Word Microscope Release Notes ============================= Welcome to this Word Microscope test version. Visit the home site at www.neilramsden.co.uk/microscope for latest news. Contents ~~~~~~~~ * Requirements * Installation and Removal * Limitations * Issues * Functionality - current * Functionality - future Requirements ~~~~~~~~~~~~ WM is fairly undemanding and should run on most PCs. We plan for a Mac version some time in the future. Currently, we've run it successfully on Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7. Word Microscope on PC requires: * Windows 98 (untried!) or above; * mouse or other pointing device; * Internet link. An Internet link isn't essential for core operation, but will allow web tools to be used: * Word Searcher; * on-line Dictionary; * on-line Etymology; * Introduction * Word Microscope Home Page; * Spelling Glossary. There are no audio effects, so no need for speakers or head-phones. Installation and Removal ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Installation of test versions is designed so that you can have more than one test version installed side by side. The setup program produces the following: - binary and support files; - program shortcuts; - but NO explicit Windows registry entries; - and currently no Desktop shortcuts (though this could be added if requested). You will normally need power user or administrator privileges to install or remove this test version (if not, you may not be able to write the necessary files). Windows may prompt you for an administrator password if you are not logged in as one. Use the installation defaults, unless you're sure that you want an alternative. If you modify the default program location, then you will probably need to manually uninstall Word Microscope (not recommended). To create your own shortcuts manually, link to the binary named similarly to "Word-Microscope-1-0-test-C2.exe". It's also not too hard to install Word Microscope manually from a zip file if you prefer complete control over where it goes. The program now has the necessary hooks to associate .XWM session files with Word Microscope, so that you would just drag a file to Word Microscope in Windows Explorer. (Double-clicking in Windows Explorer currently doesn't work correctly.) You would, however, need to set this up manually; which is probably only worth doing if you already have a reasonable idea of what it entails (eg. there isn't an easy undo facility in Windows). Limitations ~~~~~~~~~~~ Although the format for saving and restoring a session is becoming more stable, note that this is still experimental. The save format may change in future, though we're aiming to ensure new versions of the program will still be able to read old .XWM files. If you have problems recovering data saved in a previous version, a partial workaround is to print or save your findings log (with File ->Print Log or ->Save Log) in the old version, so you can at least see what you did. See below for more details on future plans and known bugs. Sharing Edits between Cells ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When you edit one of Your Elements in the Gallery, you automatically share those edits whereever the same underlying element appears in another cell, such as the word matrix or the word family sums list. A good analogy is how a change in one spreadsheet cell can ripple across to other cells. Edits to the Working Base Cell are also always shared. By default, there is no longer sharing of edits when you edit an ordinary cell in the Active Word Sum; but you can choose to share an edit if you use the full editing dialogue from the Cell > Edit menu command. This provides a lot of power, but can sometimes be confusing even for experienced users. If you'd like to know more, the Help files explain element sharing in more detail. Issues ~~~~~~ These more abstract concerns have been with us since inception: * How to convey limitations in program knowledge, eg. no appreciation of meaning, which is essential for the user to bring to their dialogue with the computer -- using the Skopo character is partly in response to this. * How to provide automated program power without taking away user autonomy. Current Functionality ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You can now: Home Site * Visit the Home Site, including hints on use and plans for future changes Next Steps * Get hints on what to do next, as a pop-up or a side-bar Files * Sign on and off, with shortcut sign-on button * Save and restore a session * Drag .XWM session files to Word Microscope in Explorer (but double-clicking .XWM files will fail) Viewing & Editing * Select and modify screen Layouts (View menu) for better use of space * View and edit Specimen Word (by default, the specimen is now inferred) * View and edit Current Word Sum - add/remove elements * View and edit Word Family list * View and edit Word Matrix (it's recommended to use automatic matrices, rather than manual editing) * View, partially edit and print Findings Log * View and edit a Scratch-pad for temporary notes * Type (fairly!) directly into a cell * Edit a cell via dialogue * Pop-up a cell context menu (on a PC, right-click the cell) * Copy and paste * Drag and drop * Do and undo * Merge duplicate elements * Select cells from an element gallery, including a reference bank of Skopo's elements Ideas Probe * Inspect target words for checking (acting as a simple spelling check) * View possible analyses for specimen & target words * Explore base or affix ideas, and inspect a base or affix for checking * Explore word sum ideas, and inspect a word sum for checking structure * View ideas for word families Web-tools * Link to Word Searcher * Link to Suffix Checker * Link to Dictionary * Link to Etymology web site Help * View help * Link to Introduction * Link to WM web site * Link to Spelling Glossary * View these Release Notes * View Licence * Get version information Installation * Install/remove using an automatic setup program (basic only) Future Functionality ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Still to add, or being considered: i) Possible new functions Viewing & Editing * Less strict edit limitations, eg. allow apostrophes and hyphens, policy on case * Edit word sum joins * Edit/write element meanings * Show links between duplicate cells (this no longer seems important since merging duplicate elements) * Edit contents of Findings Log more fully (workaround is to save log then use your preferred web page editor) * Copy and paste Findings Log eg. into MS Word (workaround is to save log then use your browser; or select findings text and use Control-C) Ideas Probe * Copy and paste, esp. word family list ii) Improved functions Files * Save and restore a session (fuller, with version control) Viewing & Editing * Make cell-editor close more consistently (much improved now) * Split a cell, eg. [active] into [act] + [ive], and update all affected word sums and the word matrix * Remember which cell is in focus? * Edit/save/restore element gallery (low priority) * Cell short-cut keys, eg. DEL? (low priority) * Reduce manual changes in the word matrix to the cells the user is currently working on (low priority) * Show moving cell image during drag and drop (low priority) Ideas Probe * Improve analyses of fused compounds, eg. * Improve handling of bound bases, eg. , * Improve handling of complex affixes, eg. <-ation> * Improve word and element stores, eg. Americanisms (color, etc), non-words (schh) * Try to handle eg. in + voce -> invoke * Fill-in other missing patterns, eg. , * More help in drilling into a many-element analysis (low priority) Web-tools * Customise the Tools Menu Configuration * Configure options (started) * Command line options, file associations (started) * Whiteboard facilities? (low priority) * American plus British spelling (low priority) Help * Bring Help up-to-date (ongoing) * Link to Tutorial iii) How it looks Design * Microscope character, "Skopo" (needs finishing) * Screen colour scheme and icons (need finishing) Configuration * Personalisation, eg. font, background? iv) Known bugs Running * Fix double-clicking in Windows Explorer (associating .XWM files with WM currently fails) Viewing & Editing * Fix confusing message in undo/redo when editing * Improve matrix sizing: currently, some rows are over-sized (partly fixed) * Improve investigation date so it's the latest saved date rather than viewing date (low priority) The home site includes a page showing our plans for what we expect to do next. Neil & Louise Ramsden 12 Sep 07 -> 1 Jun 12