| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Having fun with SDL Trados - or not. Thread poster: James Hodges
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Currently buried in work and seriously considering using TRADOS. As such, I downloaded the trial but am getting no joy. In addition to sometimes blue-screening my PC (a critical error), every time I try and load a file (either my own or one in the sample document pack), I get the message "Unexpected dictionary file format. First line should contain word count. Dictionary file:"
This is not good, because I don't have time to muck around? Any ideas?
PS. My PC is b... See more Currently buried in work and seriously considering using TRADOS. As such, I downloaded the trial but am getting no joy. In addition to sometimes blue-screening my PC (a critical error), every time I try and load a file (either my own or one in the sample document pack), I get the message "Unexpected dictionary file format. First line should contain word count. Dictionary file:"
This is not good, because I don't have time to muck around? Any ideas?
PS. My PC is brand new, almost straight out of the box. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Post removed: This post was hidden by a moderator or staff member for the following reason: Discussing software downloaded not from official website is not allowed in this forum | David Wright 
Austria
Local time: 15:45
German to English
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| Have you seen the number of problems people report about Trados? | Apr 8, 2013 |
The mass of queries that monopolise this forum has convinced me that it probably isn't worth the effort and the money unless you're a) young b) a techy freak and c) can afford to spend a lot of time on sorting out problems. Ask around - there seem to be cheaper and more successful ptroducts available.
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David Wright wrote the following header: Have you seen the number of problems people report about Trados?
I agree that there are other, cheaper, and better products available, but judging the most unused CAT tool on the number of queries isn't fair. Trados is by far the most sold tool, a large number of translators buy it because they are not aware of the alternatives, and probably those same people are less tech-savvy, so it's no wonder most questions and problem reports are about Trados.
Cheers,
Hans
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Erik Freitag
Germany
Local time: 15:45
Member (2006)
Dutch to German
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| Not a good time to start using it | Apr 8, 2013 |
James Hodges wrote:
Currently buried in work and seriously considering using TRADOS. As such, I downloaded the trial but am getting no joy. In addition to sometimes blue-screening my PC (a critical error), every time I try and load a file (either my own or one in the sample document pack), I get the message "Unexpected dictionary file format. First line should contain word count. Dictionary file:"
This is not good, because I don't have time to muck around? Any ideas?
PS. My PC is brand new, almost straight out of the box.
Starting to use a CAT tool and especially Trados Studio while being buried in work is about the worst thing you can do. This is something you want to do when you have nothing else to do. You should plan in a considerable amount of time before the software will actually begin to help you in any meaningful way. I'm not talking about one or two hours here.
[Bearbeitet am 2013-04-08 09:59 GMT]
| | | | | Maybe this could help? | Apr 8, 2013 |
James Hodges wrote:
...I get the message "Unexpected dictionary file format. First line should contain word count. Dictionary file:"
Could this post be helpful?
| | | | James Hodges
Japan
Local time: 22:45
Japanese to English
TOPIC STARTER | Perhaps I didn't explain my point well enough | Apr 8, 2013 |
efreitag wrote:
Starting to use a CAT tool and especially Trados Studio while being buried in work is about the worst thing you can do. This is something you want to do when you have nothing else to do. You should plan in a considerable amount of time before the software will actually begin to help you in any meaningful way. I'm not talking about one or two hours here.
[Bearbeitet am 2013-04-08 09:59 GMT]
I didn't say I was dumb enough to try and use Trados while working. Rather my issue is that I have a 30 day free trial to try and work out the basics of Trados in the evening. However, if the program won't play ball from the outset then I am literally up the creek without a paddle. One or two hours or one or two weeks isn't going to make a difference if the program isn't going to start up and function normally.
| | | | | It was difficult at first | Apr 8, 2013 |
but then it became easier and easier. The question is to get your head around their logic. I'm not particularly a techie and want something that is straightforward but once I figured out what they call things it has been, by far the most helpful tool I could buy. What really helped was watching the videos. there are several on the SDL facebook page that have been particularly helpful. I really couldn't live without it now.
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NataliaAnne
Brazil
Local time: 10:45
Portuguese to English
| Do you really want to use SDL Trados? | Apr 8, 2013 |
The topic of CAT tools is very touchy with everyone seeming to have strong opinions about it (myself included! lol) but, I have to ask, what has led to your decision? There are so many different CAT tools around that, frankly, if you’re already annoyed with this one, why not go with another?
| | | | Erik Freitag
Germany
Local time: 15:45
Member (2006)
Dutch to German
+ ...
James Hodges wrote:
In addition to sometimes blue-screening my PC (a critical error), every time I try and load a file (either my own or one in the sample document pack), I get the message "Unexpected dictionary file format. First line should contain word count. Dictionary file:"
Some thoughts in order to find a solution:
1. I haven't had a bluescreen in years. Which OS are you using? Are you sure you didn't accidently download the software from an illegitimate source?
2. Did you read the getting started docs?
3. What exactly(!) are you doing when you "try and load a file"?
| | | | | Just in case anyone digs this old post up! | Mar 24, 2015 |
James Hodges wrote:
I get the message "Unexpected dictionary file format. First line should contain word count. Dictionary file:"
This is most likely because a manual exercise has been employed to add more words to the custom dictionary in Studio. This is very simple in a text editor. So the custom.dic looks like this:
4
abnormal
bacteriotherapy
calciferol
debridement
The number four, in this case, refers to the number of entries following. So if you copy and paste a complete dictionary from somewhere else into the custom.dic file with a text editor you need to make sure you count how many there are and write the number at the top. If there was 3786 words then write 3786, if there were 11671 words then write 11671 etc.
Regards
Paul
SDL Community Support
| | | | | Amazingly, it works! | Oct 6, 2015 |
Thanks, Paul!
Sandra
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ghislandi
Local time: 14:45
English to Italian
| John M Voss
Germany
Local time: 15:45
Member (2013)
French to English
+ ...
| Unexpected Dictionary File Format etc. | Oct 9, 2016 |
Arguably all the colleagues who report this problem already have TRADOS, or their customers do, and we cannot do anything about it. So how to solve this? Go into the TM by hand and enter the missing number on top after having hand-counted all the entries? How do I even access a TM manually? In this particular case I think the TM sits with my customer since it doesn't figure in my list of TM's
[Edited at 2016-10-09 08:11 GMT]
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 14:45
Member (2008)
Italian to English
| Never happens | Oct 9, 2016 |
Erik Freitag wrote:
.....This is something you want to do when you have nothing else to do...
... which never happens.
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