SDL Translation Management System SP4 product overview

For translation professionals:

• Translation Memory

  It is now possible to correct translation errors and update out-of-date translations (e.g. old Terminology) that have been saved in the Translation Memory. This is achieved using the new import from ITD and SDLX MDB file format option. Zip file compressed versions of these formats can also be imported in this way.

• Reviewer grading

  New flexibility and configurable options for reviewers to grade translation quality. This new release includes support for the LISA QA Model and SAE J2450 as well as the ability to create and apply your own translation QA Models.

• Reporting

  The new reporting engine provides a set of standard reports that are available in a variety of rich formats including: Adobe PDF, CSV, RTF, Microsoft Excel 2007 or Microsoft Word 2007. Using new tools, the SDL Professional Services team can customize reports to meet requirements including charts and graphs.

For administrators and support teams

• Reliability, scalabilty, performance and robustness.
• Supports an increased range of web browsers for greater compatibility. SDL TMS now supports Internet Explorer 8.0, in addition to IE6.0 and 7.0, and Firefox 3.5 as well as Firefox 2.0 and 3.0.
• New status reports for diagnostics rather than relying on Microsoft Windows Admin tools
• New Exception handling reduces Recovery situations. SDL TMS is now capable of detecting specific problems (like incorrect or corrupted source files) and taking specific action to resolve these problems, rather than using the Recovery inbox as a single point of error handling. This should allow a faster and more appropriate response to problems.

The SDL Professional Services team can now build custom workflow stages using a powerful new workflow API rather than the broker architecture. This will allow custom stages to take advantage of the performance and scalability of the core workflow stages, and powerful new capabilities like Exception handling.

What's new in SDL Translation Management System 2007 SP4

Learn about the enhancements included in SDL TMS 2007 SP4

SDL Translation Management System (TMS) 2007 SP4 was launched in April 2010. The system contains many new features and enhancements.

New Features and Enhancements to SDL TMS 2007 SP4:

New! Workflow service:

• Architectural update – moves SDL TMS to MS .Net 3.5 services framework
• Improved performance and scalability
• Simplified processing – broker service removed and functions run under the new workflow service
• Future API potential – increased flexibility allows easier development of customisations and extensions

New! Recovery and exceptions:

• Redesign of recovery interface providing more information on errors
• Provision of more flexible options for resolving recovery issues
• Simplifies recovery processing – giving greater control to the SDL TMS user
• Known errors identified and resolved
• Better feedback to user on different types of errors
• Task assignment based on type of error

New! Translation Memory import: 

• Allows importing of offline content into a SDL TMS Translation Memory 
• Upload support for mdb and itd file formats
• Multiple files can be uploaded as a zip package
• Email notification once upload is complete
• Status and history reporting
• Feature suggested by a SDL TMS User 

New! Reporting

• More scalable and flexible report generation
• New report formats added – pdf, csv, rtf, docx, xlsx
• Feature rich report generation – support added for charts and graphs

New! Reviewer Grading

• Improved flexibility
• Support for the LISA QA model and SAE J2450 standards
• Fully customisable reviewer grading
• New standard SDL TMS reports on grading metrics
• Feature suggested by a SDL TMS User 

Fixes, Improvements and Behaviour Changes in SDL TMS 2007 SP4:

Upgrade Process

• Install may take up to 60 minutes
• System downtime required
• Includes all previously released hotfixes and patches for SDL TMS 2007 Service Pack 3

Compatibility

• Certified for use with Microsoft SQL Server 2008 databases on 32 or 64 bit versions of MS Windows Server 2008
• Support for Microsoft Internet Explorer 8.0 and Mozilla Firefox 3.5 web browsers
• Supported clients now includes IE 6.0, 7.0 and 8.0 and Firefox 2.0, 3.0 and 3.5

Behaviour Changes

• Improved disk space management on the SDL TMS application servers
• More control over the SDL TMS Transfer folder
• Removal of the ‘Job Start Broker Script’ functionality
• Easier configuration of the Archiver service on multi-server deployments
• Update Invoice stage no longer required
• Configuration export feature removed 

Issues resolved

Over 30 issues resolved, including:

• An ‘Active’ flag has been added to all Configurations. Inactive Configurations are neither displayed in the Create Job portal nor exposed through the Content Transfer API for integrations
• Extension of the metadata field so this is no longer restricted to 4000 characters
• No longer possible for data duplication in the invoice and metadata database tables
• Now possible to remove cost matrices from a vendor when the cost matrix is not in use
• Better handling of special characters in the Create Job portal
• The ‘View Jobs’ permission now allows access to the Job Details page from ‘Search’ results
• Tasks at ‘System' stages now returned in the ‘Search’ results
• Terminology terms starting with an asterisk no longer crash the online Translation Editor
• SDL TMS Job creation no longer fails if the subfolders of an uploaded ZIP file start with names that are subsets of the first subfolder's name (Job creation didn’t fail in those circumstances, as such; it just only succeeded for some of the files. Release notes now read: We have resolved an issue in SDL TMS job creation that could occur if subfolders of an uploaded zip file start with names that are subsets of the first subfolder’s name (e.g. “example”, “example2”, “example3”), which resulted in files with identical names in those different subfolders being overwritten.)
• Now possible to delete workflow stages immediately after they have been created
• Empty target segments no longer cause the Update Translation Memory stage to fail
• Configuration Management (import/export) feature removed

Please see the release notes for more details.

SDL Translation Management System 2007 SP4 FAQs

What are the main features of SDL TMS 2007 SP4?

The main new features of SDL Translation Management System (TMS) 2007 Service Pack 4 (SP4) are:

• Workflow Service
• Translation Memory Import Functionality
• Reviewer Grading
• Recovery Exceptions
• Reporting component

Details can be found in either the product overview tab or in the release notes.

1. SDL Host my SDL TMS Application. How will I get the upgrade?
2. I host my own SDL TMS installation – how do I get the upgrade?
3. Will the upgrade to SDL TMS 2007 SP4 require any system downtime?
4. What are the pre-requisites for installing SDL TMS 2007 SP4?
5. What’s the new Reviewer Grading feature of SDL TMS 2007 SP4?
6. How does the new Translation Memory Import functionality help me?
7. What file types are supported by the new Translation Memory Import feature?
8. Which web browsers are supported by SDL TMS 2007 SP4?
9. Does SDL TMS 2007 SP4 include any new reports?
10. I have a great idea for a new feature – how can I share it with SDL?
11. Are there any User Groups for SDL TMS Users?
12. I’m using a job start broker script – what do I do?
13. Where can I find a copy of the release notes for SDL TMS 2007 SP4?

SDL Host my SDL TMS Application. How will I get the upgrade?

You will shortly receive an email from our Managed Services team proposing a date and time for your upgrade and providing more details on how this will be done. Please respond to this email notifying us if the proposal is not suitable or if you have questions on the upgrade.

I host my own SDL TMS installation – how do I get the upgrade?

Full details on how to install the software and complete the upgrade are provided in the SDL TMS 2007 SP4 release notes.

Will the upgrade to SDL TMS 2007 SP4 require any system downtime?

Yes, the upgrade will require the SDL TMS application to be stopped for a period of up to sixty minutes. We also recommend suspending upload of any new jobs and allowing the system to complete processing of any pending jobs before commencing the upgrade to SDL TMS 2007 SP4.

What are the pre-requisites for installing SDL TMS 2007 SP4?

This service pack must be installed onto a system running SDL TMS 2007 Service Pack 3 (build number 9.3.3002.0) or later.

What’s the new Reviewer Grading feature of SDL TMS 2007 SP4?

SDL TMS 2007 SP4 includes support for grader reviewing according to the LISA and SAE J2450 standards. SDL TMS 2007 SP4 also provides users with the functionality to create custom review models. For further information please see the SDL TMS 2007 SP4 release notes.

How does the new Translation Memory Import functionality help me?

With SDL TMS 2007 SP4 you can now import the content of offline Translation Memories and bilingual files into a SDL TMS Translation Memory thereby enabling the user to gain leverage from all of their Translation Memory resources. Audit tracking will provide information on Translation Memory Import activity.

What file types are supported by the new Translation Memory Import feature?

Translation Memory Import supports upload of individual mdb and itd file formats or as a zip file containing a combination of both.

Which web browsers are supported by SDL TMS 2007 SP4?

SDL TMS SP4 adds support for Microsoft Internet Explorer 8.0 and Mozilla Firefox 3.5, and continues to support IE 6.0 and 7.0 and Firefox 2.0 and 3.0.

Does SDL TMS 2007 SP4 include any new reports?

SDL TMS 2007 SP4 includes two new reports to support the reviewer grading functionality. Information can be reported at both organisation and task level. See the release notes for more information.

I have a great idea for a new feature – how can I share it with SDL?

We welcome your feedback and would encourage you to sign up to ideas.sdl.com. Reviewer grading, Translation Memory Import and better management of the SDL TMS transfer folder have all been included as a result of suggestions posted by SDL TMS users.

Are there any User Groups for SDL TMS Users?

Yes SDL TMS has a large and active user group which welcomes new members. The group is independent from SDL and more details can be found at their website.

I’m using a job start broker script – what do I do?

These scripts will no longer be supported and after upgrade to SDL TMS 2007 SP4 they will no longer function.  This functionality should be replaced by standard broker stages. We would recommend getting in touch with our Professional Services team prior to upgrading if you are using these scripts.

Where can I find a copy of the release notes for SDL TMS 2007 SP4?

These are the release notes for SDL TMS 2007 SP4.