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Translation Memory eXchange (TMX)

About TMX

TMX logo

TMX (Translation Memory eXchange) is the vendor-neutral open XML standard for the exchange of Translation Memory (TM) data created by Computer Aided Translation (CAT) and localization tools. The purpose of TMX is to allow easier exchange of translation memory data between tools and/or translation vendors with little or no loss of critical data during the process. In existence since 1998, TMX is a certifiable standard format. TMX is developed and maintained by OSCAR (Open Standards for Container/Content Allowing Re-use), a LISA Special Interest Group.

Why Use TMX?

Translation Memory (TM) is the backbone of modern localization processes, and the translations stored in TM databases represent a significant investment, in some cases representing millions of dollars. These assets may then support hundreds of millions of dollars of international business. TMX allows organizations to maintain these assets in a vendor-neutral and tool-independent format to allow maximum reuse and freedom to work with the best globalization partners.

TMX offers organizations the following advantages:

  • Maximum flexibility to use the best tool or best partner for the job.
  • Future proofing against technology changes. With TMX you are not tied to the technology choices of your tools provider. If a tool disappears from the market or changes in ways that you don’t like, you are free to choose another tool and take your TM with you.
  • Access to a broader pool of service providers. By using TMX, you can send your TM data to any service provider that uses TMX-compatible tools rather than having to choose only from among those who use a particular tool.
  • Control over TM assets. TMX allows you to maintain your own TM assets and control them rather than turning control of valuable assets over to a third party. This means that you have the freedom to resuse those assets when, where, and how you see fit.

TMX allows companies to take better control over their globalization processes and keep track of their assets.

A Certifiable Standard

TMX 1.4b is a certifiable standard. While any organization may freely use TMX and develop tools that support it, only tools that have been independently certified as complying with the TMX standard may use the TMX logo, which is trademarked by LISA. The following products have been certified as TMX 1.4b compliant and may use the TMX logo:

Product

Company

Ambassador

Transware

SDLX 2003

SDL

SDLX 2004

SDL

Trados 7

SDL

WorldServer

Idiom

Certification lets you rest assured that the product you are using has properly implemented the TMX specification.

TMX Specification

TMX is currently at version 1.4b (October 2004). Release of TMX 2.0 is anticipated in Q1 2008. Use the following links to obtain the TMX DTD and basic TMX utilities:

  • TMX Compliance Kit (WinZip/GZip) [Updated October 7, 2004] This archive contains all of the following components and is everything a software developer needs to design software that conforms and certifies to the TMX standard.

Individual components of the Compliance Kit can be downloaded below:

TMX 2.0

Note that the period for public comment on TMX 2.0 has closed. The first major revision of TMX, TMX 2.0 will introduce a number of changes intended to make it easier to integrate TMX with other standards (such as XLIFF) and to resolve ambiguities in the standard. The draft TMX 2.0 standard is available online for your convenience. Please note that details of TMX 2.0 are subject to change prior to its adoption and implementers are warned that LISA does not take responsibility for compatability between the pre-release document and the final version of the standard, although this version is intended to be reasonably close to the final specification.

Older versions of TMX

The following DTDs for older versions of TMX are available for download, but are obsolete and should not be used except for purposes of providing backward compatibility with tools that implemented these versions of TMX.