Memory locks and saving changes
A memory is a reusable record. An accidental edit can otherwise become a suggestion in later jobs. Searchspeare therefore normally opens saved units confirmed and locked, and requires deliberate unlocking before editing.
Locked pairs remain available for reuse
A lock is an editing safeguard. It does not mean that the translation is independently verified, and it does not stop the saved pair from appearing in matches, Concordance, or pretranslation.
Recognize the editing states
| State | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Confirmed and locked | The saved pair is protected from ordinary editing |
| Confirmed and unlocked | You have allowed editing but have not necessarily changed the content |
| Edited | The workspace contains a pending correction that needs confirmation |
Unlocking a unit does not itself change its stored translation. Changing its source or target creates a pending edit. Confirming saves the edited pair and locks it again.
Unlock one unit
Click the row without a selection modifier so it is the only selected unit, then click its lock control. Edit the source or target only after checking that you have unlocked the intended row.
If you unlock a confirmed pair and decide no correction is needed, you can lock it again without inventing a text edit. That is different from saving an edited pair.
Unlock several units
- Set the filters for the group you intend to inspect.
- Select the locked rows with Shift-click or Ctrl/Command-click, or use Select all for the filtered set.
- Run the selection's Lock/Unlock command.
- Check the lock indicators before starting a batch edit.
For the memory selection command, a uniformly locked selection becomes unlocked and a uniformly unlocked selection becomes locked. A mixed locked/unlocked selection becomes locked together; run the command again if your intention is to unlock that complete group.
The memory Lock/Unlock command is unavailable when the selection contains edited units. Confirm their pending corrections first. Locking is not an alternative save action.
Confirm and save corrections
Select the edited units you want to keep and use Confirm. The supplied memory-editor shortcut is Ctrl+Enter, unless you have changed it.
Confirmation writes the edited source–target pairs back to the open memory, marks them confirmed, and locks them. It operates on the selected edited units; it is not a command to confirm every hidden pending edit automatically.
Both sides need usable content, and malformed tags can prevent a pair from being confirmed. If a save fails or validation reports a problem, inspect the message and pending rows before leaving. A unit still showing Edited has not completed the intended confirmation workflow.
Know what is saved automatically
The memory editor keeps pending changes in the open workspace while you review them. Ordinary typing, moving focus, and applying an editing tool do not replace the memory's explicit confirmation step.
This differs from ordinary project-file autosaving. Do not close a memory tab on the assumption that every keystroke has already updated the reusable memory.
Deleting a memory unit is also a different operation. The deliberate Delete command removes records through its own workflow; a lock is not a general prohibition against that command. See Maintenance.
Leave with pending changes
When you navigate away with unconfirmed memory edits, Searchspeare offers Confirm changes and Discard changes.
- Confirm changes attempts to save the pending edited units before navigation, including pending edits outside your current selection.
- Discard changes leaves without committing those pending corrections.
- Dismissing the decision keeps you in the editor so you can continue reviewing.
If confirmation fails, read the validation or saving message and correct the affected units. Confirm the edits you want to keep before closing; a browser-close warning does not save them.
Use the corrected unit in later projects
You are updating the memory resource for later reuse. Saving a corrected memory pair does not automatically replace existing translations in other project files. Review and update those project targets separately where required.
After a significant correction, inspect relevant memory lookups and any pending project work that depended on the old wording. Keep maintained glossaries aligned with terminology decisions when appropriate.