"Multiple Placeholder Tags with the Same ID" Error When Adding a Bilingual Doc File to a Studio Project

Problem: Adding a bilingual doc file to an existing Studio project and then choosing the batch task Prepare Without Project TM causes Studio to throw an error citing multiple placeholder tags with the same ID, causing the Convert to Translatable Format task to fail.

For some reason, if the file is open under a Single Document workflow (instead of being added to an existing project), Studio is able to open and process the file correctly. So if this is more convenient (for example, if it's just one file, a single TM, etc.), then this would be the fastest solution: treat the file as a Single Document instead of adding it to a project. (Note that you may still get the error when attempting to save the file, but the target file will still be produced.)

However, since using a Single Document workflow is not always practical, a solution to this issue is described below.

(Apparent) cause: I have been able to narrow down the cause for this problem to the use of page number fields in Word documents that cause this error. The screenshot below shows the only content of the file I used for this test.

Solution: What has worked for me has been temporarily replacing the page number fields in the bilingual doc file, adding the file to my project, working on the file in Studio, exporting as target, and then, in the target bilingual doc, adding back the page number files. So the steps are:

1. Replace the number fields with random letters:

2. Save the file in Word, add it to the Studio project, and process normally.

3. Translate the file in Studio. When the relevant TU is processed, Studio will give a tag verification error because I only removed the page number and number of pages fields in the target segment, but the tags remained for the source segment:

Fortunately, this doesn't prevent me from saving the target file.

4. Restore the page number fields in the target file.

Upon opening the target file, we can see that the "X" and "Y" are still where the page number fields should be:

A simple copy-paste operation in Word restores the page number fields:

And that's it. This needs to be done for each individual file in the project that throws this error.

Studio 2014: Termbase Needs to be Reorganized, but How?

Studio 2014 is here! That means that many of us will be opening Projects created in Studio 2011, and it is likely that we will get an error message with some of our termbases, indicating that the termbase needs to be reorganized.

The process itself is quick and painless, but the error message Studio 2014 throws can be confusing, as it makes mention of a Termbase Management view that we will not find in Studio 2014 at all.

First of all, let us remember that Studio 2014 and Multiterm 2014 are two separate programs. If both are properly installed, we will see the two different icons on our desktop:

This is the error we get in Studio 2014 with some termbases created in Multiterm 2011.

Notice the reference to the "Termbase Management view". Once again, this is not in Studio 2014, but in Multiterm 2014, which means you have to open Multiterm 2014 (the green icon on your desktop*), where you will see the image below:

*If there is no Multiterm 2014 green icon on your desktop or anywhere in your computer, you may need to head back to your account in SDL, download and install Multiterm 2014.

Once you open Multiterm 2014, you will see the Termbase Management view on the bottom left, under the Home tab. But before you can reorganize the termbase, you need to open it. To do so, click on the File tab, and then select Open Termbase:

It is likely that while trying to open the termbase, Multiterm 2014 will throw the same error you saw earlier in Studio:

Click OK to dismiss the error message, and make sure you select the Termbase Management view on the bottom left, which should take you to this view:

Here you will see the Reorganize button on the ribbon, click on it and follow the wizard.

The reorganization process is pretty fast, so you should be done in only a few minutes, or seconds, as was the case with this small termbase.

Once the process is complete, you can go back to Studio 2014, where no further steps are needed, once you move to a segment that contains one of the terms in your newly-reorganized termbase, the term will be recognized as usual.

Termbases that throw this error only need to be reorganized once, and the reorganization procedure will not affect their functionality in Studio 2011.