CAT-Tools/MemoQ/FAQ

Operating systems

Does MemoQ run on Vista?

Yes, MemoQ 2.0 and later is a .NET based application and will run just fine under any Windows version provided that the .NET Framework 2.0 is installed.

Does MemoQ run on MacOS X?

Yes, you can safely run MemoQ (all versions) using the Parallels Desktop for Mac on all new Intel-based Macs. Note that you can also run it on a virtual machine (using VMWare, Virtual PC, Xen or any other virtualization solution) under almost any OS, as the activation feature doesn't require any dongle.

Does MemoQ run on GNU/Linux?

Not directly, but you can run it in a virtual machine.

I get an "access denied" message on Vista Home, what do I need to do?

While MemoQ works fine with all versions of Windows Vista, there is a known installer issue under Vista Home. If you receive an "access denied" type of error message when registering or creating a translation memory or a term base, follow the steps below.

First, make hidden and protected files visible:

1. Log on to Windows as an administrator.
2. Open Control Panel.
3. Switch to Classic view (click the link at the top left).
4. Double-click the Folder Options icon, then, on the Folder Options dialog box, click the View tab.
5. Find and click (select) the "Show hidden files and folders" radio button. Do not click OK or Apply.
6. Find and clear (unselect) the "Hide protected operating system files" check box. When Windows asks for confirmation, click Yes.
7. Click OK.

Second, set appropriate permissions for the MemoQ folder under All Users:

1. Click the Start button, then, in the Start menu, click Computer.
2. Double-click Drive C.
3. Double-click the Users, and then the All Users folder.
4. Right-click the MemoQ folder, then choose Properties from the shortcut menu.
5. In the MemoQ Properties dialog box, click the Security folder.
6. Under the Group or user names list (towards the middle of the dialog box), click Edit.
7. When Windows asks for confirmation, click Continue. (It does not ask on every configuration.)
8. In the Permissions for MemoQ dialog box, on the Group or user names list, click the Users item.
9. In the Permissions for Users list (at the bottom of the dialog box), under Allow, select the first check box (next to Full Control).
10. Click Apply, then OK.
11. In the MemoQ Properties dialog box, click OK.
12. Close the folder window.

Now you can start MemoQ and check if the problem has been resolved.

File formats

Is MemoQ capable of translating documents of format X?

Probably, if the file format is XML based. You need to create an XML format configuration for the file format, and use this configuration to import any document of the same type. This involves getting familiar with the basics of XML: elements, tags, attributes, etc.

MemoQ does not import my PowerPoint presentation

Most of the time, this happens when PowerPoint 2007 is installed. Actually, this problem is not file format related: the same PPT file would probably import if PowerPoint 2003 or 2000 was installed on the same machine instead of the 2007 version. The reason is that MemoQ needs to interoperate with PowerPoint when importing the document, and the methods of this interoperation have changed significantly with PowerPoint 2007. Since MemoQ 3.5, PowerPoint 2007 is supported through the XML based PPTX format. PPTX is directly supported by MemoQ, not requiring Microsoft Office to be installed. If your machine has PowerPoint 2007 installed, and you receive a PPT file for translation, you can save the file as PPTX in PowerPoint, or have MemoQ process it as PPTX after clicking "Add document as".

If review mode is activated in a PPT file, MemoQ won't import it

• Open the file in PowerPoint
• Change anything in the file - to make the change invisible you should add a space somewhere
• Save the file in PowerPoint, and when the review dialog appears, click No
• Import the file in MemoQ

Does MemoQ handle the new Word 2007 docx format?

Full support isn't official yet, but you can safely rename your docx document into .zip, as you will notice, the actual content is stored into XML files: the DOCX format is very close to the now standard ODF (Open Document Format), and MemoQ does support XML files.

I've been sent a TTX file (TagEditor), will I be able to translate it using MemoQ?

If you want to work with file formats supported by SDL Trados but not supported by MemoQ, you can do that through TagEditor's native format, TTX. However, to enable SDL Trados to export the file back to the original format you have to pre-segment the file and work on an already segmented TTX file.

To pre-segment the file you need to do the following:

• Open SDL Trados Translator's Workbench
• Create an empty translation memory by choosing File/New. Click Create, and give a name to the translation memory
• Click Tools/Translate
• In the Translate Files dialog box, enable the Segment unknown sentences check box
• Add the files you want to segment by clicking Add...
• Click Translate

Now import the pre-segmented TTX files into MemoQ, and you can start working.

Note: MemoQ 2.1 and later have full TTX support, but there is a workaround method to work on TTX files using MemoQ 2.0. For more info, see the Working with TTX files using MemoQ 2.0 - alternate workflow in the Tips and Tricks chapter.

My Trados-compatible bilingual DOC/RTF document does not import

A likely cause is that the document contains footnotes, which are currently not supported by MemoQ for bilingual DOC/RTF. A possible workaround is to temporarily remove footnotes, footnote markers, and the surrounding subsegment markers (purple markers like {1> and <1} inside segments) from the document before importing to MemoQ. Make sure you remove these items from both the (hidden) source segments and the target segments. This way, footnotes can be translated separately, and restored at the original location after the translated document has been exported by MemoQ.

You can quickly find the footnotes by opening the document in Microsoft Word, starting a search, and typing ^f in the Find what box. This will take you to the next footnote mark. If you delete the mark on both sides, the footnote itself will be deleted as well.

Markus Henseler also created a Word macro that may help you get around this issue. The macro works by pre-processing documents to make them suitable for importing into MemoQ and restoring their original format after translation. The macro can be found in the Files section of the Yahoo! Groups mailing list for MemoQ:

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/MemoQ/files/

External cross-references in MIF files do not work after export

When translation is complete, the cross-references to external files need to be updated in FrameMaker. Do the following:

• When you have exported your translated .MIF files, save all of them as .FM files in FrameMaker. Be sure to use the original filenames used when the FM files were created, because cross-references are based on the filenames, and FrameMaker will not find the referenced files if their filenames have been changed.
• Open all of these FM files in FrameMaker.
• After this, in the Edit menu, click Update references. Check the All cross references checkbox. Click the Update button.

Note: For this cross-reference update to work, the translated FM files have to be in the same positions (relative to each other) as before translation. E.g. if all of the files were in the c:\work\source directory originally, you can put them in the c:\work\translation directory. But if some of them originally resided in a sufolder, like the c:\work\source\other directory, put their translated versions in the c:\work\translation\other directory.

Installation issues

I get an error installing MemoQ 2.0 over MemoQ 1.0

The error is: Exception occurred while initializing the installation: System. BadImage Format Exception: The Format of the File 'MemoQLiteSetup.CustomInstaller.dll' is invalid.”

This is because of a conflict between the different versions of the .NET Framework. The procedure below is guaranteed to work:

1. Uninstall MemoQ 1.0 manually (under Control Panel / Add/Remove Programs)
2. Install the .NET Framework 2.0 (run dotnetfx.exe included in the ZIP file of the MemoQ 2.0 installer)
3. Install MemoQ 2.0 (run setup.exe)

Can I use MemoQ on multiple computers?

Yes. See Using MemoQ on a different computer in the Activation chapter.

How can I change my serial number if I typed the wrong one?

See Changing the serial number in the Activation chapter.

How can I manually remove MemoQ from my computer?

Note: This information applies to MemoQ version 2.3 and the Windows Vista operating system.

If the installation fails when you try upgrading or updating your copy of MemoQ, or uninstallation fails when you attempt to remove MemoQ from your computer, you can remove MemoQ manually by following the steps below:

Important: This procedure will not harm your data (projects, documents, translation memories, term bases or settings). Your activation data (licenses) will also remain intact.

1. Log on to your computer as an administrator.
2. Open the Start menu (click the Start button), then type C:\Program Files\Kilgray in the search box at the bottom of the menu, then press Enter. Windows will display the folder where the Kilgray applications are installed. In this folder window, you should see a MemoQ folder icon.
3. To delete the MemoQ folder, click the MemoQ folder icon, then press the Shift+Delete key shortcut.
4. In most cases, Windows Vista will display the User Account Control (UAC) dialog box. You need to confirm that you are indeed an administrator, and that you really want to remove the folder. You will need to click Yes, then Continue to delete the folder.
5. Once the folder is deleted, you need to remove the MemoQ-related entries from the Windows registry (the database where all configuration data are stored). Click the Start button to open the Start menu, then, in the search box at the bottom, type ’regedit’, then press Enter.
6. Before starting the program, Windows displays the User Account Control dialog box again. Here, you need to click Continue to confirm that you want to start the program. Then the Registry Editor program will start.
7. Press the Home key to move to the top of the list of registry keys. Double-click the following key names to get to MemoQ’s configuration: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, SOFTWARE. When you click a key name, a new list of keys will appear below it. If a list of keys are already there, you do not need to double-click the key name.
8. You should now see a list of keys with the name ’Kilgray’ included. If you do not see the ’Kilgray’ name, scroll down to make it visible. Click the ’Kilgray’ key name, then press the Delete key to delete it.
9. Then, you need to go to the following key (double-click each name as they appear): HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, SOFTWARE, Microsoft, Windows, CurrentVersion, Uninstall. Below the ’Uninstall’ key name, a list of numbers in curly brackets should appear.
10. Press the Ctrl+F key shortcut to search for a word in the registry. The Find dialog box appears. In the Find what box, type ’MemoQ’. Make sure that the Keys, Values and the Data check boxes are all turned on.
11. Click Find Next button to perform the search. When ready, the Registry Editor displays a list of data with ’DisplayName: MemoQ’ included.
12. Press the Tab key to highlight the name of the key where this list of data appeared. Press the Delete key to delete it.
13. MemoQ is now removed from your computer. When you open Control Panel, and go to Programs and Features, it should no longer be listed. Now you should be able to install a new version or new copy of MemoQ.

I get error 2869 when I attempt installing MemoQ on Windows Vista

Note: This information applies to MemoQ version 2.3 and Windows Vista (Home Editions)

1. Log on to your computer as an administrator.
2. Download the MemoQ installation package and save it to a folder of your choice. The default folder for downloading programs is Public Downloads (C:\Users\Public\Downloads). Further on, we will assume that you download the MemoQ installation package into this folder.
3. Unzip the MemoQ installation package (right-click the icon of the zip file, then choose Extract all) using the default settings (click Next or Finish in every wizard page).
4. Click the Start button, then All Programs, then Accessories. Under Accessories, find the Command Prompt item. Right-click Command Prompt, then choose Run as administrator from the pop-up menu.
5. The User Account Control dialog box appears. Click Continue to open the command prompt.
6. In the command prompt window, type cd \Users\Public\Downloads\MemoQSetup.2.3.nn where nn is the last number of the version number of MemoQ; then press Enter. If you have downloaded the setup package as MemoQSetup.2.3.zip, you do not have to type this number.
7. Again, in the command prompt window, type msiexec /i "MemoQSetup.msi", then press Enter. The MemoQ setup program starts. Use the wizard to install MemoQ with the normal procedure.
8. The installation might still fail with Error 2869. In that case, type msiexec /a "MemoQSetup.msi", then press Enter. The MemoQ Setup program starts again, and performs a normal installation, reporting that a network package has been created.
9. MemoQ is installed now, but the necessary permissions are not set on the computer. Follow the procedure under I get an "access denied" message on Vista Home, what do I need to do? to set these permissions.

IMPORTANT: This information does not apply to version 3.0 and up because these versions have a new setup program that solves the above problems.

When re-starting the computer, the MemoQ Server does not start

Sometimes you get an error message when restarting the computer that hosts a MemoQ Server. The cause of the problem is that SQL Server takes more time to start up than the MemoQ Server, and the MemoQ Server does not wait for it – instead, it reports an error and stops.

It is an annoyance to have to start MemoQ Server manually every time, so here is a workaround:

1. Start the Services console: the easiest way is to go to Start -> Run, then type "services.msc", then press Enter. In Vista, you simply open the Start menu, and type "services.msc" in the search bar at the bottom.
2. The Services console appears. In the list, find the service called "MemoQ server service". Right-click the service name, then choose Properties. (BTW if you left-click the service name, and then click the Play button at the top of the window (in the toolbar), that will start the service right away.)
3. In the MemoQ Server service Properties dialog box, click the Recovery tab (the third from the left). Then, set the First failure, Second failure, and Subsequent failures drop-down lists to Restart the Service. Then click OK.

Compatibility with other software

Interoperability

Kilgray is committed to open standards and interoperability. MemoQ does not entail the use of any proprietary files specific to the tool, and memoQ can work with many file formats standard to the translation industry and common office software tools. With memoQ, it does not matter what translation environments or CAT software clients or collaborators use, one can exchange databases and files, take jobs to be treated or delivered in another tool, and share work with translators using other tools.

Microsoft Office 2007 and Office versions below 2000

To understand some of the potential issues with Office 2007, one must understand how MemoQ interoperates with Office. When working with Office formats (importing documents) or using the Office spell-checker, MemoQ delegates some tasks to the Office applications. When an Office document is imported into MemoQ, MemoQ launches a hidden instance of Word, PowerPoint or Excel to support the import process. Similarly, using the Office spell-checker inside MemoQ launches a hidden instance of Word. Because of this, the version of Office installed on the MemoQ user's computer is just as important as the version of the Office document. The section below describes compatibility with versions of Office installed on the user's computer (as opposed to the version of the Office document to be imported).

Versions of Office earlier than Office 2000 SR2 are not supported. Office 2007 is partially supported: there are some compatibility issues with Word 2007 (see below). PowerPoint 2007 is not supported. There are no known issues with Excel 2007.

Description

With Word 2007, a new template format was introduced. The new template type is called a macro-enabled template and has the .dotm file extension. Some applications like SDL Trados install macro-enabled templates into the Office Startup directory, causing the templates to load every time Word is launched. The issue with these new templates is that when a second instance of Word is started, the templates cause file access problems. Normally, this only means that a dialog is displayed to the user, who needs to accept that Word will open the template as read-only. However, if the Word instance runs hidden (as in the case when a Word document is imported into MemoQ or the office spell-cheker is used in MemoQ), this dialog can remain hidden as well, preventing MemoQ from finishing. Recent versions of MemoQ (3.0.31 or later) deal with this by making the hidden Word window temporarily visible. This way, the user can let the import process finish by switching to the Word window and accepting that the template will be opened as read-only. On the other hand, this may not always work correctly for spell-checking: MemoQ currently might have issues starting Office 2007 for spell-checking if an active macro-enabled template is in the Startup folder of Word (that is, automatically started with Word). This does not affect the new alternate spell-checker of MemoQ 3.0: the new Hunspell spell-checker works independent of Office. If you are having problems with the Office spell-checker, switching to the alternate spell-checker is recommended. See the MemoQ help for more information.

Resolution

A possible workaround for any such template-related problem or annoyance is to delete the templates from the Word Startup folder, and load them only when they are actually needed. By default, the Startup folder resides at one of the following locations:

Windows Vista :

     c:\Users\[your username]\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Word\STARTUP

Microsoft Windows Server 2003 or Microsoft Windows XP:

     c:\Documents and Settings\[your username]\Application Data\Microsoft\Word\STARTUP

If the location of the Startup folder has changed, you can find it by doing the following:

1. Click the Microsoft Office Button, and then click Word Options.
2. Click Advanced.
3. Under General, click File Locations. The path to the Startup folder is displayed in the list. (If the path is too long and thus only partially displayed, select the Startup item and click Modify. In the dialog that appears, the Startup folder will be highlighted in the Folders list. Right-click the folder, and click Properties. The full path will be displayed. Note the path and Click Cancel to exit the dialog.)

To stop the templates from automatically loading with Word, locate the template files (files with .dotm extension) inside the Startup folder, and move them to another folder. After this, MemoQ should have no problems interoperating with Word 2007. If you need the templates to automatically load again, move them back into the Startup folder.

To load the templates manually when you need them, do the following:

1. In Word, click the Office button.
2. Click the Word Options button.
3. Choose the Add-Ins category.
4. In the Manage list at the bottom of the window, choose Word add-ins. Click the Go button.
5. If the template you need is not on the list of loaded items, click the Add button. Locate the template file and click OK (or in Vista, Open). Now your template is loaded and ready to use. Click OK.

Virtual desktop software

When using virtual desktop software like VirtuaWin, desktop switching can cause dialogs of MemoQ to close without warning. Fortunately, there is a workaround for recent versions of VirtuaWin.

1. Open the file tricky.cfg contained in the VirtuaWin settings folder: [user profile]\Application Data\VirtuaWin.
2. Add this line: cr:WindowsForms10.*
3. Restart VirtuaWin.

This will cause VirtuaWin to handle MemoQ dialogs differently, avoiding the problem of abruptly closed dialogs. It is not yet known whether similar fixes are possible for other virtual desktop managers like Microsoft Virtual Desktop Manager.

Miscellaneous

Can I spell-check my translations in MemoQ?

Yes. MemoQ uses the spell checker of Microsoft Office for this in the background. If you are using a language version of Microsoft Office 2000 that does not provide built-in support for the language you are translating into, you can simply copy the required files and Office will support that language as well. However, this is not enough when you try to use MemoQ spell checking. Because Microsoft Office does not automatically install some elements, you need the original installation CD to proceed.

This is not an issue with Microsoft Office 2003 or newer.

Central/Eastern European characters get corrupted

Some users have experienced the following issue. When they confirm a translated segment, some of the Central/Eastern European diacritical characters get corrupt. For example, in Czech "ř" changes to "ø", "č" changes to "è". This happens on computers that ever had an early version of Trados installed (any version before 6.5). Uninstalling or updating Trados does not solve the problem. Trados used to have a problem with displaying special characters of Central/Eastern European languages. For a long time, Trados did not issue a fix for this problem, but advised their users to work around it by changing a setting in the registry. This made the problem go away in Trados, but it is still causing problems in other applications like MemoQ. The solution is to change this registry setting back to the original value.

1. From the Start menu, select Run.

2. Type in "regedit" (as shown, without the quotes). The Registry Editor opens.

3. Locate the following key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Nls\CodePage

4. In this key, highlight the string 1252 (on the right-hand side in the registry editor).

5. Right-click on the string, and select Modify.

6. In the Edit String dialog, check Value Data. If it is set to anything other than c_1252.nls, change it to c_1252.nls. This is the original Windows setting before the Trados workaround.

7. Click OK to accept the change, and exit the Registry Editor.

8. Restart the system.

Can I make spaces and other special characters visible?

Yes, this is possible by using a special font for editing your translations in MemoQ. For details, see Showing spaces and other special characters in the Tips and Tricks chapter.

Can I reorder or omit tags (codes) in my translation?

No, that is not possible. The way {tags} work in MemoQ is, they stand for something that constitutes the structure of the original document (the "skeleton"). Without that skeleton, there is simply no way MemoQ can restore a correct document at export. Not copying tags and allowing export would simply result in a file with DOC extension (for Word DOC's) that can do one thing: crash Word when you open them...

However, Word documents will sometimes show tags that clearly do not stand for anything sensible (especially if the DOC was created from a PDF file). Such tags are also called rogue codes. For some ideas on how to get rid of them, see Getting rid of codes in Word documents in the Tips and Tricks chapter.