Chaining with WordFreak
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Main Page : Entity : Chaining with WordFreak
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Tool Specifications
Dragging vs. Clicking in WordFreak
Many users are familiar with applications, like word processors, in which a mouse click in text sets an insertion cursor wherein users start typing or editing. In WordFreak, users are unable to type or edit, so there is no insertion cursor.
Instead, a mouse click selects the nearest tagged entity (of any of the types currently shown in the Chooser window). In order to select a token or a chunk of text in WordFreak, drag the mouse slightly. WordFreak's extreme motion sensitivity can make it hard to select a tagged string. Check the status line to be sure that your selection is accurate.
Entity annotators need to be especially aware of this difference. Often a piece of text will have (at most) one entity annotation, but there are instances where two entity labels are assigned to the same string ("double-tagging") or an entity label is assigned to a substring of another entity reference ("tag within tag"). These special cases require dragging rather than clicking: a click will select the existing entity and replace its label, while a drag will select the tokens that you drag the mouse across and add a label to that string.
Selection
In WordFreak, selection is distinct from highlighting which appears as text overlayed in translucent purple. It proceeds one link at a time and appears in black (even without chaining) instead of the highlight color appropriate to the entity type.
Users may notice that after tagging a chain while its links are highlighted, only one link's text is black while the others appear in entity color. The link with black text is the one selected. Moving from link to link, either with the arrow keys or the Chooser buttons, users can see this color difference moving along, although all the links will remain highlighted as long as any one of them is selected. The Chooser's "Grow" and "Shrink" buttons affect the link that is currently selected.
Character Range
As chains are created, the character range displayed in the status line at the bottom of the viewer window will show the range for the current link; e.g., "1991..2000" for a selection that begins with character #1991 of the file and ends with character #1999 (that's the way range is defined for all tags). Once the chain is tagged, the status line shows the whole range, with distinctive punctuation: "1991.. ..2014", with two pairs of dots.
Untagging
To untag an entire chain, select the first link in the chain and untag it. If any link but the first is untagged, only the selected link will be untagged and removed from the chain. "First" means the link that the chain was created with. If a chain is begun with any link but the leftmost one, it is difficult to subsequently correct it.
Chaining Procedure
- 1. Drag the mouse pointer to select the text for the first (leftmost) link.
Unlike word processors, in which a mouse click in text sets an insertion cursor so you can start typing or editing at that point, WordFreak does not allow users to type or edit, so there is no insertion cursor.
Instead, a mouse click selects the nearest tagged entity (of any of the types currently shown in the Chooser window). In order to select a token or a chunk of text in WordFreak, users drag the mouse slightly. This extreme motion sensitivity can make it hard to select a tagged string. Check the status line to be sure your selection is accurate.
Entity annotators need to be especially aware of this difference. Often a piece of text will have (at most) one entity annotation, but sometimes two entity labels are assigned to the same string ("double-tagging") or an entity label is assigned to a substring of another entity reference ("tag within tag"). These special cases require dragging rather than clicking: a click will select the existing entity and replace its label, while a drag will select the tokens that you drag the mouse across and add a label to that string.
(NOTE: WF will allows users to specify links in any order, but avoid using this option. It conflicts other features that are being developed and also complicates untagging.)
- 2. Control-drag to select the next link.
Drag while holding down the "Ctrl" key (APPLE key on Macs).
- 3. Repeat Step 2 until you have selected all the links by control-dragging each one.
- 4. Tag the chain, either with a Chooser button or with the right-click menu in the Viewer window.
Known Bugs
The following is a listing of known software issues.
Altering Tags
If a change is made to a tag on a chain, the text color changes only on the link that is selected. Users will be unable to see the update until another item is selected. The colors of other links will remain unchanged until selected or until the file is closed and reopened.
Chaining Discontinuous Links
WordFreak will allow users to make a chain with some links in one sentence and some in another, but this is a known bug. Don't do it.
Extending Chains
Currently, chains can not be extended. If users build a chain and inadvertantly omit a necessary link, the chain must be rebuilt to accommodate the link addition. Untag the chain by selecting '-' in the Chooser window or use the Backspace key.
