DBT 10.5 SR2 Important Information for British Users

KEEPING EXISTING FILES OR CUSTOM TEMPLATES UNCHANGED

If you have existing braille (.dxb) files, they will be unaffected; that is, they will emboss exactly as with previous versions. This is true no matter how those braille files came to be -- whether they were created or edited manually, or translated with or without capitals.

If you have existing print (.dxp) files set up to translate with capitals, those files internally point to translation tables that implement the "old" (pre-2005) rules -- and so if you simply re-translate, they will be translated the same as in previous versions. The same is true of any CUSTOM templates that you may have set up using capitals, and so if you create any new files using such templates, they will be translated according to the pre-2005 rules. In other words, if you were using capitals and want to continue to do so and continue to use the pre-2005 rules for translation, you do not need to do anything to your existing print files or templates.

In the case where you have existing print files or custom templates that were set up using no capitals, then you will need to update the settings in such files or templates as described below under "Updating Existing Files or Custom Templates," even if you want to continue to use the pre-2005 rules and no capitals.

Finally, if you want to change anything with existing files or custom templates -- either to use the new rules or change the use of capitals -- then you will need to follow the advice in "Updating Existing Files or Custom Templates," below.

NEW DISTRIBUTED TEMPLATES FOR BRITISH

There are four "English (British" templates distributed with SR2, namely:

• -- no capitals in literary
• -- no capitals in literary (pre-2005 rules)
• -- with capitals
• -- with capitals (pre-2005 rules)

When creating any new DBT print file (whether by direct typing or by importing from some other kind of file), simply select one of these templates for the desired combination of old/new rules and use/non-use of capitals.

UPDATING EXISTING FILES OR CUSTOM TEMPLATES

If you have existing DBT print (.dxp) files that you may want to re-translate, or existing custom templates that you use to create new files, you should be aware of two issues with DBT 10.5 Service Release 2 and later:

The first issue is of importance to all British users: Existing files and templates point to tables that implement the OLD (pre-2005) British rules. Most likely you want to convert them to use the new rules.

The second issue is of importance to those British users who do not want capitals in their literary braille: In previous versions of DBT, there were two ways to suppress capitals. You could (1) use the command [caplv1] (capitalization level 1) at the beginning of the file, or (2) use the translation table designated "English/British without capitals". With the present release, the second of these options is no longer available because the suppression of capitals by that method is too broad -- it would also affect mathematics, for example, which is not desirable. But if you used that second method, you will find that existing files and templates not only point to the old rules, but also will translate with capitals.

To address these issues with existing files and templates, you should (using the new DBT, i.e. 10.5 Service Release 2 or later):

1. Open the file (or, in the case of a template, create a new file using that template).

2. Visit Document / Translation Tables and make sure that the English/British table you want to use -- current or "pre-2005 rules", is checked.

3. Visit Document / Modify Style, select the "initial" style, and make sure that it contains a command at the end of the beginning codes that reflects the level of capitalization you want, namely
[caplv1]
for no capitals in literary text, or
[caplv3]
for full capitals. (You can simply edit the final digit in most cases, but if the [caplv...] command is not already there, remember to use Ctrl-[ to create the "red" brackets that surround the command.)

4. Save the file (or, in the case of a template, use the entries under the "Document" menu to delete the old version of the template and create a new one.)

OTHER NOTES

Certain translation commands that could formerly be typed directly as ordinary print text have been discontinued in favor of requiring that all commands be standard DBT "codes" or "styles". Notable among these are "//" and "&+", which were used to prevent contractions and to force letter signs respectively. The equivalent DBT codes are [/] to suppress contractions and [ii] before a word or letter to assure that it is processed in grade 1 and given a letter sign. (Remember to use Ctrl-[ to create the "red" brackets that surround the code, or use any of the other means of inserting codes.) When importing from Microsoft Word, character styles that map directly to DBT styles (e.g. the "acronym" style) provide a preferred way to exercise control over the translation process from within the original Word file.