Computer braille: Samples of print data entry are transcribed in computer braille. The letters in special entry codes are always lowercase. transcriber's notes will point out capital letters where significant. We distinguish a few punctuation marks, like tilde which is ordinarily the same as caret, with a prefix of dots 5-6; see Special Symbols List in Volume I.
Symbols used when not in computer braille:
# - print number sign.
$ - dollar sign, as in the chapter name
MAKE$.
% - per cent sign.
< - less-than.
> - greater-than.
Embedded commands, like the TranscriBEX \\ (backslash backslash) and BEX $$ (dollar dollar) commands, appear in computer braille, as you would enter them on a braille keyboard. The letters in them are lowercase print letters. When punctuation immediately follows such a command, it is preceded by dots 4-5-6. Material enclosed in computer braille parentheses of with is shown in computer braille; we show data entry codes this way--for example, ( $p ).
Computer dialog sessions are presented in computer braille, with each computer screen line outdented. The print manual uses courier font (typewriter-style printing). A semicolon ; means the rest of the line is what you enter.
Samples of print text entry are shown in computer braille. The print manual uses courier font. Except when next to a <CR>, a space or move to a new line in these samples means a space to be typed. (Just before or after <CR>, it is there only for better readability.)
Now that you've learned all the steps in the TranscriBEX process and know how to make wonderful braille, you're probably eager to dig in and start transcribing. As we developed a mound of data on disk, we quickly discovered how easy it was to become overwhelmed. This Section contains tips and techniques to help you transcribe efficiently. User Level Section 4 is good background reading for this Section.
The TranscriBEX method for producing braille requires that you move chapters through an orderly series of steps. In this Part, we describe how we keep track of our own data. Every person has their own way of organizing information, and we don't claim that our way is the one true path. No matter what method you use, developing a consistent habit of logging your work saves time and effort. We've found that the following principles contribute to happy data.
One type of chapter per disk (Only applies if you have two or more disk drives.) We use "flippy" disks--like your Master BEX program disk. They're manufactured with notches on both sides, and both sides are designed for data storage. (We've supplied two blank flippies in the plastic pocket that holds your TranscriBEX disk. You can obtain more from us if they're not available at your local computer store.) We keep the original \\ chapters on one side. When we transform these with MAKE$, we write the $$ chapters to a separate, "scratch" disk. When we translate the $$ chapters to braille, we write the Grade 2 chapters to the other side of the first flippy. Once the TranscriBEX process is complete, there's no need to keep the intermediate, $$ chapters: the two we do want to keep, the original \\ chapter and the Grade 2 chapter, are both on the same disk. One flippy takes half the space of two floppies, and we always know where to find the braille or print version of a chapter.
Avoid cryptic chapter names: BEX allows
chapter names up to 25 characters--use them to clearly identify what a
chapter contains. Consistently add a character: The
A target chapter naming method lets you Add characters to a
chapter's name. When we transform the \\ data to $$
data, we always add the dollar sign character to the original chapter
name. When we translate these $$ chapters, we always add the digit 2. We
chose the dollar sign and digit 2 because the Echo always pronounces them
distinctly. (We tried adding B for braille, but if you add B
to a chapter named RULES, the Echo says "roolessb." With our method, the
Echo clearly says "rooles-dollar-sign-two.") When every chapter at a
particular stage in the TranscriBEX process ends with the same character,
it's easy to specify all of them by entering "slash character" at the
"Drive or chapter" prompt. For example, we specify still$
when we want to translate our $$ chapters to Grade 2 braille.
Make short chapters: Since the boundary
between pages or chapters makes no difference to the braille formatter,
there's no advantage to having large chapters. On the other hand,
there are several advantages to limiting chapters to six pages. First and
foremost, you can make best use of the zippy chapter. (More details on
this in Section 18 and BEX Dox M2.) Secondly, it's easier to keep
track of how much time is left during Replace characters or Grade 2
translation. When you have five 6-page chapters, BEX announces "Chapter
ONE done," "Chapter TWO done," etc. If you had one 30-page chapter, you'd
have no way of knowing how far along you were until the final "Chapter
BIGGIE done" message.
Make copies regularly: Develop the
back-up habit now, and you never have to experience that sickening feeling
when you accidently destroy the only disk you have. Carefully transcribing
tricky tables can be challenging the first time. The second time,
it's just frustrating. Before you turn off the computer at the end of
the day, copy every chapter you worked on that day. At a bare minimum,
always make copies of all original \\ command chapters. You
can recreate $$ or final braille chapters with the TranscriBEX process.
There are three ways to back up your data: When a disk is less than
one-quarter full, (FS = 395 or more) it's fastest to use Copy
chapters on the Main or Keep a log: The chapter named LOG FORM on
your TranscriBEX disk contains the form we use. As we finish each step, we
enter the date in its box. The form provides us with a clear picture of
what's left to do, and is particularly helpful when a task is spread
over several weeks. Chapter LOG FORM is ready to print to any printer with
a carriage width of 72 or more. Feel free to modify the form for your
situation.
As you move data through the TranscriBEX process,
you're alternately expanding and compressing it. Usually, Replace
characters expands on the \\ commands, and Grade 2
translation compresses the text. Since there's an absolute limit of
4096 characters on one BEX page, it's important to understand how the
TranscriBEX process can make your data grow.
We don't want to make you paranoid about overfilling
your pages. BEX has a number of safeguards to prevent you from losing your
data. When you try to enter more than 4096 characters in a BEX page,
either from the keyboard or the Clipboard, BEX refuses and beeps. When you
try to create more than 4096 characters in a page with Replace characters,
BEX refuses and whoops. No harm can come to your data, unless you've used
the same name for your source and target chapter. Press the Escape key to
stop the whooping; use Cut Pages in the Editor or Adjust pages on the
Second menu to make your pages smaller.
The User Level BEX Dox, pages U4:5-7, details the
interaction between BEX page and chapter size and how many chapters can
fit on a disk. The "disk space rule of thumb" advises always moving to a
new disks when there are approximately 100 free sectors remaining. (Since
the BEX Dox were written, we've added a feature to all BEX menus. Press
the number sign (#) at any menu prompt, and BEX responds "Free sectors on
drive 2." You can press <CR> to accept the data drive
default, or enter 1 <CR> to use drive 1. BEX then tells
you how many free The rules of thumb also suggest limiting your BEX page
size to 3300 characters--and that's an excellent number when your
data is general text material. However, some TranscriBEX \\
commands expand greatly when they're transformed with MAKE$.
The most dramatic expansion occurs when you're
transcribing tables, particularly with the "line-for-line" method
(detailed in Section 15). It can be pretty shocking the first time you do
it: the four-character command \\w8 is replaced with a string
of $$ commands 52 characters long! Each entry in each column is marked
with some form of \\w# command, so you must leave a
lot of room for expansion. How much room depends on how many
columns: for a four-column table, limit each BEX page to approximately
1100 characters. When you have a lot of blank entries in your table (shown
by dashes in braille) your data expands still further. For a four-column
table in which one-quarter of the entries are dashes (blank), limit your
page size to about 600 characters.
Indexes, tables of contents, and li/s of questions
also expand significantly--between 115% and
150%. Of these, tables of contents are the most expansive:
limit your BEX pages to 2200 characters. Complex indexes are less greedy;
a good limit here is 2800 characters.
You may be thinking: "I don't want to worry about all
these different numbers; I'll just limit all my BEX pages to 1100
characters." TranscriBEX would work fine if you did. However, there are
two advantages to maximizing characters on each page and minimizing the
number of pages in a chapter. You can get more data on a disk when you
have relatively full pages. A complete discussion of why that's so
can be found in the BEX Dox, U4:5-7. The other reason relates to BEX disk
access in general. Whether you're in the Editor, using Replace characters,
or running a Grade 2 translation, BEX reads a page from disk, manipulates
it, then writes it back to disk. The Apple DOS 3.3 operating system is
pretty slow when it's reading from and writing to disk; the fewer
times BEX must do this, the less time all these operations require.
BEX's Editor uses the page and chapter structure. You
use BEX's Editor for TranscriBEX, so all your TranscriBEX data is
organized into BEX pages and chapters. It's very important to
understand that the division of data into "BEX page" and "BEX chapter" is
arbitrary. A BEX page can contain anywhere from zero to 4096
characters. A BEX chapter can contain anywhere from one to thirty pages. A
BEX data disk can contain from one to thirty chapters, depending on the
number of pages in each chapter.
The boundaries between pages in a chapter and between
chapters on a disk have no effect on how your text is formatted.
Here's an extreme example: you split the sentence "A superfluity of
excesses, don't you know." across the boundary between two chapters on two
different disks. One chapter ends with the comma after "excesses". The
next chapter begins with a space and the word "don't". When you print
these two chapters in succession, the sentence prints normally.
Of course, that's a crazy way to organize your
data. But this ridiculous example illustrates the crucial concept of the
"print stream." Whenever you specify more than one chapter for BEX to
print, you're establishing a print stream. A format established by the
first chapter in the print stream continues to affect all subsequent
chapters until it's explicitly canceled or superseded by another
format.
In the BEX Dox, pages L6:9-10, U7:2, and U7:20-21, we
give some examples of "set-up" chapters. A single set-up chapter contains
format information that's useful for printing a variety of different
chapters. Here's a TranscriBEX situation where a set-up chapter can
save you time and effort. You're transcribing a long textbook of the
History of Science. The bulk of the text is formatted with the following
commands:
\\textbookformat \\pp
[number] \\runninghead History of
Science<CR>
Each section of the textbook requires 12 BEX pages, so
you make each section one BEX chapter. You could enter the
"\\textbookformat ...? at \\newpage \\pp [number]
and you're ready to roll. When you want to preview or
emboss any portion of the textbook, you print the "set-up chapter" first,
then the chapter with the portion you're proofing. As mentioned in Section
6, you must always follow the \\textbookformat command with a
\\pp [number] or \\pph [number] command. The
\\pp [number] command that begins each chapter simply
overrides the \\pp [number] command in the set-up chapter.
When it comes time to finally emboss the textbook, you
specify the set-up chapter first in the list of chapters to print. The
effect of the "\\textbookformat ...? commands continues
throughout the entire print stream.
As explained in Section 6, the four core commands
\\textbookprelim, \\textbookformat,
\\bookprelim, and \\bookformat restart the
sequential braille page numbering at 1. Also in Section 6, we introduce
\\setnumber# and \\keepnumber, two
commands that let you override restarting the braille page numbering at 1.
The \\setnumber# command
establishes a specific value for the sequential braille page number. You
use this command to ensure that the braille page numbering continues
through several volumes. It's also handy when previewing text.
Suppose you're transcribing an indexed book using literary format. When
you transcribe the index, you must \\bookformat \\setnumber,;,
Use Replace characters with MAKE$ to
energize the \\ commands in the set-up chapter. Now you can
specify this set-up chapter followed by the seventh BEX chapter in the
print stream you send to the braille previewer.
\\setnumber# lets you preview and emboss the
braille document in any order you wish.
The BEX Dox, U6:4 describes restarting a print-out on
a specified page using option M - Multi-function print. When you want to
preview braille page 22, you can use this feature with ease. Since
restarting a print-out with option M involves "pretending" to print all
the earlier pages, it's much more efficient to use
\\setnumber# with longer documents.
One BEX data disk holds around 128,000
characters--more or less one braille volume. BEX lets you specify a very
long print stream: you can print as many disks of data as you have disk
drives. (To keep things simple, we assume here you have two drives.) If
you have a very good memory, you can just type in all the chapter names,
preceding each with the digit 1 for the chapters in drive 1. For those of
us with memories like sieves, there's an easier alternative. In the
BEX Dox, U4:3, we describe how you can scan more than one drive with the
plus sign. Here's how you proceed when you want to print all the
chapters from the disk in drive 2 followed by some of the chapters from
the disk in drive 1:
Main Menu: P
Drive or chapter: +2 <CR>
There are 6 chapters:
1 TABLEI$2
2 CHAP1$2
3 CHAP2$2
4 CHAP3$2 6 CHAP5$2
Use entire list? arN Y <CR>
Another chapter selection:
Drive or chapter: 1 <CR>
There are 5 chapters:
1 CHAP6$2
2 CHAP7$2
3 CHAP8$2
4 INDEX$2
5 GLOSSARY$2
Use entire list? arN <CR>
Select chapters by number
Chapter: 1 <CR>
CHAP6$2
Chapter: 2 <CR>
CHAP7$2
Chapter: 3 <CR>
CHAP8$2
Chapter: <CR>
Which printer? 2 <CR>
This technique is most useful when you have a
continuous-form brailler. Prepare a box of paper to be brailled, specify
two disks to emboss, and then you can pursue other tasks as your brailler
chunks along.
One of the advantages of computer-assisted braille
transcription is that you needn't begin at the beginning. You can jump
between transcribing page 68 and transcribing page 205; between
transcribing the Table of Contents and transcribing a table. There are two
conflicting ideals for organizing your data as BEX chapters. When
everything is stored in many one-page chapters, any option that involves
reading and writing from disk happens quickly. When everything is stored
in fewer, many-page chapters, then each disk can hold more information.
(Pages U4:5-6 explain the nitty-gritty of why that's so.)
Fortunately, BEX lets you have the both of best worlds, because there are
many ways to manipulate data once it's on disk. In passing, we've
mentioned that you can transcribe an element separately and later Merge it
in with the rest of your BEX has several options that help you manipulate data
between pages and between chapters. Section 12 of the Learner level BEX
Dox details four of these: option M - Merge chapters on the Second menu,
and on the Page menu, options M - Merge pages, R - Rearrange pages, and G
- Grab pages from another chapter. As always, the more you know about BEX,
the better you can use TranscriBEX.
Here are some examples of using these options in a
TranscriBEX context. Suppose you're transcribing a textbook, and have
entered each unit of the preliminary pages as separate chapter. After
proofreading the final braille versions, you want to create a more compact
chapter. This is how you'd proceed:
Main: S
Second: M
Merge chapters
Enter source chapters
Chapter: st2 <CR>
There are 7 chapters
1 TRANS NOTES$2
2 TITLE$2
3 COVER BLURB$2
4 DEDICATE$2
5 SPEC SYMB$2
6 TOC$2
7 INTRO$2
Use entire list? arN <CR>
Select chapters by number
Chapter: 2 <CR>
TITLE$2
Chapter: 4 <CR>
DEDICATE$2
Chapter: 7 <CR>
INTRO$2
Chapter: - <CR>
INTRO$2 canceled
Chapter: 3 <CR>
COVER BLURB$2
Chapter: 1 <CR>
TRANS NOTES$2 Target chapter: 1prelims$2 <CR>
Chapter TITLE$2 done
Chapter DEDICATE$2 done
Chapter COVER BLURB$2 done
Chapter TRANS NOTES$2 done
Second:
The disk in drive 1 now contains
PRELIMS$2; it's a copy of the material from the four
chapters you merged. Assuming each of the four chapters was one page long,
PRELIM$2 has four pages. Now you use option A - Adjust pages
to compact these pages down for more efficient storage. The dialogue goes
like this:
Main: S
Second: A
Adjust page sizes
Chapter: PRELIMS$2 <CR>
Chapter: <CR>
Target chapter: PRELIMS-F
Enter minimum page size: 2900 <CR>
Enter maximum page size: 3600 <CR>
DONE
Second:
Option A tries to break the page as soon as possible
after it reaches the minimum size. It prefers to break at a paragraph or
skip-line indicator. When it can't find one, its next choice is a hard
<CR>be it breaks at a space as a last resort. The
F in chapter name PRELIMS-F stands for "final."
Using Merge and Adjust makes sense when several
individual chapters get married into one bigger chapter. When one
single-page chapter needs to join up with the text surrounding it, then
Zip to the Page menu. Suppose Section 7 of your document is transcribed in
a five-page chapter. You've transcribed the table that appears in the
middle of the print text as a separate, one-page chapter. To make life
easier for yourself, you made the break between text and table happen at a
BEX page boundary. When you transcribed the general text, you made a note
that the table should start immediately after the end of the text in BEX
page 3. Here's how you insert that text into your chapter.
File list
Chapter: SECT7 <CR>
Chapter SECT7
5 Pages
PAGE 1 SIZE 2248 A
PAGE 2 SIZE 2082 B
PAGE 3 SIZE 3321 C
PAGE 4 SIZE 2875 D
PAGE 5 SIZE 3120 E
Total of 13646 characters
Page Menu: G
Grab pages from another chapter
Grab pages from Chapter: TABLE SECT7
<CR>
Page Menu: F
File list
Chapter SECT7
6 Pages
PAGE 1 SIZE 2248 A
PAGE 2 SIZE 2082 B
PAGE 3 SIZE 3321 C
PAGE 4 SIZE 2875 D
PAGE 5 SIZE 3120 E
PAGE 6 SIZE 1586
Total of 13804 characters
Page Menu:
You don't need to use option F - File list, but
it's a handy way to keep track of what's happening. When the
chapter you're grabbing from has only one page, then the
dialogue goes as shown above. When that chapter has more than one page,
you're asked to name the range of pages to grab. Now that a copy of the
table is part of the SECT7 chapter, all that's left is putting it in
the right place, before BEX page 4.
Page Menu: R
Rearrange pages
Move a range of pages? arN Y <CR>
Specify the range of pages to be moved
From Page: 6 <CR>
Through Page: 6 <CR>
Move this range before Page: 4 <CR>
File list
Chapter SECT7
6 Pages
PAGE 1 SIZE 2248 A
PAGE 2 SIZE 2082 B
PAGE 3 SIZE 3321 C
PAGE 4 SIZE 1586
PAGE 5 SIZE 2875 D
PAGE 6 SIZE 3120 E
Total of 13804 characters
Page Menu:
When you accept the N default at the
"Move a range of pages?" prompt, you have the opportunity to specify the
old page numbers in the new page order. This may be faster when you only
have a few pages in a chapter. A sample of that dialogue appears on L12-11
in the BEX Dox. Notice that when specifying a "range" of pages, that range
may be just one page long.
Literary and textbook formats treat preliminary pages
differently. Even which pages are considered "preliminary" is different.
In literary format, anything that appears before the main body of text in
the print version is considered a preliminary page. A braille title page
is always the first page. The other preliminary pages appear in the same
order in the braille volume as they do in the print. In textbook format,
you may need to add braille-specific preliminary pages for
transcriber's notes, special braille symbols, etc. Textbook format
has a specific order in which preliminary pages must appear: title page,
dedication, inside cover material, list of special braille symbols used,
transcriber's notes, and table of contents. Items not on this list,
such as the introduction, foreword, or preface are considered part of the
main body of text in textbook format.
This Section introduces the commands
\\bookprelim and \\textbookprelim, and discusses
when to use \\newpage.
Literary format uses lowercase roman numeral braille
page numbers at the end of the first line of each preliminary page. The
number on the first page, i, is suppressed. A runninghead may
be used, but it is not required. The TranscriBEX command which implements
this format is \\bookprelim. You only need to enter this
once, on the first preliminary page. When the first page is printed, the
i is suppressed automatically. When the text of one print
preliminary page fills more than one braille page, TranscriBEX generates
extra braille pages (and roman braille page numbers) automatically. The
literary rules say you must move to a new braille page every time you
start a new kind of preliminary page in print, even if the current braille
page is not full. The command for this is \\newpage. Enter it
just before you start typing the As an example, let's say you are transcribing a
novel which has a title page, a dedication which takes four lines in
print, a preface which takes two print pages, and three-quarters of a
print page of acknowledgements. You are not using a runninghead. Your data
entry goes like this:
\\bookprelim [text of title page]
\\newpage [text of dedication] \\newpage [entire
text of preface] \\newpage [acknowledgements]
The result is: title page (no braille page number),
dedication (braille page number ii), preface (braille page numbers
iii-vii), acknowledgements (braille page number viii-ix). Of course, the
braille page numbers may vary depending on exactly how much space is taken
by each segment of braille text, but that's the idea.
When you need a runninghead on your preliminary pages,
enter
\\bookprelim \\runninghead
[title] <CR> [text of title page], etc
As noted above, preliminary pages in textbook format
follow a strict order, regardless of how they appear in print. The braille
page number is placed at the end of the bottom line on each page. It is an
arabic numeral, preceded by the letter p (for preliminary, of
course!). The TranscriBEX command for this is
\\textbookprelim. Use it exactly the same way you use
\\bookprelim (outlined above). \\newpage is used
the same way with \\textbookprelim as it is with
\\bookprelim. Print page indicators are not used on
preliminary pages.
For the sake of simplicity and to avoid needless
repetition, we discuss preliminary pages in literary format first. Special
symbols and transcriber's notes pages in textbook format are
discussed in Part 6. The differences between literary and textbook
preliminary pages are detailed in Part 7. The first page of a braille volume is always the title
page. The format of the title page is specifically defined. It must
include the complete book title, subtitle (if any), author's name,
publisher's name, copyright date, and the transcriber's or
braille publisher's name. It must also show the number of braille
volumes the whole work contains, the number of that particular volume, the
braille page numbers included in that volume, and the year in which the
transcription was completed. Items which must appear on the braille title
page may be scattered over a number of different print pages. Information
required on the braille title page which is repeated elsewhere in print
(e.g. the book title on a page by itself) is not repeated in braille.
Present the information on the title page in the order
listed above, unless your supervisor instructs you otherwise. Individual
publishers or transcribing groups may vary in their requirements as to the
order and form of presenting this information. They may also require
additional information to be included on the title page.
The command \\bookprelim sets the
appropriate page layout for all the preliminary pages of literary (book)
format. The title page is always the first preliminary page; therefore the
\\bookprelim command always starts the title page. Enter this
command before using any other commands or doing any data entry.
Each line on a title page is centered. Use the
\\c command at the start of each line to center material
horizontally. The title page must also be balanced vertically. There
should be text on the first line and the last line of the title page.
Determine how many lines the text of the page will occupy. Subtract that
number from your form length. When your form length includes more lines
than the text will occupy, use <CR>s to distribute the
blank lines appropriately on the page. Here is a sample title page with 21
lines of text on a 25-line page. Notice that four extra
<CR>s have been placed at natural divisions in the
information presented:
When you want a runninghead on the preliminary
pages, insert the \\runninghead command in a line AFTER the
title is given on the title page. The full title must be shown on the
title page; the runninghead may require abbreviation. Delaying the use of
the \\runninghead command suppresses it on the title page.
Don't count it as a line of text for your title page; it won't appear
until the next page. For example:
For more guidance on title pages consult the
appropriate manual or your local agency.
When there is a dedication it is placed at the front
of the first braille volume. Begin a new braille page using the
\\newpage command. When the word "Dedication" is shown in
print, follow the \\newpage command with \\hd
Dedication $s. This places the word "Dedication" at the center of the
first line on the page. If it doesn't appear this way in print, don't show
it in braille either; simply begin entering the text as described below.
In that case, the first line contains only the braille page number.
The text of the dedication should be centered both
horizontally and vertically. Use a \\c command at the start
of each line for horizontal centering, just as you did on the title page.
Again, vertical centering must be pre-planned. Subtract the number of
lines in the text of the dedication from the number of lines per page to
find out how many blank lines there will be. Divide the number of blank
lines by two so that an equal number appear above and below the text of
the dedication. Put in that number of <CR>s before
beginning the text.
Here's an example using a 25-line braille page:
There are five lines in the dedication, so there will be 25 minus 5 equals
20 blank lines. Twenty blank lines total means that you need ten blank
lines above the dedication, so put ten <CR>s in a row
before entering the text. You don't need to put ten
<CR>s after the dedication; just use the
\\newpage command to go on.
If you're in doubt about how many braille lines the
text of the dedication occupies, create a separate chapter for the
dedication, send it through the TranscriBEX process described in Section
7, and use your braille previewer. When the dedication is quite short, you
can use the Heading test to see how many characters are in the grade 2
version.
Publishers require the inclusion of acknowledgements
of material from other sources. Those acknowledgements that refer to maps,
pictures, and other material not included in the braille transcription
should be omitted. Some agencies include acknowledgements in the
preliminary pages; some put them at the end of the last volume. Use the
\\newpage Prefaces, forewords, and introductions which are part
of the preliminary pages in print are also included in the braille
preliminary pages. Their order in braille follows the print order. Each
such item should start with a \\newpage command. When there
is a heading, follow the \\newpage command with a
\\hd command. For example:
\\newpage \\hd Foreword to
Students ...
\\newpage \\hd Preface ...
\\newpage \\hd Introduction
to This Manual ...
The Code of Braille Textbook Formats and
Techniques has very specific rules governing pages of special
symbols and transcriber's notes. English Braille doesn't
mention these pages at all. Clearly, when you use special symbols in
literary transcribing, you must explain somewhere what they represent. We
suggest following the method used in textbook format.
When, why, and how to use special symbols in your text
is discussed in Section 8: Making Even Better Braille. Whenever you use
any of these symbols, list them and give a brief explanation of each one
on a special symbols preliminary page. Include in your list both those
symbols dictated by the Code and those of your own invention.
Here are some examples of symbols to li/:
Indent to cell 1 and runover to cell 3 for each
entry in this list. Use \\items at the beginning of the list
to establish this, and use a paragraph indicator before each entry. Use
\\enditems at the end of the special symbols page.
A special symbols page must be included at the start
of each braille volume which contains special symbols. When there are no
special symbols used in a volume, do not include this page. Each list
alerts the braille reader to special braille symbols which appear in
that volume.
Begin the special symbols page as follows:
\\newpage \\hd SPECIAL
SYMBOLS <CR> \\hd USED IN THIS VOLUME
\\items$sowfirst symboler
Then list the symbols and their meanings. When the
list is longer than one page, head subsequent pages as follows:
\\c SPECIAL SYMBOLS ofCont.with
\\items$powfirst symboler
Skip a line after the heading on the first special
symbols page, but not after the continued heading on subsequent pages.
Sometimes the special symbols used fall into
categories, such as diacritics, reference indicators, and shape
indicators. When this is the case, divide the list accordingly, and use a
minor heading before each category. Skip a line before, but not after,
each category heading.
Each entry consists of the special symbol itself
followed by its meaning. Enter the symbol using the entry codes described
in Section 8. Leave one blank cell, then explain the meaning of the
symbol. When the meaning is given in the print text, use that wording;
otherwise give its name or describe its shape. Here is a sample entry:
$p When the special symbol is a single letter, suppress
the letter sign with (). When the special symbol ends with a cell
containing only lower or only righthand dots, follow the symbol with the
dot listing in parentheses.
When you use a special format or usage not covered in
the Code throughout a transcription, describe it on a
transcriber's note page. Include this page at the start of each
volume in which the usage occurs. When a volume has no such regular usage
omit this page.
Begin a new page for transcriber's notes. Head it
as follows, and treat each description of format as a paragraph. For
example:
\\newpage \\hd TRANSCRIBER'S
NOTES$sowdescription of formater $p [description of format] ...
Do not include special formats or usages on a
preliminary transcriber's note page when they are used only
occasionally. Instead, place a transcriber's note immediately before
the usage occurs in the text, as described in Section 13, Part 1.
There are many different ways to transcribe a table of
contents. We devote all of Section 12 to a thorough discussion of how
it's done. Please note: Because literary format does not include
print page indicators, the page numbers in the table of contents must be
changed to refer to the braille page numbers. This means you must finish
transcribing the body of the text before you can enter the page numbers in
the table of contents.
Preliminary pages in textbook format must appear in
the following order:
The title page in textbook format is identical to
literary format, except that the first braille page number is not
suppressed; p1 appears at the end of the last line on the
page. Enter the textbook format title page exactly as described for
literary format, substituting the command \\textbookprelim
for \\bookprelim.
Dedications are entered exactly the same way in
textbook format as in literary format, centered horizontally and
vertically. Use a \\newpage command to begin items two
through six on the list above. See Section 12 for separate instructions on
doing a table of contents.
Acknowledgements in textbook format are always placed
at the end of the last volume; they are never treated as a preliminary
page. Forewords, introductions, and prefaces are also not preliminary
pages; they are considered part of the main body of text. When the print
edition uses roman numeral pagination for these items, simply enter the
print page indicators as \\pp iv, etc.
Indexes, outlines, and glossaries are similar in their
braille formats. This section introduces the commands
\\simpleindex, the \\mi and \\si
family, and the \\mo and \\so family.
The presence of an index is something you should check
for in the first planning stages of any transcribing project. When there
is an index to the book, it may be easier to transcribe in textbook format
than in literary format. An index for a book transcribed in literary
format must refer to the braille page numbers. TranscriBEX numbers braille
pages in the body of the text as it is printing, so you don't
know where the braille page breaks occur until then. The task of
converting an index to refer to braille page numbers can be a major
undertaking.
If you must transcribe an index in Literary format,
here is what to do: Print the finished braille text to the braille
previewer. Go through the print copy of your book and lightly pencil in
the braille page numbers at the exact point at which each braille page
transition occurs. Photocopy the print index. Look up each entry in the
marked copy of the book, and write down the appropriate braille page
number on the photocopy. When you do data entry for the index, work from
the photocopy and use the braille page numbers.
Whether you are using literary or textbook format,
examine the index carefully before you begin. Determine if there are any
entries with sub-entries. When there are NO sub-entries, it is a "simple
index." When there are ANY sub-entries at all (the usual case), it is a
"complex index."
For a simple index, use the \\newpage
command to start a fresh braille \\newpage \\simpleindex
Apples 3 <CR>
Artichokes 12 <CR>
Bananas 7 <CR>
Broccoli 2 <CR>
Carrots 4 <CR> ...
For a complex index, start with a
\\newpage command, but omit the \\simpleindex
command. TranscriBEX can handle indexes with up to seven levels of
entries. Each entry in a complex index must be preceded by a command that
tells TranscriBEX what its level is. These commands establish correct
indent and runover for each level. The indent and runover for each of
these commands is as follows, with the cell to indent to given first and
the cell to runover to second:
Type these commands EXACTLY as they appear here;
i.e. "\\sssi", but "\\dissi" and
"\\ensi".
Here is an example of how to enter commands in a
complex index:
\\mi Wisconsin dairy products
<CR>
\\si Wisconsin cheeses 76
<CR>
\\ssi Cheddar 77 <CR>
\\sssi aged 78 <CR>
\\4si for nine months 78
<CR>
\\4si for nine years 79
<CR>
\\sssi mild 77 <CR>
\\ssi Colby 79 <CR>
\\si Wisconsin milk 54
<CR>
\\ssi homogenized 55
<CR>
\\ssi skim 56 <CR>
\\ssi plain 62 <CR>
\\ssi with fruit 64
<CR>
\\sssi boysenberries 65
<CR>
\\sssi raspberries 66
<CR>
\\sssi strawberries 64
<CR>
\\mi Wisconsin industry
<CR> ...
Conserving space is important in transcribing indexes,
as it is in any other braille text. Disregard the use of italics,
boldface, etc. in index entries, except as required for book titles,
italicized foreign words, or if absolutely necessary for distinction. When
the print uses a blank line or lines between alphabetical divisions, leave
one blank line in braille. Do this by replacing the carriage return
following the last entry in a block with a skip-line indicator, ( $s
). Do not put blank lines anywhere else, even when the print copy
does.
When alphabetical divisions are set off in print by
initial letters, then do so in braille, centering the letter with the
\\c command. A sample is:
Loon 27 <CR>
Lyrebird 39 <CR>
\\c M <CR>
Macaw 12 <CR>
Magpie 31 <CR> ...
Do not leave a blank line before or after the line
containing the letter. At the end of the index, use the command
\\rt to restore indent and runover to normal paragraphs.
The format commands for outlines are very similar to
those for indexes. Study the outline to determine if it is a "long" or
"short" outline, as defined by the Code of Braille Textbook Formats
and Techniques. A long outline takes up an entire section of the
book (such as an appendix or summary). Anything else is a short outline.
When you have a short outline, use the commands for a
complex index. Use a \\newpage command, then type each entry
just as you When an outline takes up an entire section of the
book, use the \\mo and \\so family of commands
rather than the \\mi family. The pattern of entry is the
same, although the result is different. Start each entry with an indicator
of depth were\\mo, \\so, \\sso,
\\ssso, \\disso, \\enso, or
\\to sowith, follow it with the entry, and finish with a
<CR>. Each entry in a long outline often occupies
several lines in print; the result is a modified paragraph form. The
o instructions set indent and runover appropriately, as
follows, where the first number is the cell to indent to, and the second
is the cell to runover to:
Glossaries follow a form very similar to indexes and
outlines. Begin glossary sections with \\newpage. When the
glossary contains no sub-entries, use \\simpleindex at the
beginning, and separate each entry with a <CR>. This
establishes indent to cell 1 and runover to cell 3.
When some of the entries in the glossary have
subentries, do not use \\simpleindex. Begin each main entry
with \\mi, which sets indent to cell 1 and runover to cell 5.
Begin each sub-entry with \\si, which sets indent to cell 3
and runover to cell 7. End each entry with a <CR>.
Show alphabetical divisions in glossaries just as they
are shown in indexes. When the print uses a stand-alone capital letter
between groups of entries, center the capitalized letter on a line by
itself. Suppress the letter sign with (;) (see Section 8,
Part 6). For example, to show the division beginning with the letter
Z, enter: \\cghZ<CR> Do n
skip a l95 26 or after the letter1 ev5 con5 a l95 is skipp$ 9 pr9td Con5 a
skipp$ l95 is us$ 9 pr9t without a stand-alone letter1 do the same 9
braille4
Sometimes, entries in glossaries use diacritics,
stress marks or other The Code calls for a guide word to appear
at the foot of the page in glossaries. This format is not supported by
TranscriBEX.
Rules of both textbook and literary formats describe
several variations for transcribing tables of contents. You can use
TranscriBEX to conform to any one of them. We highly recommend that you
consult your sponsoring agency as well as the appropriate code book for
guidelines on transcribing each particular type of table of contents. (For
literary format, the Instruction Manual for Braille
Transcribing contains more information on this subject than does
English Braille.)
In this Section we introduce the commands
\\contents and \\endcontents, \\gd,
the \\mc and \\sc family, \\con,
\\conhead, \\left, \\right, and
\\volume. The major differences between the various types of
tables of contents lie in the way the headings are arranged; we present
these variations first. Then we discuss how to do the actual contents
entries; they are done the same way in all types of tables of contents.
Because literary format doesn't use print page
indicators, the table of contents must make reference to the braille page
numbers. Therefore, the page numbers can't be entered in the table of
contents until the rest of the book is completely transcribed. In textbook
format, the table of contents makes reference to print page indicators. It
is usually possible to enter the table of contents early in a textbook
format project, but note that the complete table of contents in volume one
should show where each subsequent braille volume starts. Using
TranscriBEX, there is no particular disadvantage to transcribing the table
of contents at or near the end of the project; you may wish to take
advantage of this option. Whether you enter it first or last, put it in
its own BEX chapter.
It is important that you read over the next Parts to
understand how each heading works, and when each is used. There are
several instances in contents headings of the unusual situation where you
must use a major heading command, \\hd, but no line is
skipped after the heading. The \\c command is not an
acceptable substitute, because it doesn't To minimize tedious data entry, we have provided a
sample of each type of heading in chapter CLIPHEAD. Each heading is on a
separate BEX page. BEX page 1 of CLIPHEAD contains a mini-table of
contents for the chapter. Edit CLIPHEAD on page 1 to locate the BEX page
which contains the appropriate heading. Move to that page and copy all of
it to the Clipboard: Type Control-B S, Control-A space, Control-B C. Then
Edit your table of contents chapter and insert the heading, using
Control-B I. Modify it as necessary (e.g. change "CONTENTS" to "TOPICS",
or "Chapter" to "Essays") to follow the copy of what you are transcribing.
Three types of tables of contents are used in literary
format. One is used when the entire book is contained in a single braille
volume. When there is more than one volume, a second type is used at the
start of each volume. It contains only the entries which appear in that
volume. When it is deemed necessary by the transcriber, the table of
contents for the entire book is placed at the start of the first braille
volume. This third type is used at the start of the first volume in place
of the partial table of contents which would otherwise appear there (i.e.
you don't repeat the table of contents for the first volume after showing
the table of contents for the whole book). The partial table of contents
which contains entries for that volume only is included at the start of
each subsequent volume, whether or not the complete table of contents is
included in the first volume.
To begin a table of contents for a book which is
contained in one braille volume, enter the heading as follows (or borrow
it from BEX page 2 of CLIPHEAD):
\\contents \\hd
CONTENTS$so\\left Chapter \\right
Page$so\\conhead \\left Chapter
\\right Page <CR> [entries]
Literary format calls for the word "CONTENTS" to be
centered at the top of the first page. When no runninghead is used, this
means CONTENTS appears on line 1. When a runninghead is used, CONTENTS
The \\conhead command repeats the minor
headings "Chapter" and "Page" at the appropriate place (line 3 with a
runninghead, line 2 without) on each subsequent page in the table of
contents. \\conhead [data] establishes a minor runninghead
using the data which follows it, up to the next <CR>.
It is an unusual TranscriBEX command because its data may include two
other TranscriBEX commands: \\left and \\right.
(We don't recommend trying to use any other TranscriBEX
commands as data with \\conhead. It was designed to
appropriately place column headings in tables of contents only. Trying to
place other material with it yields uncertain results.)
The following heading should be used at the start of
each braille volume (excluding the first, when the first contains a
complete table of contents):
\\contents <CR>
\\volume I$so\\left Chapter \\right
Page$so\\conhead \\left Chapter
\\right Page <CR> [entries]
This heading appears on BEX page 3 of CLIPHEAD.
The command \\volume [Roman numeral] does
a lot of work for you. It places the word "CONTENTS" at the beginning of
the line, and the words "VOLUME I" (or the appropriate number) at the end
of the line, with guide dots between. Please note: You only have to enter
this heading once. At the start of each subsequent braille volume, copy
the heading onto your Clipboard, change the volume number, and insert it
at the appropriate spot.
When it is necessary to show the entire print table of
contents at the start of the first braille volume, enter the heading as
follows (or swipe it from BEX page 4 of CLIPHEAD):
When no runninghead is used, CONTENTS appears on line
1, VOLUME I appears on line 3, and the "Chapter" and "Page" column
headings appear on line 4. When a runninghead is used, CONTENTS appears on
line 3, etc. Again, \\conhead repeats the "Chapter" and
"Page" column headings on each subsequent table of contents page. Use a
skip-line indicator before, but not after, the centered heading which
marks the remaining contents entries.
Transcribing tables of contents in textbook format is
less complicated than in literary format. There are fewer choices: one
type of heading is always used for the first volume, and the other type is
always used for each subsequent volume. Also, textbook format only
requires the "Chapter" and "Page" column headings on the first page.
Textbook format requires that volume one always contain a complete table
of contents for the entire book; each subsequent volume must contain a
table of contents for that volume only.
Here is how to enter the table of contents heading for
the first volume in textbook format:
\\contents \\hd
CONTENTS$so\\hd Volume I <CR>
\\left Chapter \\right Page
<CR> [entries in Volume I] $s \\hd Volume
II <CR> [entries in Volume II] $s \\hd
Volume III <CR> ...
You can copy this from BEX page 5 of CLIPHEAD.
A blank line is left between the last entry for one
volume, and the centered volume number of the next. No blank line is left
between the volume heading and the first entry under it. The
\\hd command is used instead of \\c to ensure
that the "Volume" headings don't appear on the last line of a page.
Textbook format calls for the "Chapter" and "Page" column headings to be
used only on the first page of the table of A table of contents appears at the start of each
subsequent braille volume containing only entries found in that volume.
Enter the heading as follows (or copy it from BEX page 6 of CLIPHEAD):
\\contents \\hd CONTENTS
<CR> \\left Chapter \\right
Page <CR> [entries]
No volume number is used, and the "Chapter" and "Page"
column headings are used only on the first page.
Before you begin entering the list of contents, check
to see whether or not any entries have sub-entries. When all the entries
are of the same level, it is a "simple table of contents." All the
CLIPHEAD headings end with a <CR>. Begin the actual
entries after this. Type the contents entry, a space, the command
\\gd, another space, the page number, and a
<CR>. The contents entry begins in cell 1, and the page
number is placed in the rightmost cell or cells on the line. The
\\gd command appropriately places guide dots (a line of dot
5's) between the entry and the page number. When there is any runover of
the contents entry, it begins in cell 3 and the guide dots follow the
runover. The page number appears on the line where the entry ends.
TranscriBEX does this automatically; it also automatically breaks the line
at least six cells before the page number when there is runover of the
entry. Here is an example of simple contents entries, taken from The
Wisconsin Garden Guide:
, It All Begins in the Soil \\gd 1
<CR>
2 Composting and Mulching \\gd 21
<CR>
3 What to Do about the Weather \\gd 41
<CR>
4 Vegetable Growing--Bounty for the Table
\\gd 65 <CR>
5 Fruits, Berries, and Nuts--Perennial Providers
\\gd 149 <CR>
When there is a major division in a table of contents,
such as a new volume or the start of notes, use a skip-line indicator
( $s ) in place of a <CR>. This produces a
blank line, as called for by the rules of both The table of contents is nearly always the last item
in the preliminary pages. The \\endcontents command is thus
followed immediately by \\bookformat or
\\textbookformat in the print stream. These commands start a
fresh braille page, establish a new sequential braille page number, and
clear any runninghead so that a new one can be entered.
English Braille does not mention what to
do with sub-entries in a table of contents. The Code of Braille
Textbook Formats and Techniques, however, goes into some detail.
When any entries in a table of contents have sub-entries, it is a "complex
table of contents." Main entries indent to cell 1 with runover to cell 5,
sub-entries indent to cell 3 and runover to cell 7, sub-sub-entries indent
to cell 5 with runover to cell 9, and sub-sub-sub-entries indent to cell 7
with runover to cell 11. When you transcribe a complex table of contents,
you must begin each entry with a command indicating its level. Begin main
entries with \\mc, sub-entries with \\sc,
sub-sub-entries with \\ssc, and sub-sub-sub-entries with
\\sssc. After the level command, enter a space, the contents
entry, space, \\gd command, space, page number, and
<CR>. Here is an example from the Apple 2
User's Guide:
\\mc , Presenting the Apple 2
\\gd 1 <CR>
\\ssc Keyboard and TV \\gd 1
<CR>
\\ssc Inside the Apple 2
\\gd 2 <CR>
\\ssc Memory \\gd 4
<CR>
\\ssc Cassette Recorder \\gd
4 <CR>
\\mc 2. How to Operate the Apple 2
\\gd 13 <CR>
\\sc Turning the Power On
<CR>
\\ssc What You See on the TV
\\gd 14 <CR>
\\ssc The Prompt Character
\\gd 15 <CR>
\\sc The Keyboard \\gd 16
<CR>
\\sc The Cassette Recorder
\\gd 19 <CR>
\\sc Using the Disk 2 \\gd
21 <CR>
\\ssc The Disk Operating System
\\gd 22 <CR>
\\ssc Preparing Blank Diskettes
\\gd 27 <CR> Notice that one entry, "Turning the Power On," doesn't
have a page number associated with it. When it appears this way in print,
follow the copy in braille; omit the guide dots and move to a new line
with <CR> immediately after the entry.
The Code specifically calls for runover
of contents entries to begin four cells to the right of the indent. We
have noticed, however, that many transcribers of both textbooks and
literary works prefer to begin runover only two cells to the right of the
indent. We have included the command \\con to allow you to
use this option. Use \\con in place of \\mc for
a main contents entry for indent to cell 1, runover to cell 3. Use
\\sc, \\ssc, and \\sssc just as
described above. When \\con is used for a main entry,
\\sc indents to cell 3, runover to cell 5; \\ssc
indents to cell 5, runover to cell 7; \\sssc indents to cell
7, runover to cell 9.
Throughout this Section, we've talked about where
particular items appear with and without a runninghead. As you've probably
noticed, however, none of the headings in CLIPHEAD include the
\\runninghead command. This is because, when you use a
runninghead, you establish it on the first preliminary page, right after
you enter \\bookprelim or \\textbookprelim. Keep
in mind that the table of contents is part of the preliminary pages.
Therefore, you want it to be affected by the preliminary page formatting
commands you've used on previous pages.
It's much easier to work with a table of contents
when it's in its own BEX chapter. When you're done entering it, send
it through the steps in the TranscriBEX process described in Section 7.
When you're ready to preview it, you must establish a print stream that
includes the earlier preliminary pages. If you looked at the table of
contents by itself, it wouldn't be under the influence of the preliminary
page formatting commands, including \\runninghead. This means
it wouldn't appear the same way on the previewer as it would when all the
pages are embossed in order. When you preview all the preliminary pages in
order, the result is accurate.
For transcribing purposes, there are essentially two
kinds of notes: those which already appear in the print and those which
are added in the braille transcription. Material added by the transcriber
to clarify something that appears in print is called a "transcriber's
note." Footnotes and other marginal materials which already appear in
print also need to be transcribed to braille; we call these "notes in
text." In this Section we introduce the commands \\tn and
\\endtn, \\note and \\endnote,
\\specialnote and \\endspecialnote,
\\attrib and \\endattrib, and
\\credit and \\endcredit.
A key difference between textbook and literary formats
is how transcriber's notes are handled. Literary format permits the
transcriber to add explanatory text to clarify tables and other unusual
formats without using a transcriber's note. Textbook format requires
that any material added to the print by the transcriber be identified as a
transcriber's note.
A transcriber's note is usually used before text
that needs explaining. Occasionally, a transcriber's note is
substituted for an unusual print symbol that has no clear braille
equivalent. The beginning and end of a transcriber's note are always
signalled by two cells: dot 6 followed by dot 3. To put a
transcriber's note in your text, use a <CR>
followed by the command \\tn. This sets indent to cell 7 with
runover to cell 5, and generates the first dot 6, dot 3. To end a
transcriber's note, use the command \\endtn followed by
a <CR> or ( $p ), as appropriate.
The \\endtn command generates the second
dot 6, dot 3, and resets indent to cell 3, runover to cell 1 (the standard
prose paragraph values). When you are using a format with a different
indent and runover (poem, play, question, etc.), use the appropriate
command to restore your format. For example, when you have a
transcriber's note in a poem, follow \\endtn with
<CR> \\poem. The category "notes in text" may be further divided
into two parts: notes to material in which the indent being used is
farther to the right than the runover, and notes to material in which the
indent is to the left of or even with the runover. Practically speaking,
the first category applies mainly to text using a standard paragraph form;
i.e. indent to cell 3 and runover to cell 1. For brevity, we refer to
these as "notes to prose." The second category is for poems, plays, li/s
of questions, etc. which use various indents and runovers.
Textbook and literary formats place notes to prose
text differently. Notes which appear at the bottom of the page or in the
margin in print are placed after the point of reference in braille. Short
notes (seven words or less) in literary format are enclosed in brackets
and placed immediately following the word which the reference indicator
accompanies in print. In this case, any reference indicator, such as an
asterisk, is omitted in braille. Longer notes in literary format are
marked where they occur by a reference indicator, and placed at the end of
the paragraph in which the reference occurs. When a paragraph contains
more than one reference, the reference indicators must be numbered or
otherwise ordered.
In textbook format notes are placed on the line
immediately following the point of reference. Please note:
This is one place where TranscriBEX does not follow the Code of
Braille Textbook Formats and Techniques exactly. The
Code calls for the braille line in which the point of
reference occurs to be finished before the note itself is placed on the
following line. TranscriBEX breaks the braille line immediately after the
point of reference; the note is placed on the following line; text is
resumed on the line following the note.
While the placements are different, the form of the
note itself is the same in both literary and textbook formats. When the
text is indented to cell 3, with runover to cell 1, the note is indented
to cell 7, with runover to cell 5. The command for this is
\\note. At the exact point the note is to begin, enter a
<CR> followed by \\note. Then enter the
reference indicator and the text of the note. To restore indent to cell 3,
runover to cell As mentioned, we call this type of note a "note to
prose" because it is most often used for simple paragraphed text.
Actually, it works whenever the last command used establishes indent to
the right of the runover. \\note moves both indent and
runover four cells to the right each time it's used. An example of a
second application for \\note is a note to a note. (This
occurs when the author has written a note to his or her own text, and the
publisher has added a note to that.) As with all paired TranscriBEX
commands, you must enter an equal number of \\note and
\\endnote commands, like this:
[text, reference indicator] <CR>
\\note [first note, reference indicator]
<CR>
\\note [second note]
\\endnote <CR>
[finish first note] \\endnote
<CR>
[more text]
The result here (assuming that the text uses indent to
cell 3, runover to cell 1) is that the first note indents to cell 7 with
runover to cell 5; the second note indents to cell 11 with runover to cell
9.
It is important that you distinguish between the
effects of "stacking" paired commands in this fashion from using the
complete pair repeatedly. The following entry would have a different
effect:
[text, first reference, text, second
reference]<CR>
\\note [first note]
\\endnote <CR>
\\note [second note]
\\endnote <CR>
[more text]
In this second example, the text indents to cell 3,
with runover to cell 1; both notes indent to cell 7 with
runover to cell 5.
The Code and English
Braille each devote a considerable amount of space to the
discussion of reference indicator symbols. The asterisk is most commonly
used. When there is no reference indicator in print (e.g. the note appears
in the margin flagged by a key word) use space, dropped g, dropped g,
space in braille. Enter this as follows Print places reference indicators in a wide variety of
ways. Sometimes they appear before the word they refer to; more often they
appear after the word. When the referenced word is followed by
punctuation, the reference indicator may appear before or after the
punctuation in print. Braille uses only one form. Regardless of the order
it appears in in print, enter the referenced word first, any accompanying
punctuation, and then the reference indicator.
Again, literary and textbook formats treat the
placement of notes differently. Literary format calls for notes to poems
and plays to be brailled in a separate note section at the end of each
volume. References are indicated by numbered asterisks throughout the
text; see English Braille, Rule IV, and Section 8, Part 7 of
this manual. Notes to tables should be placed at the end of the table in
regular paragraph form; use a paragraph indicator at the beginning of each
note.
Textbook format requires that notes to poems, plays,
and li/s of questions be placed on the line following the point of
reference. For these formats, where the runover is farther to the right
than the indent, use the commands \\specialnote and
\\endspecialnote. \\specialnote and
\\endspecialnote set indent and runover relative to values
established by \\poem, \\proseplay, etc. The
indent is four cells to the right of the left margin; the runover is two
cells to the right of the left margin.
Enter the text up to the point of reference, then use
a <CR>, \\specialnote, the reference
indicator, the text of the note, \\endspecialnote, and
another <CR>, ( $p ), or ( $s
), as appropriate. There is no need to re-enter the original
formatting command were\\poem, \\verseplay,
etc.). Because the \\specialnote command pair uses
relative values to establish indent and runover,
\\endspecialnote completely restores previous values.
For example, you are transcribing a prose play, using
indent to cell 1 and runover to cell 3. When you use
\\specialnote, the note indents to Notes to tables in textbook format should be placed at
the end of the table. Use numbered reference indicators in the body of the
table, and follow the \\endtable command with
<CR> \\note.
To show an author's name or source, use
\\attrib to block the attribution four cells to the right of
the left margin. When you are finished entering the attribution, use
\\endattrib to restore previous indent and runover. Again,
this pair of commands establishes indent and runover
relative to the operating format command; there is no need
to re-enter the format command. Here's an example:
[text] <CR>
\\attrib [the attribution]
\\endattrib <CR>
[more text]
Credits which appear following a heading are blocked
to cell 7. Use the \\credit command for this. Restore indent
and runover with \\endcredit. Here's an example:
$s \\hd My Friend Bullwinkle
<CR>
\\credit by Rocky the Flying Squirrel
\\endcredit$so
This is also discussed relative to its use in poetry
in Section 16, Part 2.
Several types of material are structured and
transcribed as "questions." One example is a problem set at the end of a
chapter in a textbook. Test papers, quizzes, drills and multiple-choice
exams are also transcribed as questions. Before you start transcribing,
you must first determine two things: whether or not the questions have
answer choices, and whether all the questions are the same level or have
sub-entries. In this Section, we introduce the commands
\\questions, \\withchoices, the
\\qu, \\mq, and \\sq family, and
\\dir.
The simplest case to transcribe is a list of
questions, all of the same level, with no answer choices. Use this format
when there is an unnumbered list of questions, or when they are simply
labelled 1, 2, 3, etc. Use a skip-line indicator to separate questions
from other text both at the beginning and at the end of the list. Don't
skip any lines between questions, even when lines are skipped in print.
Enter \\questions, then ( $s ), then begin data
entry. Start each question with ( $p ), (except the first,
where ( $s ) takes its place). Questions are indented to cell
1, with runover to cell 3. Use \\rt to restore normal indent
and runover. Here's an example:
[text] \\questions
$s 1) Does it rain in Spain?
$p 2) When it rains, is the water confined to the
flood plain?
$p 3) Is acid rain damaging to the eco-system of
Spain? \\rt $s [more text]
For a simple list of questions with answer choices
presented after some or all of the questions, follow the
\\questions command with \\withchoices (more
text]. Again, use a ( $p ) at the start of each
[text] \\questions
\\withchoices
$s 2) Where does it rain? <CR>
a) in Spain <CR>
b) on the plain <CR>
c) over rough terrain <CR>
d) in Plains, GA
$p 2) Why does it rain? Write a paragraph explaining
why rain falls.
$p 3) Which of the following has the highest flood
plain? <CR>
a) Spain <CR>
b) Maine <CR>
c) Dane County \\rt $s [more text]
When a list of questions has sub-questions, a command
structure similar to that for indexes and outlines is used, except that
there are two commands for main-level questions. The \\mq
command is used when that particular question has sub-questions. When
there is a list containing some sub-questions, but that particular
question has only one level, use \\qu instead of
\\mq. \\qu establishes indent to cell 1 and
runover to cell 3; \\mq indents to cell 1 with runover to
cell 5.
Do not use \\questions or
\\withchoices at the beginning of the list. Instead, each
question and sub-question must be individually preceded by a hierarchical
question command. When a particular question has sub-levels, use
\\mq for the main level, and \\sq,
\\ssq, and \\sssq for subsequent levels.
\\sq indents to cell 3 with runover to cell 7;
\\ssq indents to cell 5 with runover to cell 9; and
\\sssq indents to cell 7 with runover to cell 11. (And
that's all folks; there is NO \\dissq, etc.!) Follow
each question and sub-question with a <CR>. At the end
of the questions, use \\rt to restore normal paragraphs.
Here's an example: \\sq a) Does it rain there?
<CR>
\\ssq i) How much?
<CR>
\\ssq ii) During which season(s)?
<CR>
\\sq b) How high is the flood plain?
<CR>
\\ssq i) In the mountains?
<CR>
\\ssq ii) In the valleys?
<CR>
\\qu 2) Are you beginning to wish you had
never heard of Spain? <CR>
\\mq 3) What are the principal products
of Maine? <CR>
\\sq a) How many lobsters are caught
there each year? <CR>
\\sq b) How many crabs? \\rt
$s [more text]
When hierarchical questions have answer choices given,
treat the answers as a further sub-level of the corresponding question.
Here's the same example, with possible answers presented for some,
but not all, of the questions:
[text] $s
\\mq 1) What do you know about Spain?
<CR>
\\sq a) Does it rain there?
<CR>
\\ssq i) How much?
<CR>
\\sssq 1) 0-20 inches
<CR>
\\sssq 2) 20-35 inches
<CR>
\\sssq 3) over 80 inches
<CR>
\\ssq ii) During which season(s)?
<CR>
\\sssq 1) Spanish summer
<CR>
\\sssq 2) Spanish winter
<CR>
\\sssq 3) Whenever necessary to grow
Spanish rice <CR>
\\sq b) How high is the flood plain?
<CR>
\\ssq i) In the mountains?
<CR> \\qu 2) Now are you really beginning to
wish you had never heard of Spain? <CR>
\\mq 3with What are the principal
products of Maine? <CR>
\\sq a) How many lobsters are caught
there each year? <CR>
\\ssq i) fewer than 5
<CR>
\\ssq ii) between 5 and 50000
<CR>
\\ssq iii) a whole lobsterpot full
<CR>
\\sq b) How many crabs? \\rt
$s [more text]
When a set of questions is accompanied by directions,
they are blocked to cell 5. Use \\dir for this. A
transcriber's note is often needed between the directions and the
questions. Your data entry looks like this:
[regular text] $s
\\dir [directions to the questions]
<CR>
\\tn [transcriber's note]
\\endtn \\questions \\withchoices
$p [questions begin]
Directions to questions are one instance in which the
Code of Braille Textbook Formats and Techniques allows
minor changes in wording without requiring a
transcriber's note. For example, when the print says, "Solve the
problems at the right," the transcriber can substitute, "Solve the
problems below," without further explanation.
When there are notes to a set of questions, use
\\specialnote and \\endspecialnote, because
questions follow an outdented form. (See Section 13, Part 2.)
Print uses a variety of ways to set off examples from
the main text: a different margin, a change of typeface. Do not follow
this form in braille. Set off a list of examples by one blank line before
and after; use the skip-line indicator for this. When the examples are paragraphs, use paragraphs in
braille. When the examples are words, phrases, or sentences, begin each
example in cell 1, with runovers to cell 3. Use \\items for
this, and treat each item as a paragraph. Use \\enditems at
the end of the list of examples.
When a series of words or phrases is shown on a single
line in print, separate each word or phrase by three blank cells. Use
\\items as described above, and treat each line as a
paragraph. Here's an example of three such lines:
$p Study the following forms of address in French,
German, and Spanish. \\items
$s Mademoiselle Madame Monsieur
$p Fr@aulein Frau Herr
$p Se@norita Se@nora Se@nor \\enditems
Part 2: How Your Data Grows
TranscriBEX rules of thumb
The compromise: speed vs. size
Part 3: Organizing Your Data into Pages,
Chapters, and Disks
Set-up chapters and the persistence of the
braille formatter
Part 4: Controlling Sequential Braille Page
Numbering
Set-up chapters with
\\setnumber#
Previewing or embossing several disks of data
Part 5: Moving Data between Pages and Chapters
Section 10: Preliminary Pages
Part 1: Literary vs. Textbook Format--An
Overview of Differences
Literary preliminary pages
Textbook preliminary pages
How to do the preliminary pages in literary
format
Part 2: Braille Title Page
Part 4: Acknowledgements
Part 5: Prefaces, Forewords, and Introductions
Part 6: Transcriber's Notes and Special
Symbols Pages
Special symbols page
>$bBlue type. Placed before sample
solutions, which appear in blue.
Transcriber's note page
Tables of contents
Part 7: Textbook and Literary Format
Differences--Revisited
Section 11: Supplementary Pages
Indexes, outlines, and glossaries
Part 1: Indexes
Before you begin
Index entries
Part 2: Outlines
Part 3: Glossaries
Section 12: Tables of Contents
Part 1: Overview
Part 2: Contents Headings--Literary Format
Part 3: Contents Headings--Textbook Format
Part 4: Contents Entries
Simple tables of contents
Complex tables of contents
Part 5: Previewing the Table of Contents
Section 13: Notes on Notes
Part 1: Transcriber's Notes
Part 2: Notes in Text
Transcribing notes to prose
>gr . This is
Transcribing notes to non-prose
Attributions
Section 14: Questions, Exercises, Drills, and
Examples
Part 1: Simple List of Questions
Part 2: When Answer Choices Are Presented
Part 3: Hierarchies of Questions
Answer choices in hierarchies
Part 4: Directions to Questions
Part 5: Examples in Text