Glossary entry (derived from question below)
- The asker opted for community grading. The question was closed on 2017-02-10 14:54:07 based on peer agreement (or, if there were too few peer comments, asker preference.)
Feb 6, 2017 15:23
7 yrs ago
1 viewer *
English term
to free (verb)
English to French
Tech/Engineering
Patents
(in a patent) An image forming apparatus
a plurality of counters for counting usage amounts of the installed programs;
means (206, 907) for recognising a counter which corresponds to one of the stored programs;
control means (10, 206, 907) configured to free the counter corresponding to the program after count information of that counter is stored, when a program stored in the image forming apparatus is uninstalled.
allocate the free counter to a newly-installed program.
Any function is available, provided that the function is provided by the image forming apparatus and the use amounts
(e.g., use number, use time) of the function can be recognized. "OxFFFFFF" is a code which represents that the counter is free.
means (206, 907) for recognising a counter which corresponds to one of the stored programs;
control means (10, 206, 907) configured to free the counter corresponding to the program after count information of that counter is stored, when a program stored in the image forming apparatus is uninstalled.
allocate the free counter to a newly-installed program.
Any function is available, provided that the function is provided by the image forming apparatus and the use amounts
(e.g., use number, use time) of the function can be recognized. "OxFFFFFF" is a code which represents that the counter is free.
Proposed translations
(French)
| 3 +1 | libérer |
Tony M
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| 4 | réinitialiser |
Nadia A.
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| 4 -1 | mettre à zéro |
Renate Radziwill-Rall
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Change log
Feb 10, 2017 16:20: Tony M Created KOG entry
Proposed translations
+1
42 mins
English term (edited):
to free
Selected
libérer
It seems to me this is just a perfectly standard usage, in the sense of 'to free off' (in order to make available for other use).
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Note added at 1 heure (2017-02-06 17:23:35 GMT)
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Despite all those doubting Thomas, do please note that 'to free' means exactly what it says, neither more nor less.
Although logically resetting to zero might well be one step in the process of freeing off /up these counters, that is not actually what the source text says, and to interpret it as such amounts to over-interpretation.
Just bear in mind that it would be technically perfectly feasible (though probably not terribly logical!) to free these counters and re-use them for another purpose without actually resetting them to zero first; I'm sure that probably isn't the case here, but it serves to highlight the inadvisability of over-interpreting the source text.
To take a more banal example, perhaps easier for non-technical persons to follow, just imagine I wanted to translate "Get into the car", and decided to translate it as "Start the engine" — now it might well be that the reason for getting in the car is to go somewhere, which is inevitably going to involve starting the engine; but the fact remains that 'get in the car' does NOT mean 'start the engine'.
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Note added at 3 heures (2017-02-06 18:49:07 GMT)
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For those who still doubt it, there are plenty of Google results for "libérer le compteur", some of those in a purely mechanical sense, others in the same more 'abstract' sense as here. Remember, 'free' here has the sense of 'release' — i.e. release for other use...
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Note added at 5 heures (2017-02-06 20:53:33 GMT)
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Here's just one example picked at random from the first page of Google search results:
Mise en œuvre d'une UART - Brodeur Electronique
www.brodeurelectronique.com/projets/uart/UART.pdf
...fin_bit) pour passer à l'état suivant et pour libérer le compteur.
• Chargement : Une fois le système prêt, l'entité décalage charge la valeur de la...
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 heure (2017-02-06 17:23:35 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
Despite all those doubting Thomas, do please note that 'to free' means exactly what it says, neither more nor less.
Although logically resetting to zero might well be one step in the process of freeing off /up these counters, that is not actually what the source text says, and to interpret it as such amounts to over-interpretation.
Just bear in mind that it would be technically perfectly feasible (though probably not terribly logical!) to free these counters and re-use them for another purpose without actually resetting them to zero first; I'm sure that probably isn't the case here, but it serves to highlight the inadvisability of over-interpreting the source text.
To take a more banal example, perhaps easier for non-technical persons to follow, just imagine I wanted to translate "Get into the car", and decided to translate it as "Start the engine" — now it might well be that the reason for getting in the car is to go somewhere, which is inevitably going to involve starting the engine; but the fact remains that 'get in the car' does NOT mean 'start the engine'.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 3 heures (2017-02-06 18:49:07 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
For those who still doubt it, there are plenty of Google results for "libérer le compteur", some of those in a purely mechanical sense, others in the same more 'abstract' sense as here. Remember, 'free' here has the sense of 'release' — i.e. release for other use...
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 5 heures (2017-02-06 20:53:33 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
Here's just one example picked at random from the first page of Google search results:
Mise en œuvre d'une UART - Brodeur Electronique
www.brodeurelectronique.com/projets/uart/UART.pdf
...fin_bit) pour passer à l'état suivant et pour libérer le compteur.
• Chargement : Une fois le système prêt, l'entité décalage charge la valeur de la...
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Jennifer Levey
: Correct in context. ST says there's a "plurality" of counters, and it is implicit that these are initially unassigned to any particular task. They are assigned, do a count, and after that count is recorded they are "freed" for a fresh assignment.
26 mins
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Thanks, Robin! So refreshing to have well-reasoned input from informed, technical experts
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| disagree |
HERBET Abel
: faire la RAZ
44 mins
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That MIGHT fortuitously be the case, but it's NOT what the s/t actually SAYS
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| agree |
FX Fraipont (X)
: " In step S804, the counter number—application ID table is updated, so that the counter allocated to the application ID of the application to be uninstalled is made to be free"
47 mins
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Thanks goodness there are some technical experts around who understand this sort of language.
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| disagree |
GILLES MEUNIER
: libérer le compteur ?
1 hr
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Yes, plenty of examples on the internet.
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| agree |
Alison MacG
: Phrase from a similar/related patent, also an English translation of Japanese original: "... and releases the counter to which the application ID of the application to be uninstalled is allocated so that the counter becomes free."
18 hrs
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Thanks a lot, Alison!
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "grand merci!"
-1
3 mins
Renate Radziwill-Rall
France
France
Native in French
Specializes in field
France
44 years of technical and legal texts
Native in: German (Variant: Germany) 
, French
Works in: French to German, English to German, German to French, and 1 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
12
mettre à zéro
-
Peer comment(s):
| disagree |
Tony M
: Although that would logically be part of the 'freeing' process, that's not actually what the verb says.
40 mins
|
| neutral |
Jennifer Levey
: Agree with Tony - who has the correct answer.
1 hr
|
4 mins
réinitialiser
Effacer la valeur actuelle du compteur pour le réaffecter à un autre programme.
Peer comment(s):
| disagree |
Tony M
: Although that would logically be part of the 'freeing' process, that's not actually what the verb says.
38 mins
|
| neutral |
Jennifer Levey
: Agree with Tony - who has the correct answer.
1 hr
|
| agree |
GILLES MEUNIER
2 hrs
|
Discussion
And yes, a counter "is" a "prisoner" (well, "slave" would be more appropriate) whilst it is assigned to a particular task.
For example, consider the following (hypothetical!) task sequence in a food packing plant:
1. Assign counter 15 to count boxes.
2. Reset counter 15 to zero.
3. Assign counter 24 to count apples.
4. Reset counter 24 to zero.
5. Start counting apples --> appleCount.
6. When appleCount = 100: increment boxCount, advance next box for filling.
7. If boxCount =< 100, return to step 4.
8. Otherwise, de-assign (free) counter 24 and de-assign (free) counter 15
9. Assign counter 15 to count bottles
10. Reset counter 15 to zero.
11. Assign counter 24 to count millilitres of water.
12.…
In that sequence, item 4 ("mettre à zero" counter 24) will occur 100 times (while assigned to counting apples), whereas item 8 ("libérer" counter 24) will occur only once.
"Anyway, ... you do not "free" a counter. Never seen that yet."
Well, I'm very sorry that your exposure to technical English thus far has not extended to this particular expression, which is however extremely common, both technical and more general; often also used as 'to free up' or 'to free off'. For example "to free staff / resources for other projects" — and the usage here is precisely identical, as has been clearly explained by our technical colleagues Robin Levey and F-X Fraipont.