In my previous blog article I wrote about opening XLZ files in MemoQ. To benefit from MemoQ’s feature to translate XLZ files we need to have a TM too. Creating a TM in MemoQ is not that difficult but using the legacy TM from Idiom Worldserver Desktop Workbench is. MemoQ offers an option to import a translation memory in TMX or CSV format, but Idiom Worldserver Desktop Workbench not even offers an option to export Idiom TM’s.
So, to make use of the TM your client provides or to use the translations you collected in all the years you use Idiom Worldserver Desktop Workbench, you need to have a workaround which allows you to use all translated segments in another CAT tool. You need to export Idiom TM. That’s what I will explain below.

Things to note before you begin:

• The procedure to export Idiom TM’s can be time consuming and complex. To export the translations you should have above average computer experience (and perseverance too)
• For this workflow you need to have software to open Microsoft Access Database files (MDB), Microsoft Excel spreadsheets (XLSX) and Notepad files (TXT)
• The language of my operating system is in Dutch. Actual button and system texts in other languages may differ

Export Idiom TM: the process

1. Make a backup
2. Converting the Idiom WSTM file to MDB
3. Accessing the TM content in Access
4. Making the Idiom TM content useful in Excel
5. Exporting the source and targets from the TM
6. Creating a CSV file
7. Importing the Idiom TM content in MemoQ

Export Idiom TM: the real thing

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[accordion_item title=’1. Make a backup’]You’ll never know what can happen during the process. Therefore I highly recommend you not to use the original WSTM file with the translation memory. Instead copy your WSTM file to a new location (your desktop for instance) and use the copy for this procedure.
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[accordion_item title=’2. Converting the Idiom WSTM file to MDB’]The WSTM file in Idiom Worldserver Desktop Workbench is nothing else than a Microsoft Access Database file with a different extension. You can simply open the WSTM file in Microsoft Access by changing the file extension.
You can do that as follows: in Microsoft Explorer, in the ribbon click on ‘View’ and select ‘File Extensions’. You will now see the file extension of the TM. Select the TM file, hit ‘F2’ at your keyboard and change ‘wstm’ behind the file name into ‘mdb’. Your file is now ready to be opened in Microsoft Access.

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Now the TM is ‘converted’ to a Microsoft Access Database double-click on the file to actually open it in Access. You will see a view with tables now. One of the tables (generally the sixth) is called ‘Sentences’. Double-click this table. You will now see a window in which the content of the table is listed. The first column is called ‘ID’ while the fourth column is called ‘Sentence’. Note that the column ‘ID’ contains two copies per ID: the first ID contains the source text while the second ID contains the target. So in the column ‘Sentence’ you will see:

• Target
• Source
• Target
• Source
• … (and so on)

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[accordion_item title=’4. Making the Idiom TM content useful in Excel’]You can now copy the content to Microsoft Excel. To do that hover with your mouse over the column title ‘Sentence’. You will now see the cursor changing into a black arrow pointing down. When you click on the column title now, the whole column, including the title, will be highlighted.
Hit ‘Ctrl + C’ to copy the content, open Microsoft Excel, select cell A1 and hit ‘Ctrl + V’ to paste the copied content. You will now see in Excel:

• Target
• Source
• Target
• Source
• … (and so on)

Now you need to get the source text and the translation divided. Selecting every odd and even row will be a difficult task. So let’s use a formula for that.
In column B1 add the text ‘Filter’. You now have a title for that column too.
In column B2 add the formula ‘=MOD(ROW(A2);2)’. Copy this formula into each cell in column B where column A has content to. The formula will check if the cell is Odd or Even. For each Even row it will add a ‘0’, for each Odd row it will add a ‘1’.
NOTE: the use of formulas in Microsoft Excel is localized. I found a helpful overview of translated formulas here.[/accordion_item]
[accordion_item title=’5. Exporting the source and targets from the TM’]Now add a filter to column B. Select cell B1 and go to ‘Home’ > ‘Sort and filter’.
Filter the content on the source text by clicking on the arrow in cell B1 and selecting the 0. When you apply the filter you will see only the source text. Select the content from cell A2 until the last cell in the column A and copy it. Open an Notepad file and paste the content in it. Save the file as ‘Source.txt’.
Repeat this step for the target text. In cell B1 filter on ‘1’. After applying the filter you will see the target text. Select the content in the column A and copy and paste it to a new Notepad file. Save the file as ‘Target.txt’.

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[accordion_item title=’6. Creating a CSV file’]Now you have three files: the Excel document with the content of the Microsoft Access Database, a Notepad file called ‘Source.txt’ and a Notepad file called ‘Target.txt’.
For this step we only need the Notepad files.

1. Create a new Excel document.
2. In column A paste the content of the file ‘Source.txt’.
3. In column C paste the content of the file ‘Target.txt’.
4. In column B add a semi-colon (;) to each cell.

Finally we need to combine the content from the three columns into one column.
Therefore in Cell D2 we add the formula ‘=CONCATENATE(A1;B1;C1)’. You now see the text of the three columns combined into one column. Copy the formula to all cells in column D.
Then select the content of column D and copy and paste it to a new Notepad file. You need to do it because otherwise you will copy the formulas without the actual text.
Past the text in the Notepad file, copy it again and now paste it into a new Excel spreadsheet.
Save the Excel spreadsheet as TM_export.csv. Your CSV file is ready now.
NOTE: You can also chose to save the pasted content in Notepad as TM_export.csv. That’s a bit faster.

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[accordion_item title=’7. Importing the Idiom TM content in MemoQ’]Now you can import the exported segments into your MemoQ TM. In MemoQ go to ‘Translation memories’ and select the TM you want to import the files to.
In the bottom of the windows select ‘Import from TMX/CSV’. A window will be opened in which you can browse to the file. Select the file and hit ‘Open’. You will now see a window called ‘Translation Memory CSV Import settings’.
Choose ‘Semicolon’ for ‘Delimiter’. Under ‘Fields’ select field F0 and select the radio button ‘Import as source segment’. Select field F1 and select the radio button ‘Import as target segment’. Click the OK button. Everything will be imported now.

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That’s how it works. Enjoy and feel free to leave any comments below!