Wordcount difference XTM / XTM exported xliffs / source Excel files (in Trados Studio 2015)
Thread poster: Jitka Komarkova (Mgr.)
Jitka Komarkova (Mgr.)
Jitka Komarkova (Mgr.)  Identity Verified
Czech Republic
Local time: 22:08
English to Czech
+ ...
Dec 7, 2016

Dear all,
I would like to ask you whether you have a similar experience with wordcount difference and/or whether you know the reason of the issue below.
A client of mine (not assigning jobs frequently, maybe once or twice, a bit difficult communication sometimes but paying, probably can be considered to be a good client) wants to assign me a job using XTM. The client's analysis contains some 34,500 words (some 24,000 internal repeats, some 3,200 internal fuzzy matches and some 7,300
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Dear all,
I would like to ask you whether you have a similar experience with wordcount difference and/or whether you know the reason of the issue below.
A client of mine (not assigning jobs frequently, maybe once or twice, a bit difficult communication sometimes but paying, probably can be considered to be a good client) wants to assign me a job using XTM. The client's analysis contains some 34,500 words (some 24,000 internal repeats, some 3,200 internal fuzzy matches and some 7,300 no matches). The TM seems empty, concordance returns no results at all (not even for "the"
To check whether the analysis sent is correct, I downloaded XTM files as xliffs and analysed them using Trados Studio 2015 (no TM added), getting the total of some 35,000 words, of which 9,100 shows as repetitions.
As it seemed strange to me, I asked the client to send the source files (Excel), which they did. I removed all items which are not supposed to be translated, analysed them in Trados Studio 2015 and got 34,600 words (6300 repetitions only, 9800 internal fuzzies, and 18,500 no matches).
The client says their calculation is correct and would - OF COURSE - appreciate me accepting the job. But I think that the Trados Studio 2015 analysis made on the source Excel files should be reliable...
So my question is whether you could tell me what the „technical“ reason for this could be and what would you do if you were in my shoes.
Many thanks for your insights!
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XTM Intl
XTM Intl
United Kingdom
Local time: 21:08
Possibly the cause are cross file repetitions Dec 8, 2016

Dear Jitka,

Thank you for your question. There is a lot of aspects that can affect the final word count analysis (in any system) and most of them are associated with the settings selected for analysis, making it a bit difficult to answer you with certainty without knowing the details.

However, based on what you wrote, I believe you should not be worried. XTM Cloud is a cloud system that always sees the project as a whole anticipating the leverage of repetitions not only
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Dear Jitka,

Thank you for your question. There is a lot of aspects that can affect the final word count analysis (in any system) and most of them are associated with the settings selected for analysis, making it a bit difficult to answer you with certainty without knowing the details.

However, based on what you wrote, I believe you should not be worried. XTM Cloud is a cloud system that always sees the project as a whole anticipating the leverage of repetitions not only on the file level but also between files. Cross-file repetitions appear to be the most convincing justification of the discrepancy.

Both systems calculated a similar total wordcount which is the key information proving that no content was missed during the analysis. Most likely there is no error with the results and, if XTM is telling you a specific wordcount, you will not get to translate a single word more than it indicates.

If you have less to translate with more repetitions, you can deliver the project faster and with improved consistency. The customer spends less than half of the Trados cost. As a result, you are building a good customer’s loyalty because you are helping them save more, and by means of that you are improving the continuity of work orders for you from them in the future. The situation you described actually appears to me as a win-win situation for you and the customer.

If you still feel uneasy about the XTM analysis wordcount please contact XTM Support directly at [email protected] to investigate in detail. The support will need some data to help them find the project in question. Please remember to provide the server address, the name of your customer’s account and the name or ID of the project.

Best regards,
XTM Support
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Jitka Komarkova (Mgr.)
Jitka Komarkova (Mgr.)  Identity Verified
Czech Republic
Local time: 22:08
English to Czech
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Marketing text or SUPPORT Dec 8, 2016

Dear XTM, thank you for your reply. It seems it has been written by a marketing specialist.

Could you please give me a flavour of the TECHNICALITY behind this so that we can benefit from your insights?
I really cannot imagine HOW XTM can "conjure" 17000 repetitions where Trados cannot see them.
What is it actually an "internal repeat" in XTM?
Many thanks!


 
XTM Intl
XTM Intl
United Kingdom
Local time: 21:08
Internal repeat Dec 8, 2016

Dear Jitka,

In XTM there are two kinds of matching: Translation memory matching and Internal matching. Internal repeat, the actual name is just "Repeat", is any repetition that occurs in the project regardless of the file within the project that it originates from. On the other hand, a fuzzy repeat is what you call an internal fuzzy match.

Different kinds of repetitions are just one explanation of the difference, more can include analysis templates custom made for your
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Dear Jitka,

In XTM there are two kinds of matching: Translation memory matching and Internal matching. Internal repeat, the actual name is just "Repeat", is any repetition that occurs in the project regardless of the file within the project that it originates from. On the other hand, a fuzzy repeat is what you call an internal fuzzy match.

Different kinds of repetitions are just one explanation of the difference, more can include analysis templates custom made for your customer that improve segmentation and matching of your customer texts, custom handling of inline elements/tags in XTM, and many other.

As well, the difference may come from the options that have been activated or deactivated in Trados.

If you want to get reassured that the wordcount in XTM is correct, please do contact XTM Support so that we can check the project you are interested in.

At the same time, I am afraid it is not possible to provide you with the TECHNICALITY you would like to get because without investigating the project in detail all we can do is guess. And the guess about the Repeats makes the most sense based on the description of your situation.

What really matters, the total wordcounts are similar which gives firm grounds to believe everything is fine with the analysis results.

Best regards,
XTM Support
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Jitka Komarkova (Mgr.)
Jitka Komarkova (Mgr.)  Identity Verified
Czech Republic
Local time: 22:08
English to Czech
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Technical problems Dec 8, 2016

Dear XTM and potential readers,
thank you and, just to let you know, the client has just got back with apologies and their explanation that there had been some "technical difficulties" on their side, roughly confirming the wordcount which I got using Trados Studio 2015.
You can imagine how happy I am I have checked the wordcount on my own!
A learning!?
Do verify the wordcounts your clients give you using XTM and if in doubt, defend your positions!
Br, J.


 
XTM Word Counts Dec 9, 2016

Dear Jitka,

Thank you very much for your posts and comments. Please note that word counts in XTM are based on the GMX-V 2.0 standard (https://xtm-intl.com/manuals/gmx-v/GMX-V-2.0.html). SDL does not publish the basis of its word counts so there is no way of verifying their metrics, but both appear to be within the same range.

XTM uses advanced Cloud based lin
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Dear Jitka,

Thank you very much for your posts and comments. Please note that word counts in XTM are based on the GMX-V 2.0 standard (https://xtm-intl.com/manuals/gmx-v/GMX-V-2.0.html). SDL does not publish the basis of its word counts so there is no way of verifying their metrics, but both appear to be within the same range.

XTM uses advanced Cloud based linguistic technology for matching, including full morphological analysis that is not available in most desktop CAT tools, as well as taking into account other files that may be in the project. XTM internal repetitions work on all files in the project and not on individual files alone. As our support team has pointed out, without further information regarding the project we cannot investigate in more detail. Should you provide us with information regarding your project we will do a full analysis for you to prove the accuracy of the XTM matching statistics.

Let me assure you though that XTM Cloud processes hundreds of thousands projects per week and we have always been able to prove the accuracy of our word count metrics. Unlike most other TMS/CAT tool publishers we are totally committed to Open Standards and full transparency.

Best Regards,

Andrzej Zydroń CTO XTM International
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Wordcount difference XTM / XTM exported xliffs / source Excel files (in Trados Studio 2015)






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