TM size when converting from Studio 2011 to 2019

Question

Hi all, and a Happy New Year! 
 I have been using Studio 2011 for years and recently purchased Studio 2019 via a group buy at proz.com. I have been spending the holidays upgrading my TMs from 2011 format to 2019 format using the wizard in Studio 2019 and plan to start using Studio 2019 right after the holidays. After it finished upgrading the TMs, I noticed something peculiar: The TMs in 2019 format are between 10% and 600% larger (that is, 6 times larger!) than the same TMs in 2011 format (and with basically the same number of TUs - an insignificant number of TUs would sometimes have disappeared during conversion). My 160 TMs (for individual end clients) total less than 6 GB in 2011 format, but almost 20 GB in 2019 format. This is quite a significant size difference - is this normal? I should mention that I converted all TMs in one batch using the same settings, including "Create output translation memory for each input translation memory". If this size increase means that the TMs are more efficient in 2019 format, then I don't mind at all - with Studio 2011, I often experienced that Studio would not find a TU which I had added to the TM a few minutes earlier while working on the same project. Will the 2019 format (or Studio 2019) fix this problem? 
 Also, I noticed that the upgrade process includes steps called Build Translation Model and Align Translation Units. What do they do? During the Build step the wizard showed a message saying "Analyzing X entries", where X is a number that went much higher than the number of TUs in the TM (it went to about 85 million for a TM with about 400,000 TUs) - why is that? And why is it necessary to align TUs in an existing TM? 
 Since I have already "gotten my hands dirty" with the upgrading of TMs, I thought I might do some cleaning up and administrative work on my TMs as well. One thing I would like to do is merge certain smaller TMs with one existing larger TM. The upgrade wizard in Studio 2019 contains a function for this (by using the setting "Create output translation memory for each language pair" and then running the wizard with only the TMs I want to merge). But is there any difference in the efficiency of the resulting TM if I convert several TMs in 2011 format to one TM in 2019 format using the wizard, compared to if I simply export a TMX file from each of the smaller TMs I want to merge with the large TM and import them into the large TM? In the latter case, I assume that it is better to export from TMs already converted to 2019 format? 
 Finally, is it possible/advisable to re-use project templates from Studio 2011 with 2019? I have templates for lots of clients and would rather not have to create them all from scratch, unless there are disadvantages (like missing out on new functionalities) by re-using them. And will it be possible to open projects (.sdlproj files) created with Studio 2011 in Studio 2019 without problems? I will basically do a "clean break" and not continue working on projects created in Studio 2011 with 2019, but in the future I might have to go back and check something in old projects - can I do that with Studio 2019? 
 Thanks a lot in advance for all replies! 
 Best regards, 
 Dennis

Oana Nagy · Accepted Answer

Hello @Dennis Boffy , 
 I think now I have found the resolution after at last being able to replicate the issue. 
 I am trying to use the DB test template that I know I deleted earlier- 
 
 So Studio throws the error... 
 
 Studio is remembering the template in the Setup (File-Setup-Templates) 
 
 Now when I delete the offending template leaving just two examples- 
 
 I can no longer select the 'deleted' Template and therefore no longer get the error message. 
 This should then also remedy the issue where - 
 Dennis Boffy said: I get the error message "There is already a project template with the specified name".

Oana Nagy · Answer

Hello Dennis Boffy , 
 When upgrading your 2011 TM's the Uplift feature is automatically applied to the TM's which will significantly increase the size of your TM's- 
 This is normal behaviour and one of the new features of Studio 2019- allowing you noy only to benefit from full segment matches- but also 'fragment matches' 
 https://www.sdltrados.com/products/trados-studio/uplift/ 
 The realigning of the TM's is also part of the upgrade process- Studio is only informing you of what is happening in the background- so nothing to worry about. 
 Of course if you want to merge smaller TM's into one larger TM, then you can of course do so- however, I would probably suggest that you do not merge everything into one big TM but keep these separated based on the content (and make regular back-ups as TMX). 
 Regarding 'templates' - 
 We would most certainly not recommend using 2011 templates (or from any legacy version in Studio) abut rather spend some time creating new templates to use in Studio 2019. This way you can ensure everything is compatible with Studio 2019.

Oana Nagy · Answer

Hello Dennis Boffy , 
 
Thanks for getting back to me. 
I really would not recommend using old templates! 
This may save you time in the short term, but could end up costing far more longer term. 
Simply put its best to invest the time now and get properly setup, than not be able to work later. 
A good example of this would be for instance- if a new project contained files from the latest Office version/PDF's/IDML etc. that Studio 2011 simply cannot handle (meaning also the template is out of date). 
 
Unfortunately AHK is not something I can help you with (yet- still learning)- but others reading this thread should be able to. 
There is also a special thread for AHK questions 
 community.sdl.com/.../400

Oana Nagy · Answer

Hello Dennis Boffy , 
 What happens when you browse to the templates folder and then delete the template from the folder?

When I do this - it no longer shows in the Use settings from option (you need to close the wizard after deleting the template and then reopen again)

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TM size when converting from Studio 2011 to 2019