You try to open a bilingual sdlxliff file for translation in Trados Studio. You receive the following error:

Input file is corrupt: cmt-meta-def element with id xxx has no corresponding cmt-def



In older versions of Trados Studio (e.g. 2017, 2015) the error message is:

Object reference not set to an instance of an object

The full xml error details are attached.

To be able to work with the sdlxliff file, apply workaround A or B. To avoid the issue, refer to workaround C.
 

Workaround A: Recreate project/sdlxliff files

Recreate the project or sdlxliff files, i.e. create a new project and re-translate the files using your translation memory.

Workaround B: Repair .sdlxliff file:

Note: Applying this workaround requires basic XML knowledge.

1. Close Trados Studio
2. Make a backup copy of the affected .sdlxliff file
3. Open the .sdlxliff file in a text editor (for example Notepad ++)
4. Check if a cmt-defs element exists
   • If no cmt-defs element exists, remove the cmt-meta-defs with all its child elements from the file
   • If a cmt-defs element exists, you can either delete the cmt-meta-defs element (this will remove all comments from the file) or  instead:
     1. Identify all elements cmt-meta-def with an id attribute for which no cmt-def element with an identical id attribute exists
     2. Delete the cmt-meta-def elements identified in the previous step

Important: Do not add line breaks to the .sdlxliff file.

Workaround C: Avoid virtual merge

If you are working with any kind of .xliff (non-.sdlxliff) file with source comments, avoid virtual merge. Virtual merge may corrupt the .sdlxliff files.

SDLXLIFF files may get corrupted in older versions of Trados Studio if
- the underlying XLIFF file contains source comments and
- several SDLXLIFF files are opened via virtual merge.

Require further help?

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• Contact RWS Support:
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  2. Click on the blue Log a Case button.
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