Outdated Wylie Word 1.0 Documentation

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Outdated Wylie Word 1.0 Documentation

* Installation * Tibetan Fonts * Getting Started * Typing Tibetan * Typing English * Converting Wylie to Tibetan * Changing Preferences * Wylie Word Home Page

These instructions are written for Wylie Word 1.0. However, Wylie Word 2.1 is available for download and should be used instead.

Installation

Instructions for installation of this new version are included with the download.

Wylie Word is a Word document template. Opening it creates a new untitled document, which contains the Visual Basic program for entering Tibetan. The program itself uses a data file that must also be on one's computer or the program will not work. This file must be place at the root level of your hard drive (e.g. C:/). Wylie Word renders Tibetan using the Tibetan Machine Web font that can be downloaded from the font page. Once these are in place the template can be opened anywhere on one's machine. Below are the steps required for installation.

1. Download Tibetan Machine Web (Click here to download).

2. Download and unzip the archive for Wylie Word 1.0 (Click here to download). The zip archive contains the following files:

  • Extended Wylie Scheme-rev.doc - This is a Word document that contains the latest version of the extended Wylie transliteration scheme (6/10/2001), as used by the Tibetan and Himalayan Digital Library and proposed by the Library as a draft for a standard transliteration scheme. This is the transliteration method employed by the Wylie Word program.
  • wywrd1.dot - This is a Word document template that actually houses the macro.
  • tibwn.ini - This is the data file that is used to convert the extended Wylie to the Tibetan fonts.

3. Place tibwn.ini at the root level of the hard drive. This must be the drive on which Wylie Word will be running, such as "C:/". It should not be placed in any folder.

4. Save wyword1.dot in the appropriate place depending on the desired functionality:

  • If it is placed in the templates folder for MS Word, it will act as a standard template and will be one of the options available when you choose New under the File menu. The macro will only be runnable from within documents that use this template. To set this up, put the wywrd1.dot file in the following folder, assuming "C" is your hard drive: C:WindowsApplication DataMicrosoftTemplates
  • If it is placed in the start up folder for Microsoft Office, the macro will be available from ANY word document, since it is loaded the minute you start word. To do this, put the WyEd2.2b.dot file in the following folder: C:Program FilesOfficeStartUp
  • or, if you are networked, C:WINDOWSAll UsersStart MenuProgramsStartUp
  • Stored anywhere else on the hard drive it will function as a template but will not be available from the New option of Word. Opening wyword1.dot in this fashion will create a single, untitled document that contains the macro.

Tibetan Fonts

The macro is written so that it can be used with any Tibetan font provided there is a corresponding data file for the font. In this first release, we have only included the data for the most useful font, Tibetan Machine Web, because this font is available for free download from the THDL's tools page and because it is a cross-platform, web-usable font that should significantly ease the transfer of data in Tibetan script. The Tibetan Machine Web font is actually a set of ten fonts made public-domain through the collaboration between the Tibetan Computer Company, the Trace Organization, and the THDL. Other fonts may be added in the future, though our ultimate goal is to utilize a public-domain Unicode Tibetan font, once such a font becomes available. There are ten font files in Tibetan Machine Web: "timwn.ttf" through "timwn9.ttf". They can be downloaded from the toolbox of the Tibetan and Himalayan Digital Library. (Click here to view more information on Tibetan fonts).

Installing Fonts

For Wylie Word to work properly, all ten Tibetan Machine Web font files must be installed in your font folder, which is contained within the control panel. To install the fonts, follow these steps:

  1. Download the fonts from the THL font page.
  2. Unpack them into a temporary folder.
  3. Under the Start menu, choose Settings, then Control Panel, and then theFont option.
  4. From the Font folder window, click on the File menu and choose Install New Font.
  5. With the resulting pop-up window navigate to the temporary folder, where the Fonts were unpacked, and choose all 10 fonts.
  6. When you click OK, they will be installed in your font folder.

Getting Started

When the wyword1.dot template is opened, a new Word document appears with an extra menu labelled "Tibetan" between "Table" and "Window" menus. This menu provides the following options (with shortcut keys):

  • Type Tibetan with Wylie (F8): This runs the macro that converts extended Wylie to Tibetan script as it is typed.
  • Convert Wylie to Tibetan (F9): This option will convert whatever Wylie transliteration is highlighted.
  • Insert English in Tibetan (F7): This option will automatically change the font to the default English font chosen under preferences and adjust the positioning so that the Latin characters are inserted in line with the Tibetan.
  • Preferences (Ctrl+Alt+Shift P): This opens a preference window that allows one to choose the default English font, to adjust the size and positioning of both English and Tibetan fonts, and to edit the list of English punctuation that is not to bet converted to Tibetan punctuation. There are also two options. "Tibetan Base Line" enters the Tibetan font at position 0 (neither raised nor lowered). This should be chosen when the bulk of the document is in Tibetan with only some English interspersed. "English Base Line" does the same for the English default font and should be chosen when the bulk of the document is in English.

Running the Program

To enter Tibetan into a Word document that was created from the wyword1.dot template, simply choose the Type Tibetan with Wylie or press F8. The program is running when the title bar becomes grayed out. One can then type Wylie and Tibetan script will be entered into the document using the Tibetan Machine Web font. The default Tibetan font size is 22, position at the base-line. When entering Tibetan through the program, one may navigate using the arrow keys and the other navigational keys such as home, page up, and so forth. One may also save (Ctrl S), select all (Ctrl A), and print (Ctrl P). However, any use of the mouse to move the cursor will automatically terminate the program.

Upon termination, the program automatically switches the font back to the default English font (Times New Roman), size (12) and normal positioning (neither raised nor lowered). If one wishes to insert English within a line of already-entered Tibetan, one must first place the cursor in the desired position and then choose the Insert English in Tibetan (F7) option to properly adjust the font and its positioning.

Typing Tibetan

Entering Standard Tibetan

Once Wylie Word is running, standard Tibetan (i.e., Tibetan that does not include Sanskrit transliteration) is easily entered into the document through typing Wylie transliteration. Thus, type: bcom ldan 'das dpal bde ba chen po kun tu bzang po la phyag 'tshal lo/

This represents standard Wylie transliteration which is included within the THL's Extended Wylie Transliteration Scheme.

Entering Common Sanskrit-derived Glyphs

Common, stand-alone transliterations of Sanskrit letters are generally accessible by using capitals. That is, for the reverse Tibetan 'da' which represents the retroflex 'da' in Sanskrit, type capital D. For long vowels, such as long a, type capital A; long i, type capital I; and so forth. Thus, in Extended Wylie the word for "sky-goer" or "dakini" would be typed "DA ki nI". This is detailed in the THL's Extended Wylie Transliteration Scheme.

Non-Standard Sanskrit-derived Stacks

To achieve the less-common stacks that are the result of Sanskrit transliteration, the method is also outlined in the transliteration scheme. This is an easy and unambiguous way to enter unusual Tibetan stacks that represent Sanskrit characters. The method is to use the "+" key, placing a plus sign between each letter of the stack. Thus, the word "sattva" would be typed in as "sat+t+wa". (There is no "v" in Tibetan. "w" is always used instead!")

Similarly, "samuccaya" would be "sa mu ts+tsa ya". (The Tibetan "ts", "tsh", and "dz" are used to transcribe the Sanskrit palatals "c", "ch", and "j".) This is also detailed in the THL's Extended Wylie Transliteration Scheme.

English Punctuation Marks

Certain English punctuation marks are used in modern Tibetan typesetting, and Wylie Word does not convert these to their equivalents in the extended Wylie transliteration scheme. These are stored as a list in the preferences. The standard list includes:

  • parentheses ( )
  • double quotes " "
  • brackets
  • the colon :
  • the question mark ?
  • the exclamation mark !
  • the underscore _
  • the less-than sign <
  • the greater-than sign >

This list can be modified through the preference window. See section on preferences.

Typing English

Of course, nothing special needs to be done in order to type English into the Word document containing the Wylie Word program. The default English font for the program is Times New Roman, size 12, position 0. The position being 0 indicates that English is the default base-line font and that Tibetan will be inserted with its position lowered so that it is in-line with the English. This setting is best for primarily English documents with Tibetan words inserted in it. However, through the preference window, that setting can be changed to Tibetan as the default baseline font, for documents that are primarily Tibetan but may have English words inserted within them. See the section on preferences. After the Wylie Word program is finished, it will automatically revert to the default English font, size and positioning. However, to insert English within a line of Tibetan, the cursor must be placed in position and Insert English in Tibetan (F7) option chosen to correctly adjust the font. Tibetan can be properly inserted within English merely by choosing the Type Tibetan with Wylie (F8) option.

Converting Tibetan to Wylie

Wylie Word 1.0 can also convert a block of Extended Wylie transliteration to the Tibetan Machine Web font. Simply select the Wylie you want to convert, and then choose the Convert Wylie to Tibetan (F8) option from the Tibetan menu. The text will be converted into the Tibetan font according to the size and positioning chosen in the preferences. The default size is 22, and the default position is 8 pts, which places it in line with any English.

Adjusting Preferences

The final option in the menu allows one to adjust the Preferences (Ctrl+Alt+Shift P) for the macro. These are written as an ini file to the hard drive in the root directory (e.g., C:weprefs.ini). If the file is not found, the macro will automatically create it and update it as changes to the preferences are made. The following is an explanation of each item in the preference window:

Provided for unrestricted use by the external link: Tibetan and Himalayan Library