Jskad/source/org/thdl/tib/scanner/package.html
2002-11-28 06:54:46 +00:00

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Provides the classes to take Tibetan language passages and divide the passages up
into their component phrases and words, and display corresponding dictionary definitions.
<p>This tool helps Tibetan to English translators partially automate the
translation process. In the Tibetan language, the boundaries of individual words
are not marked in any manner such as the way in which spaces separate and mark
words in English. Instead, there is
a punctuation mark called a &quot;tsheg&quot; which separates each syllable. Thus while syllabic boundaries are utterly explicit, word boundaries are
often unclear. One of the main
difficulties beginning students thus have with translating Tibetan texts is
figuring out where each word ends and the next word starts, and determining what
series of syllables to look up in the dictionary either as constituting a single
word or a larger compound phrase. This
entails a very time consuming process of looking up multiple combinations of
syllables to determine which are found within a given dictionary.</p>
<p>It partially automates that process by
breaking up a sentence/paragraph entered in <a href="http://iris.lib.virginia.edu/tibet/tools/ewts.pdf" target="_blank">
Extended Wylie</a> or Tibetan script
into the biggest component parts it can find in multiple dictionary databases.
Then for each component part found, it displays its stored definitions and
relevant information. This will
thus often yield only the definition of a long phrase, rather than its component
words, but one can also search for the syllables of that phrase one by one
separately.</p>
<p>The tool can run on-line through a:</p>
<ul>
<li>
Java servlet (using Roman script for input and Tibetan script for output)
directly on a browser<p>The text is typed (or pasted) using <a href="http://iris.lib.virginia.edu/tibet/tools/ewts.pdf" target="_blank">
Extended Wylie</a> in a
text box within a form. All of the processing is done on the server, and the
results are returned in plain HTML. This allows the user to run this version on
even the most basic browser without needing any additional software installed.
Also, because the results are returned in HTML, features of HTML like
hyperlinks, tables, and text formatting allow it to be skimmed more easily. The
user can choose between seeing the Tibetan within the results in <a href="http://iris.lib.virginia.edu/tibet/tools/ewts.pdf" target="_blank">
Extended Wylie</a> or in Tibetan script
(<a href="http://iris.lib.virginia.edu/tibet/tools/tmw.html" target="_blank">using
Tibetan Machine Web font now available for free</a>).<br>
&nbsp;</p>
</li>
<li>
Java applet &amp; application (using Tibetan script for both input and output)
communicating to a servlet<p>The text is typed in <a href="http://iris.lib.virginia.edu/tibet/tools/ewts.pdf" target="_blank">
Extended Wylie</a>, but with the added
value that optionally the user can choose to see it directly in the Tibetan script
(<a href="http://iris.lib.virginia.edu/tibet/tools/tmw.html" target="_blank">using
Tibetan Machine Web font now available for free</a>) as he types. We
eventually plan to support other keyboard methods of entry as well. Here all the processing is also done on the server side, and the results
are displayed interactively within the program's window. Again the user can choose
to see the results in <a href="http://iris.lib.virginia.edu/tibet/tools/ewts.pdf" target="_blank">
Extended Wylie</a> or in the Tibetan script.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Even though the application runs as a stand-alone application in the
desktop's user, connection to the Internet is still necessary to access the
dictionary databases. Easy launching of the application can be done over the
Internet using <a href="http://java.sun.com/products/javawebstart/">Java Web
Start</a>, which comes with <a href="#Sun's Java Runtime Environment">
Sun's Java Runtime Environment version 1.4</a> or higher. This is the
recommended way to run the tool.</p>
<p>The applet runs within a browser. The browser not only needs
to support Java, but since the classes that handle the Tibetan font use <i>Swing</i>, <a href="#Sun's Java Runtime Environment">
Sun's Java Runtime Environment version 1.4</a> or higher must additionally be installed.<br>
&nbsp;</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p>The tool can also run off-line in:</p>
<ul>
<li><b>Desktop &amp; laptop computers</b>
supporting the Sun's <i>Java Runtime Environment</i> version 1.2 or higher;
although <a href="#Sun's Java Runtime Environment">version 1.4</a> or higher is
recommended.&nbsp;This is distributed as <i>DictionarySearchStandalone.jar</i>.</li>
<li><b>Handheld devices</b> supporting <a href="http://java.sun.com/products/personaljava/">PersonalJava
Application Environment</a> version 1.2a or higher. This is distributed as <i>
DictionarySearchHandheld.jar</i>.</li>
</ul>
<p>The classes designed to be run from the command-line are:</p>
<ul>
<li>BinaryFileGenerator
(included only in DictionarySearchStandalone.jar)</li>
<li>AcipToWylie
(included only in DictionarySearchStandalone.jar)</li>
<li>WindowScannerFilter
(included in both DictionarySearchStandalone.jar and
DictionarySearchHandheld.jar)</li>
<li>ConsoleScannerFilter
(included in both DictionarySearchStandalone.jar and
DictionarySearchHandheld.jar)</li>
</ul>
<p><i>Notes on Input:</i></p>
<ul>
<li>For the &quot;punctuation marks&quot;, the tool assumes that
<ul>
<li>'&nbsp; ' (tsheg), '_' (space), &lt;enter&gt;, &lt;tab&gt;:
function as syllable separators and may show up in between component word or phrases.</li>
<li> '/' (shad), ';', '|', '!', ':', '[', ']', '^', '@', '#', '$', '%', '=', '&lt;', '&gt;',
'(', ')', '{', '}', <i>blank line</i> (two enters in a row): may not show up in between
component word or phrases (and hence is interpreted as marking the end of a
component word or phrase). See <a href="http://iris.lib.virginia.edu/tibet/tools/ewts.pdf" target="_blank">
Extended Wylie</a> documentation for the corresponding symbols in the
Tibetan script.
</li>
<li>all other characters are part of the syllable<br>
</li>
</ul></li>
<li>To force the parser to &quot;break up&quot; a component word or phrase into
its individual syllables, use any character of the second set in between the syllables. For
example, if the entry is:
<p><i>chos nyid</i></p>
<p>or</p>
<p><i>chos<br>
nyid</i></p>
<p>the parser will recognize it as a single word &quot;<i>chos nyid</i>&quot;.
But if the entry is:</p>
<p><i>chos / nyid</i></p>
<p>or</p>
<p><i>chos</i></p>
<p><i>nyid</i></p>
<p>the parser will assume &quot;chos&quot; and &quot;nyid&quot; are independent,
and will be looked up separately.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p>Author: Andr&eacute;s Montano Pellegrini</p>
<p>
<h2>Related Documentation</h2>
@see <a href="../text/package-summary.html">org.thdl.tib.text</a>
@see <a href="../input/package-summary.html">org.thdl.tib.input</a>
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