Transcribe! uses a comma-delimited text format for its saved XSC transcription files. The content of these files is basically the same whether on Macintosh or Windows.
This means that XSC transcription files can be transferred between the Mac and Windows versions of Transcribe! : if you have placed lots of markers in a transcription you are working on, and then you want to continue work on a different species of computer then you can copy the XSC file to the other machine (and the Sound file too of course) and carry on.
Also, it is possible to import marker position data into other programs such as spreadsheets. I have had communications from people using Transcribe! to analyze timings who find this useful.
Transferring XSC files between Mac & Windows
First you should copy the Sound file to the destination machine (or reload it from audio CD or whatever). It is best if the Sound file is identical on the two machines. Since marker positions are recorded as sample numbers, any difference in length of lead-in will cause misalignment of markers.
Now copy the XSC transcription file to the destination machine. You may need to tweak its name so that Transcribe! can recognise it. You must ensure that the name of the XSC transcription file ends with the four characters ".xsc" (upper or lower case).
From Windows to Mac : the file should already have the extension "xsc" but if it hasnít, rename the file so the last four characters of its name are ".xsc"
From Mac to Windows : You probably will need to rename the file so the last four characters of its name are ".xsc". Note that in Windows Explorer you should switch OFF "View - Folder Options - View - Hide file extensions for known file types" to enable you to see and change file extensions.
Now start Transcribe! on the destination machine and use "File - Open" to load the XSC file. It is likely that this will get you a dialog saying "Unable to load Sound file". Donít worry : this means that the transcription file has loaded ok, but Transcribe! has been unable to locate the Sound file which goes with it. The name and location (folder) of the Sound file are recorded in the transcription file but the folder information will not transfer between different machines as the filing system layouts are unlikely to be the same. So Transcribe! will look for a Sound file of the right name in the same folder as the transcription file itself, and if it isnít there you get the dialog described. All you have to do is use the "Reload Sound File" command to locate the sound file and your markers should now reappear and all is well.
On the Mac it is a good idea now to use "Save As" to save this transcription under a new name or in a new location. This is because the XSC file you copied from Windows does not have the correct Mac ëtypeí. If you "Save" to the same file then the wrong type will remain, whereas if you "Save As" then Transcribe! creates a brand new file of the correct type. The correct "creator type" and "file type" for a transcription file should both be ë7SStí. Transcribe! on the Mac takes special steps to be able to load files of the wrong ëtypeí as long as their names end with ".xsc". Finder doesnít know about this though, so you canít open a wrongly-typed XSC file by double-clicking it, which is a nuisance.
Loading XSC files into Spreadsheets
Some people use Transcribe! for technical analysis of timing and find it useful to load marker timing information into a spreadsheet. The best way to do this will depend on what spreadsheet you are using, but here are a couple of tips:
On Mac : Using Excel, the "File - Open" command has an option to "Show Files of Type - All Files". If you select this then you will be able to load an XSC file directly. In the Text Import Wizard on Step 1 under "Original Data type" ensure "Delimited" is selected, then press "Next". On Step 2 select "Comma" as your "Delimiters Type" and in the text qualifier popup select "None", then press "Next" and "Finish". Alternatively if you have a resource editing tool such as ResEdit or Resourcerer then you can change the fileís type to ëTEXTí and its creator to ëttxtí. This makes it look like a SimpleText file which you can load into SimpleText by double-clicking.
On Windows : rename the XSC file to give it the extension ".csv" (instead of ".xsc") : this is a standard extension indicating comma-separated text fields (but see the note above about Windows Explorer and file extensions). You may well find that double clicking it will now open it in your spreadsheet. If not, start your spreadsheet and either Open or Import the file. Alternatively you may get a result by opening the file in Notepad or Wordpad, Copy the contents to the clipboard and Paste into your spreadsheet.
XSC File Format
When you load an XSC file into a spreadsheet or text editor you will see its structure which is very simple and uses mnemonic names so is fairly self explanatory. It is divided into sections. We only document here the fields you're likely to be interested in, but if you want to understand any of the others youíll work them out easily enough.
In the "Main" section you may be interested in the sound file information.
"SoundFileName" give the file name in short and long form.
"SoundFileInfo" gives file type, file size in bytes, sample type, sample rate,
sample count, duration in seconds.
Here is a typical (but short) "Markers" section.
SectionStart,Markers
Howmany,8
S,23623,1,A,0
B,38947,1,,0
B,48469,1,,0
B,60249,1,,0
M,71835,1,A2,0
B,83296,1,,0
B,95514,1,,0
B,108719,1,,0
SectionEnd,Markers
It tells you how many markers there are, then the markers themselves, one per line. Each line starts with "S", "M" or "B" indicating Section, Measure or Beat marker, then a number giving the location of the marker (as a sample number - divide by the sample rate to get the time), then a 1 or 0 indicating whether or not the marker label is determined automatically (as opposed to being typed in by user), then the label text itself. Then there is a number indicating automatic subdivision : 0 means same-as-previous, 1 means no, 2 or more means divide into this many subdivisions.
There is one more issue which you only need to worry about if you type in marker names which use the characters ë,í or ë\í. Clearly Transcribe! cannot allow the ë,í character to appear within any field as it would be mistaken for a field delimiter when reading the file. Therefore Transcribe! saves any ë,í within a field as the pair ë\Cí and saves any ë\í as the pair ë\\í. Transcribe! then performs the reverse translation on loading.
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