WORDSMITH TOOLS INSTALLATION

This is the latest version of WordSmith Tools. The file date shows when it was compiled. All the component files will have this same date.

SECTIONS of this file:

  • Machine Requirements
    		•
  • Installation and De-Installation Notes
    		•
  • Network Version
    		•
  • The Tools -- what they do
    		•
  • Manual and Getting Help
    		•
  • Text Requirements
    		•
  • Defaults (wshell.ini file)
    		•
  • Demo versus Full Version
    		•
  • Contact Addresses

    • This suite of programs offers lexical analysis tools.

    The enclosed file WTOOLS.DOC gives examples of what they do; it's in Microsoft Word for Windows 6.0 format. Better to visit http://www.liv.ac.uk/~ms2928/wordsmith/screenshots/index.htm though.

    1. MACHINE REQUIREMENTS

    IBM-compatible (at least 386) running Windows 3.1 or greater. Hard disk with at least 5 Mb free for the programs alone. During installation you will need about 10MB altogether.

    The more RAM and hard-disk space, the faster they will run. The suite works with CD-ROM drives as well as ordinary hard disks and floppies. It works with Windows 95, Win 95B, Win NT and OS/2 (WIN-OS/2) too. It presumably works on Windows 98 too.

    2. INSTALLATION and DE-INSTALLATION

    The files you downloaded, ws_part1.exe, and ws_part2.exe, are self-extracting. That means they contain in compressed form all the component files of the complete WordSmith Tools package. There's no need to keep copies of them unless you have difficulty downloading over the Internet, as you can always download again another day. Double-clicking on these files unpacks them into the directory they're in at the time.

    Suppose they're in c:\netscape\cache. Use File Manager (Explorer in Win 95) to create a new directory (folder in Win 95), say c:\new. Move WS_PART1.EXE and WS_PART2.EXE into c:\new and then run them. They'll produce about 30 files in the same directory. Then run c:\new\SETUP.EXE to install. The setup program will a) install the software in a directory you specify, b) create an icon for you in Program Manager. You can choose to do only one or none of these.

    No system files are altered. If all's well, you can now delete all the files in c:\new.

    (In MSDOS you could use these commands:

    cd\
    md \wsmith
    md \wsmith\temp
    cd \wsmith\temp
    a:\ws_part1
    a:\ws_part2
    Then in Windows, run \wsmith\temp\setup.exe to install. The setup program will a) install the software in a directory you specify, b) create an icon for you in Program Manager. You can choose to do only one or none of these.)

    To get rid of the lot, just delete all the files in the directory you installed to. No system files are altered.

    3. NETWORK VERSION

    Use the same procedure to install: the directory can be a read-only one as far as most users are concerned.

    When these programs run, they will notice that they're running from a network. Users will be able to change their own .ini file defaults, if you specify in the wshell.ini file, the directory to which users do have read-write access.

    4. THE TOOLS - WHAT THEY DO

    WordSmith Tools Controller (wshell.exe)

    controls the others and contains general routines of use to all of them, for example choosing directories, screen colours

    Concord

    concordancer, also does collocation, dispersion plots, word cluster analysis

    WordList

    makes word-lists and compares them

    KeyWords

    finds key words, using word-lists from WordList; also identifies "key key-words" and makes key-word databases; identifies "associates"

    Splitter

    utility for splitting long text files into numerous texts

    Text Converter

    utility for searching & replacing up to 150 strings at once, in up to 16,000 files in one go, renaming lots of files at once, changing file attributes

    Viewer

    utility for examining files in ordinary text format, split into sentences or paragraphs; also does dual text aligning

    5. MANUAL and GETTING HELP

    I suggest you print out the enclosed file MANUAL.DOC. It's in Word 6 format. As WordSmith Tools is quite complex, you'll find it easier to consult a printed manual than to use the help system. The manual runs to about 130 sides of A4 paper. It has a quite detailed index and table of contents too.

    There is a Windows-compatible help file for all of the Tools.

    The help file will give you some useful advice and tips; much of the help is context-sensitive. There are sections explaining not only "how to" but also the point of various features and procedures. The help file is in English. The programs will handle most European languages.

    6. TEXT REQUIREMENTS

    You need plain ASCII or ANSI (Windows) text. Preferably lots of it, in your favourite languages. You can get it from corpora which are available, from CD-ROMs, by scanning it in, or by asking people to give you text on disk. Typing it in yourself is too slow and painful. You'll need hard disk space for storage, too: 1 million words is about 6 Mb.

    7. DEFAULTS (WSHELL.INI FILE)

    The defaults are read in from wshell.ini as wshell.exe starts running. They can also be set from within wshell with no need to edit the wshell.ini files. If you do want to edit them yourself, use any plain text editor to edit them: the easiest way is to double-click on the .ini file in File Manager or Explorer, that will call up Notepad to let you edit.

    8. DEMO VERSUS FULL VERSION

    You get full versions of the whole WordSmith Tools suite of programs, but will not be able to see more than a sample of the results (about 25 lines of output) until you upgrade. Everything you do before upgrading will be fully usable after upgrading.

    FULL VERSION

    To upgrade you simply:

    1. Send Oxford University Press your name and organisation exactly as you typed them in when installing WordSmith Tools, together with the fee. See the file ouporder.txt for full ordering information. Ensure your name is spelled clearly, since this will be used when generating a special key for you. You can send these details by e-mail (at your own risk) or by fax or post. You should be able to do on-line ordering too.

    2. On receipt of your key, run WordSmith Tools again and choose the menu option Update from Demo. Type in the key supplied to you by Oxford University Press.

    See the file ouporder.txt for full ordering information.

    9. CONTACT ADDRESSES

    Visit http://www.oup.co.uk/ for information about WordSmith Tools and other software.

    http://www.liv.ac.uk/~ms2928/wordsmith/index.htm

    email Mike.Scott@liv.ac.uk

    © Mike Scott 1998