changed format of media bullets

[Brian MacWhinney]

Dear ChiBolts,

    In response to user requests and the need to maintain better  
database structure, we have reworked the way in which media bullets  
are formatted and created in the CLAN program.  Using this new format,  
we have updated all the transcripts in the CHILDES and TalkBank  
databases that are linked to either audio or video. CLAN is still  
backward compatible and can play materials formatted in the old  
system, but when producing new bullets, it will use the new format.   
In the older system, each link included the media file name.  When  
expanded, these links or bullets had this format:

∙%snd:"CLIP"_1927_4086∙

The new format is simply:

∙1927_4086∙
In the new system, the identity of the media file is not repeated in  
every single bullet, but only once at the top of the file.  It is  
placed into a tier that has this shape:

@Media: clip.wav, audio

Here the name of the media is clip.wav and it has an audio format.   
There are two fields in the @Media header.  The first is for the media  
file name.  You do not need to include the extension of the media file  
name, but you can if you wish. Crucially, each transcript should be  
associated with one and only one media file.  This is necessary to  
provide good compatibility with programs like Elan, ANVIL, Exmaralda,  
and so on.  Also, to keep your project well organized it is best if  
the media file name matches the transcript file name.  The second  
field in the @Media header tells whether the media is audio, video, or  
missing.

If you have files with bullets in the old format, you can change them  
to the new format using this command:

fixbullets -n *.cha

However, you will have to enter the @Media header by hand yourself,  
one for each transcript that is linked to media.  If you have problems  
with this new format, please feel free to contact me or to post  
question to chibolts at googlegroups.com

-- Brian MacWhinney
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