Deprecation of the Legacy Filters in SDL WorldServer

Symptoms

As SDL continues to deliver on our strategic goal of consolidating on a single technology stack for language processing, we are pleased to see continual adoption of the next generation of SDL File Types, producing SDLXLIFF files for translation and review in SDL Trados Studio. Going forward, we would like to make all our users - system owners, project managers, translators, reviewers - aware of our clear intent to deprecate the legacy filters.

The planned date for this deprecation, in line with SDL's end-of-life policy, will be 18 months after the release of SDL WS 11.1 (General Availability: December 2016).

Explanation

As we monitor the increasing adoption of the SDLXLIFF-based File Types, we need to focus our engineering efforts on these newer filters. For a better integration between WorldServer and Trados Studio we will use the same version of SDL File Types. Issues reported through the Support channel relating to legacy file filters will draw the following response:

  1. SDL Support will test the file using the equivalent SDLXLIFF-based File Type.
  2. If the issue is not evident here, the recommended resolution will be to switch to the newer File
  3. If the issue is still exhibited by the SDLXLIFF-based File Type, this will be logged against this filter.
  4. Engineering will resolve the issue only in this newer filter.

One important premise that all users should be aware of is that all defects reported against legacy filters will no longer be resolved after the release of WS 11.1. In reality, our user base should appreciate no difference in response, given that this is the current status quo.

For next WorldServer release the legacy filters will be marked as “Deprecated”. The default values for MIME-Types for new installations will be the newest SDL File Types. Existing file types based on legacy filters continue to work for new or ongoing jobs but SDL encourages you to migrate to using the new file types where possible.

This article is intended to formalize and publicize this state of affairs to provide unambiguous clarity.

Legacy Filter

New SDL Filter

DOC Filter 

 Microsoft Word 2000-2003 File Type

 Microsoft Word 2007-2013 File Type

 Microsoft Word 2007-2016 File Type

Excel Filter

Microsoft Excel 2000-2003 File Type

Microsoft Excel 2007-2013 File Type

Microsoft Excel 2007-2016 File Type

HTML (NT) Filter

HTML 4 File Type, HTML 5 File Type

InDesign Filter 

Adobe InDesign CS4-CC IDML File Type

Java Properties Filter 

Java Resources File Type

JavaScript Filter  

JavaScript Filter

JSP/ASP Filter 

HTML 4 File Type, HTML 5 File Type

MIF Filter 

Adobe FrameMaker 8-13 MIF File Type

PPT Filter 

Microsoft PowerPoint 2007-2013 File Type

Microsoft PowerPoint XP-2003 File Type

Quark Filter 

 QuarkXPress Export File Type

RTF Filter 

Rich Text Format (RTF) File Type

SGML Filter

HTML 5 File Type

Text Filter

Text File Type

XML (NT Filter) 

Any XML File Type

Custom XML (Embedded Content Processor) File Type

XLS Filter 

Microsoft Excel 2000-2003 File Type