Attending the ATA conference was an excellent opportunity to keep up with the latest innovations with regard to CAT-tools. This time we are presenting Xbench to you, and for once, something free can go hand in hand with effectiveness. Developed by the Spanish translation company ApSIC, Xbench takes the form of a terminology and quality insurance software and here are its main features. Created by translators for translators, the concern was to facilitate the possible integration of this software within the practices of everyone. In order to do this, all of the options benefit from an elevated configurability level in order to meet all needs.
The supported formats are as thorough as any other software, whether it is a translation memory or a terminology. However, the difficulty for any terminology is its ease of use. Therefore Xbench devised the possibility of associating one or several terminology bases with every project to which a hierarchy can be attributed, which allows preferring the term from one glossary to another based on the context. From that point on there is no more need to have to choose between different terminologies: based on your parameters, Xbench does it by itself. A search bar directly linked to your Internet navigator once again completes the pursuit for the proper translation. For those working directly in Word, you should know that a short cut is planned for gathering the terminology associated with the project.
Other than the terminology section, Xbench is equipped with a very good Quality Assurance (QA) tool which seems remarkable at several levels. First of all, it deals with the problem of adopting the checking rules to your needs: non-translated segments, approximations between the source and target language, numerical inconsistencies, double spaces, etc. The possibility is even given after downloading the plugin onto the Xbench site of the language in question, to take advantage of the examiner’s orthography service. The possibility of editing the QA reports in html, XML or Excel ensures compatibility of information sharing, which is essential for a project manager. The latter’s work therefore being made easier by the possibility of inserting instructions directly into the Xbench project for the translators. Let us also add that it is possible to change terminology bases from the Xbench interface. If necessary, the file will be opened directly in the glossary where the term to be changed is located.
Xbench therefore needs not envy its rivals. By attempting to meet the translators’ concerns, AsPIC was able to convince us of its usefulness, which reveals itself to be essential for performing the job as a translator.
A free trial version is available by clicking here if you want to find out more.
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