Editing Computer-assisted translation (section)

===Translation memory software===
[[Translation memory]] programs store previously translated source texts and their equivalent target texts in a database and retrieve related segments during the translation of new texts.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|title=Terminology Management and MT|url=http://www.circuitmagazine.org/images/stories/documents/archives/ci_117_12.pdf|journal=Circuit|volume=117}}</ref>

Such programs split the source text into manageable units known as "segments". A source-text sentence or sentence-like unit (headings, titles or elements in a list) may be considered a segment. Texts may also be segmented into larger units such as paragraphs or small ones, such as clauses. As the translator works through a document, the software displays each source segment in turn, and provides a previous translation for re-use if it finds a matching source segment in its database. If it does not, the program allows the translator to enter a translation for the new segment. After the translation for a segment is completed, the program stores the new translation and moves on to the next segment. In the dominant paradigm, the translation memory is, in principle, a simple database of fields containing the source language segment, the translation of the segment, and other information such as segment creation date, last access, translator name, and so on. Another translation memory approach does not involve the creation of a database, relying on aligned reference documents instead.<ref>{{cite web|title=CAT Tools vs. Machine Translation: What's the Best Method?|date=21 December 2015 |url=https://asianabsolute.co.uk/cat-tools-vs-machine-translation-whats-the-best-method/|publisher=Asian Absolute|access-date=29 January 2017}}</ref>

Some translation memory programs function as [[Computer software|standalone]] environments, while others function as an [[Plug-in (computing)|add-on]] or [[Macro (computer science)|macro]] for commercially available word-processing or other business software programs. Add-on programs allow source documents from other formats, such as desktop publishing files, [[spreadsheet]]s, or [[HTML]] code, to be handled using the TM program. For an example, see [[MEMOrg]].