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From:
Valerie Sutton Date: Wed May 27, 1998 10:37 am Subject: Two-Way SW Dictionaries | |
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Hello Everyone! I have not forgotten all your wonderful messages about two-way SignWriting dictionaries - and I will answer each message in detail in time. I want to thank you for your ideas and input. Right now, just know that we also have been working with two-way dictionaries since the beginning of SignWriting in 1974. But for this moment, let me respond to the most recent question from a computer programmer, Leonardo Mahler, who is working on developing a SignWriting Chat Room in Brazil.... Here is Leonardo's message, with my response below: __________________________ >Valerie Sutton wrote: > >> 5. And last...for several years we have been working on a new computer >> program called SignWriter 5.0, which is a totally new piece of software >> written in Java. We are not done, but I am hoping that we can have the >> first version ready for the new school year too. For those of you >> interested in computers, some of you probably wonder why it wasn't >> completed long ago! The only answer is time and money - and we have little >> of both. However, the benefits will be so great that I hope to devote time >> to this, this summer. I am working with java programmers. I am not a >> programmer myself, but I designed the symbols and keyboards, and work with >> the many spoken and signed languages that are a part of SignWriter. My part >> of the work has to do with editing the symbols themselves. Since we are >> moving from an MS-DOS platform to the Macintosh and Windows, the symbols >> themselves have to be fixed up dot by dot in a special editor, because the >> graphics is handled differently in these new machines. I am half way done >> with the symbol editing. I will keep you posted as to our progress. >> > >Valerie: How are you? Fine? Remember me? I think so! Well, about your >message... maybe you can answer this question for us: >--> In Sign Writer user can write the word and dic returns the symbol...ok? Do >you know if is possible the user create the symbol and the dic return the word >that this symbol represents?? > >Thanks for atention, Leonardo Mahler. ____________________________ Hello Leonardo! All of our two-way dictionaries have been done by hand to date. Our SignWriter Computer Program, version 4.3, for MS-DOS has an excellent dictionary feature, and some people have created dictionaries with over 5000 signs in SignWriter 4.3, but our programmer, Richard Gleaves, was donating his time and did not have the time to create the software for the reverse dictionary - one that looks up by "Sign-Symbol-Sequence". As you know Sutton's Sign-Symbol-Sequence creates categories of looking up by SignWriting symbols - and it is not only based on looking up by handshape, but also by movements and facial expressions, depth and height and many other factors that come into the picture, when you are developing software. So the task became overwhelming from a computer programming perspective, and that particular part of the software never got completed...so, at this time, SignWriter 4.3 only looks up by eight spoken languages. That does not mean that we did not want to look up by Sign-Symbol-Sequence..it only means we had the frustration of not completing the software. Meanwhile, another programmer, Mike Ogawa, gave us a mini-Macintosh program for looking up by Sign-Symbol-Sequence, but that is not used any longer as it needed more work too. Funny - I thought of that the other day....it was called SignBank I and II. SignBank I looked up by words. SignBank II looked up by symbols. BUT...they never were completed :-( Of course, now we are working on SignWriter 5.0 for Java, and that work will continue for years. By the end of the summer we only hope to have a very basic program. Right now our focus is to get SignWriter to run on the web, on the Mac and on Windows. So the answer is NO...unfortunately right now our software doesn't do two-way dictionaries - Maybe you can develop this? I am going to accept people's help - I need all of your help - the ideas are all there - but the implementation is another story. I can't do it alone and I noticed that others of you have already offered to help and I accept. So we will all talk more soon. Maybe some of you can help me with the two-way dictionary entry work - I would love that :-) Thanks for your interest Leonardo, and we all want to hear how your SW Chat Room is going :-) All the best - Valerie Sutton :-) https://www.SignWriting.org Sutton at the DAC Deaf Action Committee For SignWriting Box 517, La Jolla, CA, 92038-0517, USA (619)456-0098 voice (619)456-0010 tty (619)456-0020 fax |
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