How to QA your translation using Xbench 3.0

There are different ways to check the quality of your translation in Xbench. In this tutorial, we will show you how Satsuma performs the QA of all its projects in Xbench. The process described here works for Xbench 3.0 only. The process for older versions is slightly different and will be covered in a separate article.

Start by loading your Xbench project and adding your bilingual files (ongoing translation files) to the Xbench glossary (.xbp extension). Satsuma translators receive handoffs that already include the Xbench package with all required glossaries assembled; all they need to do is to load their ongoing translation. If you need to create your own Xbench glossary from scratch, check how to create glossaries in Xbench in the previous article of this series.

1.    Save or download the bilingual CAT tool files you want to QA-check.

2.    Open Xbench and go to Project > Properties or use the F2 shortcut.

3.    Locate the folder containing the files you want to analyze and drag them directly into the Properties window.

4.    Xbench automatically recognizes the .xlf and .sdlxliff formats and marks them as Ongoing translation. 

5.   Next, click OK in the dialog box, and then OK again to close the Project Properties window. If the bilingual file is not recognized as a translation (for instance, if it is a .tbx file), select Ongoing translation. If you don’t select this option, the file will be loaded as a termbase and QA will not work.

6.    With the files uploaded, select OK.

QA process

Once set up, the QA checks in Xbench run quickly. To get the process started, go to the QA tab.

1. In this tab, in the Check Group subgroup, select the “Basic”, “Content”, “Checklists” and “Spellcheck” checkboxes. Select all the options for each of these subgroups.
2. In Options:
   1. If you do not need to review 100% matches, choose Only new segments and Exclude ICE segments.
   2. If you need to review 100% matches but not 101% matches (Perfect Matches, ICE Matches), choose Exclude ICE segments only.*
   3. If you need to review all segments (new, updated, and legacy), leave all boxes unchecked.
3. Click Check ongoing translation to run the QA checks and see the QA report.

Once Xbench finishes running all QA checks you set up, it displays the Spell Checker results in a separate window, where you can review the results and select the possible errors. Examine the list and select the words that need to be corrected using the right arrow button next to the list. They will be added to the “Real Misspellings” list. Click OK. Not all hits in this list are actual typos or misspelled words, and you have the opportunity to ignore any false positives in one operation.

Next, Xbench will display a report with all the errors you found in each category, including the spelling errors you flagged in the previous step. Use this report to locate any errors and then correct them in your CAT tool. Once you finish fixing the errors reported in Xbench, you’re done!

As a best practice, however, we at Satsuma recommend you run the QA checks a second time to ensure no errors are left behind. 

To do so, once you are finished fixing the errors in the CAT tool, repeat the process by generating the new bilingual files, reloading Xbench to remove the old files, and loading the new and fixed files into the QA tool to make sure no new errors have been inserted. It’s advisable that you repeat the process until the report shows no errors or only false-positive results, ie. hits that can be ignored either as a result of your analysis or according to instructions.

*If you need help remembering what 100% and ICE segments are, read all about TM matches in the Definitive CAT tools Guide article – part 2.

Exporting your QA report

You can export the Xbench QA report and save it as an Excel spreadsheet. This is helpful for audit trails because many clients require an error-free QA report as part of project deliverables. If you are required to deliver your project with the QA check report, it means your report must only contain false positives. That is the report generated with the bilingual files after you fix all errors in the CAT tool.

To export the QA report generated in Xbench, right-click the report and then select Export QA results. A window is shown where you can choose the format and location to save the report. Select the preferred report format and click Save. Or go to the Tools menu and click the Export QA results option.

Was this helpful? Tell us in the comments if you’d like to know more about Xbench 3.0.