Documentation Center

TM weighted scoring

The scoring algorithm calculates a percentage effort score based on the cheapest path of transforming one segment into another. The underlying process uses the string difference algorithm.

The basic idea is that the system associates a cost to each step required to transform one segment to the other based on the elements that make up the segment. The cost is a factor of the transformation required. For example:
  • Inserting a word may have an associated cost of 1 unit of work.
  • Correcting the punctuation following a word may have a significantly smaller cost.
  • Matching elements yield a zero-cost edit.
The cost of each edit is averaged out over the total number of edits to yield a final score that represents the transformation effort.
WorldServer translation memory currently supports the transforms described in the following table. There is no plan to make changes to this table.
TransformDefault CostConfigurableNotes
delete elementelement weightNoElement weights are configurable, but a delete always costs the weight of the element.
insert elementelement weightNo(same as for delete elment)
keep elementno costNoThe elements match. The match is determined independently of surrounding (preceding or following) punctuation or whitespace.
The following table describes the supported correction penalties:
Correction PenaltyDefault CostConfigurableNotes
Capitalization.01 unitYesApplies only to words.
Punctuation.005 unitYesCovers all non-alphanumeric data, not just punctuation. Penalty is exacted whenever a prefix or suffix differs between the compared elements.
Placeholderouter: .01 unit

inner: .25 unit

YesRepresents a minor penalty assessed when the two placeholders being compared have different sequence numbers.

The maximum cost of an edit step is the weight of the element being transformed. Insert and delete transforms automatically result in a maximum cost. As a result, penalties apply only to keep transforms.

The penalties are weighted, not absolute. These penalties are applied to the transform step, and thus are averaged across all transform steps.