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Sharing terminology database: best general file type?
Thread poster: fiomaravilha
fiomaravilha
fiomaravilha
Local time: 11:19
May 15, 2012

hi all,
I am building a terminology database for myself, but will want to share it with (and have it edited by) other translators using diverse technologies.

my question is what would be the best format to share the database file to make sure that all (or at least 90% of my contacts) can open it?

I am thinking that CSV or TBX would be enough to cover all the major CAT tools out there - but wanted to check with all the experts here: Is there a CAT tool that coul... See more
hi all,
I am building a terminology database for myself, but will want to share it with (and have it edited by) other translators using diverse technologies.

my question is what would be the best format to share the database file to make sure that all (or at least 90% of my contacts) can open it?

I am thinking that CSV or TBX would be enough to cover all the major CAT tools out there - but wanted to check with all the experts here: Is there a CAT tool that could not open/work with CSV or TBX?

I heard someone talking about .mdb files, but would like to stay away from Microsoft Access file type as much as possible.

thanks in advance! ▲ Collapse
 
Michael Beijer
Michael Beijer  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 19:19
Member (2009)
Dutch to English
+ ...
I suggest using: tab-delimited UTF-8 text files May 15, 2012

That way pretty much anyone can get at the data with a combination of Excel and a text editor. Just beware that Excel can mess up the (UTF-8) encoding of the files, so preferably only use it for sorting.
 
Selcuk Akyuz
Selcuk Akyuz  Identity Verified
Türkiye
Local time: 21:19
English to Turkish
+ ...
CSV May 15, 2012

IMO, a tab delimited CSV file will be the best option. Even Excel files can be used to store/share terminology. As for TBX files, afaik only Across and Swordfish provide a good support for these files. MultiTerm fails in most TBX files, DVX2, MemoQ and CafeTran do not support it.

Which program are you planning to create TBX files?
 
fiomaravilha
fiomaravilha
Local time: 11:19
TOPIC STARTER
thanks May 15, 2012

Selcuk Akyuz wrote:

IMO, a tab delimited CSV file will be the best option. Even Excel files can be used to store/share terminology. As for TBX files, afaik only Across and Swordfish provide a good support for these files. MultiTerm fails in most TBX files, DVX2, MemoQ and CafeTran do not support it.

Which program are you planning to create TBX files?



Thanks for the comments to both you and Michael.

Looks like CSV would be the best (as in "more widely accepted by CAT tools").

With regards to the TBX file, since it's a type of XML, I was going to ask a friend of mine that is an engineer to create a simple tool to generate it, following the TBX standard (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TBX#TBX)
 


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Sharing terminology database: best general file type?







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