Of interest for advanced users only!
The purpose of the console (i.e. command line) mode is to permit the use of OmegaT as translation tool in a scripting environment. When launched in console mode, no GUI is loaded ( it will work therefore on any console) and the given project is automatically translated. An example would be a software project, with GUI localized in a number of languages. Using the console mode, one can make generating a localized interface a part of the build process.
To run OmegaT, a valid OmegaT project must be available. The location is irrelevant, since it must be specified explicitly on the command-line at launch.
If you need non-standard settings, the corresponding configuration
files (filters.conf and
segmentation.conf) must be present. This can be
achieved in two ways:
Run OmegaT normally (with the GUI) and set the settings. If you start OmegaT in console mode, it will use the settings you configured.
If you are unable to run OmegaT
normally (no graphical environment available): copy the settings
files from some other OmegaT installation
on another machine to a specific folder. The location does not
matter, since you can add it to the command line at launch (see
below). The relevant files filters.conf and
segmentation.conf can be found in the user home
folder (E.g. C:\Documents and
Settings\%User%\OmegaT under
Windows, %user%/.omegat/ under Linux)
To launch OmegaT in console mode, additional parameters must be
specified at launch. The most important of these is
<project-dir>, and
optionally --config-dir=<config-dir>.
Example:
$> java -jar OmegaT.jar
/path/to/project \
--config-dir=/path/to/config-files/ \
--mode=console-translate \
--source-pattern={regexp} \
--tag-validation=[block|warn]
Explanation:
<project-dir> tells
OmegaT where to find the project to be
translated. If given, OmegaT launches in
console mode and translates the given project.
--config-dir=<config-dir> enables
OmegaT to be instructed in which folder the configuration files are
stored. If not specified, OmegaT reverts to default values (the
OmegaT folder in the user home folder, or if not available: the
current working folder).
--mode=console-translate
OmegaT launches in console mode and
translates the given project
--source-pattern={regexp} The files to be
translated can be specified this way. Here is an example of the
regular expression: test\.html
--tag-validation=[abort|warn] On abort,
the program is aborted when tag validation finds errors. On warn the
errors are printed but the program continues. In all other cases no
tag validation is done.
An extra command line parameter specific to console mode:
--quiet. In the quiet mode, less info is logged to
the screen. The messages you would usually find in the status bar are
not displayed.
Usage: java -jar OmegaT.jar
/path/to/project --mode=console-translate --quiet
Another extra command line parameter specific to console mode:
--tag-validation=[abort|warn]. When this parameter is
added, tag validation is done prior to translation/aligning. If the
value is abort, then on tag errors the errors are
printed and the program stops. If the value is warn
then the errors are printed but OmegaT continues.
Usage: java -jar OmegaT.jar
/path/to/project --mode=console-translate
--tag-validation=abort
OmegaT can align Java .properties in console mode. If you have the source and the target Properties files for one and the same contents in your language pair, this procedure will create a corresponding tmx file for these contents. Usage:
java -jar OmegaT.jar --mode=console-align /my-project-dir
--alignDir=/translatedFiles/
alignDir must contain a translation in the
target language of the project. E.g., if the project is EN->FR,
alignDir must contain a bundle ending with _fr. The resulting tmx is
stored in the omegat folder under the name
align.tmx.
In this dialog one can define the font used by OmegaT in the following windows:
OmegaT main window (Editor, Match viewer, Glossary viewer)
Search window
Tag validation window
The dialog can be accessed via the → item in the Main menu. The dialog contains:
Font: drop-down to select one of the fonts available on your machine
Size: edit to change font size
Sample text: field for immediate preview of the selected font
Note: In some cases it may take quite some time for OmegaT to update the display after the font setting has been changed. This is especially the case when a large file containing many segments is open in the editor, and/or slow hardware is used. Note also that some fonts behave better for some language pairs than for others. In particular, if you are translating between two languages with different alphabets/writing systems (such as Russian and Japanese), select a font that can be used for both.
OmegaT is a robust application. However,
you should take precautions against data loss when using
OmegaT, just as with any other application.
When you translate your files, OmegaT stores
all your progress in the translation memory
project_save.tmx that resides in the project's
/omegat subfolder.
OmegaT also backs up the translation memory to project_save.tmx.YEARMMDDHHNN.bak in the same subfolder each time a project is opened or reloaded. YEAR is the 4-digit year, MM is the month, DD the day of the month, and HH and NN are the hours and minutes when the previous translation memory was saved.
If you believe that you have lost translation data, you can use the following procedure to restore the project to its most recently saved state, usually not older than approximately 10 minutes or so:
close the project
rename the current project_save.tmx file
(e.g. to project_save.tmx.temporary)
select the backup translation memory that is the most likely to contain the data you are looking for
rename it project_save.tmx
open the project
To avoid losing important data:
Make regular copies of the file /omegat/project_save.tmx to backup media, such as CD or DVD.
Until you are familiar with OmegaT, create translated files at regular intervals and check that the translated file contains the latest version of your translation.
Take particular care when making changes to the files in
/source while in the middle of a project. If the
source file is modified after you have begun translating,
OmegaT may be unable to find a segment that
you have already translated.
Use these Help texts to get started. Should you run into problems, post a message in the OmegaT user group. Do not hesitate to post in the language you feel the most familiar with.