SWML

[Jonathan]

Steve Slevinski wrote:
> Hi Sandy,
>
> For online use, both dictionaries and documents should probably be
> stored in a database.  Advanced searching and version control are much
> easier with a database.
For online use, this makes sense.
>
> SWML (or some other markup) is valuable for transferring data from one
> system to another, regardless of how each program stores the data
> internally.
>
> While the markup languages may be large, they are easy to use. 
> Compressed or binary formats can become troublesome.  
I agree with you that binary formats can become troublesome.  What about
compressed XML streams?  Do you feel that these would be troublesome
too?  I haven't experimented with this yet very much but seem to me that
in Visual Basic we would use gzip.  Of course if not everybody can deal
with gzip compression that it would be troublesome.  Looking forward to
your comment.
> The original SignWriter files are compressed binary files and very
> difficult to use.  
>
> Sandy Fleming wrote:
>> I have a problem with SWML, which is that it doesn't describe sign
>> structure at all. It acts as a container for SignWriting rather than a
>> description of the structure of SignWriting signs (or "characters" as I
>> tend to call entire written signs these days).
>>
>>   
> Sign structure...  Interesting topic, but I don't see the value for
> the writing system I'm working with, whether it uses drag & drop or
> keyboarding.  I see SignWriting as symbols in space.
>
> I don't totally understand what you mean by sign structure.  It sounds
> like analysis.
>
> I am interested in your project.  And if I can include any additional
> information in the markup languages, I'd be happy to discuss. 
> Importing and exporting between programs is important.
What formats can SignPuddle 1.5 currently import? 

Jonathan
>
>> For a keyboarding program, for example, the software needs to know which
>> channel of communication (face, active hand, passive hand &c) it's
>> typing in: the keyboard doesn't have enough keys to type every symbol so
>> the program needs this structural context.
>>
>>   
> Did you ever learn SignWriter keyboarding?  Have you taken a look at
> the keyboard design Val created for the IMWA?  It provides access to
> the entire symbol set using a keyboard.  Instead of channels it uses a
> cursor.  The cursor is centered around the last symbol typed.  You can
> rotate the cursor around the selected symbol.  Some characters have
> specific cursor placement, such as these heads.
>
>
>
>
> Typing the first head would place the cursor above.  Typing the second
> would place the cursor below.
>
> Regards,
> -Steve



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