Translation memory
Translation memory (TM) stores (source, target) pairs and offers them as suggestions every
time a translator opens a key. A phrase translated once in any project of the organization
that authors in the same source language comes back as a match.
Match types
Section titled “Match types”| Match | Meaning | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Perfect | Same source text, same key context | 101 |
| Exact | Same source text, different key | 100 |
| Fuzzy | Similar source text, scored by shared substrings | 50 to 99 |
Perfect and exact matches are hashed lookups; perfect scores 101 so it always sorts first. Fuzzy results below 50 are discarded, and 50 is also the lowest value the TM search API accepts. Matches sort by score, and the more-used pair wins a tie. Trust perfect matches, glance at exact ones, and re-read fuzzy ones: the score says the strings are similar, not that the translations are interchangeable.
Project TM and shared TM
Section titled “Project TM and shared TM”Every project gets its own writable TM, where new translations saved in the project accumulate. The organization also has one shared TM per source language. A shared TM whose source language matches the project’s contributes matches whether or not it is assigned; assigning it adds it to the project’s TM list. A TM built in an English-source project contributes nothing to a project that authors in German.
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Open Translation Memory in the sidebar, under Resources.
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On the Entries tab, turn on the organization TM. Comvi creates one named
Shared TM (<source locale>)the first time and assigns it to the project as read-only. -
On the Settings tab, set what the project’s own TM stores, then click Save Settings.
| Setting | Effect |
|---|---|
| Auto-populate | New translations saved in the project are added to the TM. On by default |
| Only approved translations | Only Translated values are stored. Off by default |
Each assignment also carries a priority (higher numbers are read first) and a penalty (a percentage subtracted from every match from that TM, for a memory that is relevant but less trusted). Both are set through the REST API only; the dashboard assigns the shared TM at priority 1 with no penalty.
Suggestions in the editor
Section titled “Suggestions in the editor”Each match in the side panel shows the matched source text, the suggested translation, the score and match type, which TM and project it came from, and how often the pair has been used. Click Apply to drop it into the editor and edit before saving. Applying is an ordinary save, so the value lands as Needs Review.
Automatic 100% matches
Section titled “Automatic 100% matches”When a key is created or its source text changes, and the project has at least one machine-translation provider enabled, Comvi checks the TM for a 100% match on every target language before queuing machine translation. A match is written straight away and recorded as a TM auto-apply, whether or not MT auto-apply is on; MT runs only for the languages with no match. Bulk translation has no such shortcut. See Machine translation.
TMX import and export
Section titled “TMX import and export”Both live on the Entries tab. Import takes a .tmx or .xml file whose source
language matches the TM’s, capped at 50,000 translation units per file (split larger files
by language pair), and reports entries imported, skipped and failed. Conflict Resolution
offers Skip existing (default), Overwrite existing and Keep highest quality.
Locale mapping is available on the REST API only. Export downloads the TM as TMX.
Troubleshooting
Section titled “Troubleshooting”- No fuzzy matches. Check that a TM in use holds content for this language pair. Source strings under about four characters rarely score.
- A saved translation is not in the TM. Check Auto-populate. With Only approved translations on, a plain save lands as Needs Review and is not stored until someone marks it Translated.