Segment Status Switcher is a recent addition to the SDL AppStore. After installing the app, you’ll be able to change a segment from Translated to Draft or Not Translated with a couple of clicks or a shortcut. Before I discuss the new app, I’ll briefly look at segment status in Studio: what it’s for and how it works.

What does the segment status show?

When you open a file in the Editor window, the column sandwiched between the source and target segments shows the current situation of the target segment.

Basically, empty target segments show a Not Translated status (a blank sheet icon), segments that have been pretranslated with fuzzy matches or edited manually show a Draft status (blue pencil icon), and confirmed segments show a Translated status (green pencil icon with a tick). The other icons show possible statuses when you’re working in review and sign-off mode.

The icons provide a quick visual reference of what needs to be translated or revised. You can also filter by segment status to see a single status only in the Editor window. In the ribbon, go to the Review tab and click the funnel icon, or use the Studio 2017 Advanced Display Filter.

The segment status is updated automatically as you work.

Why change a segment status manually?

You might want to:

• mark a segment as Translated without saving it in your translation memory. This is useful if you want the progress bar at the bottom to show 100% complete, but don’t want to fill your TM with noise from addresses, proper names, URLs, etc. In other words, changing the segment status to Translated doesn’t save the segment in the TM.
• flag a confirmed segment to revisit it later. Switching the status to Draft will help you find it later.
• reject a segment in Review mode and find you change your mind later. Then you’d need to switch it back to Translation Approved.

How to change the segment status

In all Studio versions, to change the status of a single segment, do a right mouse click anywhere in the segment, click on Change Segment Status and then select the new status.

To change the status of several segments at once, select them by clicking on a segment number to the left of the source text, and then select the other segments using Ctrl+left mouse click. Then do a right mouse click, choose Change Segment Status and select the new status.

However, this method involves too many mouse clicks and no shortcuts.
Enter a recent addition to the SDL AppStore: Segment Status Switcher.

Download and install the free app to get all the status icons grouped together on the Add-Ins tab.

These icons don’t have shortcuts assigned by default, but the Alt KeyTips on the ribbon work. Click Alt,D,R to change a segment to Translated. Or Alt,D,D to change it to Draft.

You can, of course, add your own shortcuts to each status. To do that, go to File>Options>Keyboard Shortcuts>Segment Status Switcher, and add a shortcut.

The only drawback is that the app works on single segments only, so you can’t select several at a time and apply your shortcut.

Nevertheless, I think it’s a useful app. I missed not being able to use shortcuts to perform these actions and now I save a few clicks every day!