{{Infobox Software
, name = TranslateCAD
, logo =
, screenshot =
, caption =
, developer = TranslationToSpanish.com
, released = 2008
, latest release version = 1.4.4
, latest release date = April 16, 2010
, operating system = Microsoft Windows
, platform = NT/
2000
File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...
Vista
Vista usually refers to a distant view.
Vista may also refer to:
Software
*Windows Vista, the line of Microsoft Windows client operating systems released in 2006 and 2007
* VistA, (Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture) ...
/
Windows 7
Windows 7 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was released to manufacturing on July 22, 2009, and became generally available on October 22, 2009. It is the successor to Windows Vista, released nearly ...
Proprietary software
Proprietary software is software that is deemed within the free and open-source software to be non-free because its creator, publisher, or other rightsholder or rightsholder partner exercises a legal monopoly afforded by modern copyright and i ...
, website
TranslateCAD is a tool for
computer-aided translation
Computer-aided translation (CAT), also referred to as computer-assisted translation or computer-aided human translation (CAHT), is the use of software to assist a human translator in the translation process. The translation is created by a huma ...
software
Software is a set of computer programs and associated software documentation, documentation and data (computing), data. This is in contrast to Computer hardware, hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work.
...
, designed to extract translatable text from CAD drawings saved in the industry-standard
DXF
AutoCAD DXF (Drawing Interchange Format, or Drawing Exchange Format) is a CAD data file format developed by Autodesk for enabling data interoperability between AutoCAD and other programs.
DXF was introduced in December 1982 as part of AutoCA ...
format - regardless of the CAD software used to create such drawings - so that professional translators are able to translate in plain text using a number of
CAT
The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of ...
tools available.
The translatable text is saved in a Unicode Text file that can be translated using any
CAT
The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of ...
tool available. The advantages of translating out of the drawing CAD software environment are:
* It is faster to translate in plain-text format than using the native MTEXT or TEXT command in AutoCAD
* The translator is able to re-utilize translation memories, glossaries, dictionaries and other features of the CAT tool being used
* The special Unicode fonts can be visualized better using the CAT software than the drawing software
The disadvantages of doing so are:
* Some visibility is lost during the process. Users may need to go back to the drawing to see more context.
* Not 100% of the drawings are not subject to be converted to
DXF
AutoCAD DXF (Drawing Interchange Format, or Drawing Exchange Format) is a CAD data file format developed by Autodesk for enabling data interoperability between AutoCAD and other programs.
DXF was introduced in December 1982 as part of AutoCA ...
(See Limitations section)
Once the translator has created the target-language equivalent, TranslateCAD re-creates a
DXF
AutoCAD DXF (Drawing Interchange Format, or Drawing Exchange Format) is a CAD data file format developed by Autodesk for enabling data interoperability between AutoCAD and other programs.
DXF was introduced in December 1982 as part of AutoCA ...
drawing merging the extracted translatable text with the rest of the elements in the
DXF
AutoCAD DXF (Drawing Interchange Format, or Drawing Exchange Format) is a CAD data file format developed by Autodesk for enabling data interoperability between AutoCAD and other programs.
DXF was introduced in December 1982 as part of AutoCA ...
file, such as lines, circles, dimensions, page properties, etc.
TranslateCAD is not a CAT tool itself, but a tagger software, that serves as a bridge between the target format and the
CAT
The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of ...
software.
The translator would need to check (and edit if needed) the target-language drawing in order to accommodate the different lengths of words/phrases into the original layout; applicable specifically when translating between European and Asian/Far East languages, due to the differences found in lengths among ideograms/glyphs and alphabet-based languages.
File Format Support
TranslateCAD reads and writes
DXF
AutoCAD DXF (Drawing Interchange Format, or Drawing Exchange Format) is a CAD data file format developed by Autodesk for enabling data interoperability between AutoCAD and other programs.
DXF was introduced in December 1982 as part of AutoCA ...
files, supporting
AutoCAD
AutoCAD is a commercial computer-aided design (CAD) and drafting software application. Developed and marketed by Autodesk, AutoCAD was first released in December 1982 as a desktop app running on microcomputers with internal graphics controllers. ...
versions from r14 through 2010.
DWG files are not supported directly, although the user may use the Save-as menu within AutoCAD in order to export the drawings to be translated into
DXF
AutoCAD DXF (Drawing Interchange Format, or Drawing Exchange Format) is a CAD data file format developed by Autodesk for enabling data interoperability between AutoCAD and other programs.
DXF was introduced in December 1982 as part of AutoCA ...
format. Alternatively, there are a number of shareware or freeware tools that perform this task.
Known Limitations
* Translate CAD handles only
DXF
AutoCAD DXF (Drawing Interchange Format, or Drawing Exchange Format) is a CAD data file format developed by Autodesk for enabling data interoperability between AutoCAD and other programs.
DXF was introduced in December 1982 as part of AutoCA ...
files outside of
AutoCAD
AutoCAD is a commercial computer-aided design (CAD) and drafting software application. Developed and marketed by Autodesk, AutoCAD was first released in December 1982 as a desktop app running on microcomputers with internal graphics controllers. ...
or compatible software; it is not integrated with the drawing software itself.
* Most legacy drawings were created using the outdated DTEXT (or simply TEXT) object that supports only one line of text, instead of the current MTEXT that handles several lines of text into one single object. The result of using DTEXT is that the translator frequently founds isolated words that sometimes don't make sense without the appropriate context/order. DTEXT object don't support Unicode, so if the drawing is to be translated into a Unicode-based language, the DTEXT objects need to be converted into MTEXT with a lisp macro in
AutoCAD
AutoCAD is a commercial computer-aided design (CAD) and drafting software application. Developed and marketed by Autodesk, AutoCAD was first released in December 1982 as a desktop app running on microcomputers with internal graphics controllers. ...
.
* If translating from/to a Unicode-based language, the user needs to install an AutoCAD-compatible Unicode font into his/her system.
*
DXF
AutoCAD DXF (Drawing Interchange Format, or Drawing Exchange Format) is a CAD data file format developed by Autodesk for enabling data interoperability between AutoCAD and other programs.
DXF was introduced in December 1982 as part of AutoCA ...
format has glitches: certain drawings are rendered unreadable if saved in
DXF
AutoCAD DXF (Drawing Interchange Format, or Drawing Exchange Format) is a CAD data file format developed by Autodesk for enabling data interoperability between AutoCAD and other programs.
DXF was introduced in December 1982 as part of AutoCA ...
format rather than the Native DWG file format. It is advised to use a different tool for this kind of drawings.
See also
*
Computer assisted translation
Computer-aided translation (CAT), also referred to as computer-assisted translation or computer-aided human translation (CAHT), is the use of software to assist a human translator in the translation process. The translation is created by a huma ...
*
AutoCAD
AutoCAD is a commercial computer-aided design (CAD) and drafting software application. Developed and marketed by Autodesk, AutoCAD was first released in December 1982 as a desktop app running on microcomputers with internal graphics controllers. ...
*
DXF
AutoCAD DXF (Drawing Interchange Format, or Drawing Exchange Format) is a CAD data file format developed by Autodesk for enabling data interoperability between AutoCAD and other programs.
DXF was introduced in December 1982 as part of AutoCA ...
(Drawing Exchange Format)
*
CAD
Computer-aided design (CAD) is the use of computers (or ) to aid in the creation, modification, analysis, or optimization of a design. This software is used to increase the productivity of the designer, improve the quality of design, improve co ...