Software of the Month Club (Business) 1998 May/Software of the Month Club - Business Shareware (Volume 249) (May 1998).iso/dos/biz/debge100/readme.txt

Text File | 1997-11-19 | 14.0 KB | 293 lines

deBabel English translator utility program

   1. Introduction

The English language is not only the mother language of a few hundred million
of people, but lately it became the universal information holder world-wide.
You can get any information in English, but in any other language you can get
only a part of it. Statistically, the 80% of the public part of the
information flow in the internet (usenet, www) is in English. This means,
that those whose mother tongue is not English, or who have not learned
English on a high level are excluded from a big part of the information.
Which is most unfair.

This program wants to change this unfair situation. It cannot translate from
English into another language, but for those who know a little bit of English
(fundamental grammar and the most fundamental words), this program will help
to read an English text file, or fast search in the dictionary when  reading
a printed text.

I hope this program will also help professional translators in their works.
You can translate English files much faster by using this program and word
processor.

This program is a dictionary program with limited artificial  intelligence.
Intelligence in this case only means that the program tries to find out from
the English word what are the possible dictionary forms, then with the help
of the vocabulary writes out the possible translations in the monitor or in
the suitable file. The program does not translate. Every user has to make a
decision of his or her own, and choose the suitable translation.

This is the German version of the program. The English German vocabulary was
merged from files I could find on the Internet. Now  (1997. autumn) it
consists about 103.000 translations of 66.000 English words. I welcome every
new file with great thanks.

 2. Installing

The program needs 22 Megabyte space on your hard disk drive. Please check the
free place on your HDD before installing.

The program was written under DOS, it will run on PC (286, 386, 486, Pentium,
etc.) and 600 kilobyte of memory is enough for it. From Windows you can run
this program in a DOS window. I chose  this old fashioned form for this
program, so that it could be run on old machines as well.  The translator
function is accelerated with disk cache programs (smartdrive, etc.) and more
memory.

For the installation make a directory on the hard disk, then copy the packed
program there. After unpacking the program (when the extension is .zip the
type: pkunzip filename, when the extension is .arj then type: arj e filename.
Then run the debabel.exe file. The program will start the index files first,
which  may need about ten minutes on a slow computer.

If the first run is unsuccessful, check in the main directory in the
config.sys file that the FILES parameter is more than 30, respectively check
that in the autoexc.bat file there is a share command.

After starting you will see the main menu. You can move between the menu
points with the Up/Down arrows, and you can use the certain functions by
pressing Enter.

   3. Vocabulary function

This function is prepared for those who read printed English texts or
translate such texts with handwriting. Here you can write an English word and
after pressing Enter the program will list the possible translations.

The program in this function also tries to translate intelligently: to find
the word's possible dictionary form. The program tries to detach the possible
signs, suffixes and certain affixes and to take phonetic rules into
consideration. In this case first the (possible) detached word-part will
appear in parenthesis{}, then the translation of the word. Certainly the
computer will try sometimes things, which are not correct, but these are easy
to filter out.

If the word hasn't got a translation in the vocabulary, the program will list
nothing. So don't send an error message. There aren't any translations of the
few words of grammar in the vocabulary (the, I, and, etc.).

At the input take care of  your typing, because the program cannot find any
mistyped word.

    4. Translating function

This function is made for those who want to translate or read English text
files.

The type of files must be DOS text, where a line a line can have a maximal
length of  254 characters. If you use a word processor program, you can get
this format in the menu points: Save as / Text only with line breaking.  If
the lines of your file are too long, first read them to any intelligent
Wordprocessor (Word, WordPerfect, etc.), then save them in the way mentioned
above. Remember well where and under what name the file is saved. So that the
file form will be available.

The program will ask first the name of the file you want to translate. If the
file is not in the actual directory, you must write the file name with full
pathname (driver:\directory\name of the file). If you give a wrong name/path
you will get an error message.

The process of translating (more exactly the intelligent looking up of words
in the vocabulary) can be followed on the monitor in percents. If the file is
big (book sized, with a few hundred kilobytes) and your computer is slow, the
translation can take hours and lots of  free diskspace.

You can set the destination file (files) and the other parameters at the
parameter setting function.

If you chose a 78 character long or shorter line length and you want to
translate only in one file, after translating the result can be shown on the
screen.

In special cases (disk error, interaction with other programs, under running
reset or disconnection) the index files can be damaged. In this case the
program can be frozen under translating a file. In such (rare) cases you must
run the reindex function, or maybe reinstall the program.

The program doesn't translate about 450 English words: these are the
grammatically primary words or such frequent words that I expect everybody
who reads English texts will know them.  You can read the list of these words
in lev0.txt file.

 5. Parameter setting function

At this function you can set the parameters, which are needed in the
translation.

The translation can happen in two ways:

In the first case the original English sentences (behind them in parentheses
the serial numbers) will be in one file with the meanings. The meanings of
the words will be listed separately after every sentence.

In the second case we get two files. The original sentences will be in the
first file (with serial numbers),  and the meanings will be in the second
file. The two files are synchronized: they will start in the same line, in
one file the sentence itself and in the other file the meanings of the words.
If you use a word processor with windowing features and with macros, (MS
Word, WordPerfect etc.) it gives you the possibility of using  three windows.
Into the first you can write the text already translated, in the second you
can show the original English text, and in the third the list of the
translations of the words. In this case you can easily write a little macro,
with which you can move the files in synchronized in the second and third
windows.

At the setting of the parameters,  you must set the name of the two result
files first. If they aren't in the actual directory you have to use the total
pathname. Attention! If these files already exist the program will rewrite
them without any warning! So if you are not careful, important files maybe
lost! If you want to translate with the first method, the second result file
name is  unimportant.

After this you must  choose between the two methods.

At the setting of the line length you can give the maximum length in the
result files. Attention! If you want to see the result on the monitor, please
give 78 characters or less, because the most monitors allow only 80
characters in a line. Then you can see the result in the screen immediately.

   6. Reindexing function

In certain cases (disk error, interaction with other programs, reset or
disconnection while running) the index files can be damaged. In this case the
program can be frozen while translating a file. In such (rare) cases you must
run the reindex function. If that is not successful, you must reinstall the
program, control the disk errors (chkdsk, scandisk  commands or Norton Disk
Doctor or any other of the same kind) and you have to control that the disk
is virus free, too.

 7. Translating with wordprocessors

The most common case of use is professional translation, when a file is
translated in wordprocessor format (.doc, etc.) into another file, which is
in the same file format.

In this case the first step is  to transform the English text file into such
file form, which is accepted by the program.

As we mentioned above, the type of files must be DOS text, with a maximum
length of lines of 254 characters. If you use a word processor program, you
can get this format with the menu point: Save as .../Text only with line
breaking. (The names of the menu point can alternate at different
wordprocessor programs, but I hope the essence is clear.)

Remember well where and under what name the file is saved. So that the file
form will be available for you. If the lines of your file are too long, first
read it to any intelligent Wordprocessor (Word, WordPerfect, etc.), then save
it in the way mentioned above.

After translating you must load the result files with the wordprocessor. At
loading you must chose DOS text type. Unfortunately not all the widespread
editors handle correctly the special national characters in DOS form. In this
case (when the characters are not perfect), you can change it to the correct
form with the global change function.

If you know everything about your favorite wordprocessor you can easily write
a macro, which can make every necessary change of letters with only one
command. Normally this is not a big problem.

If the program is set to get only one result file, then the best way is to
use the wordprocessor with two windows. In this case in the first window you
can write the translation and in the second you can show the result file of
the program. In this case you can write macros, which function in order:
1/ to jump into the next window, 2/ to set the cursor with one line up/down
in the file, 3/ to jump back into the first window. You can assign these
macros to one-one key combination, for example: Ctrl up/down. For creating
these macros please read the users guide of your wordprocessor.

If the program is set to get two result files, than the best way is to use
the wordprocessor with three windows. In this case in the first window you
can write the translation, in the second you can show the original sentences
with the serial numbers, and in the third the translations. Be careful that
the second and the third windows should be in the same  height on the screen.
In this case you can write macros, which function in order: 1/ to jump into
the next window,  2/ to set the cursor with one line up/down in the file,
3/ to jump into the third window, 4/ to set the cursor with one line up/down
in the file, 5/ to jump back into the first window. You can assign these
macros to one-one key combination, for example: Ctrl up/down. For creating
these macros please read the users guide of your wordprocessor.


   8. Registration

This program is a shareware. It means that you may copy the unregistered
version free, use it,  give it to your friends, or you can include it to
CD-ROM or upload it to any BBS or to FTP archives, but only the original
package in full, with all the files included. It doesn't mean that the
program is free.  After the test time (30 day) you must decide whether you
liked the program or not. If no, you must delete it from your HDD. If yes,
you must register the program.

In this case please send me a registration letter to the following address:

email: [e-mail]

or in letter:

Toth Andras
Budapest Pf. 214.
Hungary
H-1590

Please see the reg**.txt file for the form of the letter.
At the same time you must send the registrationfee.
Possible ways:

- USD, DEM, ATS or CHF  cash,

- Eurocheque (only from Europe)

- International Postal Money Order

- If there is no other possibility: on cheque (with +10 US$ extra charge,
because the change is extra cost.)

- With international remittance to the bank account of Budapest Bank, but
it's very slow.
 Hungary, Budapest Bank  10104239-21980851-00000008

After the letter and the money arrived, I will send the registration code in
email or in  letter.

The registration code has two parts: first, the registration name (max. 20
characters), (you  can order it  in the registration letter). The second part
is a code: it consists lower and uppercase letters and numbers. Both must be
put in the registration menu point. Take care of the input of the upper and
lowercase letters well. Save your code, because it will be valid in newer
versions in the next two years.

The price of the registration software:
- 9 USD, 14 DM, 120 ATS, 13 CHF - for students and for the educational
       institutes.
- 15 USD, 25 DM, 180 ATS, 21 CHF - for personal use.
- 25 USD, 39 DM, 300 ATS, 35 CHF - for the firms or professional users.

The prices mentioned above are valid for one machine and for one user.

discount prices for more orders:
2 - 4 samples: -20%
5 - 9 samples: -40%
from 10th sample: -50%

You can use  every function of the program after the registration period,
only a message will remind you that you are an illegal user.

Please write your questions, error reports to the email or the post address
mentioned above.

The latest informations of the new versions and the FTP sites you can find
in the following place:

http://members.tripod.com/~debabel