Re: [TECH] SIL's Shoebox

At 17:25 +0000 11.1.2000, Fabian wrote:
>
>Anyone know how to convert a Shoebox dictioanry into a format that MS Access
>or Excel can understand?
You mean other than tab-separated plain text?

Since the database files are essentially text files it is easy to convert
them into tab-separated text, by replacing all newlines + backslash + field
marker with tabs, except the field marker marking beginning of entries,
which you should simply delete.  There is a problem with repeating fieldss,
which should be somehow merged with each other.  Obviously it helps a lot
if you can use grep!  (If you don't know what grep is, get hold of someone
who does!)

I pretty-print Shoebox data with the help of a set of TeX definitions that
uses the field markers as TeX macro names, since SIL field markers happen
to be well-formed TeX keywords. Probably no coincidence!

You could always ask the authors of Shoebox, who may know a sophisticated
way.  Those people tend to be very helpful as long as you don't discuss
religion with them! ;-)

BTW: has anybody managed to get the Macintosh version of Shoebox to work?



/BP

 B.Philip Jonsson  <mailto: bpj@...> <mailto: melroch@...>
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