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Global information management Metrics eXchange - Volume (GMX-V)

About GMX-V

GMX-V was developed to provide a standard method for obtaining word and character classes. Most language-oriented globalization tasks are priced and accounted for in terms of word or character counts. Unfortunately different tools can provide radically different counts for the same text: in tests run by LISA, word counts provided by tools commonly used in the translation process were found to differ by up to 30%. Such differences make it difficult for content creators to know the cost of translation in advance and make direct comparison of prices difficult since the basis for prices is not transparent.

Read more about GMX-V in Global Information Management Metrics (GMX): Slaying the Wordcount Dragon.

Why Use GMX-V?

Word and character counts are a contentious issue because so much depends on their definition. Since prices for translation are based on measures of volume, any changes to how volume is assessed can have a tremendous financial impact on projects. For years, however, localizers and their customers have faced situations in which word counts were not only not transferable across applications, but in some cases were not even the same across versions of the same application. These inconsistencies can lead to situations in which one party is unpleasantly surprised by the resulting difference in costs at the end of the project.

Lack of a word count standard also means that price comparisons between vendors are fraught with difficulty, much as if customers were never exactly sure how big a kilogram might be even though items are sold by weight. For example, a vendor charging €0.14/word on a project might be less expensive than a vendor charging €0.12/word if the first one uses a tool that provides substantially lower word counts.

GMX-V globalization localization vendors and their customers to agree on a standard, independently verifiable cost basis for services before projects even begin. Because the basis for GMX-V word counts is open and fully described (something than cannot be said about the methods of the major counting tools), anyone is free to implement the standard in any process or tool as needed for full transparency.

In addition, unlike traditional word counts, GMX-V supports a wide variety of volume metrics that are suitable for various purposes so that content creators and globalizers can better gauge the scope of a product before it begins. By providing unprecedented transparency and verifiability, GMX-V can be used to improve processes and control costs.

History

GMX-V 1.0 was officially adopted by OSCAR on February 27, 2007.

Specification

The GMX-V specification is in XHTML format and can be viewed or downloaded in the following file formats