|
Personal
Dictionary Tips
Getting
entries properly defined in your dictionary can save you
hours and hours of editing. See Chapter 13 (Dictionary Management)
in the online user's manual for a more detailed description.
1.
Are your answers showing up in the middle of a sentence
rather than starting a new paragraph? Then your answer symbols
are defined wrong. Answer symbols have to be defined in
your personal dictionary as A_ (i.e. capital A followed
by the underscore or shifted hyphen), not A. or just a capital
A. If you want to define an answer symbol defined with another
word, then define the answer symbol followed by one space
followed by the word. Example: A_ No
How far the A is (or isn't) indented, whether there is a
period following the A or Q, the indentation of the second
line of an answer is controlled by values you set in your
information file under the Line Layout tab. This allows
your Qs, As and colloquy to translate differently with each
Info file you have without having to redefine them for each
format you use.
2.
Same thing with the question. The question symbol is Q_
(capital Q followed by the underscore or shifted hyphen).
Another example: Q_ Okay
3.
Are your colloquy speakers showing up in the middle of a
sentence? Colloquy speakers need to be defined with an A:
(capital A followed by a colon) preceding the speaker name.
Example: A:MS. JONES
The A: will start a new paragraph and automatically put
a colon and two spaces after the speaker name. Note that
the A: will not show in the transcript. How far the speaker
name is indented and the indentation of the second line
of colloquy is controlled by values you set in your information
file under the Line Layout tab.
4.
The paragraph symbol is defined as P: (capital P followed
by a colon). There are two values in your information file
under the Line Layout tab for how much a paragraph is indented,
or for a Q&A paragraph and the other for a colloquy
paragraph. You can define word(s) after the paragraph symbol.
Example: P:(Recess.)
5.
There is a symbol which starts a new paragraph, but does
not do any indentation (i.e. the cursor is left at the left
margin). That symbol is N: (capital N followed by a colon.)
This symbol is often used for captioning or CART work. You
can define word(s) after the new line symbol. Example: N:>>
6.
The @ sign (shift 2) is the delete space symbol. The delete
space symbol removes the space between it and the following
or preceding word. The most common use of the delete space
is for prefixes (i.e. re@, un@, pre@) and suffixes (i.e.
@ed, @ing, @s). Note that when suffixes are added to the
preceding work, the program will automatically drop the
'e' or double the constant when necessary. Examples: make
+ @ing becomes making and run + @ing becomes running.
7.
Want the translation program to automatically resolve the
a/an conflict? If so, simply define your stroke for a/an
as a conflict, {a\an} (be sure to use the backslash in a
conflict) in your personal dictionary. When the translation
program sees the conflict, it will look at the next word
to see if it should be resolved to a or an. Note that exceptions
to the vowel/consonant rule (i.e. an hour) should be married
together in your dictionary.
8.
Want to bring in an include file when you write an outline
such as SWORPB/SWORPB? You can use any steno which makes
sense to you and the English definition for that steno should
be defined as: .df filename.inc where filename.inc is the
name of the include file such as sworn.inc
9.
Want a very easy way to define spellings or acronyms? Define
the letters as @A@, @a@, @B@, @b@, et. cetera. That is,
each letter should have the delete space on each side of
the letter. You are probably thinking, won't the letter
be combined with the words preceding and following the letter?
No, because the translation program recognizes the smart
acronym and ignores the beginning delete space symbol of
the first acronym and the ending delete space symbol of
the last acronym. For example, if you write "word @I@
@B@ @M@ word" it will translate as "word IBM word"
without an extra strokes.
10.
Need a symbol to capitalize the next letter? The ^ (shift
6) is the cap next symbol. You can use it alone or defined
with words. Example: Mr.^ this will cause the word following
Mr. to automatically cap
|
