#304 Simplify the worflow by putting the "project" concept aside.

[Jean-Christophe Helary]

I am thinking that a lot of beginners are stuck by the "project" concept. I am more and more seeing the "project" feature of OmegaT as an advanced feature that we should radically simplify to lower the entry level. Like make it "text editor" low...

The project is a nice thing when processing multiple files is necessary, but when only one file is involved, having to go through the process of creating a whole project should not be necessary and could anyway be hidden from the user.

To simplify the procedure (which would result in the exact same thing as now in the end) here is what I propose:

We put the "File" menu back.
In the File menu we have:
-Open (File)
-Add File
-Add Dictionnary
-Reload
-Close
-Save
-Translate
-Create Dictionnary

===================================
-> Open does the following:
-instanciates a "File preference" dialog:
[path/browse button] file_name.ext ->possibility to select a folder
[path/browse button] (Use previous translation)
[drop down menu] file language
[drop down menu] translation language
[drop down menu] file encoding
[check box] trigger sentence segmentation
->[text display] dynamic display of segmentation rules based on "file language"
->[button] (click here if you want to change the rules)
[path/browse button] use a translation memory ? ->possibility to select a folder
[path/browse button] use a glossary ? ->possibility to select a folder
[path/browse button] (translated file name) file_name_targetlg.ext
[button] OK

The new "Use previous translation" asks for a file that has been already translated by OmegaT. OmegaT will load all the settings from the project that corresponds to that file (including project_save.tmx). If the user selects a whole project: same behavior-> all the old projects reference files are copied to the new project transparently.

When all the settings are OKed, OmegaT does the following:

At the location of the source file, a normal project is created, within it, all the normal subfolders are present.
The selected source file has been copied to /source/, the selected TMXs to /TM/, the glossaries to /glossary/

The only setting that is not the same as the "standard" default is the target folder.
The target folder is defined as the folder that contains the original source file, and to make sure the original source file is not overwritten, OmegaT uses the pattern "file_name_targetlg.ext" for the target file, and if the name is edited, _refuses_ to save to the original source file name.
The project is called "file_name_omegat".

Pressing OK actually loads the whole set and the translation starts.

Ok, so then we have our project created, without ever using the word "project" :) And for the user, it is _just as if the file had been opened in a normal text editor.

===================================

-> Add File does the following:
-Instanciate a "Add File" dialog:
[path/browse button] file_name.ext
[drop down menu] file language
[drop down menu] translation language
[drop down menu] file encoding
[check box] trigger sentence segmentation
->[text display] dynamic display of segmentation rules based on "file language"
->[button] (click here if you want to change the rules)
[path/browse button] (translated file name) file_name_targetlg.ext
[button] OK

Once OK is pressed, the selected file is copied to /source/ and its target is set to the same place (by default) as the original target with the same conditions as above. The whole thing is reloaded.

===================================

-> Add Dictionnary does the following:
-Instanciate a "Add Dictionnary" dialog:
[path/browse button] use a glossary ? ->possibility to select a folder
[path/browse button] (translated file name) file_name_targetlg.ext
[button] OK

Once OK is pressed, the selected files are copied to the relevant folders. The whole thing is reloaded.

===================================

-Reload -> reloads the whole thing
-Close -> closes the whole thing
-Save -> saves the whole thing (internal TMX etc)
-Translate -> create the target file (see location above)
-Create Dictionnary -> create a TMX 1.4 level2 at the same location as the original source file (where the project was originally created)

===================================

Now the project menu would look like:
-New
-Open
(no more import source files)
-Reload
-Close
-Save
-Translate

With pretty much everything as now, except that "Project properties" and "Project files" (changed to "Files list") are moved to "Tools".

In fact, just like "Open File", "Open Project" starts with displaying the File/Project properties.

When the file is adjacent to a project with the relevant name, the data is taken from the project (thus Open File is equivalent to-> Open Project/Project Properties) clicking on OK confirms the data and loads. For Projects, opening one automatically displays its properties and loads it after confirmation.

===================================

With such settings, it is going to be a breeze to start with OmegaT for beginners. The project structure is always here and can be used once the translator starts working on many files at once. Fiddling with the project becomes a "power user" feature since now all the target files end up next to the original source file. The project itself becomes an enclosed folder bundle that we could even used zipped for convenience.

[Jean-Christophe Helary]

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I'll update this RFE with a bunch of modifications to other already existing ones and a few minor new ones.

[Samuel Murray]

I like this idea (well, most of it). I wonder if the developers are against it. Can we have a comment from the dev team -- is this a bad idea or is it just something that has very low priority?

[Didier Briel]

I'm not "the developers", but I can give my personal opinion.

It's not a question of being "against it", it's a question of finding it useless, not too mention the time needed to develop such a thing.

Hiding things is not really helping in the long run.
We already see it with "Import files", which people believe does some king of magic, instead of just putting files in /source.

Didier

[Samuel Murray]

It's possible that project creation was a lot more complicated in 2006, so this may no longer be necessary.

WFP7 has a "quick project" feature whereby, if you drag and drop a file onto WFP7, it asks you if you want to create a quick project or a normal project. A quick project is a temporary one created in a fixed location with certain fixed parameters. It saves two or three steps when translating just a single file. Perhaps we can have such a feature in OmegaT: if no project is open, and you drag and drop a file onto OmegaT, it creates a project in the user's Documents folder and pops up the project creation dialog, and then loads that file immediately when the project reloads.

[Jean-Christophe Helary]

That's a nice idea.