should be enough material to demonstrate some of the more interesting features of Déjà Vu X2.

You have finished translating the specifications sheet for the ACME SpeedPrint 720, and we will now translate the specifications for the new SpeedPrint 1440 model, in a fraction of the time it took to translate the first sheet.

For this new file you do not have to create a new project; instead, you can import it into the existing project.

1. Access the menu option View>Advanced Project Explorer.
2. In the upper left-hand pane, select the directory where you have saved the file that you want to have translated. In this case, select C:\My Project\SP1440.docx.
   
3. Click the file and drag it over to the lower right-hand pane.
   
4. Right-click on the file name and select Import.
   
5. In a dialog, the import progress is displayed.
   

6. Once the import is finished, close the Advanced Project Explorer by clicking on the symbol in the upper right-hand corner of the Project Explorer window. Double-click on the file to display it in the translation grid.
   

   You are returned to the Project Explorer, in which you can see both files displayed.
   

Pretranslating

This time, rather than translating the file manually, we are going to let Déjà Vu X2 carry out a pretranslation. A pretranslation involves examining the text we are about to translate and, for each sentence, scanning the translation memory for similar sentences we have translated in the past. Déjà Vu X2 will take the most similar sentence (whether it is an exact, or perfect, match, or a fuzzy, or similar, match) and insert it in the corresponding location of the translation.

1. Pretranslate the file:
   Access the menu option Translation>Pretranslate.
   –Or–
   Press Ctrl+P.
   –Or–
   Click the button on the toolbar.
2. The Pretranslate dialog appears.
   
3. Set the different options as shown above and click OK.
4. Once the pretranslation is finished, a status report will be displayed at the bottom of the Pretranslate dialog.

   And there you have it! The pretranslation is finished, and Déjà Vu X2 has done almost all the work for you.
   

   You will notice a colored status indicator to the left of the translations. By default, every perfect match has a dark green indicator, every fuzzy match a light green indicator, and so forth. All of these display options are configurable under Tools>Options>Display.

   Even if the pretranslation inserts an exact match, it is a good practice to check the translation for any mistakes (you might have translated it wrong in the past!). Naturally, you should check and edit all the fuzzy matches; remember to press Ctrl+↓ after you translate each one.

Assembling the Translation

If you look at the sentences that Pretranslate has left empty, you will see that almost all of them are completely new to Déjà Vu X2, i.e., there is nothing similar to them in the translation memory. There are also several sentences that consist almost entirely of figures and acronyms. We will use the Assemble feature, one of the most powerful and unique of Déjà Vu X2’s features, to translate these.

Let’s repeat the pretranslation, but this time we will let Déjà Vu X2 translate not just complete sentences, but also smaller portions and, if necessary, word by word.

1. To pretranslate the file with Assemble from portions enabled:
   Access the menu option Translation>Pretranslate.
   –Or–
   Press Ctrl+P.
   –Or–
   Click the button on the toolbar.
2. The Pretranslate dialog appears.
   
3. Set the different options as shown above:
   • Check the Assemble from portions option.
   • Check the Use DeepMiner statistical extraction option. This will make Déjà Vu X2 insert sub-segments and terms, bringing them together to create new matches.
   • Check the Insert source text option. This will make Déjà Vu X2 insert acronyms and other unknown words into the target as they appear in the source text.
4. Click OK.
   

   You will now find that even the previously untranslated second row has now been partially translated. Because they contained only figures and proper names the Assemble function has generated translations.

   After using both kinds of pretranslation, with and without the Assemble function, you should have left to translate only about six sentences and edit a dozen or so fuzzy matchesnote.

Word Counts and Statistics

If this were a real job, you would probably want to count the number of words and characters either before you start with a project or after you are finished with the translation.

1. If you would like to assess the amount of repetition in your project, access the menu option Tools>Analysis....

2. The Analysis dialog allows you to count the number of matches from your translation memory(s) in a variety of degrees of fuzziness as well as the repetition within your project. Click Analyze to produce an analysis.
   

   For more detailed information on Word Counts and Statistics, see ANALYSIS FEATURES in the User Guide.

You Are Ready to Go

You can send the project to the translation memory and export the translation if you want to see the results.

By now, you should be familiar with the Déjà Vu X2 environment, and ready to begin translating real files on your own. One important thing to keep in mind is that we have only scratched the surface of what is possible with Déjà Vu X2. Imagine this program as a large toolbox from which you can pick and choose one or more of the tools that are most helpful for your particular needs.