MUYA OTE (standalone version)

Help File

 

 

1. Start a new transcription

 

To start a new transcription from the File menu select New. The submenu gives you two options for starting a new transcription either With Basetext or Without Basetext. Select the desired option and a popup window will open.

 

1.1  Without Basetext

 

For this option you only need to provide the siglum for the manuscript you are about to transcribe. Then click the Start transcription button. The MUYA OTE will be loaded with the book div set to Yasna ready for you to start transribing.

 

1.2  With Basetext

 

For this option you must provide the siglum for the manuscript you are about to transcribe and select a transcription from your computer to be used as the basetext for the transcription. In theory this can be any transcription which follows the same transcription guidelines as those made with the MUYA OTE but it may be easier to create a specific basetext which does not contain annotations such as page breaks, line breaks and other features which are likely to differ between manuscripts. The bastext chosen will be loaded into the editor and can be edited to match the text of the manuscript being transcribed.

 

 

2. Open an existing transcription

 

To open an existing transcription from the File menu select Open. Use the menu to select the transcritpion you want to open. If the transcription does not conform to the same guidelines as the MUYA OTE data may be lost when the transcription is saved.

 

 

3. Save a transcription

 

To save a transcription from the File menu select Save or Save As. Save As will always give you the option to select the location and filename to use for saving. If you have opened an existing transcription or you have already saved this transcription in this session the Save option will automatically save to the same location without any overwrite warning. The time of the last save can be seen just above the OTE window on the right. If you are working on a new transcription, regardless of whether it uses a basetext or not, the Save option will prompt you for a location and filename the first time you select it. The default location for saving transcriptions differs for each operating system. The location for your system can be found (and changed) in the preferences menu (see section 6 below).

 

 

4. Close a transcription

 

To close a transcription select Close from the File menu. If you have unsaved changes in the OTE you should get a warning if you try to close it. Please note: this may not always be accurate and it should not be relied on.

 

 

5. Add/edit the transcription header

 

To add a header to a finished transcription, or edit the header of an existing transcription select Edit header from the File menu while the transcription is loaded into the OTE. A default header is provided as a basis for creating headers for new transcriptions.There are two ways to edit the header which can be used in combination if required. One is a form view and the an XML view.

 

NB: Changes will be remembered as you switch between views in the header window but in order to save the header to the transcription you must press the green save button before closing the header window. To save any header changes to the transcription saved on your computer you must also save the transcription using the File menu.

 

5.1 Form view

 

To edit the header in the form view just type/edit the details in the relevant boxes. In some cases multiple instances of the same item can be added for example identifiers or titles. If this is possible there will be a green plus symbol under the form entry. Clicking it will add another form entry which can be filled in with the details. To delete unwanted entries click on the red cross that follows the entry.

 

If there are any corrections in the transcriptions the hands will be listed in on the header form. In preparation for the next stages of editing the hands should be listed in chronological order. They can be dragged into the desired order using the mouse.

 

5.2 XML view

 

The XML view tab gives you the option to see and edit the header XML directly. This might be useful if you want to add data not included in the form view. However, this option should be used with caution by experienced XML editors and always with reference to the TEI P5 guidelines (available online). Any syntax errors will be highlighted but it is your responsibility to fix them. You will not be able to switch back to the form view or save the header while there are syntax errors in the XML. If you are not able to fix the errors then you will have to close the header form, reopen it to load in the previous header and then begin editing again.

 

 

6. Edit preferences

 

The very first time you open the editor on a computer the preferences window will open automatically. Here you must add your name which will be used in the header. You will also need to select the default filepath that will be used to save transcriptions (this can always be changed at the point you save) and the default filepath where any basetexts can be found (again this is just a default they can be loaded from anywhere). To change a path click on the item and a dialogue box will open to allow you to select a path to another directory. These preference can be changed at any point by selecting Preferences from the MUYA OTE menu.