Speech recognition and tags in tag-based formats Thread poster: Tomás Cano Binder, BA, CT
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Dear colleagues,
I can type fast but in some cases get tired of typing. I read about the use of DNS in translation and it sounds nice. My question is however, how do you cope with tags present in the source text in so many file formats today?
How do you move around tags to skip them without having to speak a lot? Or do you speak the text, and move the cursor with the mouse or keyboard to skip the tags?
A general idea of how you do it and how efficient it w... See more Dear colleagues,
I can type fast but in some cases get tired of typing. I read about the use of DNS in translation and it sounds nice. My question is however, how do you cope with tags present in the source text in so many file formats today?
How do you move around tags to skip them without having to speak a lot? Or do you speak the text, and move the cursor with the mouse or keyboard to skip the tags?
A general idea of how you do it and how efficient it works for you would be tremendously welcome! ▲ Collapse
| | | | Patricia Rosas 
United States
Local time: 13:53
Spanish to English
+ ...
In memoriam | use the mouse ... | Jun 28, 2008 |
Hello, Tomás:
First, a small confession: I'm not sure what kind of tags you mean. Are you talking about HTML?
I'm a huge fan of DNS, but my keyboard and mouse still get plenty of use! Right now, I'm working on a translation that is in a two-column table, with hundreds of cells that contain only a sentence or two each. At the end of each cell, I use the mouse to jump to the next one. There is probably a way to do that using a spoken command, but it just isn't that ha... See more Hello, Tomás:
First, a small confession: I'm not sure what kind of tags you mean. Are you talking about HTML?
I'm a huge fan of DNS, but my keyboard and mouse still get plenty of use! Right now, I'm working on a translation that is in a two-column table, with hundreds of cells that contain only a sentence or two each. At the end of each cell, I use the mouse to jump to the next one. There is probably a way to do that using a spoken command, but it just isn't that hard to simply click on the next cell.
I also don't expect perfection from DNS -- if it isn't getting a word right, and it's not a word I'd use often, I'll just keyboard it in (otherwise, I'll stop and "train" the word, but that takes 30 seconds or so, so I do a "cost-benefit analysis" before deciding to train or type).
This may not apply to everyone, but what I particularly like about DNS is that I don't have to correct nearly as many typos as I would were I keyboarding. I think I'm a fairly decent typist, but sometimes, the fingers just don't do what they are supposed to.
On the downside, DNS can make stupid errors. Big ones like: Human Writes Commission and small ones like their for there or to for two. The small ones can be hard to spot, but once you're aware of those homophone problems, you can keep a sharp eye out for them as you work. The big ones are much easier to spot and so correcting those hasn't been a problem.
Anyway, I hope that helps to answer your question.
Patricia ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Thanks a lot! | Jun 29, 2008 |
Patricia, thanks a lot! Yes, indeed I referred to tags as in HTML. We use Trados for everything (even if not requested) and in most cases (specially in Word files we translate with TagEditor) there is plenty of tags in the text. This answers my question indeed!
| | | | | Voice Input of Tags | Jun 29, 2008 |
It is possible to write macros to automate the input of TagEditor tags, but you will need the professional version of DNS and a bit of programming skill.
The macros themselves can be as simple as saying "Next Tag" and having DNS send the requisite keystroke, to something a bit more complex like "Next tags" that repeats the keystroke a designated number of times, to a larger dll-style project that keeps track of which tags have and have not been used and queues up a sequence of key... See more It is possible to write macros to automate the input of TagEditor tags, but you will need the professional version of DNS and a bit of programming skill.
The macros themselves can be as simple as saying "Next Tag" and having DNS send the requisite keystroke, to something a bit more complex like "Next tags" that repeats the keystroke a designated number of times, to a larger dll-style project that keeps track of which tags have and have not been used and queues up a sequence of keystrokes to arrive at the desired result (ie, "place first three tags here" or "dump all unused tags at the end"). I've written and used all of them at one time or another, and they work reasonably well provided you know their limitations.
The biggest pitfalls stem from TagEditor's own unhelpful design. It doesn't distinguish between tags and other placeables for input purposes--they all use the same keystrokes, so a macro that blindly sends keystrokes may produce unintended results. Similarly, tags and other placeables are treated as relative values ("this," "next" and "previous") rather than absolute (1, 2, 3), so you have to be very careful about which placeable is currently selected. If a unit has a lot of tags, you may find it easier to keyboard them in than try to count how many lie between where you are and where you want to be. ▲ Collapse
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| Very useful insight! | Jun 29, 2008 |
Thanks a lot Richard. This was extremely good input. Good. So it is possible to work around tags then. I will assume that is it possible to program virtually any keystrokes linking them to specific words. Thanks a million!
| | | | | With the proper version | Jun 29, 2008 |
Yes, you can program virtually any word to trigger a command, and it need not be just keystrokes. DNS *Professional* comes with a full implementation of VBA, the same language used to write macros in Microsoft Office and a very rich programming environment if you wish to take advantage of it.
But it comes at a price. This functionality is only available in the more expensive "Professional" version.
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