@ID question

[Brian MacWhinney]

Dear Lynne,

   Thanks for your question about @ID fields.  I'll respond to the whole
list in this case.

   About six months ago, we completed some pretty major changes in the way
we create and use the @ID field.  There is a program called insert.exe that
you can get from http://childes.psy.cmu.edu/html/wintools.html.  This
program only runs on Windows unfortunately, but it will help you update your
@ID fields.  It has its own little user interface.  You type in names for
your data, your language, your ages and such and it automatically builds the
@ID fields for all the files you have selected.  It inserts more fields than
you would normally think of inserting by hand.  For example it inserts a sex
and age field for every speaker, just in case.  So you usually get a cluster
of about 12 @ID fields.

 For many purposes you don't need to worry about this and we have actually
asssumed the responsibility of running insert.exe on all of the data in the
database.  However, if you would like your data to be 100% compatible with
our current @ID standards, it is a good idea to use this program.
  One thing you will see is that we changed the format of the @ID field.
Instead of using periods we are using bar signs like this |
  The reason for all this tinkering is that we need to make the shape of the
database 100% specific for the translation we are making to XML-based
programs.  Also, having the @ID fields in this consistent format facilitates
the searching of "metadata" using XML-based programs over the web.  And it
is necessary for the lexical tools we are building.  However, there is no
real need for you to run insert.exe immediately.  I just want people to
understand how this newer system is working, so that when they see these new
@ID fields you will understand why they are there.

--Brian