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YABT 2.0b2 released
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YABT-2.0b2 released
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YABT-2.0b2 has been released and is now available on the python package index at http://pypi.python.org/pypi/YABT. There
has been some significant changes since YABT-2.0b1. One of the most noticeable is that YABT is now its own project
hosted on BerliOS. This means that the YABT website is now http://yabt.berlios.de. This is a complete move from the
BrlTex SourceForge project and no further YABT development will occur on SourceForge.
Another large change to YABT is that it is much more general as the rule classes are no longer tied to the translator
class. Hopefully with this change it will permit people to create alternative translation algorithms for YABT.
What is YABT
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YABT originally was developed as a context sensetive Braille trnslation system, but the code so general, particularly
with this release, that it is now being just classified as a context sensetive string manipulation tool. YABT comes with
a rule implementation which uses a finite state machine and context matching and a Braille translation table for text to
British Braille.
YABT looks to be as useful as possible to developers, so if you find bugs or just have comments for how it could be
improved then please don't hesitate to provide feedback.
2008-12-09 11:52:50 UTC by mwhapples
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Yet Another Braille Translator (YABT) is developed
Yet Another Braille Translator (YABT) is being developed to be the new translation system used by BrlTex. We hope with this new development of a translation system designed specifically for use in BrlTex then the task of developing new braille code support for BrlTex will be significantly less.
Whilst YABT is being designed primarily for use in BrlTex, other applications may find YABT suitable for there needs.
Why develop another braille translation system?
We feel that the needs of BrlTex is quite demanding and that for BrlTex to be general and support many codes, we would need a more powerful translation system behind it. A few of the advantages to YABT are:
Strings which are being translated can be translated in a context, eg. you can translate the word "by" and could tell the translator that this is surrounded by two other words, or tell it that it is part of a word, and it will make the correct translation.
YABT is a very general translation system, and contains nothing specific to braille in its code, its purely the table which makes it produce a braille translation. We believe that YABT may be used for other tasks as well, and this might include BrlTex outputting to a speech ready file.
YABT is written in python, and is believed to not use any functions which are platform dependent (or at least does not rely on platform dependent functions for translation, but will use some platform specific modules if they are available to speed up execution), so we believe it should work on a good range of platforms. This hopefully will widen the range of platforms supported by BrlTex, so allowing even more users to access it.
Currently no release has been made of YABT, but it can be downloaded through SVN, from trunk/YABT in the BrlTex repository. A command such as this will obtain a copy:
svn co http://brltex.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/brltex/trunk/YABT
Currently YABT is under the RPL, but we wish to relax this license to a more free one at some point in the future.
YABT is part of the BrlTex project, which aims to increase the accessibility of technical documents such as maths from LaTeX files.
2007-12-10 22:31:07 UTC by mwhapples
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Windows Binaries of BrlTex available
In trying to make BrlTex available for more people, there are now Windows binaries available. These binaries do not depend on anything, so making the installation much easier. Download information for the Windows Binaries can be found at http://brltex.sf.net/winbin.html where it can also be downloaded.
BrlTex is a LaTex to braille translator designed for mathematics. It seeks to get accurate translation. Currently BrlTex produces British braille, but eventually the intension is to support more braille codes. With the productions of Windows binaries this braille translation should now be available to more computer users.
2007-04-16 19:08:00 UTC by mwhapples
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Initial test version of BrlTex (code name gibbon) available
An early test version of BrlTex code name gibbon is now available. BrlTex gibbon is the next planned major version of BrlTex, offering many improvements and features over the current version of BrlTex 0.0.x series.
This early test version of BrlTex gibbon comes with two plugins, a LaTex input plugin and an speech output module. Due to it being an early test version, and it not yet having braille, it is not a replacement for the current releases of BrlTex at the moment. This should be used by those who wish to see what some of the new features will be, and those who need speech output. Those who want BAUK braille output should still use the BrlTex 0.0.x series until further new on BrlTex gibbon.
This test version of BrlTex gibbon can be got from http://brltex.sf.net/BrlTex-0.1-SVN.zip. Install and usage instructions can be found in the README file with in that zip file.
Suggestions and comments are welcome, and now is a good time to suggest features as the specification is not yet fully finalised. Contact details can be found at the BrlTex home page at http://brltex.sf.net
2007-03-07 22:38:04 UTC by mwhapples
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IMPORTANT NOTE FOR WINDOWS USERS
An update to BrlTex to the latest version of liblouis has occured, but this requires that you make sure you are using the right version of BrlTex with the right version of liblouis. For BrlTex in SVN after 11 January 2007 or releases after this date, use liblouis 1.1.4, and for earlier versions of BrlTex use liblouis 1.0.2. This problem doesn't affect users on any other operating system, as it is related to the way the windows dll is compiled.
2007-01-11 23:05:07 UTC by mwhapples
