bulk-assigning writing system for a translation field
Natasha Warner
I'm having a problem with writing systems that affects the export interlinear process. In our database, we use 4 free translation fields and 4 literal translation fields. Each is defined by writing system, so we have Free English, Free vernacular (Mutsun), Free Latin, Free Spanish, Literal English, etc.
Somehow, a fairly large number of text entries have gotten their Literal Latin field set to English writing system. In FLEx in the Interlinear Texts view, the field heading "Lit. Lat." still appears. You can only see that the contents of that field are actually set to English if you put your cursor in the contents of that field, and then the writing system drop down menu at the top of the screen shows "English." The problem is that when I do export interlinear, these Literal Latin fields that are actually in writing system English get assigned the paragraph style format for Literal English instead of Literal Latin. This means they get the wrong field header at the beginning of the line, and if I need to change the paragraph style formatting in LibreOffice after exporting, it affects the wrong fields.
This is a large problem for us, since we have over 23,000 text entries, so we can't just re-check them by hand. I've searched the archives of this list, and found posts about writing system bulk edit problems for other fields, but it sounds like no bulk edit is possible for translation fields. What I need is a way to automatically assign writing system "Latin" to all Literal Latin fields. One thing I really don't understand is why they show up as Lit. Lat. in FLEx in the Interlinear Text view, despite having their writing system marked as English.
Unless someone knows a better way, my current plan is to do an interlinear export including only the Literal Latin field, and use LibreOffice to search for the incorrect heading that gets put at the beginning of the line, in order to find out where the problem entries are so I can fix them by hand. Any other suggestions would be extremely welcome. This is a very frustrating problem to encounter at this stage, and I would be very grateful for ideas on it.
Thanks,
Natasha Warner
Jeff Shrum
Natasha,
I am sorry but I don't know of a way to change the writing system of fields in text in bulk. Maybe someone knows a clever way to do that.
Jeff Shrum
Language Technology Consultant
SIL Southern Africa
--
You are subscribed to the publicly accessible group "FLEx list".
Only members can post but anyone can view messages on the website.
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "FLEx list" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to flex-list+...@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to flex...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/flex-list/07bdfbbc-c518-427a-9897-c3dd10190ed7%40googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
Dennis Walters
FLExTools 1.2.3 is available now at https://github.com/cdfarrow/FLExTools/wiki
In this update:
- Fixed compatibility issues with recent FieldWorks versions; Tested with FieldWorks 8.1.3
- Added "Database" and "Run (Modify)" buttons to the main toolbar.
- Updated help documents to explain more about Dry-run and Modify modes.
== About FLExTools ==
FLExTools is a framework for running Python scripts on a Fieldworks database. All the UI and script management is provided by FLExTools. Simply create a Python script (a /Module/) to do the processing work and then run it from FLExTools. Modules can be grouped into /Collections/ so that a set of scripts can be run with one button click.
These are some ideas of what you can use FLExTools for:
* Consistency checks
* Report on missing or duplicate data
* Create custom reports or export formats
* Perform custom analysis
* Modify data fields in ways that aren't convenient or possible within Fieldworks
Natasha Warner
Jeff Shrum
This sounds promising. If you are able to make this work please let the list know in case the problem comes up again.
Jeff Shrum
SIL-Southern Africa
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/flex-list/584999a8-aafa-4e78-8389-88b4a74dc185%40googlegroups.com.