| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | Can we speak and compare the features of the Cat Tools instead of the Cat Tools themselves Thread poster: philippe drevet
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| Try again, please | Nov 27, 2014 |
pro-lingua wrote:
First of all, it lacks clear project window, where you can select several TMs and glossaries.
If you run CafeTran (CT), you'll first see the Project Manager in which you can select a TM for Segments, and a TM for Phrases (a TM for the Project segments will be automatically added), and a list of Recent Resources for tab del glossaries and Internet resources, provided you added them to the Library. If you - like me - want to add more resources, you can add them via the Menu. I think it's pretty clear, but on the other hand, CT does lack an important feature: Templates for recurring jobs that add your resources with their settings.
Secondly, when you select a document to translate, it's painfully slow...
Nope. CT "remembers" where you usually save the documents you need to translate, and importing them in CT isn't particularly slow. In fact, this is the strangest criticism I've heard so far.
Thirdly, in the main view it lacks drag and drop feature, where you could set and adjust all the windows the way you would like it to.
CT features very likely the most customisable GUI of them all, see http://cafetran.wikidot.com/the-screen-elements
When you close your resources (for example Google Translate) there's no way to open them again (or I haven't found it yet).
The latter. MTs can be found in the Options, tab del glossaries surprisingly under Menu | Glossary, and Internet resources under Library.
Another problem is with pasting codes for Machine Translation - it simply doesn't work and you need to write the codes character by character.
There are a dozen or so (OK, five actually) ways to insert codes. Pick your choice: http://cafetran.wikidot.com/using-different-ways-for-tag-placement
There, unfortunately, seem to be dozens of such smaller or bigger glitches...
There are "glitches," though not so much in the app itself. The major glitch is the lack of a manual, I'd say. And did I mention "templates"?
Cheers,
Hans (CT fanboy / severest CT critic)
| | | | Wojciech_ (X)
Poland
Local time: 10:22
English to Polish
+ ...
I have tried the latest version of CT and all can confirm all the problems above.
When you have project window, you should be able to select as many TM as you wish instead of selecting one and then going to the menu to select more - it's against any logic.
I was talking about Machine Translation codes, not about TAGS. Inserting MT codes (e.g. for Google Translate or Microsoft) requires from the user to manually enter the code characters one by one - you can't paste them... See more I have tried the latest version of CT and all can confirm all the problems above.
When you have project window, you should be able to select as many TM as you wish instead of selecting one and then going to the menu to select more - it's against any logic.
I was talking about Machine Translation codes, not about TAGS. Inserting MT codes (e.g. for Google Translate or Microsoft) requires from the user to manually enter the code characters one by one - you can't paste them into the field.
Hans, I believe that for you - CafeTran enthusiast - navigating CT is a piece of cake, but if its author wants to convince more people to it, he must really work on the UI, because now it's messy (not for you, because you've known it for several years, I reckon) and everything there is hard to find and adjust.
I can't say that I'm computer illiterate - I quite swiftly navigate through various systems and environments, but I felt completely lost with the UI of CT, and as I said, I've given it several tries. You can ask yourself a question - if the software is as good as you say (and taking into consideration the functions it has, it MUST be good), then why is it still a niche product?
IMHO, the answer is simple - because it lacks logical UI and is so packed with features that people who actually give it a try, are at a complete loss how to use it and adjust to their need. It's not that people are stubborn and don't want to try the new software, but the software puts them off with its complexity and not always well thought out solutions. ▲ Collapse
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pro-lingua wrote:
IMHO, the answer is simple - because it lacks logical UI and is so packed with features that people who actually give it a try, are at a complete loss how to use it and adjust to their need. It's not that people are stubborn and don't want to try the new software, but the software puts them off with its complexity and not always well thought out solutions.
You did something here with a nail and a head.
CafeTran is a terrific CAT tool, possibly the best around, but it's not for beginners. Even nerds have problems with it as you demonstrated.
The MT "problem" wasn't a problem when I filled in the codes (which is why I mistook your remark), but I take it it's the way you said it is now. It's not a huge problem, though. A minor discomfort, I'd say.
Adding TMs is a point. It's perfectly easy if you know how to do it, and take into consideration that when you "add a resource" you don't add the resource to the Project, but to the Library/Glossary/Memory tab (where you'll have to select it to be able to it). It's not very intuitive, and if you - like me - use quite a few resources, and you make extensive use of the various very useful settings, it can be a worry. Worse, it is a worry, even if you are CT literate. Which is why asked for templates. Almost 4 years ago...
... so packed with features that people who actually give it a try, are at a complete loss how to use it and adjust to their need
Exactly. Which is why I object to new features (with the exception of templates, of course). Have a look here http://cafetran.wikidot.com/changelog and be amazed. The trouble is, that many features are useful but it's a full-time job to track them, longer to learn and use them. And at some time, they will render the app useless. Adding features can't go on forever unpunished. It's a miracle that hasn't happened yet. But then again, Igor is a genius.
But the main problem in my eyes is the lack of a philosophy. When I mention that, other CT users start laughing, but I'm dead-serious. You can use CT anyway you want, they say. That's great, but it's not exactly suitable for beginners, and worse, if you develop without a philosophy, you end up... adding features. The lack of a manual and the lack of a philosophy, combined with the idea that according to some you can't use CT without using automatisation, awk, regular expressions, source and target side synonyms, Perl, and what have you, makes CT unnecessarily difficult and unsuitable for beginners. And others.
They'll kill me for this at [email protected]
Cheers,
Hans (still a CT fanboy, though)
| | | | 2nl (X) 
Netherlands
Local time: 10:22
| Trying to help you | Nov 28, 2014 |
pro-lingua wrote:
When you have project window, you should be able to select as many TM as you wish
About how many TMX files are we speaking? In what kind of folder structure did you organise them?
I was talking about Machine Translation codes, not about TAGS. Inserting MT codes (e.g. for Google Translate or Microsoft) requires from the user to manually enter the code characters one by one - you can't paste them into the field.
Are you talking about the Google API key and the Microsoft Translator Client ID and Client Secret?
http://cafetran.wikidot.com/the-mt-services-tab
(sorry for the old image)
If so, do you mean that you cannot insert the license codes via the system's clipboard? What OS are you using and which Java version? Do you have any programs active that might hinder pasting into the input boxes on the MT Services tab?
he must really work on the UI, because now it's messy
I don't understand this at all. I'm really wondering if you are looking at the same slick, almost minimalistic GUI as the one that I'm using every day:
(I adapted this layout to my personal preferences. Nothing complicated.)
You can ask yourself a question - if the software is as good as you say (and taking into consideration the functions it has, it MUST be good), then why is it still a niche product?
How about 30 years of hard work of SDL's (formerly Trados's) marketing machine, with gigantic budgets? In contrast: Did you ever see a single advertisement for CafeTran?
If you have any further questions about CafeTran, please ask them in Proz's CafeTran forum or in CafeTran's Google Group.
I'm also offering you a remote session via TeamViewer, if you want me to demonstrate CafeTran on your computer.
[Edited at 2014-11-28 08:40 GMT]
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