Heartsome

Frequently asked questions

Heartsome

Heartsome Truly and completely cross platform, supportive of all key industry standards, namely XLIFF, TMX, TBX, Unlimited support for languages


What does it take in terms of minimal requirements to run Heartsome?

Heartsome's products are all dependent on the use of a recent version of Java Runtime (at least Version 1.4.2) together with a highly efficient database. These are applications that will only thrive in computer systems equipped with a relatively large RAM, at least 512KB for those running the server version and 256KB for those running the client version.
Apart from higher RAM, the other associated system requirements are not exceptional: a normal processor with a speed of 1 GHz or more, and a 40 GB hard disk with space enough to install the software and as much space as needed for the database, a few GB should be adequate for most individuals.

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What are the most unique features in Heartsomes translation tools?

We consider ourselves the most unique in the light of the following:

  • Truly and completely cross platform, supportive of all key industry standards, namely XLIFF, TMX and TBX, rendering the tools vendor-independent as well.
  • Unlimited support for languages, whether it is in translation direction, single database multi-lingual translation memory storage, language pairing in translation jobs and language availability and usability in all our editors.
  • All-inclusive support for all valid native XML file formats without the need or hassle of switching to special purpose or half-baked editors.
  • Full and complete support for a wide range of third party databases, thus giving users the flexibility of using some of the most powerful relational database applications in the world and making it redundant to rely on unknown or questionable built-in proprietary databases.

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What kind of IT platform do I need to run Heartsomes translation tools?

The basic requirements are:

  • Windows NT/2000/XP/2003, Macintosh OS X 10.3 or Higher, Linux, any Unix OS or Solaris.
  • Java 1.4.x or higher from Sun Microsystems, this is available as a free download at www.java.com

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The editor I have just installed does not start. What can I do?

Ensure that you have correctly installed Java 1.4.x and that a JVM is in your path.

All Heartsome's software uses Java technology, a groundbreaking computing platform released by Sun Microsystems in 1995. Java technology opens up a wealth of new possibilities for IT users. It enables Heartsome as well to develop programs that are genuinely cross-platform, that is, programs that run on any given computer, which is equipped with the Java Runtime Environment (JRE).

The version of JRE required for running Heartsome's software is 1.4.2x or higher. This is a relatively new version of Java and we always opt for the newest technology. It is available for Windows (except Windows 95), Macintosh, Linux and UNIX operating systems.

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I am trying to use a Macintosh or Linux version of the Heartsome editor to translate an Arabic document, but it does not seem to work properly?

Bi-directional languages are currently supported on Microsoft Windows only because the technology foundation of Heartsome's tools, Eclipse SWT, has yet to implement support for bidirectional languages in any other platform.

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Our problem in using your product in Windows is the regular recurrence of: unknown protocol: c error. Do you have a solution?

This problem is unique to Windows 2000 users on their trying to run Java applications. It normally affects those who have failed to faithfully update their Windows operating systems. This applies as well to those using Microsoft Office software failing to update with patches and bug fixes made available by Microsoft. In simple language, it is caused by the existence of one or more empty spaces in the directory name (path to a file). There are two ways to resolve the problem:

  • Do not allow empty spaces in names of folders, directories and files. For example, working with a file from "c:\Documents and Settings" where there are two empty spaces in the directory name will surely crash the Heartsome editor or any other Java applications in use.
  • Ensure that you are using genuine copies, whether Microsoft Windows 2000 or Microsoft Office or both; and be sure as well that you have installed all their updates, patches and fixes which have been made available over the years.

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Are Heartsomes Translation Memories compatible with other CAT tools?

Heartsome's tools are wholly compliant with TMX 1.1, 1.2, 1.3 and 1.4 at Levels 1 and 2.
TMX files generated with Heartsome's tools have successfully been tested with Trados version 6.5.5, SDLX and Déjà Vu X.

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Can we assume that Heartsomes translation tools work with any XML DTD?

Yes, Heartsome's tools include XML catalogue management. Our tools and provide configuration options for converting, aligning and extracting terms from any XML document accompanied with a DTD.

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What is the translation memory technology of Heartsome?

The technology that underlines the foundation of Heartsome's Translation tools is known as "translation memory" (TM). It is a language technology that enables the translation of segments (paragraphs, sentences or phrases) of documents by searching for similar segments in a database and suggesting matches that are found in the database as possible translations. It may further suggest several translations for a paragraph, a sentence or a phrase.
The translation memory application, which implements a search logic designed by the developer of the tool, is supported by a set of file format converters. These converters analyse the source file in such a manner that another tool, the segmenter, can come in to break the file into segments.
The database module, which serves as the core of Heartsome's tools, is specially designed to support unlimited languages across all operating systems. It comes complete with a cross-lingual search engine that automatically searches the translation memory database for matching entries for each and every segment. The level of match varies from 100% matches to a low of 35%. This facility enables users to locate, retrieve and reuse translations done previously, whether done several years ago or just a few minutes back. Without this facility, users may end up translating the same text repeatedly. Apart from duplicating the effort, it is also very likely that the same text may be translated differently, thus affecting the consistency in the document.
Heartsome's database engine is fully compliant with the one and only industry standard for managing and exchanging translation memory - TMX (Translation Memory eXchange). It is entirely possible to export databases generated or maintained by Heartsome translation tools for use in any other translation tools that support TMX Standard V1.4 or higher.

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Improving speed of TMX imports?

Three factors are relevant when importing a TMX file into a database. They are:
1. Source language settings
2. Duplicated entries
3. Presence/absence of "tuid" attribute in all elements.

Source language settings
Every TMX file must declare a source language in its header. If the file can be used to translate from any language into any other language contained in the file, then the source language must be set to *all*.
Some CAT tools can only translate in one direction and thus they must indicate one of the languages present in the file as the "source language" and they usually restrict TMX files to having only two languages.
Importing a file that indicates that it can be only used to translate in one direction requires additional efforts for checking if there are legacy entries that need updates in the database and that procedure consumes time.
The following table shows the differences when storing a TMX file with 20,000 entries into a database:

Source Language
Database Engine
Time
FR-FR
MySQL 4.1.11
9 minutes
*all*
MySQL 4.1.11
3 minutes
FR-FR
PostgreSQL 8.0.3-1
13 minutes
*all*
PostgreSQL 8.0.3-1
4 minutes

Duplicated entries
If a file has many duplicated entries, it is better to remove them before storing in a database. When you use the Remove Duplicates feature of the TMX Editor, you work with a file stored in memory and the removal is fast. When you leave the task to be performed at import time, duplicates are checked against the data stored in the database and that procedure is noticeable slower. If you know that your file has many duplicates, remove them in advance.

Presence/absence of "tuid" attributes
When importing a file, translation units are processed one at a time.
Every element is extracted from the TMX file and the database is checked to see whether a record already exists with the same "tuid". If a record has the same "tuid" then the entry with that id is removed from the database and the new imported record is saved. This helps keep the database updated with the latest version of translated segments.
Please note: It is strongly recommended that the "tuid" attribute be unique for all imported TMX files. If you import a TMX file with the same "tuid" for segments as the "tuid" for segments already in your database then you risk loosing the data entered previously in your database.
The TMX Editor includes an option called "Generate New TU IDs" in Tasks menu that you can use to generate new clean IDs for all TUs in a TMX file at once.

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Reorganizing TMX files with 3 or more languages?

If you have a TMX document with 3 or more languages that looks like this:

EN
ES
FR
Good evening
Buenas noches

Good evening
Bonsoir
Good morning
Buen día
Good morning
Bon jour

you can reorder its translation units using Heartsome's TMX Editor and make them look like this:

EN
ES
FR
Good evening
Buenas noches
Bonsoir
Good evening
Buen día
Bon jour

The steps for performing the reorganization are:

  • Set the source language attribute to the language that all rows have in common (English or EN in the example). Use the option "Set Source Language" that is in Tasks menu.
  • Select the option "Reorganize File" in Tasks menu.

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Installation of Aspell spell checker on Windows?

Here is a short recipe for installing Aspell on Windows:

  • 1. Download Aspell and dictionaries for Windows from here.
  • 2. Install Aspell and the dictionaries in the default directories offered by the installers.
  • 3. Start XLIFF Editor.
  • 4. Select Aspell as default spell checker using the Default Spell Checker option in
    Options menu.
  • 5. Select Aspell Dictionaries in Options menu.
  • 6. Use the Browse button to locate "aspell.exe" and select it. The program is usually located in "C:\Program Files\Aspell\bin".
  • 7. Make sure that the Aspell Command text box is filled with
    "C:\Program Files\Aspell\bin\aspell.exe" and click on Refresh List button.
  • 8. Select a language from the left drop down box and the appropriate dictionary from the right drop down box.
  • 9. Click on the button with an arrow [->] that is between the two drop down boxes.
  • 10. Repeat steps 8 and 9 as necessary.
  • 11. Click on Save button.

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Installing and configuring Aspell on MacOS X?

Since, unlike Linux users, Mac users often have little experience with a command-line interface, below is a step-by-step approach to installing Aspell for use with the Heartsome suite.

  • 0. There is a thing called cocoAspell, which is an Aspell implementation for OS X. THIS IS NOT WHAT YOU WANT.
  • 1. Download Fink from https://fink.sourceforge.net/. Fink is a package which enables you to install Unix software on our Mac without getting your fingers dirty For step-by-step instructions using DarwinPorts instead of Fink to install and configure Aspell through the Mac OS X Terminal, see the following section.
  • 2. Once the disk image is mounted, double click on "Fink x.x.x Installer.pkg" to run the installation. You will need to type in a user password with Admin privileges once (and maybe twice).
  • 3. Once installation is finished, copy the "Fink Commander" folder from the disk image to your Applications folder. You need to do this because: (i) it won't work properly if run off a disk image; (ii) you may want to use it again to install more Open Source software in the future.
  • 4. In your Applications folder, open the Fink Commander folder and launch the Fink Commander application.
  • 5. When Fink Commander has finished launching and updating its database, you will see a window with a list of stuff in the top half and an empty bottom half. In the top half, click on the heading of the "Name" column to sort by name. Then scroll down until you see Aspell and friends (which are the language dictionaries: aspell-de, aspell-en, aspell-es, etc.). The column immediately to the right is called "Installed". If it is empty, that means the item has not been installed. If it contains a number or something, that means the particular item has been installed and the number is the version number. You will most likely see that neither "aspell" nor any of its language dictionaries are installed.
  • 6. First, double click on the "aspell" line and Fink Commander will connect to the Internet to download the necessary files. Again, you may be asked for password with Admin privileges.
  • 7. Once Aspell is succesfully installed, double click on one of the language dictionaries (for example, "aspell-en" and go through the same process as in point 6).
  • 8. When you have installed all the dictionaries you want, quit Fink Commander.
  • 9. Now you have tell Heartsome where Aspell is and how to use it. Switch to (or launch) XLFedit and pull down the Options menu; set Aspell as default engine in the Default Spell Checker option and then choose Aspell Dictionaries in the Options menu to display the configuration dialog.
  • 10. In the box called "Aspell Command", type "/sw/bin/aspell" (that's where Fink installed your Aspell package). You could also get this by clicking the "Browse" button and navigating down from the top of your hard disk (Macintosh HD or whatever you called it) through the "sw" folder to the "bin" folder and then choosing "aspell".
  • 11. Now, under "Default dictionary", pull down the menu and choose one of the installed language dictionaries. Then, on the left-hand side, under "Language", choose the language that dictionary corresponds to. Note that this must match the Language codes you work with in Heartsome. Then click the arrow between the two and you will find that pair of language and dictionary has been added to the window below. Continue this until you have added all the language dictionaries you wish to use. Click "Save" and you are ready to go.

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I get an error about Java not being installed, what does that mean?

All Heartsome's tools require Java 1.5 or better. You can download Java for free here.

The programs may complain saying that Java is not properly installed. If you are sure that you have Java, you can follow the instructions from the Java Tutorial to verify and correct its configuration.

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Can Oracle 9i be used with Heartsome tools?

Heartsome Translation Suite works OK with Oracle 9.2. One very important detail to keep in mind: Oracle 9.2 installs and uses Java 1.3.1 and Java 1.1.8. Those two versions of Java are incompatible with Heartsome's tools so you must adjust the PATH environment variable to make Java 1.4 or better the default JRE when using Heartsome's tools in the server machine.

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What document formats are supported by the XLIFF Translation Editor?

Heartsome's XLIFF Translation Editor supports these formats:

  • Adobe InDesign Interchange
  • HTML files
  • JavaScript
  • Java Properies
  • Microsoft Office 2007
  • MIF (Maker Interchange Format) - Western languages only
  • OpenOffice Documents (Versions 1.x and 2.0)
  • Plain Text
  • PO/POT files (Portable Objects)
  • RC (Windows C/C++ Resources)
  • ResX (Windows .NET Resources)
  • RTF (Rich Text Format)
  • Tagged RTF - Trados and Wordfast files
  • TTX Documents - Trados Tag Editor files
  • XML Documents - User configurable
  • Generic XML - Simple XML documents that don't require special configurations

Configuration files for the following XML formats are included with the editor:

  • Abiword
  • DITA (Darwin Information Typing Architecture)
  • DocBook (4.2 , 4.3 , 4.4 and 5.0)
  • DocTrans 3.x
  • Heartsome Help System
  • Microsoft Word 2003 XML
  • SVG (Scalar Vector Graphics)
  • XHTML (Strict, Transitional and Frameset)

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