Re: Fwd: Re: Lojban word processor for Windows?

["Bob LeChevalier (lojbab)" <lojbab@lojban.org>]

At 11:02 AM 9/18/99 +0100, Piermaria Maraziti wrote:
>From: Piermaria Maraziti <piermaria@maraziti.it>
>
>At 11.36 18/09/1999 +0200, you wrote:
>
> >I don't see the point in having an extra word processor just for one
> >language.  Also, I think there are far more important items on the
> >programming agenda:  a good, portable glosser / automatic translator
> >of syntax-parsed lojban text.
>
>The idea is to do a WP with an integrated "good, portable glosser /
>automatic translator
>of syntax-parsed lojban text" - perhaps at least as for vwrsion "1.0",
>without the "automatic translator" part, excluding the interlinearizing
>capabilities that will help so much in translating (and learning)!

Well, even that is probably version 2.0.  Robin Turner, who originally 
mentioned it on conlang, suggested that being able to click on a word and 
call up its place structure (which implies calling up its tanru breakdown 
if it is not in the dictionary) is the thing most needed for Lojban 
writing.  Having a dictionary lookup for English words would seem an 
obvious thing to include at the same level.  Such lookups are presumably 
trivial utility routines by now, so if you started from that open software 
base that several have mentioned, we have something that is small enough 
for someone to tackle in their spare time in a few days.

The fancy version written from scratch that uses Java, and has the 
functionality of the parser/glosser and the lujvo maker and typesetting 
including Tolkienian stuff is a much bigger project - probably worth doing, 
but not likely to have someone writing it very soon.  You either have to 
write it from scratch or translate the existing code.  Just making existing 
Turbo Pascal code portable has never been accomplished for any of our core 
software (at least a dozen people started to translate LogFlash into C, 
including using an auto-translator to help, and no one in 10 years ever got 
a working program, though Eric Raymond got close.  I suspect that the 
glosser is bigger than LogFlash, though I haven't looked.  Both are very 
time consuming to debug and test).
----
lojbab                     ***NOTE NEW ADDRESS***           lojbab@lojban.org
Bob LeChevalier, President, The Logical Language Group, Inc.
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