A Translation Unit (TU) 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 is 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.
For multi-segment strings, a TU is created for both the segmented and unsegmented version of the string. Note that segmented strings are not always translated at the segment level. For example, a 3-segment string can be merged into 1 single string by translators in the CAT Tool. In those instances, the resulting TU would just be 1 string.
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:
-
Activity Date: This is the date and time when the history record occurred.
- When a TMX file is imported with a defined Translation Date property; then, the Activity Date will be the import timestamp and the Translation Date will reflect the proper translation history.
- If the translation date is not defined when a TMX file is imported, the Activity Date is the same as the Translation Date.
-
Source/Type: 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 "Edited in translation memory," if the translation unit was edited in the translation memory and saved (i.e. not updated across all projects).
-
Translation Date: The date and time when the Translation Unit is associated with a translation activity.
- For TMX imports with a defined Translation Date property, this will reflect the translation date from the TMX. If no Translation Date property is defined upon import, this will read "N/A."
- 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.