Chapter 6. Project properties

1. Properties dialog
2. Modifying project properties

1. Properties dialog

The ProjectProperties... (Ctrl+E) dialog is used to define and modify the project folders and languages.

Figure 6.1. Project properties window

Project properties window

It contains:

  • An area for setting project source and target languages with drop-down menus

  • A segmentation settings flag

  • An area for setting project folders

All the fields are editable. You can either enter the languages by hand or use the drop down menu. If you enter names of folders that do not exist yet, OmegaT creates them for you.

2. Modifying project properties

Note that changes to the project setup may have some consequences, especially, when the project has already been started.

  • Changing source or target languages:

    Bear in mind that changing the languages may render the currently used translation memories useless since their language pair may not longer match the new languages.

  • Segmentation modifications:

    The segmentation settings only address the way the source files are handled by OmegaT. They do not modify the segmentation of already existing translation memories.

    Changes made to the segmentation settings may cause some already translated segments to be split or merged. This will effectively return them to the "untranslated" status, as they will no longer match segments recorded in the project memory, even though their original translation is still there.

    OmegaT may upgrade old translation memories that did not use sentence segmentation, but not vice versa. If you decide mid-translation to switch from sentence to paragraph translation, the internal translation memory of the project will not be changed.

  • Changing the folder structure:

    In case you decide to modify project folders, keep in mind that this will not move the contained files from old folders to the new location.

  • Modifying project properties during the session:

    It is possible to modify the project properties during a translation session. However, until you have some experience with OmegaT, it is safest to consider all settings final once the translation has started – unless of course you realize a major mistake has been made. See the section Preventing data loss for ways and means of protecting your work.