Import a Word Table or Excel Spreadsheet into MultiTerm

Explanation:
This approach is intended for tables with more than two columns.

To convert a Word table or an Excel spreadsheet into the MultiTerm import format, you must create a MultiTerm import file. This file can then be imported into a MultiTerm database. Taking this as an example you should get a good impression how to deal with similar tables that include more languages or other fields.

An example of MultiTerm import format:

**
<English>apple¶
<Deutsch>Apfel¶
<Français>pomme¶
<Español>manzana¶
**
<English>orange¶
<Deutsch>Apfelsine¶
<Français>orange¶
<Español>naranja¶

Each full entry is separated by ** delimiters.  Within each entry, there are fields, consisting of a field name, which appears within angled brackets, and its corresponding content. A paragraph mark (¶) separates each field within the entry.  You must structure your file in the same way in order to be able to convert it to a MultiTerm database.

Steps:
If your terminology is already in an Excel table, go directly to the Excel Conversion section below.

To Convert a Table in Word

The easiest way to convert a table in Word into MultiTerm import format is to import the table into Excel.

1.       First, prepare Excel by opening a new file.

2.       In Word open the document containing the table.

3.       Click into the table.

4.       From the Table menu select Select Table.  The whole table will be highlighted.

5.       From the Edit menu select Copy.

6.       In the new Excel file that was created, place the cursor in the first cell.  Select Paste from the Edit menu.

7.       The file can be closed in Word, however, you may want to keep it open as you will need it later.

8.       This file can be saved with the .xls extension for now.

Excel Conversion

1.       Open the file you want to convert into MultiTerm format in Excel.

2.       Highlight the first column, from the Insert menu select Insert Column.

3.       Type two asterisks (**) into the first cell.

4.       Copy this cell to the whole column by dragging the cell with the two asterisks (**) down the column.

5.       For each field, highlight the column and select Insert Column from the Insert menu.  A new column will be inserted directly in front of the highlighted one.

6.       Insert the appropriate field name (<English> for example) into the top cell of each new column.  The field name should always be surrounded by angled brackets and written exactly as it appears in your MultiTerm database.

7.       For each field name, copy the cell to the whole column as in #4.

8.       Save the file as tab delimited text (.txt). There will be a message alerting you that only the active sheet will be saved, click OK, and another message that formatting may change, click Yes.

9.       Close the file in Excel. You may be prompted to save the changes again, click No.

Format the Text for MultiTerm Import

1.       Open the file (.txt) in Word.

2.       Go to Replace under the Edit menu.

3.       Search for any tab (^t) followed by a less than angle bracket (<) and replace these with a paragraph mark (^p) and the less than angle bracket (<). Click Replace All. Note: You can find the "symbols" for paragraph marks or tabs in Word's Find and Replace dialog under More, Special.

4.       Next, search for all remaining tabs (^t) and replace them with nothing.

5.       If your table does not contain empty cells, please proceed with step 5.  If the table contained empty cells (for example, no German term exists at the time of the conversion), this procedure will create Index Fields followed only by a paragraph mark. To make sure that you delete those empty Index Fields, search for each field name in angled brackets (<Deutsch>) followed by a paragraph mark (^p), and replace this with nothing.

6.       Finally, save the file as text only (.txt) again and close it in Word.

Import the File into a MultiTerm Database

You can create a new database, or simply import the file into one that already exists.
Please ensure that the field names in the MultiTerm database are exactly the same as those in the import file.

1.       To create a new database, go to File/Create New Database in MultiTerm and follow the steps to define the settings for the database.

or

To import the file into an already existing database, go to File/Open Database in MultiTerm and open the relevant database.

then

2.       In MultiTerm, go to the File menu and choose Import. The Import Options dialog box will appear. Click OK.

3.       The Open dialog box will appear.

4.       Browse to and choose the name of the import file.

MultiTerm will import the contents of the file and populate the new or existing database with all of the entries from the original glossary that appeared in the Excel spreadsheet or Word table.