When you add a TM to a TM Group, you can define a penalty that will be applied to the matches from that TM.

This penalty is configurable for each TM within the TM group. The Use TM Penalties option controls whether or not the assigned penalties are used or not. The TM penalties option is disabled by default. If a penalty is enforced, neither SPICE, ICE, nor exact matches are possible from that TM.

As an example of how you would use the penalties option, if you have a TM for a similar related domain, but want to prevent 100% matches from coming from that TM, you could penalize it.

Alternatively, if you had a TM that contained translations for a slightly different dialect that is similar, but not exactly the same, as the current dialect, you could apply a penalty to ensure that a 100% match never came from that TM.

The penalty represents a leverage level penalty in that the penalty is applied to the match as whole as opposed to being applied against a number, word or placeholder element within the segment. If this penalty is invoked, then the match cannot be repaired up to 100%.

Penalty values must be provided in the range of 0 to 100. If the penalty is set to 2.0, for example, the final score is reduced by 2 percentage points. Based on this value, the maximum score that a match against this TM could generate with this penalty is a 98% score.

Note: In the tm.properties file, most properties have you enter values in decimal notation (for example, .02) while the user interface mostly has you enter values in percent notation (for example, 2). Therefore, .02 in the tm.properties file means the same thing as 2 in the user interface.

The penalties only apply to the TM group being configured. The penalties associated with the TMs in the group and the apply penalties option are stored with the TM group, not the individual TMs. If the TM is used in a separate TM group, the penalty setting will not carry over from a penalty value set in any other TM group. Additionally, leveraging the TM directly, instead of from a TM group, will not cause penalties for TM matches.