Setting Up the Visual Studio Project

Learn how to set up a batch task plug-in project in Trados Studio. This guide helps you create a plug-in that compiles and implements an empty batch task visible in Trados Studio. Initially, the plug-in does not contain application logic or perform any tasks.

How to Create the Visual Studio Project

Ensure that you have installed the Visual Studio extension Trados Studio templates. Then open Microsoft Visual Studio 2022. When you create a new project, you see the following options: Use these templates to set up the skeleton of a Trados Studio plug-in project. Select Custom Batch Task (2021).

The Plug-in Skeleton

The plug-in template adds the required references to your project: It also adds the following skeleton classes:

The Plug-in Declaration: ID, Name, Description

Open the MyCustomBatchTask.cs class. This class contains the plug-in declaration, including the plug-in name and description that are visible in Trados Studio:

• Plug-in Declaration

// Plug-in is declared to Studio with is, name and description
// Furthermore, you declare the type of file that is processed with this plug-in
// This sample plug-in works on bilingual SDLXliff files, i.e. not on native source files
[AutomaticTask("My_Custom_Batch_Task_ID", "My_Custom_Batch_Task_Name", "My_Custom_Batch_Task_Description",
    GeneratedFileType = AutomaticTaskFileType.BilingualSource)]

Give the batch task plug-in a new name, ID, and description. Instead of setting these values directly in this class, enter the strings in the PluginResources.resx file:

Note

You also declare what kind of files the batch task works on here. Most batch tasks are used to process bilingual SDLXliff files, not native files such as DOCX or PPTX. This also applies to our sample implementation.

In this class, you also reference the settings page that allows users to configure batch task settings through the plug-in UI:

• Plug-in Declaration

// References the settings page, i.e. the UI in which the user can configure plug-in settings
[AutomaticTaskSupportedFileType(AutomaticTaskFileType.NativeSource)]
[RequiresSettings(typeof(MyCustomBatchTaskSettings), typeof(MyCustomBatchTaskSettingsPage))]

The Plug-in Build Folder

Sign your assembly, and then build it. The project is automatically configured to build the plug-in file into the folder: %AppData%\Trados\Trados Studio\19\Plugins\Packages\ . After building, you should find the file Custom Batch Task1.sdlplugin. Now start Trados Studio. Because the plug-in is not yet officially signed by RWS, you see the following message when the application starts: For now, ignore this message. Click Yes to ensure that Trados Studio extracts the plug-in file. After Studio starts, you should find the sub-folder Custom Batch Task1 under %AppData%\Trados\Trados Studio\19\Plugins\Unpacked\ . This sub-folder contains the unpacked plug-in assemblies.

In the batch tasks list of Trados Studio, you see the name of your newly compiled plug-in:

When you select your sample batch task, you see the following window with the plug-in description:

At this point, your batch task is not doing anything yet, but you have successfully integrated your plug-in into Trados Studio. In the following pages, you will enhance this basic plug-in with additional functionality. Close Trados Studio and go back to your Microsoft Visual Studio project.