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========================== B A M B O O H E L P E R ========================== Electronic text tools for students of the Chinese language ========================================================== Version 1.0 Program and Documentation Copyright (c) 1992-1993 by Carlos McEvilly. All rights reserved. CTA Systems 232 Anita Place Santa Fe, NM 87501 USA June 22, 1993 BAMBOO HELPER(TM) Version 1.0 Limited License ============================================= The Bamboo Helper program, support files, and documentation are Copyright (c) 1992-1993 by Carlos McEvilly. All Rights Reserved. You are granted a limited license to use and copy the shareware edition of Bamboo Helper provided you agree to the terms below. If you find Bamboo Helper useful and continue to use it after an evaluation period of 30 days, you are required to register by sending a fee of US$37 to the author. Use at a multi-user site requires a separate site license available from the author. You may copy the Bamboo Helper Shareware disk file BH101.ZIP and give away copies, as long as the files contained in the BH101.ZIP archive are kept together and in their original form. You may charge a reasonable distribution fee for Bamboo Helper as long as you make it clear to the people paying such a fee that Bamboo Helper is shareware, with an additional fee to the author being required for continued use. If you include Bamboo Helper in a group of files distributed together, such as a CD-ROM collection, you must pay the copyright holder a negotiated royalty for each copy distributed; it is your responsibility to make arrangements in advance for this. All rights are reserved by the author and terms are subject to change without notice in future editions. You may not reverse engineer, decompile, disassemble, or modify any of the files in the Bamboo Helper package. WARRANTY DISCLAIMER =================== BAMBOO HELPER IS PROVIDED AS IS, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. IN NO EVENT UNLESS REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE LAW OR AGREED TO IN WRITING WILL THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER OR ANY OTHER PARTY INVOLVED IN THE DEVELOPMENT OR DISTRIBUTION OF BAMBOO HELPER BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR DAMAGES, INCLUDING ANY GENERAL, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE BAMBOO HELPER (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO LOSS OF DATA OR DATA BEING RENDERED INACCURATE OR LOSSES SUSTAINED BY YOU OR THIRD PARTIES OR A FAILURE OF THE PROGRAM TO OPERATE WITH ANY OTHER PROGRAMS), EVEN IF SUCH HOLDER OR OTHER PARTY HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. This agreement shall be governed by the laws of the State of New Mexico. B A M B O O H E L P E R Version 1.0 User's Manual Table of Contents ================= Introduction..................................1 Bamboo Helper Overview...................1 About the Name...........................1 Getting Started...............................2 Requirements.............................2 Installing Bamboo Helper.................2 QUICK START..............................2 Running Bamboo Helper....................4 Basic Concepts................................5 What Bamboo Helper Does..................5 Detailed Function Descriptions................6 1. List of Phrases & Phonetics...........6 2. Phonetic Transliteration..............7 3. Make Flashcards for Text..............7 4. List New Characters in Text...........9 5. Extract Text from File................9 6. List of Unknown Characters...........10 7. List of Known Characters.............10 8. Update Known Characters..............11 9. About Bamboo Helper..................13 Appendix A: What's New in Version 1.0........14 Appendix B: Frequently Asked Questions.......15 Appendix C: Bamboo Helper Support Files......21 Appendix D: Far East Dictionaries............22 Appendix E: Sources of Chinese Text Files....23 Appendix F: Incentives for Registration......25 Registration Form............................26 B A M B O O H E L P E R Version 1.0 Page 1 ================================================================ Introduction ================================================================ Bamboo Helper Overview ---------------------- Bamboo Helper is a new software program that helps students of the Chinese language read Chinese text files on PC-compatible computers. Bamboo Helper adds phonetic information to Chinese text files, retaining the original text so the student can focus on the Chinese while using the pronunciation (pinyin or other forms) as a reference aid. The program also gives a dictionary entry number for each character, making it easy for the student to look up unrecognized characters right away. Bamboo Helper keeps a record of study progress, so it knows which characters the student needs help with. The program even generates flash cards tailor-made for any Chinese text file, which can be printed out for study of characters and their pronunciations. Bamboo Helper is compatible with several popular Chinese display systems (ETen, Chinese Windows, Kuo Chiao), and comes with several sample text files so users can get started right away using its unique features. Although students will be the main users of Bamboo Helper, the program will also be valuable to linguists, translators, teachers, librarians, and scholars working with the Chinese language. About the Name -------------- Bamboo has long played a part in Chinese writing with its use as a writing medium, as a base for paper making, and even as stock for handles of writing brushes*. This transparent yet close connection between bamboo and Chinese writing inspired the Bamboo Helper name. Bamboo Helper aims to be just as transparent a tool for making Chinese text more accessible to students. *See Tsien Tsuen-hsuin (aka Ch'ien Ts'un-hsün), "Written on Bamboo and Silk," Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1962. B A M B O O H E L P E R Version 1.0 Page 2 ================================================================ Getting Started ================================================================ Requirements ------------ Bamboo Helper runs on IBM PC compatible machines running DOS versions 3.3 or higher. It will also run in a Windows DOS window, an OS/2 DOS session, or a DESQview DOS window. Bamboo Helper does not display Chinese characters and does not provide editing functions. The program is compatible with popular PC-based Chinese display systems such as Eten, Kuo Chiao, and MS-Windows Chinese Edition. A Chinese display system is not required to run Bamboo Helper, but is required to see Chinese characters on the screen. Installing Bamboo Helper ------------------------ Before you begin, be sure you have at least 370K free on the disk or diskette onto which you will install Bamboo Helper. QUICK START: * Unzip BH101.ZIP into a subdirectory, then type BH. Detailed Instructions: 1) Create a new subdirectory for Bamboo Helper on your hard disk or on a floppy disk. The recommended subdirectory name is BH, but you can choose your own. For example, to create the BH subdirectory on drive C:, go to drive C: then type: md bh then press the [Enter] key. To go to this directory, type: cd bh then press the [Enter] key. B A M B O O H E L P E R Version 1.0 Page 3 2) Use the commonly available shareware utility PKUNZIP (version 2.0 or higher) to decompress Bamboo Helper into the new subdirectory. For example, if you are installing onto the BH subdirectory in drive C: and the Bamboo Helper BH101.ZIP file is in drive A:, then go to the C:\BH> subdirectory and type: pkunzip a:bh101.zip then press the [Enter] key. (Of course, if you are reading this document, you have probably already managed to do this.) 3) Check the AUTOEXEC.BAT file the root directory of your boot disk to make sure it contains a line like this: files=20 The number after "files=" should be 20 or higher. That's all! You are now ready to start Bamboo Helper. B A M B O O H E L P E R Version 1.0 Page 4 Running Bamboo Helper --------------------- To run Bamboo Helper, go to the subdirectory containing the Bamboo Helper files, and type: BH then press the [Enter] key. The program starts and shows you the main screen. As you move the cursor to different selections on the menu, a help paragraph appears on the right side of the screen explaining each selection. For more information on each function, see the detailed function descriptions later in this document. Tip: You can put the BH.EXE file on any subdirectory on your DOS path (for information on the DOS path, see your DOS manual), so that you will be able to run BH from any DOS prompt, without necessarily being in the BH directory. To make this work, edit the BH.CNF file Bamboo Helper creates, adding the line: BHPATH=c:\bh This example is assuming your Bamboo Helper files are installed on drive C: in the BH subdirectory. B A M B O O H E L P E R Version 1.0 Page 5 ================================================================ Basic Concepts ================================================================ Note: Chinese words mentioned in this document are spelled using standard pinyin (pin1yin1) romanization, but with tone marks indicated by an arabic numeral appended to the pronunciation, e.g. zi4. What Bamboo Helper Does ----------------------- Bamboo Helper helps students of Chinese read Chinese text files by providing: * Phonetic transliteration--changes Chinese to a phonetic form, showing you the pronunciation in either: - Pinyin - Yale - Wade Giles - Zhu4yin1fu2hao4 [bopomofo] * Word segmentation--shows you where word breaks are in Chinese text. * Generation of flash cards--make a set of flash cards you can print out, tailored to your knowledge and covering the vocabulary of a specific text Chinese file. * Generation of word lists--like flash cards, these are tailored to your knowledge and based on the vocabulary in the text file you specify. * Management of lists of characters to learn--tell Bamboo Helper which characters you know, and later when using Bamboo Helper functions it gives you help with only the characters you don't know. * Dictionary entry numbers for each character--use this number, shown next to each character in a Bamboo Helper output file, to look up a character or word in the Far East Chinese-English Dictionary, an excellent dictionary published by the Far East Book Co., Ltd. in Taipei, Taiwan. For more information, see the detailed descriptions of Bamboo Helper functions below. B A M B O O H E L P E R Version 1.0 Page 6 ================================================================ Detailed Function Descriptions ================================================================ 1. List of Phrases & Phonetics ------------------------------ The List of Phrases & Phonetics function reads a Chinese text file, and produces an output file to use as a study aid. The output file contains the original text, annotated with a list of the Chinese words found in each line. The list also shows Chinese characters that you still need to study, based on what Bamboo Helper knows about your current vocabulary. Each word or character is followed by the dictionary entry number for the character (or, if a word, for the first character in the word) to help you look up the character or word quickly in the Far East Chinese-English Dictionary. Finally, on the right is shown the pronunciation in the phonetic system you selected. Below is an example showing how the output looks (Chinese characters are represented by '##' in the below example): ################################################ A- B---C-D- E---F-----G-H--- I- J--- K- A. ## 123 pin1 B. #### 3028 re4 men2 C. ## 1074 zhong1 | | | | | \ Pronunc. for 2nd char in phrase | | | \---- Pronunciation for this character | | \---- Dictionary entry number (see below explanation) | \---- Chinese character or phrase from above line \---- Reference letter for Chinese character/word There are several points to note about the above example. First, there is a guide line under the Chinese text, giving reference letters for each transliterated character or word. Each letter in the guide line corresponds to a letter in the generated list. Second, not all characters are transliterated. This is because Bamboo Helper does not transliterate any single characters you have marked as known. Third, for every character or word, Bamboo Helper gives the dictionary entry number, telling you how to quickly look up this character or phrase in the Far East Chinese- English dictionary. B A M B O O H E L P E R Version 1.0 Page 7 2. Phonetic Transliteration --------------------------- The Phonetic Transliteration function reads a Chinese text file, and produces an output file with the Chinese text transliterated line by line. This function can be useful to librarians, scholars, or anyone who needs to do automatic transliteration of Chinese. Bamboo Helper uses the phonetic system you select to do phonetic transliteration. The program puts spaces between Chinese words, to show which characters go together. Note: Bamboo Helper knows about po4yin1zi4, Chinese characters with multiple pronunciations. BH will look at the context to determine the proper pronunciation of such characters. However, this feature is subject to the limitations of the built in dictionary. Therefore, always have the output double checked by a native Chinese speaker before relying on its accuracy. 3. Make Flashcards for Text --------------------------- Bamboo Helper can help you create flashcards tailored to the text files you are reading. The program reads the Chinese text file you specify, finds characters new to you, and generates a set of flashcards you can use to study these new characters. Each character is accompanied by its pronunciation, order of occurrence in the input file, and its entry number from the Far East Chinese-English Dictionary. Note: For more information about the Far East Chinese-English Dictionaries, please see Appendix D. B A M B O O H E L P E R Version 1.0 Page 8 The cards are generated as a text file in this format: +-------------------+-------------------+ | | | | ## | jue2 | | | | | | 1 #5496 | +-------------------+-------------------+ | | | | ## | kang1 | | | | | | 2 #1377 | +-------------------+-------------------+ The front of each card contains the character, and the back contains other important information: Example Meaning ========= ============================================== ## = Chinese character kang1 = pronunciation (in your selected scheme) 2 = order of the character's appearance in the file #1377 = character's dictionary entry number To make cards from the generated file, simply print the file (see note below), fold and paste each sheet on the printed center line, and cut out the cards. Note: When you print flashcards, be sure to choose a non- proportionally spaced font such as courier, so that the cards will print evenly. Experiment with different fonts, printing just one page until you find one that works. The font used for Chinese should not matter, just so it is large enough to allow the characters to print clearly. If you are reading text that is difficult for you, Bamboo Helper might give you a lot of flashcard-cutting work. In this case you may want to start with smaller files or files of a more basic level. Bamboo Helper generates one card for each character it thinks you do not know. To tell Bamboo Helper which characters you know, use the "Update Known Characters" function explained later in this document. B A M B O O H E L P E R Version 1.0 Page 9 Bamboo Helper will not generate duplicate cards for the same character; even for characters that occur more than once in the input file, only one card will be generated. If you prefer to make your own cards by hand, the "List New Characters in Text" function will come in handy for telling you the pronunciation and dictionary entry numbers. For more information, see "List New Characters in Text," later in this document. 4. List New Characters in Text ------------------------------ This function makes a vocabulary list showing which characters you would have to learn before you could read a given Chinese text file. When you give it an input file, the function creates an output file containing a list of vocabulary characters. This function can help students to focus on new characters, or can help teachers prepare course materials. The output takes the following form: Number Dict. No. Char. Phonetic ====== ========= ===== ======== 1. #4927 ## he4 2. #6796 ## po3 3. #1143 ## ning2 As shown above, the characters listed in the output file are accompanied by their pronunciation, appearance order in the input file, and dictionary entry number. The output file lists only characters Bamboo Helper thinks you do not know. To tell Bamboo Helper which characters you know, use the "Update Known Characters" function explained later in this document. 5. Extract Text from File ------------------------- Use this function to extract just the text from any file, without the extra control codes that make the file unreadable. This is useful for salvaging files saved in an unknown word processor format unreadable by your editor, or for extracting text from the .EXE file of a program. The function works simply to extract either Chinese or ASCII text. The output will be an editable B A M B O O H E L P E R Version 1.0 Page 10 text file. Depending on your selection, Bamboo Helper will extract Chinese phrases of two or more Chinese characters, or ASCII strings of three or more characters. 6. List of Unknown Characters ----------------------------- Use this function to make a list of the characters Bamboo Helper thinks you do not know. This enables you to track your study progress and can help you to spot characters that should be added to your list of known characters, the Known Characters file (KNOWN.DAT). The characters you do not know are listed in an output file, one per line. To determine which characters you know, Bamboo Helper uses the Known Characters file. For more information, see the section on the Update Known Characters function, later in this document. Note: If you temporarily rename your Known Characters file so that Bamboo Helper cannot find it, Bamboo Helper will create a new, empty, Known Characters file. By using this function with this empty Known Characters file, you can produce a list of all the Chinese characters in the Big-5 character set. 7. List of Known Characters --------------------------- This function can show you which characters Bamboo Helper has recorded as being known by you. This enables you to track your study progress or check your list of known characters for mistakes. If you have not yet used Update Known Characters to tell Bamboo Helper which characters you know, the output file created will be empty. For more information, see the section on the Update Known Characters function, later in this document. B A M B O O H E L P E R Version 1.0 Page 11 8. Update Known Characters -------------------------- Use this function to tell Bamboo Helper which characters you have already learned. Bamboo Helper keeps this information in the Known Characters file, KNOWN.DAT. "Known" in this case simply means known by you. This information helps Bamboo Helper tailor its output to match your reading level. To add characters to your Known Characters file: ------------------------------------------------ 1) prepare a text file, for example TEXT.TMP, containing only characters that you know. A simple way to do this is: a. Copy a text file to a new file named TEXT.TMP b. Open TEXT.TMP using your favorite editor c. Delete all the characters you don't know d. Save TEXT.TMP Note: It doesn't matter if this text file also contains non- Chinese text or spaces and carriage returns. A good way to get started with tailoring your Known Characters file to your level is to use edited versions of the supplied BASIC.B5 file as your input file. See below for more information. 2) Run Bamboo Helper and choose the Update Known Characters function, using TEXT.TMP as the input file Bamboo Helper reads the text file and adds all the Chinese characters contained therein to your list of known characters. To delete characters from your Known Characters file: ----------------------------------------------------- 1) Use the "List of Known Characters" function to create a new file (called, for example, LIST.TMP), containing a list of all the characters Bamboo Helper currently regards as known. 2) Edit the LIST.TMP file created in step 1, deleting each of the characters you want removed from the Known Characters file. B A M B O O H E L P E R Version 1.0 Page 12 3) Delete your old Known Characters file (KNOWN.DAT), or rename and save it if you think you might want to return to your original list of known characters later. 4) Use the Update Known Characters function to create a new Known Characters file. When BH asks you which input file to use, enter "LIST.TMP". Your new Known Characters file records only the characters in the LIST.TMP file as having been learned. You can now delete the LIST.TMP file, or keep it for future reference. Using the included BASIC.B5 file -------------------------------- Bamboo Helper comes with a basic vocabulary file containing the most common Chinese characters. You can use this file to get started quickly customizing Bamboo Helper to your level of Chinese ability. Note that the file contains two lists. Each list is from a book in the Yale University "Read Chinese" series of basic Chinese textbooks. The first three hundred characters are from Book I; the next three hundred are from Book II. To make the best use of this file, first make an extra copy of the BASIC.B5 file. Then edit the extra copy, deleting any characters you don't know. Now save this changed file and use it as the input for the Update Known Characters function, following the steps in "To add characters to your Known Characters file," above. In this way you can start out right away with a customized version of Bamboo Helper that has a record of which Chinese characters you already know. If your knowledge of Chinese characters exceeds the limited vocabulary listed in the supplied BASIC.B5 file, this file will still get you started by dispatching with the most common characters. To update the Known Characters file with more advanced characters, use copies of more advanced text files, again editing out any characters you do not know. B A M B O O H E L P E R Version 1.0 Page 13 9. About Bamboo Helper -------------------------- This function displays brief information about Bamboo Helper, as well as registration information. Register -------- Choosing this selection gives you a screen with two choices: press [P] to print a registration form, or [K] to enter your registration key if you have already registered. Print a Registration Form ------------------------- Bamboo Helper prints a one-sheet registration form with the registration address and room for your name, address, comments, and registration amount. Make sure your printer is on, connected, online, and has paper before selecting this function. Enter your Registration Key --------------------------- Use this function only if you have already registered and have received a Bamboo Helper registration key. Type in your name exactly as it appears on your registration letter, then type in the registration key exactly. You should see a "Thank You" screen if this process is successful. Now exit Bamboo Helper and restart it again; the screen says "Registered to [your name]." To support the shareware concept, please do not share your registration key or the key file Bamboo Helper creates. B A M B O O H E L P E R Version 1.0 Page 14 Appendix A: What's New in Version 1.0 ===================================== This list shows changes since the first Beta version of Bamboo Helper, released in November 1992 on the World Data Exchange BBS in Taipei, Taiwan. * Lots of cosmetic changes: a new file listing box that accepts wildcards (*.txt, etc.); program remembers current function and doesn't exit upon completion; automatic Chinese line drawing if Chinese display software (ETen, etc.) detected; indicator shows current menu selection; displays running total of phrases and characters processed; config file BH.CNF remembers default settings for preferred phonetic scheme (phoneticscheme=), path of support files (BHPATH=), color of info screen (colorscheme=), default Chinese mode (chinesescreen=), registration nag timer (message=), and Known Characters file (known=). * Now detects multitaskers (OS/2, Windows, and DESQview) and gives up time slices to other applications while awaiting keystrokes. * Senses UUENCODED input files and automatically converts them. * A registration key entry screen has been added. * A registration form printing function has been added. * The program now checks to make sure essential support files (*.DCT, *.LST, etc.) are found upon startup. B A M B O O H E L P E R Version 1.0 Page 15 Appendix B: Frequently Asked Questions ====================================== [From the author] I compiled this section to help answer some of the most frequently asked questions about Bamboo Helper. If you have a question specifically about Bamboo Helper that is not answered here, or comments and suggestions you would like to share, I would be glad to hear and try to answer them. Of course registered users will receive the highest priority, but I will do my best to answer all mail. (Please note that Bamboo Helper has a very small target audience, so if you find Bamboo Helper useful, you are one of a VERY FEW people who do so, and therefore your registration is all the more vital in order to encourage future development.) I want to thank some of the many people who helped bring Bamboo Helper to this stage. First and foremost, thanks are due to Liu Chia-huei for many hours of tedious dictionary correction. I also want to thank Sharlene Packer for marking up the draft of the document with her red pen, James Thomas for cheering me on and providing the fine WDE BBS in Taipei where the beta version was distributed, Ned Walsh for helping verify the accuracy of the Far East Chinese-English Dictionary character entry number table, Steven Fox (author of FONT MONSTER, a great Windows 3.1 font management utility) for providing shareware ideas, Kevin Vigor for his time-slicing routines that make programs more multitasker-friendly, Miranda McEvilly and Robert Storey for getting me on Compuserve, Diane McEvilly who offered to open the mail when I'm not in the US, and finally all the beta testers, who told me which rough edges couldn't go without smoothing. The flaws that remain are entirely my own responsibility. Carlos McEvilly Taipei, June 1993 Frequently Asked Questions Contents ----------------------------------- 1. I don't have any Chinese text files, so how can I use Bamboo Helper? 2. I tried Bamboo Helper, but I didn't see any Chinese anywhere on my screen. 3. I can't find the function that allows you to enter Chinese characters into Bamboo Helper. B A M B O O H E L P E R Version 1.0 Page 16 4. When I run Bamboo Helper, I get these funny "ox" and "ow" characters making a box around the screen. 5. So where can I get one of these Chinese display system programs? 6. When I try to run Bamboo Helper, it says "Not enough memory" and quits. What should I do? 7. How can I print the output files from Bamboo Helper? 8. I printed some flash cards, but the edges are not lined up, so they look terrible. 9. These dictionary entry numbers look useful, but I don't have/use the Far East Chinese-English dictionary. 10. I want to use Bamboo Helper, but my Chinese system/editor uses GB codes. 11. What is Big-5 coding? Why does Bamboo Helper use Big-5? 12. What is GB coding? Does Bamboo Helper support GB codes? 13. Is there a GB (Guo3 Biao3 2312-80 character coding) version planned for the future? 14. I participate in an online conference on a network/BBS where we use HZ codes and ZW codes. Can I use Bamboo Helper? 15. How about Unicode? CCCII? REACC? 16. After using Bamboo Helper, I found a character that had the wrong pronunciation listed. What gives? 17. Bamboo Helper doesn't always segment words properly. Why? 18. How can I contact the author of Bamboo Helper? ====================================== 1. Q: I don't have any Chinese text files, so how can I use Bamboo Helper? A: If you have Bamboo Helper, you should have some Chinese text files, because the program comes with several sample text files to get you started. For information on where to get more files, see Appendix E, Sources of Chinese Text Files. 2. Q: I tried Bamboo Helper, but I didn't see any Chinese anywhere on my screen. A: Bamboo Helper does not display Chinese; it only processes existing Chinese files. After you use Bamboo Helper to convert a Chinese file, you must use a separate Chinese display system to see or edit the Chinese text. Systems that work well for this include ETen, MS-Windows Chinese Edition, Kuo Chiao, NewWin, Zhen Han, and 01 (Ling Yi). Most of these are commercial programs, although one version of Kuo Chiao has been provided for public access on the Internet and on many electronic Bulletin Board Systems (BBSs) that carry Chinese software. B A M B O O H E L P E R Version 1.0 Page 17 3. Q: I can't find the function that allows you to enter Chinese characters into Bamboo Helper. A: Bamboo Helper only works with existing Chinese files, so you must use a separate editor input your Chinese text, or use an existing text file. See also question 2. 4. Q: When I run Bamboo Helper, I get these funny "ox" and "ow" characters making a box around the screen. A: Bamboo Helper uses Chinese line drawing codes to draw its screens if a Chinese display system is detected. In some computers, Bamboo Helper may improperly detect a Chinese system where none exists. If occurs on your machine, change the line that says "chinesescreen=autodetect" in your BH.CNF file to "chinesescreen=off". 5. Q: So where can I get one of these Chinese display system programs? A: Try: Cheng and Tsui Inc. 25 West Street Boston, MA 02111 USA Tel: (617) 426-6074 Or: Pacific Rim Connections Inc. 3030 Atwater Drive Burlingame, CA 94010 USA Tel: (415) 697-0911 Note: For use with Bamboo Helper, make sure the system you get supports Big-5 character coding. 6. Q: When I try to run Bamboo Helper, it says "Not enough memory" and quits. What should I do? A: Unload some of the other programs in memory, if any, and try again. If you are running Chinese display software such as ETen or Kuo Chiao, try running BH without the Chinese system loaded. You might try loading essential programs and drivers into high memory, to free up memory in the 640K base memory area utilized by Bamboo Helper. ETen versions 3.0 and higher can be loaded high, but earlier versions can not. B A M B O O H E L P E R Version 1.0 Page 18 7. Q: How can I print the output files from Bamboo Helper? A: The easiest way is probably to use the print functions in any editor running under MS-Windows 3.x Chinese Edition, such as Windows Write, Windows Notepad, or MS-Word for Windows Chinese Edition. NewWin, a Chinese editor from NewTek Publishing Co. Ltd. (Wen2xin1 Ke1ji4 You3xian4 Gong1si1) located at 12F-2, #92 Minsheng E. Rd., Sec. 3, Taipei, Taiwan (Fax: 886-2-501-5274), provides an easy and inexpensive Chinese printing alternative for users of English MS-Windows 3.x or OS/2 2.x. ETen, Kuo Chiao, 01 (Ling Yi) and ZhenHan have printing functions, but these are arcane and beyond the scope of this document. 8. Q: I printed some flash cards, but the edges are not lined up, so they look terrible. A: Print again using a monospaced (non-proportional) font such as Courier for the English, and any font for the Chinese. This should solve the problem. 9. Q: These dictionary entry numbers look useful, but I don't have/use the Far East Chinese-English dictionary. A: Support for additional dictionaries will be added in the future. In the meantime, you might consider buying the Far East Chinese-English dictionary that is currently supported; it is excellent and comes in editions of several sizes. While previous and smaller editions contain only classical characters and show pronunciation in zhu4yin1fu2hao4 (bopomofo), newer large format editions of the dictionary do contain pinyin and there is also a simplified edition of the dictionary coming out soon. For more information, see Appendix D, Far East Dictionaries. 10. Q: I want to use Bamboo Helper, but my Chinese system/editor uses GB codes. A: You need to convert the GB files to Big-5 format before Bamboo Helper can make sense out of them. There are conversion utilities for GB->Big-5 commonly available on BBSs that carry Chinese programs and on the Internet. See Appendix E, Sources of Chinese Text Files, for more information. B A M B O O H E L P E R Version 1.0 Page 19 11. Q: What is Big-5 coding? Why does Bamboo Helper use Big-5? A: Big-5 is the de facto standard character code in Taiwan. Because Taiwan is still the most commercially viable and dynamic market in the world for Chinese language software, there is a rich and growing array of software using Big-5. For example, the newly released MS-Windows 3.1 Chinese Edition uses Big-5. Bamboo Helper uses Big-5 code to maximize compatibility with this wide range of software. 12. Q: What is GB coding? Does Bamboo Helper support GB codes? A: "GB" (Guo3 Biao3, or National Standard) is short for "Guo3jia1 Biao3zhun3 2312-80," the name of the standard defined in the People's Republic of China for the encoding of a basic set of 6,763 common simplified Chinese characters and additional symbols. GB is not supported in the current version of Bamboo Helper. 13. Q: Is there a GB version of Bamboo Helper planned for the future? A: Although GB code capability may be developed in the future, this is currently not a priority since there are adequate code conversion utilities available both as shareware and freeware and included with commercial Chinese display systems. 14. Q: I participate in an online conference on a network/BBS where we use HZ codes and ZW codes. Can I use Bamboo Helper? A: Yes, and you'll have to first convert the HZ or ZW encoded text to Big-5 coded format. To do this, it may be necessary to go through an intermediate step of first converting to GB before converting to Big-5. Fortunately, there are conversion utilities for each step of this process, and they are commonly available on BBSs and Internet ftp sites that carry Chinese files. Look for files named ZW2HZ, HZ2GB, and B2G. These may have .EXE or .ZIP extensions. 15. Q: How about Unicode? ISO10646? CCCII? REACC? A: A Unicode version may be developed when Unicode format online text files are available on a routine basis. A REACC or CCCII version may be developed if there is sufficient interest, or if a librarian's edition of Bamboo Helper is published in the future. Comments from users are welcomed. B A M B O O H E L P E R Version 1.0 Page 20 16. Q: I've been using Bamboo Helper, and I noticed a character that had the wrong pronunciation listed. What gives? A: You may have found a po4yin1 zi4 (a character with more than one pronunciation) that was not listed in the Bamboo Helper dictionary. Bamboo Helper has an intricate algorithm to determine the correct pronunciation for po4yin1 zi4, thus solving a difficult problem of one-to-many mapping in the Chinese language. However, the algorithm is not correct in every case. The author would appreciate hearing about instances of incorrectly transliterated text; this will help to improve future versions of the program. 17. Q: Bamboo Helper doesn't always segment words properly. Why? A: The text segmentation function depends on dictionary lookup to determine whether or not two or more characters belong together. In Chinese, it is often debatable whether a particular series of characters constitutes a phrase or not. This makes it impractical to build a dictionary covering all possible words and phrases. Therefore, the program will segment text improperly on occasion. The text segmentation functions only look for words and phrases of two, three, or four Chinese characters. Longer phrases are generally very specialized terms and often consist of two or more shorter phrases, so no effort is expended looking for these. Users who register the program will receive an updated and more complete dictionary, which will help improve the quality of segmentation. 18. Q: How can I contact the author of Bamboo Helper? A: Carlos McEvilly 232 Anita Place Santa Fe, NM 87501 USA Internet: 72672.3462@compuserve.com Compuserve: 72672,3462 ====== end of Frequently Asked Questions ====== B A M B O O H E L P E R Version 1.0 Page 21 Appendix C: Bamboo Helper Support Files ======================================= The Bamboo Helper package comes in compressed format and may be decompressed using the PKUNZIP utility, version 2.0 or higher. The compressed file for Bamboo Helper Version 1.0 is called BH101.ZIP, and contains the following files: BH.EXE Main program file BH1.DCT Dictionary part 1 BH2.DCT Dictionary part 2 BH3.DCT Dictionary part 3 BHINFO.DAT Help information file PHON.DCT Phonetic lookup dictionary PHON.LST Pronunciation string file README.TXT Quick start information file KNOWN.DAT Known Characters file SAMPLEx.B5 Sample text files BH101.DOC The document file you are reading now BASIC.B5 Basic vocabulary: first 600 characters Please see the bottom of this file for details on what you will get if you register Bamboo Helper for US$37. B A M B O O H E L P E R Version 1.0 Page 22 Appendix D: Far East Dictionaries ================================= Some Chinese dictionaries assign a unique number to each Chinese character. This facilitates indexing of the dictionary by phonetic, radical, or other methods. Several Bamboo Helper functions tell you these dictionary entry numbers for the characters in your input file. Using these numbers, you can easily look up in a Chinese-English dictionary the meanings and various usages of a character. The numbers Bamboo Helper supplies are those used in the excellent series of Chinese-English dictionaries edited by the late Dr. Liang Shih-Chiu, and published by the Far East Book Co., Ltd. in Taipei. These dictionaries are essentially different versions of the same dictionary published in many editions of various sizes, some of which are listed below: Far East Chinese-English Dictionary A New Practical Chinese-English Dictionary Far East English-Chinese Chinese-English Dictionary Far East Concise Chinese-English Dictionary Far East Concise English-Chinese Chinese-English Dictionary B A M B O O H E L P E R Version 1.0 Page 23 Appendix E: Sources of Chinese Text Files ========================================= The easiest way to get more Chinese text files is to register Bamboo Helper. You will be sent a collection of Chinese text files, many not available on electronic networks, with your Bamboo Helper package. Another way to get Chinese text files is through electronic networks and BBSs, where the amount of available material is growing rapidly. The following lists specific sources by name, along with a brief explanation for each source and a mention of which network each belongs to. ALT.CHINESE.TEXT, ALT.CHINESE.TEXT.BIG5 -- Usenet Newsgroups (electronic discussions among people using the Internet computer network) dedicated to discussions in and about Chinese text. ALT.CHINESE.TEXT.BIG5 echoes the contents of ALT.CHINESE.TEXT, but with the messages posted in Big-5 code instead of other character coding schemes. CHPOEM-L -- Chinese Poem List, a Bitnet List dedicated to the enjoyment of Chinese poetry. Most postings to this list are Chinese poems or prose. To join CHPOEM-L, send a message to LISTSERV at node UGA (listserv@uga) saying "sub chpoem-l name", omitting the quotes and substituting your real full name where the above line says "name." Hua Xia Wen Zhai (CND Chinese Magazine) -- A Chinese language semi-literary digest issued approximately once a week. For information on subscribing, send an e-mail message with any message body to cnd-info@cnd.org. For use with Bamboo Helper, specify the Big-5 version when you request your subscription. LYTX -- ("Lian/ Yi\ Tong- Xun\") is a monthly Chinese electronic and print publication issued by a group calling itself the "LYH" (Lian/ Yi\ Hui\, perhaps?) in Ottowa, Canada. LYTX includes a wide range of topics, from historical accounts, to personal essays and poems, to tips on how to fix your car. To subscribe send a message to li@sce.carleton.ca (Yao Li), specifying Big-5 character encoding for use with Bamboo Helper. CCNET-L -- Chinese Computing Network. Rather than being a source of Chinese text, CCNET-L is a Bitnet List for discussion of issues related to Chinese language computing. Subscribe by sending an e-mail message to LISTSERV at node UGA (listserv@uga) saying "sub ccnet-l name", omitting the quotes and substituting your real full name where the above line says "name." B A M B O O H E L P E R Version 1.0 Page 24 RIME Chinese Conference -- RIME is an international e-mail network carried by BBSs around the world. It allows users of a BBS to communicate with remote participants in topic-oriented Conferences. Postings in the RIME Chinese Conference are often in English or Big-5. Note: Mail items on these lists/conferences/newsgroups sometimes are in UUENCODED, HZ or ZW format (special formats that encode Chinese text for email transmission). To have Bamboo Helper process a HZ, ZW, or UUENCODED GB item, you will need conversion utilities available from the ftp sites and BBSs mentioned below. For Big-5 or UUENCODED Big-5 items, things are simpler: Bamboo Helper will decode them automatically for you. Internet FTP Sites -- For those who have access to FTP on Internet, several sites carry Chinese text files as well as software, including utilities to convert between the GB and Big-5 character code formats. crl.nmsu.edu New Mexico State University. Files under pub/chinese. ahkcus.org Association of Hong Kong Chinese in the United States. Files under pub. ifcss.org International Federation of Chinese Students and Scholars ftp site. Chinese text files, conversion programs, more nctuccca.edu.tw Taiwan mirror site for ahkcus.org moers2.edu.tw Has some Chinese documents; mostly technical ftp.edu.tw Mirror site for several Chinese-related sites; look in Chinese directory BBSs -- The World Data Exchange BBS in Taipei, Taiwan carries beta test versions and updates of Bamboo Helper: WDE World Data Exchange, Taipei, Taiwan 886-2-695-2326 (Node 3, for new users) Sysop: James Thomas Another good source of Chinese-related files is: Far East Asian Connection BBS -- Riverside, CA, USA (909) 781-4066. Has some Chinese text files and a collection of Chinese shareware. B A M B O O H E L P E R Version 1.0 Page 25 Appendix F: What You Get When You Register Bamboo Helper ======================================================== Bamboo Helper is shareware. Shareware allows you an opportunity to try the software at your leisure, before you pay for it. However, it is not free software and you must pay for it if you continue using it after a reasonable evaluation period of 30 days. The shareware version of Bamboo Helper is a complete working package; the only difference after registration is that the short nag screens are eliminated and the information screen changes slightly. When you register, you will be supporting the shareware "try before you buy" concept and helping to make future improvements possible. In addition, you will also receive a package with the following: 1. Master diskette with latest version of Bamboo Helper, with improved functions and the most up to date dictionary file, including many more words and phrases. 2. A registration number and instructions for using it to personalize your copy of Bamboo Helper. 3. ETen Chinese System / MS Windows Chinese Edition Quick Reference Card (in English) 4. Zhu4yin1fu2hao4 (bopomofo) / Changjei keypad stickers to make your keyboard a Chinese one. 5. Calligraphy writing practice booklets, to get you started on this ancient Chinese art. 6. Additional Chinese text files for use with Bamboo Helper. 7. Copies of other programs by the same author. Some of these may not yet be available on the Internet or BBSs. - YOMAYO--detects whether or not a Chinese system (ETen, KuoChiao, or 01) is present. With YOMAYO your batch files can act differently depending on their current environment. - SIFT--a utility to sift through files, including binary files, to extract ASCII or Big 5 Chinese text strings. - Other Chinese-text-related utilities which may be available by the time you read this file. To register, simply fill out the form at the end of this document and send in a check or money order (drawn in US funds on a US bank, please) for your registration. ================================================================= Bamboo Helper v1.0 Registration Form--Please Print Clearly ================================================================= Name: ________________________________________________________ Address: ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ E-Mail: ________________________________________________________ Where did you hear about Bamboo Helper? _________________________________________________________________ How has Bamboo Helper been useful to you? Do you have any suggestions for improvements? _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ Price: $_______ ($37; NM residents add 6.125%=$2.27 sales tax) Shipping: $_______ ($3; $6 outside of US and Canada) Total: $_______ (Check/money order paid to "Carlos McEvilly"; US funds, checks must be drawn on a US bank) Note: Use at multi-user sites requires a site license; inquire for details on site license discounts. Please mail to: Carlos McEvilly 232 Anita Place Santa Fe, NM 87501 U.S.A. =========== Thank you for registering Bamboo Helper! ==========