Where does MemoQ store the files?
Thread poster: Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 20:37
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
May 1, 2020

Hello

I'm trying out MemoQ again. I'm familiar with Trados, the Trados workflow, and the Trados folder structure.

I use the default location of project folders, namely Username/Documents/My memoQ projects/. I have always thought that MemoQ's file format is MQXLIFF, but... there are no MQXLIFF files in those folders. In fact, the source files for my projects are not in those folders either. Sometimes, there are files there that have the same names as my source files,
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Hello

I'm trying out MemoQ again. I'm familiar with Trados, the Trados workflow, and the Trados folder structure.

I use the default location of project folders, namely Username/Documents/My memoQ projects/. I have always thought that MemoQ's file format is MQXLIFF, but... there are no MQXLIFF files in those folders. In fact, the source files for my projects are not in those folders either. Sometimes, there are files there that have the same names as my source files, but they are zero bytes, so I assume they're just placeholders.

With Trados, the source files and SDLXLIFF files for a project is stored in subfolders of the project's folder. So it's easy to "get to it" and to make copies of it etc. MemoQ creates folders with randomized names, and none of them contain the source files or any MQXLIFF files. Is MQXLIFF just an export format, then? (Although I also work on online projects, this applies also to local projects that I have created with files from my computer.)

If I want to zip up a project that I'm finished with, in order to save it somewhere from where I can unzip and restore it later (either to work on it again, or to be able to prove to myself how I translated something), what files must I save? Or should I use the "backup/restore" option for that?

Thanks
Samuel
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Tomás Cano Binder, BA, CT
Tomás Cano Binder, BA, CT  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 20:37
Member (2005)
English to Spanish
+ ...
Internally, a different set of files May 1, 2020

Indeed, internally what you see in the Projects folder in memoQ is a set of files that make no apparent sense and do not have file names you can easily identify.

The closest I can think of if you want to make a "backup" of one particular project is to use the Archive Projects Wizard, which makes a "package" which you can place in a certain folder (normally, in the default folder the archives) or take elsewhere and, if you need it later on, you can unarchive into memoQ again. This Ar
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Indeed, internally what you see in the Projects folder in memoQ is a set of files that make no apparent sense and do not have file names you can easily identify.

The closest I can think of if you want to make a "backup" of one particular project is to use the Archive Projects Wizard, which makes a "package" which you can place in a certain folder (normally, in the default folder the archives) or take elsewhere and, if you need it later on, you can unarchive into memoQ again. This Archive feature is meant for projects you do not really plan to work again on in the short term, though.

Personally, for backups, I think the wisest idea is to backup of all of memoQ's data folders.
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Jo Macdonald
Jo Macdonald  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 20:37
Member (2005)
Italian to English
+ ...
Export bilingual maybe May 1, 2020

Hi Samuel
I'm also trying out MemoQ as a few German clients use it.
It's the first time I've used the program so don't take my word for it but in the Project home tab you can right click on the project file then select Export -> Export Bilingual which gives you a dialogue box where you can save a memoQxliff, Trados Doc or rtf table.
I saved a memoQxliff like this and could open it in Studio. Opening it in MemoQ takes you back to the Project home tab.

Presumably sav
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Hi Samuel
I'm also trying out MemoQ as a few German clients use it.
It's the first time I've used the program so don't take my word for it but in the Project home tab you can right click on the project file then select Export -> Export Bilingual which gives you a dialogue box where you can save a memoQxliff, Trados Doc or rtf table.
I saved a memoQxliff like this and could open it in Studio. Opening it in MemoQ takes you back to the Project home tab.

Presumably saving an mqxliff like this would save all your work and can be used as a backup.
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Paolo Sebastiani
Paolo Sebastiani  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 20:37
Member
English to Italian
+ ...
totally different from sdl trados May 2, 2020

Memoq is totally different from Trados when it comes to the way it stores files.
The equivalent sdlxliff of trados in Memoq is called mqxlz and if you want to get hold of it you need to export it as a bilingual file, whereas in Trados it is stored in the project folder at the moment the project is created.
The Export button has a little arrow below from which you can select among different ways of exporting your translated files.
If you want to get hold of your translared file
... See more
Memoq is totally different from Trados when it comes to the way it stores files.
The equivalent sdlxliff of trados in Memoq is called mqxlz and if you want to get hold of it you need to export it as a bilingual file, whereas in Trados it is stored in the project folder at the moment the project is created.
The Export button has a little arrow below from which you can select among different ways of exporting your translated files.
If you want to get hold of your translared file in the original format and in the target language you just need to tap on the Export button and your file will be saved by default in the same folder where you have saved your project, but not inside the project folder as trados do.
I hope this helps you.
If you like more info you can contact me: [email protected]
Bye
Paolo Sebastiani
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Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 20:37
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Thanks. So... May 2, 2020

Paolo Sebastiani wrote:
If you want to get hold of your translated file in the original format and in the target language you just need to tap on the Export button and your file will be saved by default in the same folder where you have saved your project, but not inside the project folder as Trados do.


Thanks. I'm not sure what you mean by "in the same folder where you have saved your project", for in my tests (if I use the "stored path" option), the target file is created in the same folder where the source file is/was when it was added to the project (perhaps that is what you meant).

So... Trados makes a copy of the source file and puts it in the project folder, but MemoQ doesn't make a copy of the source file, and the "stored path" is the path where the file originates from (which could be anywhere on your computer). Adding files from different locations isn't a problem in Trados because Trados doesn't save the target files back into those original locations.

I wouldn't call this a "problem" with MemoQ but it is worth being aware of it: if you add files from different locations, each of the target files will be generated in each of the original locations. If you move/delete/rename any folder in the tree, MemoQ will recreate the path (i.e. recreate the folders using the names that they had when you added the file to the project).

This means that "best practice" for when using MemoQ may be to have a dedicated folder (e.g. "My MemoQ Projects" on the Desktop or in Documents) and every time manually create "project" folders in it for each project's source files, and then adding them to the project from there, so that there are no difficulties with moved/renamed folders where the original files are stored.


 


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Where does MemoQ store the files?






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