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<div class=Section1>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=blue face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:blue'>Naomi Keith wrote:<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=blue face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:blue'>“</span></font>Our team has a
question about MDF - is MDF being maintained or is it basically a dead format
now? Other than Toolbox, what programs can manipulate or import MDF files?<o></o><font
color=blue><span style='color:blue'>”<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=blue face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:blue'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=blue face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:blue'>My understanding is that MDF is no longer
being maintained. I know of one person who made some changes a few years ago. The
problem is that the Consistent Changes tables that are used to prepare the
database for printing are very complicated. So trying to change one thing may
require searching lots of code for unexpected consequences.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=blue face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:blue'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=blue face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:blue'>Another problem with MDF is that the user
is limited to the standard fields. If you want to do anything nonstandard (for
instance if your language family has a tradition of dictionaries that is
different than the MDF format), you must “misuse” one of the
standard fields or otherwise play with the standard fields to get MDF to format
your dictionary the way you want it.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=blue face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:blue'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=blue face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:blue'>MDF was designed to be used with the Shoebox/Toolbox
program. You can import an MDF database into Lexique Pro and FieldWorks. However
I have never seen a Shoebox or Toolbox database that was clean and consistent. In
my experience it has always required some cleanup and manipulation of the data
to bring it up to the MDF standard. If you neglect to do this, you are very
likely to get errors when trying to print with MDF or import the database into
another program. Consequently newer programs like FieldWorks and WeSay use a
standardized format to ensure that the data is consistent. In fact a number of
programmers are working on a new standard for lexical data called LIFT. WeSay
keeps its data in the LIFT format standard. FieldWorks can export and import
from the LIFT standard, and Lexique Pro can import a LIFT file.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=blue face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:blue'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=blue face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:blue'>Toolbox users have also developed other
tools to work with MDF files. For instance I know of one tool that helps to
clean up an MDF file, but I’ve never used it. There is a Toolbox users
email discussion list similar to this one. You might want to join it.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=blue face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:blue'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=blue face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:blue'>Having said all this, MDF is still useful
and many people have successfully used it to organize and print their
dictionaries, including me. However I have switched to FieldWorks, which I
consider a vastly superior program for handling dictionaries. I still use
Toolbox for other kinds of databases, but not for dictionaries.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=blue face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:blue'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=blue face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:blue'>Ron Moe<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=blue face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:blue'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<div>
<div class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>
<hr size=2 width="100%" align=center tabindex=-1>
</span></font></div>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=2 face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Tahoma;font-weight:bold'>From:</span></font></b><font size=2
face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma'>
lexicographylist@yahoogroups.com [mailto:lexicographylist@yahoogroups.com] <b><span
style='font-weight:bold'>On Behalf Of </span></b>Naomi Keith<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Sent:</span></b> Thursday, October 01, 2009
8:49 AM<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>To:</span></b>
lexicographylist@yahoogroups.com<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Cc:</span></b> 'Robert Hunt'<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Subject:</span></b> [Lexicog] email to send
to Lexicography list</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<div>
<p><font size=3 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
color:black'>Hi,</span></font><o></o><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=3 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
color:black'>Our team has a question about MDF - is MDF being maintained or is
it basically a dead format now? Other than Toolbox, what programs can
manipulate or import MDF files?</span></font><o></o><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=3 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
color:black'>Thanks very much,</span></font><o></o><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=3 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
color:black'>Naomi Keith</span></font><o></o><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><o><font
size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></o></p>
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