A Translation Unit is an entry in the translation memory. It is the source string and translation entry of the same source and target language in the Translation Memory, and is shared across all projects writing to the same Translation Memory. The Translation Unit Activity tracks each instance the Translation Unit writes to the Translation Memory.
The activity is captured from when the Translation Unit was saved, in any of the methods of saving translations, or when the translations were imported into Smartling via TMX or resource file upload.
What Determines a Translation Unit?
If the same source string has multiple translations, each are listed as their own translation unit. If the source string has one translation, but a range of keys and variants, it is listed as one translation unit. It is important to note that while strings with different variants are deduplicated in the translation memory, they can still be leveraged separately via SmartMatch settings.
Translation Unit Activity
You can view the historic activity of the Translation Unit by clicking the Activity icon in the Translation Memory.
In the Activity tab, you'll find:
- Type: TMX filename or Project name. This indicates how this Translation Unit entered the TM - TMX upload or saved from a translation made within the Project.
- This column can also be displayed as Edit, if the translation unit was editing in the translation memory and saved (i.e. not updated across all projects). In this case, it is also noted in the source as "Edited in the Translation Memory".
- Source: The Project name that is writing to the Translation Memory as the source of the activity entry.
- Last Updated: The date and time in which the Translation Unit was last used.
- For TMX imports, this will either be the specified “translation date” provided upon import, or, if the translation date property was not defined upon import, it will be the date/time of the TMX import.
- Author: The initial translator (i.e. saved & submitted from a Translation step). The author is N/A for TMX uploads and Smartling API for SmartMatches.
- File/URL: the name of the source file/source URL
- Key: The key identifier for the translation unit (if any). There can be multiple different keys listed, as only the source and translation need to be the same in the translation unit within a translation memory.
- Variant: The variant for the translation unit (if any). There can be multiple different variants listed, as only the source and translation need to be the same in the translation unit within a translation memory.
- Authorizer: The user who authorized the job. It displays jobs-service-jobs-service because of job automation rules. if a user had manually authorized, it would be the user’s name.
- String History: Click the View String History link to open the String Detail's History and view all actions taken on the Translation Unit.
In the Previous String Translation tab, you'll find:
- Last Seen: The date the most recent update was saved for that translation.
- Translation: The string translation
- Strings: A link to the list of string activity, including the last modified date, the translation, the project it was translated in, the author or initial translator.