LINGUIST List 2.637
Thu 10 Oct 1991
Disc: Word Processing
Editor for this issue: <>
Directory
"Randy J. LaPolla", Re: 2.611 Responses
, wordperfect linguist utilities
Eric Schiller, Re: 2.629 Responses
Photographic Sys, L Rosenblum,PAS, Source for Fonts
Eric Schiller, Re: 2.630 Machine Readable Dictionaries & Spanish MT
Message 1: Re: 2.611 Responses
Date: Thu, 10 Oct 91 13:45 U
From: "Randy J. LaPolla" <HSLAPOLLATWNAS886.BITNET>
Subject: Re: 2.611 Responses
>From reading Peter Cole's recent letter it seems Microsoft has asked for
suggestions about changes to Word (I must have missed their original notice).
If this is indeed the case, I would like to add a suggestion, that MS add
an optional vertical ruler like the already existing horizontal one.
Message 2: wordperfect linguist utilities
Date: Thu, 10 Oct 91 02:29 MET
From: <KAHRELalf.let.uva.nl>
Subject: wordperfect linguist utilities
In the past months I have read several comments in the Linguist list about
things that would be impossible or difficult in Wordperfect, such as lining
up glossed examples. Through this list I want to offer a collection of
Wordperfect utilities (screen fonts, keyboard files, and macros) that I made
in the past years and which I find very useful. Let's call it the WP
Language Toolbox. The utilities can be used only in WP 5.1. It includes the
following things:
1. A screen font (VGA) that will show all characters in character set 1,
including the floating accents (numbers 0 through 20). Displaying the
floating accents is useful, for example when you use the Overstrike
feature to put a macron over a q. When you switch on Reveal Codes, you
will actually see the macron, rather than that black square.
2. Two keys for a keyboard definition. The first key is an improvement of
WP's Compose key. The Compose key is a very elegant solution for typing
special characters on a standard keyboard, but there are some strange
omissions. For example, you can't use the Compose key to type a letter
with a breve (used in among others Turkish), while `my' Compose key will
do that: you type Ctrl-V followed by ug to get the g-breve. My compose
key will also handle the Hungarian umlaut, the dot under, and the
apostrophe beside. The accompanying (short) manual describes how you can
extend the Compose key. For example, I included for myself key
combinations to type the universal and the existential quantifier, the
assertion sign, several symbols from set theory, and the left, right, up,
and down arrows.
Further, my Compose key will put any accent on any letter. When you type
a combination of a diacritic and a letter, it will first see if there is
a WP character available; if not, it will automatically make an
overstrike of the diacritic and the letter. So you can use it to get a
tilde over the w, to mention something.
The second key is an extension of the Help key. When you press F3, you
can choose whether you want the 'normal' WP help or help on characters.
When you choose Characters, it will show help screens with all WP
conventions for diacritics and the ones that I added (u for breve, ! for
dot under, # for Hungarian umlaut, etc).
3. A keyboard definition for making WP type from right to left. With it, you
can type Hebrew, and it even provides for automatic word wrap.
4. A keyboard to type Japanese, both hiragana and katakana. You type Latin
letters and the Japanese characters will be printed. For example, typing
'wa' will print the character 'wa'. Using the 'bare' keys will give you
hiragana, when you type Alt-letter you get katakana. I also have an
experimental keyboard that that will let you type from top to bottom and
from right to left, with word wrap and all.
4. An impractical (I suppose) keyboard for typing boustrophedon
(alternatively from left to right and right to left, as in older forms of
Greek and Latin). Most probably no one wants the keyboard, but I made it
just to prove a point.
5. A macro that lines up glosses, so original word and gloss will be
vertically aligned in proportional type.
6. A macro that transliterates Japanese (both hiragana and katakana) to
Latin script and one that does the same with Cyrillic. Could be done for
Greek as well. Let me kow if you want it and I'll make it.
7. A not very linguistic macro (but very useful) to handle notes. It has
four options: convert footnotes to end notes; convert footnotes to text;
convert end notes to footnotes; convert end notes to text. When
converting footnotes or end notes to text, you can choose to leave the
notes as they are, or to delete the notes and have the note numbers
replaced by superscripted numbers. The accompanying manual explains why
this is a useful option.
8. A macro that finds references in one or more texts. When you run it, it
will search a text for a reference and block it. Then it will ask you
whether you want to include it in the reference list or not, and search
the next reference. When it is through, it will clean up the list (remove
any parentheses and such things), sort the list and remove any double
entries. When you have a master bibliography the macro can optionally
generate a full bibliography on the basis of the references found in the
text or texts.
I'll offer all these gems for an average shareware price: the equivalent of
60 Dutch guilders (approximately 30 US$) net, so the price includes all
kinds of taxes, diskette, and postage. I will not, repeat NOT accept any
cheques other than Eurocheques or girocheques (bank fees for cashing bank
and personal cheques are murderous in The Netherlands). I can charge your
credit card (Euro/Master, not AMEX or VISA; give card number and expiration
date). You can send an international money order. Don't forget to specify
what diskette type you want.
Peter Kahrel
e-mail: kahrelalf.let.uva.nl
Message 3: Re: 2.629 Responses
Date: Wed, 9 Oct 91 14:39:42 CDT
From: Eric Schiller <schillersapir.uchicago.edu>
Subject: Re: 2.629 Responses
Autorenumbering, Autobackup in temporal or character increments,
full graphic drawing capability, automatic indexing of all instances
of a string etc., etc. etc. are all available in Nisus on the Mac.
Lots of people here at UC have switched Word to Nisus. None have
switched back. Full regular expression search, font/style global
replacement.
Nice guys too, they just sent me a Macro to eliminate the annoying
problem of double-clicking on a word that contains IPA - usually
only one half is selected. Haven't tested it yet - but that is
REAL tech support - constructing a solution for a user!
Nisus is available at a nice academic price. $89 here ($400 list).
Eric Schiller
University of Chicago
schillersapir.uchicago.edu or tira.uchicago.edu.
Message 4: Source for Fonts
Date: 10 Oct 91 02:07 GMT
From: Photographic Sys, L Rosenblum,PAS <D2628applelink.apple.com>
Subject: Source for Fonts
Dear Colleague, "Source for Fonts" 9oct91 cc: Margaret Circle Noetics
We have been working in the field of typesetting languages that use
orthographies other than Latin letters. My analyses, designs, technical
papers, and seminar participations include Cyrillic fonts as well as the
writing forms of India, China, and West Asia. If this brief background seems
appropriate to the interests that you and your colleagues have, I would be
pleased to receive more information about your activities and requirements.
This work started in the 1950s with the Higonnet-Moyroud analog
phototypesetting machines and the related hardware developed ~Aat that time by
Prof. Samuel H. Caldwell of M.I.T.
For sending material by US Mail the more complete address is:
Louis Rosenblum
Graphic Arts Technology 24 Cedar Road
Photographic Systems Corporation Belmont, Massachusetts 02178-2905
Tel: (617) 484 - 9005 AppleLink D2628
Sincerely, /s/ Lou Rosenblum
Message 5: Re: 2.630 Machine Readable Dictionaries & Spanish MT
Date: Wed, 9 Oct 91 14:41:11 CDT
From: Eric Schiller <schillersapir.uchicago.edu>
Subject: Re: 2.630 Machine Readable Dictionaries & Spanish MT
The discussion of machine readable dictionaries reminds me that
the new Nisus extension module ($75) allows you to attach any
recorded sound to any piece of text or whatever in the word
processing environment. Now your papers can talk, too!
Eric Schiller
University of Chicago