Translation Memory Exchange (xml)

Translation Memory Exchange (TMX) is an industry-standard XML format for exchanging translation memory data between computer-aided translation tools. Rather than being an application localisation format, TMX is a container for bilingual translation units — source and target string pairs that can be imported into translation environments to seed the translation memory.

TMX files contain translation units (tu elements) where each unit holds multiple translation variant elements (tuv) identified by locale code. Each tuv contains a seg element with the string text. Properties and notes can be attached to translation units. The xml:lang attribute on tuv elements identifies the language using standard BCP 47 tags. TMX files are typically generated by translation memory systems and CAT tools when exporting their memory databases.

Best practice: use TMX imports to seed a new Language Monster project with existing translations from a previous tool or agency. A well-maintained TMX import provides an immediate Translation Memory baseline, reducing the initial translation cost for a project migration. Language Monster can import TMX files to populate Translation Memory, ensuring strings already translated elsewhere are available for reuse before any new translation work begins.

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