AutoComplete in WFC

AC in a Wordfast Classic session

AutoComplete (AC) is an optional feature in Wordfast Classic v. 6, designed to speed up translation work by suggesting words or phases as you type.

Whenever the AC drop-down list suggests to complete what you started to type, you can continue typing and ignore the suggestion, or press Enter to use the suggestion. Suppose the source segment contains proper names like Zbigniew Brzeziński or Grossbliederstroff: AC will suggest those names as soon as a capital A or G is typed. The image on the right shows another example: the translation for a recognized term is suggested.

Some other CAT tools have features similar to Classic's AC; for example, SDL Trados Studio features AutoSuggest. AutoComplete in Wordfast Classic strives to outperform other tools with user friendliness and richness of the sources for the suggestions. The propositions in Classic can be based on Translation Memory, Machine Translation, terminology, and placeables.

To see how AC works in Wordfast Classic, watch this video by Dominique Pivard a.k.a. CATguru.

AC options in Wordfast Classic

The AC tab in Wordfast Classic

AutoComplete settings in Wordfast Classic are found on the Setup > AC tab in the Classic window.

To turn AC on/off, check or uncheck Let AutoComplete suggest at the top of the tab.

To set up the active AC options, check or uncheck the following options:

• Segments from the Translation Memory

This option will pop up a list of TM matches, 100% or fuzzy, as soon as a new segment opens. Other shortcuts and methods (Alt+left/right to cycle through the various segment propositions, if applicable, or Ctrl+Alt+M to display more detail from the TM) remain effective.

• Segments from Machine Translation

If MT is set up in the Translation Memory / MT pane, machine-translated segments wil appear in the AC drop-down list.

• Subsegments from Translation Memory

Subsegments from the TM will be proposed whenever possible.

• Subsegments from Machine Translation

Subsegments from MT will be proposed whenever possible.

• Placeables from the source segment

If Wordfast senses that some source terms are likely to be untranslatables (because they begin with a capital letter, contain figures, etc.), they will be suggested as soon as you begin to type them in the target segment.

• Terminology from glossaries

If you begin to type two or more letters that match a source or target terminology that Wordfast has recognized in the source segment, a suggestion for autocomplete will pop up.

• Disable AC until I press Escape (AC on-demand)

If AC is annoying, check this option. AC will be active only when you press Escape, and only for the duration of the currently opened segment.

• Enable AC on already-translated segments

This option is currently deprecated. By default, AC is active only on new segments at the moment when they are created. This option will enable AC even when you revise, or open again existing segments. Check this option if, for example, your client sends you already-segmented documents for revision or post-edition.

AutoComplete and AutoCorrect

If you use the AutoCorrect feature in Microsoft Word, activating AutoComplete in Wordfast Classic can make Word's AutoCorrect unreliable. If this happens and you wish to have AutoCorrect working properly, disable AutoComplete in WFC.