Language Translation Software Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is MT?
At SYSTRAN, we define Machine Translation (MT or translation software) as the translation of one human language into another human language by computer. This definition considers the grammatical structure of each language and uses rules and assumptions to transfer the grammatical structure of the source language (text to be translated) into the target language (translated text). It should be noted that SYSTRAN's MT systems are not intended to replace human translators, but are used as enhancement tools within their work.

2. What are the main differences between the SYSTRAN translation software products?
All of SYSTRAN's MT systems run on the same translation engine, but differ in the powerful features and options available to the user. Before choosing a SYSTRAN product, we suggest that you define your translation needs. Based on those needs, you will be able to pick the appropriate product. SYSTRAN's products are also targeted at different user audiences.
- SYSTRAN Personal is for everyone
- SYSTRAN PROfessional Standard is designed for small businesses
- SYSTRAN PROfessional Premium is the definitive translation tool for corporate users
- SYSTRAN Enterprise is the ultimate client/server translation solution for large companies

3. What about new languages?
New language pairs and new language combinations are continuously in development.

4. Do you offer a Mac version of your software?
At this point SYSTRAN is not Mac compatible.

5. If I translate a text from English into another language and back into English, why don�t I receive my original English text?
The two most important things to remember about MT are that no automated translation is perfect, nor is it intended to replace human translators. When you translate a sentence, for example, from English to French, a certain degree of inaccuracy is involved. Therefore, when you translate this slightly inaccurate sentence back into English, you get the translation in accuracy of the first sentence multiplied by the inaccuracy of the current translation. The more you translate the text back and forth, the more inaccurate the translation will be.

6. What is a unidirectional language pair?
A unidirectional language pair is only one direction. For example, English into French is a unidirectional language.

7. What is a bidirectional language pair?
A bidirectional language pair translates in both directions. For example, English into French and French into English.

8. Which SYSTRAN product is for me?
This depends on you or your company's translation needs. SYSTRAN offers a family of products for corporate, small business and individual use. For more details, visit each product page on our web site.

SYSTRAN PROfessional Premium

1. What kind of product is SYSTRAN PROfessional Premium?
SYSTRAN PROfessional Premium is a native 32- bit natural language translation software, compatible with Windows 95, 98 and NT, available in a standalone version. SYSTRAN PROfessional Premium has powerful translation capabilities that include the option of creating user-defined dictionaries with customized words and expressions that override the default meanings of the product, 21 industry- specific topical glossaries (at no extra charge), plug-ins for MS Word, Netscape web pages, Eudora E-mail and much more. These powerful capabilities allow users to have more control of the translation which results in increased translation accuracy.

2. Who should use SYSTRAN PRO?
SYSTRAN PROfessional Premium is designed for corporate / business users that need to translate documentation, web pages, e-mail, correspondence, etc.

3. What are the system requirements for SYSTRAN PRO?
486 or compatible, Windows 95, 98 or NT, recommended 16 MB RAM, 15 MB hard disk space (per language pair), 20 MB swap file size.

4. Can I add words to the dictionary? What is a user-defined dictionary?
SYSTRAN PROfessional Premium is equipped with WinCSD, a utility that allows you to build a Customer Specific Dictionary (CSD). Use of a CSD allows you to create your own personal dictionaries of unique words and phrases. Definitions in a CSD will override SYSTRAN PROfessional Premium�s main dictionaries.

5. What is a "topical glossary"?
A topical glossary is a specialized dictionary directly associated with a specific industry. SYSTRAN PROfessional Premium includes 21 industry-specific topical glossaries. Selecting topical glossaries helps improve translation quality. Using topical glossaries allows the translator to choose the appropriate subject fields for the source document. When a text is submitted, one or more topical glossaries may be specified in priority order. The order of precedence determines which definition of a word will be chosen from the dictionary. Topical glossary definitions override SYSTRAN�s main dictionaries.

6. What document types does SYSTRAN PRO support?
SYSTRAN PROfessional Premium supports ASCII, ANSI, RTF, HTML, and SGML file formats.

7. Can I translate e-mail?
Yes. SYSTRAN PROfessional Premium comes with a Eudora plug-in that allows you to translate e-mail from within Eudora. If you do not have Windows 95, 98 or Eudora 3.0 or higher versions, you translate the texts of your e-mails through "cut (or copy) and paste" options.

8. Can I translate web pages?
Yes. SYSTRAN PROfessional Premium is equipped with a Netscape web page translator that allows you to translate Netscape web pages on-the-fly. The Netscape web page translator is available for English into/from French, Italian, German, Spanish and Portuguese bidirectional language pairs.

9. Can I translate directly from other products?
Yes. SYSTRAN PROfessional Premium comes with a Microsoft Word plug-in. This allows you to translate from within Word 7.0 and higher.

10. Can I specify certain words I don�t want translated?
SYSTRAN PROfessional Premium allows you to create a "Do-Not-Translate" list of words.

11. What other tools can I use to increase translation accuracy?
To further increase your accuracy, you can set up a "Not-Found-Word" marker. This symbol will flag any words that were not found in the dictionaries during translation. A "Not-Found-Word" list will be created and you can add this list to a CSD.

12. What if I buy PROfessional Premium and decide to upgrade to Enterprise - will I get a discount?
Yes. If you buy SYSTRAN PROfessional Premium and decide to upgrade to SYSTRAN Enterprise within 60 days of your original purchase date, the amount already paid for SYSTRAN PROfessional Premium will be credited and applied towards your purchase of SYSTRAN Enterprise.

13. What is the price for and where can I purchase SYSTRAN PROfessional Premium?
Contact your local reseller or distributor for retail pricing information and/or purchasing information.

SYSTRAN PROfessional Standard

1. What kind of of product is SYSTRAN PROfessional Standard?
SYSTRAN PROfessional Standard is a native 32- bit natural language translation software, compatible with Windows 3.1, Windows 95, 98 and NT. SYSTRAN PROfessional Standard has built-in options that allow users to increase the accuracy of their translations.

2. Who should use SYSTRAN PROfessional Standard?
SYSTRAN PROfessional Standard is designed for small business users or individuals who have more than the occasional translation needs.

3. What are the system requirements for SYSTRAN PROfessional Standard?
486 or compatible, Windows 3.1 (Win 32s extensions included), Windows 95, 98 and NT, recommended 16 MB RAM, 15 MB hard disk space (per language pair), 20 MB swap file size.

4. Can I add words to the dictionary? What is a user-defined dictionary?
SYSTRAN PROfessional Standard is equipped with WinCSD, a utility that allows you to build a Customer Specific Dictionary (CSD). Use of a CSD allows you to create your own personalized words and phrases. Definitions in a CSD will override SYSTRAN PROfessional Standard�s main dictionaries.

5. What document types does SYSTRAN PROfessional Standard support?
SYSTRAN PROfessional Standard supports ASCII, ANSI, RTF, and HTML file formats.

6. Am I eligible for an upgrade if I buy SYSTRAN PROfessional Standard and then decide to upgrade to PROfessional?
Yes. If you buy SYSTRAN PROfessional Standard and decide to upgrade to SYSTRAN PROfessional Standard within 60 days of your original purchase date, the amount already paid for SYSTRAN PROfessional Standard will be credited and applied towards your purchase of SYSTRAN PROfessional Standard.

7. Where can I purchase SYSTRAN PROfessional Standard?
Contact your local reseller or distributor for information on how to purchase the product.

SYSTRAN Personal

1. What is SYSTRAN Personal?
SYSTRAN Personal is a basic translation software product that is easy and quick to use from within any Windows application. SYSTRAN Personal translates up to 5K of plain text at one time, that is cut or copied to the clipboard. The translated text can then be copied into any word processing program.

2. Who should use SYSTRAN Personal?
SYSTRAN Personal is designed for individual users with personal translation needs. It's simple and fun for everyone to use.

3. What are the system requirements for SYSTRAN Personal?
SYSTRAN Personal is compatible with Windows 95/98/NT and requires approximately 15 MB hard disk space per language pair.

4. What is the price for SYSTRAN Personal?
US$ 29.00 per unidirectional language pair, download version
US$ 69.00 per bidirectional language pair, physical (shrink-wrapped) product

5. Where can I purchase SYSTRAN Personal?
SYSTRAN Personal is available by our resellers.

Technical SYSTRAN Questions (Common trouble)

1. I have an error message when I try to translate my rtf saved with Word
Some version of Word does not produce a correct RTF format, the solution is to save your document, with WORDPAD in rft format.

2. SYSTRAN does not see the RTF file I want to translate.
You have to save your file with a name of 8 characters without space.

SYSTRAN PROfessional Premium

1. When I activate a language pair, I cannot translate.
When you activate a language on SYSTRAN PROfessional Premium, you have to put the Activation code and then to validate. After the message of success, you must stop and restart SYSTRAN PROfessional Premium.

SYSTRAN Enterprise

1. In Word, message : Error writing output files.
The Word plug-in. For the first in Word, if we translate words typed in the default document without save it, we obtain this message. We need to translate a file on the disk before to avoid this.

2. Why does my IP address is reversed and it doesn't work?
If we specify it in "configuration manuelle", it works fine. It's the same with Win98 or NT4 workstation.

3. The plug-in Word doesn't work, the file ssinetop.dll is not found.
You have to copy from enterprise\client:
SSIUTILS.DLL
SSICNTRL.DLL
SSINET.DLL
SSINETOP.DLL
LSAPIW32.DLL to winnt\system32.