Technical requirements


Microsoft Windows 10 or 11 (not guaranteed for previous versions like Windows 8.1 and Windows 7) and Microsoft Access (2016 or higher) installed through Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365) or otherwise. Remember, on January 14, 2020, Microsoft stopped providing security updates or support for PCs with Windows 7.

IMPORTANT: Tb-Scout v3.3 is compatible with both 32-bit Access and 64-bit Access.

To know whether you are using 32-bit Microsoft Access or 64-bit Microsoft Access (or for that matter, Word, Excel or PowerPoint), in the opening window or in the File menu go to Account, then select About Access. 
At the end of the highlighted first line you can see "64-bit" or "32-bit", as shown:


Remember, any MultiTerm Termbase (from 2019 till present) is nothing more and nothing less than an Office file (Microsoft 365 or Office 365 or Office 2016 and up).


You may also need Microsoft Excel and Adobe Acrobat reader (any web browser will do too) to be able to read the exported data in these formats, .xlsx and .pdf, respectively.


If Microsoft Access is not available, download and install Microsoft 365 Access Runtime (a free download in either the 32-bit or 64-bit versions in all supported languages) directly from Microsoft website.


A necessary explanatory note about the [background] technology


MultiTerm Termbases are stored in Microsoft Access databases, just a data repository (sort of a "backend"). Any MultiTerm Termbase by itself has no functionality, it is just a data container, and nothing else. The functionality is provided by MultiTerm Desktop and/or Trados Studio (as "frontend" applications). It is therefore not correct to blame all the longstanding dysfunctional features and limitations of these two SDL/RWS applications on Microsoft Access. 

The MultiTerm database format .sdltb still uses practically the same data model of the original MultiTerm launched in 1990 by Trados GmbH as a terminology database for translation professionals. A data model defines how data is structured into entities ("tables") and connected to each other and how they are processed and stored inside the system or through a third-party application.

Tb-Scout 3.0 (another "frontend" application) runs on top of Microsoft Access, a very stable and scalable "platform". While other popular (open source) databases like MySQL, MariaDB, and commercial database systems like Microsoft SQL Server and Oracle, etc. are great systems in their own right, Microsoft Access (already 30 years in the market) when compared to them is not a subpar database system, nor an "ancient" technology. Microsoft Access is a very sophisticated system with an Integrated Development Environment (IDE). Its only limitation is the maximum capacity of 2GB and, for other users, the fact that it is a paid product by Microsoft (except the run-time version).


You can learn more about Microsoft Access database files and objects in this Microsoft page on the subject. Microsoft Access is one of the best software tools in the relational database management system (RDBMS) realm. In fact, enlyft, an AI-driven platform that leverages machine learning to discover and understand millions of companies worldwide, has data on 135,000+ companies that use Microsoft Access. To learn more...
In addition, you can also explore Blue Claw Database Developer Resource. To learn more...


All supported SDL products (must have a valid product license). Tb-Scout v3.3 (the MultiTerm version) verifies that you have the requisite software installed. However, there is also a MultiTerm-less version of Tb-Scout v3.3, available upon request.

MultiTerm 2022, SDL MultiTerm 2021 and all the way back to SDL MultiTerm 2009 are supported, both 32-bit and 64-bit versions. Should you require any specific version, please contact the developer.


Important fact: The MultiTerm format, identified with the extension .sdltb, is for all intents and purposes the same since 2009. Therefore, any version of MultiTerm Desktop or Trados Studio will be able to open and edit any MultiTerm Termbase created after 2009. For instance, with MultiTerm 2014 Desktop you can open and edit a Termbase created with MultiTerm 2022 Desktop.


Finally, if you will use the Translation Memory module you will need to set up first a Windows ODBC Data Source with a SQLite3 ODBC driver.