The following codes either are mentioned at some point in this document, or may be of particular interest to a transcriber. For most of the codes, the description was taken from the “Codes Quick Reference,” which is available under the DBT Help menu, and simplified. For any codes that are not listed in this appendix, please see the “Codes Quick Reference.”
[#S] Align next word or group per tab stop S. Example: [#3]word tabs “word” to tab stop 3. (See [ctb]& [stb]for clearing and setting stops.)
[#S:F~X] Align next word or group per tab stop S with intervening fill type F, character X. Example: [#3:p~”]word tabs “word” to tab stop 3, with partial fill using fill character (“) (in braille, dot 5).
[/] Translation code, to prevent contractions. Example: line[/]age would assure that no “ea” contraction is used.
[:] Start word group to be treated as one (for alignment). Example: [fr][:]several words[;] will set “several words” flush right on the line.
[;] End word group to be treated as one (for alignment). See [:]
[>] Tab.
[<] Force a new line. This is known as a hard return.
[ctb] Clear all tab stop settings, used just before a series of set tab settings. See also [stb…].
[d~N] Set word W directly (unchanged) in output, followed by space. May be used for forcing braille. Example: [d~,8x0']would set “,8x0'“ (braille dots 6,2-3-6,1-3-4-6,3-5-6,3). See also [q...] (which is now generally preferred).
[fr;F~X] Align flush right, with intervening fill type (a.k.a. leader dots) F using fill character X. X may consist of two characters, the first for braille and the second for print; otherwise character X is used for both print and braille. Example: [fr;p~”.]word would set “word” flush right on the line, with partial fill (i.e. a space at each end of the fill) consisting of (“) (braille dot 5) in the braille, and “.” in the print.
[fte~i] End italics
[fte~b] End bold characters.
[fts~b] Start bold characters (note that currently this function does not conform to BANA standards)
[fts~i] Start italics (note that currently this function does not conform to BANA standards)
[hiL:V:R:I:J:K] Creates a list or stepped list. Sets the current level to 1, the left margin to L, the runover margin to V, and the right margin offset to R (defaulting to 1, 1 and 0 respectively). Also sets the increment for each of these margins to I, J and K respectively. (The increments may be negative, and all default to 0). This command determines the effect of subsequent [hlN] commands, which sets the stepped list level. Example: [hi1:5:0:2:2] sets up margin treatment for an outline where level 1 items are to start at position 1 and run over to 5, and both of those margins move up by 2 for each higher level. This example may be applied to stepped lists. For a single-level list, the code should be [hi1:3:0:0:0].
[hlN] Set current stepped list level to N (see the description of command [hi], above). Once a stepped list level is set, it remains in effect until a new level is set. Note that if the [hlN] code is used, the [<] code is not necessary.
[indP] Position on a new line (if not already on a new line), at position P, and set left margin to P.
[kpe] End keeping text on one page (block protect). See also [kps].
[kiN] Indicates whether [hl] and [<] commands cause interruption or cancellation of a protected (kept) block. N=0 (the default) for no, N=1 for yes.
[kpeL] End keeping text on one page after L lines.
[kps] Start keeping text on one page (block protect).
[l] Begin a new line if necessary (but do nothing if already on a new line). This is known as a conditional hard return or line break.
[lea] Accept the next word or group as the print page number. Example: [lea]26 would be given at the point in the text where page 26 begins in the print edition of the document..
[lea;F~X]Accept the “print document page number,” but use a non-standard fill type F and fill character X. See also [lea]. The only difference between these codes is the fill character and fill type.
[lec] Accept the next word or group as the print document page number for purposes of display on continuation pages only (overriding the setting of the most recent [lea] command). Example: [lea]123-127 word [lec]127 would accept “123-127” as the print page number at the point of the print page break (a form that might be used when print pages 123-126 are blank), but then, for use on any continuation pages, replace that range with just “127”.
[led] Stop showing the print page number on continuation pages.
[lpr] Restore the line position — used for line-numbered prose and poetry.
[lps] Save the line position — used for line-numbered prose and poetry.
[meg] Accept next word as “guide” word. Example: abcedarian [meg]abcedarian This word ...would set “abcedarian” as text, and then declare that this point in the text is associated with the guideword “abcedarian”.
[p] Begin new paragraph
[pg] Begin new page.
[pg~X] Begin new page, and set the page number prefix character to X. Example: [pg~a]
[pgN] Begin new page, and set the page number to N. Example: [pg123]
[pgN~X] Begin new page, and set the page number to N and the page number prefix to character X. Example: [pg1~a]would start a new page, numbering that page “a1”. See also [pv...]
[pm] Begin new paragraph (magazine style). This code is useful when creating line-numbered prose and poetry; it may be used to indicate a print line runover, as it creates three unused braille cells.
[ptye] End poetry mode. (See [ptys...].)
[ptys] Start poetry mode, i.e. indent runover (word-wrapped) lines by the default amount (usually 2 characters in braille documents, 5 in print.)
[ptysN] Start poetry mode, i.e. indent runovers, by N character positions.
[pvN~X] Set the page number to N and the page prefix character to X. See also [pgN~X]
[q~W] Set word W directly (unchanged) in output. A following space is not automatically forced, as in the case of the [d...] command; thus, “[q~W] text” is equivalent to “[d~W]text”. Example: [q~,8]xy would set “,8xy” (braille dots 6,2-3-6,1-3-4-6,1-3-4-5-6).
[rmN] Set the Runover Margin (right margin) by N positions from the normal full-page width. Example: [rm6] would set the right margin of all following lines on a 40-cell page (until a new [rmN] code is entered) to cell 34.
[scL:M:N]Skip lines conditionally, that is skip only if the line just above is not blank. L is the number of lines to skip; M is the number of lines to skip if the line above is a new print page; N is the number of lines to skip if the line above is a running head. (N or M may be omitted, defaulting to L.) Example: [sc1:0] would be commonly used for American braille, to cause a skip after any nonblank line except a print page break line.
[skL] Skip L lines.
[stbS:A:P] Set tab stop number S for alignment type A, position P. A = l for left, r for right, d for decimal, or c for centering, with P being the focal position for the alignment. Example: [ctb][stb1:l:5][stb2:d:22][#2]123.45 would clear tabs, then set stop 1 for left alignment at position 5 and stop 2 for decimal alignment at position 22. Then, by the selecting tab stop 2, the text “123.45” would be aligned so that the decimal point falls in position 22.
[tabP:A:F~X] Tab with intervening fill. P is the position (cell) upon which to align the next word (or words enclosed by [:] ... [;]). A is the type of alignment: L for left, R for right, D for decimal or C for centering. F is the type of fill: F for full (all cells between the current position and the tabbed item are filled) or P (the first and last intervening positions are always spaces, and also the third if there are only three). X is the fill character, e.g. “ for braille dot 5. The default for A is L (left), and if F~X is omitted then intervening spaces are not filled. [tab] causes tabulation on the current line provided that the aligned item would fall to the right of the current position, after any minimum spacing (see the [svmts...] command); otherwise, a new line is used. (See also [taa...] and [tas...]). Example: [tab25:d:p~-] 123.45 would cause the text “123.45” to be set so that the decimal point would fall into position 25, with intervening space filled (partially) by “-” (braille dots 3-6). Example: [tab30]x would place “x” in column 30.
[tasP:A:F~X] Tab or space, with intervening fill. This command acts just like the [tab...] command, described above, except that in the case where the aligned item would not fall to the right of the current position after at the least the minimum spacing, it is forced to exactly that position.