source a command?

[Lostforwords]

Hello all,

I am trying to translate a phrase where apparently "source" has been used as a verb which I didn't know you could do. The context is database programming, and the whole phrase runs: "Now, source the command", followed by a command string beginning with the actual word, "source".

Any idea is greatly appreciated.

 

[mjscott]

Access would be an appropriate equivalent.

You are correct in saying that using source is uncommon. To outsource, however, is a verb that is rising in popularity--especially among first-world countries where the cost of living, unions, minimum wages and competition on a world scale have made it more difficult for corporations to keep their profit margin goals (which are sometimes unreasonable).

 

[Lostforwords]

Thank you, mjscott,

I think I'm getting a vague idea ...

Lostforwords (not so much any longer)

 

[englishman]

Hello all,

I am trying to translate a phrase where apparently "source" has been used as a verb which I didn't know you could do. The context is database programming, and the whole phrase runs: "Now, source the command", followed by a command string beginning with the actual word, "source".

Any idea is greatly appreciated.

I'd guess that you are translating a document related to a Unix environment. In many Unix shell programs (like bash, sh, zsh, etc) the term "source" has a very specific technical meaning, and to quote from the bash man page (a form of help information):

source filename [arguments]

Read and execute commands from filename in the current shell environment ...

So, if my assumption is correct, then you should *not* translate the word "source" but leave it literally in the text, since that is the precise command that must be typed to have the effect required by the writer of the program.

 

[Lostforwords]

Yes, thanks this time for being so specific as to indicate me the technical context that I seem to be in here.
No, I don't think I'll translate the command string itself which follows, as I said, after the phrase, "Now, source the command", but I think I will do so for the verb "source" within the phrase, since I think I owe the German reader some idea of what they will be doing when they enter the command string.

Lostforwords (but grasping meanings)

 

[englishman]

Yes, thanks this time for being so specific as to indicate me the technical context that I seem to be in here.
No, I don't think I'll translate the command string itself which follows, as I said, after the phrase, "Now, source the command", but I think I will do so for the verb "source" within the phrase, since I think I owe the German reader some idea of what they will be doing when they enter the command string.

Lostforwords (but grasping meanings)

If you are going to translate "Now, source the command", you have to be careful, since you can't translate it literally i.e. nothing derived from "Quelle"
or "Ursache" would be appropriate. I would translate it simply as "Now, run the command" since that is the more general meaning of this specific use of "source".

 

[Lostforwords]

O.K., I think I'll leave it at the equivalent of "run" for that bit, as you suggested - but I think I might also work in separately a little specification, in an appropriate place, as to what I have gathered from your responses this command does.

Thanks everybody!

 

[englishman]

Hello all,

I am trying to translate a phrase where apparently "source" has been used as a verb which I didn't know you could do. The context is database programming, and the whole phrase runs: "Now, source the command", followed by a command string beginning with the actual word, "source".

Any idea is greatly appreciated.

One other point: you can indeed use "source" as a verb in English; it means "to find a supplier for" e.g.

"How can we source the components for this machine ?"

which means:

"How can we find a supplier for the components for this machine ?"

As they say: in English, every noun can be verbed

 

[Lostforwords]

Thank you, englishman,

for that extension - you live and learn, as they also say, and I like your "Golden Rule" a lot. For obvious reasons, there are many such humorous rules for the intricacies of German grammar, which, alas, I cannot cite in the English Only forum.

Greetings,

Lostforwords