[Lexicog] Digest Number 343

[Mike Maxwell]

Ron Moe wrote:
> If I understand the issue correctly, what is needed is the ability to sort
> senses according to the contents of one or more fields.
> ...
> Concerning (2), I don't know of any program in which the senses of an entry
> are unordered. In each case the model assumes that senses are ordered.
 > ...
> If the user has the ability to assign senses to
> sense groups, then the senses can be unordered in the model. The order is a
> function of the print routine.
>
> In order to produce a desired view, all the user needs to do is tell the
> program what fields to sort the senses by, and what the ranking of those
> fields is.
> ...
> If the database contains this data, then it doesn't matter what order the
> senses are in (i.e. what the actual order is in the database). (I believe)
> we can write a computer program that would output the data in either of
> Allan's formats. The program can order the senses, output the fields in the
> correct order, and renumber the "sense numbers" appropriately. We could tell
> the program to sort the senses on the basis of the \pd \ps and/or \vf
> fields, using any ranking of these fields. The program would then "number"
> any non-unique combination of the fields that we specified on the basis of
> the order in the \sn field.
>
> This would all be highly speculative and theoretical, except that we have
> the opportunity to request that the new FieldWorks program work this way.

I can't presume to speak for the FW team, who probably has more features
that people want than they can shake a mouse at.  So I can't say when
s.t. like this will be implemented.  But I will say (and as Ron mentions
towards the end of his msg), the ordering should not be (and probably
will not be in Fieldworks) an intrinsic part of the database.  Rather,
it is a property of a 'view' of the database, and the ordering and the
sense numbers (if any) are the result of applying this view to the
database to produce an output, printed or otherwise.  There can of
course be multiple views, and how you order the senses (and whether you
number them, etc.) can vary among those views.  Presumably standard
views will be provided, and one will be able to modify them.

Putting this differently, you don't have to decide while you're entering
data into your FW dictionary how you want senses ordered--you can
procrastinate!  And you certainly won't need to enter sense numbers (\sn
1, \sn 2 etc.) as you would with an MDF-style dictionary.
--
	Mike Maxwell
	Linguistic Data Consortium
	maxwell at ldc.upenn.edu


------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~-->
Has someone you know been affected by illness or disease?
Network for Good is THE place to support health awareness efforts!
http://us.click.yahoo.com/RzSHvD/UOnJAA/79vVAA/HKE4lB/TM
--------------------------------------------------------------------~->


Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lexicographylist/

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
    lexicographylist-unsubscribe at yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
    http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/