 PATHAGORAS™ Users' Guide, Part 5
Books: Glossaries & Folders
 Section A.
General
Information
Additional
instruction
on the creation and modification of glossaries can be found
in the DemoDocs
files
that shipped with Pathagoras.
For a comparison
of
Pathagoras' Glossary module to Word's AutoCorrect
features, see this link.
Summary:
Books are Pathagoras' storage places
for
clauses. Clauses typically are the building blocks for what will become
larger documents. However, clauses can also be a frequently used
addresses, terms or other bits and pieces of text. A user would
typically have multiple books, each one containing the clauses for
a specific kind of document. A user should also consider creating a
"SuperBook" (either a SuperGlossary or a SuperFolder." This SuperBook might contain a collection of general
terms
(addresses, signature blocks, etc.) that are used (or at least needed)
in general correspondence and are univeral across users. Because of the way it is registered by Pathagoras, you always have instant access to terms in your SuperBook.
A typical document assembly session goes like this: (a) the user presses a button to display
of the various available glossaries and folders of clauses and selects
the desired book from the list. (b) Pathagoras generates a
'Clause Selection Screen' displaying all of the clauses in the selected book.
(c) the user selects the clauses needed to create the specific
document, moving the selection from the left ('what's available') panel to the right ('this is what I want') panel. When done, the user presses the <Next> button and the document is assembled practically instantly.
Documents can be built, and clauses can be pulled from
a
book, in a variety of methods other than the checkbox form
described above.
- Standard documents can be
'pre-built' using clause-sets.
- Clauses can be inserted into an existing
document one
at a time. This is accomplished directly from the editing screen. The
user types
the term's name onto the
editing screen at the point where the full text is to go. Then the user
presses
<Alt-G>. Pathagoras quickly locates the term and inserts it where
desired.
- The user can hand type a list of clause 'suffixes'. At the
end of the list, type the prefix and press <Alt-G>. Pathagoras
will pair the prefix and suffixes and build the desired document
instantly.
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Definitions:
"Library" A collection of up to 10 books. While each book will encompass a collection of clause on a specific topic, a library is much broader in scope. (Like any library, it can be topically focused -- science, history, philosophy -- and the books therein containing much more specific content.
"Book" Continuing the metaphor, a book is a sub-part of a library. A book contains the specific clauses which are use to build specific kinds of documents. 'Clauses' are stored in one of two types of books: (1) a 'glossary' or (2) a folder of clauses.
"Glossary." A 'glossary' is a collection of boilerplate
clauses, sentences, paragraphs,
signature blocks, frequently used text, addresses, pictures, or
anything
else, all contained within a single document. The document is a
standard Word document. It is organized or labeled in such a way
that PATHAGORAS can directly access its individual components, but in every regard it
is still just a Word document, fully readable and fully usable even if PATHAGORAS were removed from the system.
"Folder of clauses" Another kind of book. It too can contain boilerplate clauses, sentences, paragraphs, signature blocks, etc. The folder is a standard Word folder, and each file in the folder is simply a standard document representing a single clause of a potential document.
"Clause" A 'clause' is the smallest component of an ultimate
document (other than a
single letter) that contributes significantly to the document's content.
Typically,
it is a sentence or a paragraph, but it can
be (contrary to the
dictionary
definition) many paragraphs, many pages, pictures, charts, combinations
of
pictures and words, or a single letter . . . in other words,
anything.
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Glossaries vs. Folder of Clauses
Whether you use a Glossary or a Folder of Clauses
Glossaries do
have a few advantages
if document assembly using glossaries
over a folder of clauses and
you should consider using glossaries whereever possible. Here are
some of the advantages:
- Portability. It is
much easier to
move a single glossary containing 150 clauses than moving 150
documents,
each containing one clause.
- View-ability. It is
much easier
to open a single document and globally scan 150 clauses within the
document
than to open 150 separate documents.
- Editi-ability. Same as
above. Block moving, copying etc., is much more easily done within a
single document than among many documents.
- Print-ability. If the user
wishes to
print the clauses (perhaps to place in a notebook; take home to edit,
etc.) it is much easier to
print
a single document than hundreds. Further, a single document can be
formatted and paginated to the user's desires. Separate documents will
necessarily print
on separate pages, and may require separate Page Setup manipulations.
- See this link for a comparison of Pathagoras'
Glossaries
to Words AutoCorrect function.
Since a folder of clauses could not be more self-exp;anatory, the rest of this page will focus on the concept of Glossaries.
Types of
Glossaries
PATHAGORAS recognize two glossary 'types'. Each type
serves
different needs. Both can exist simultaneously on a computer, but the
glossary
clause types cannot be mixed within the same glossary.
'Bookmarked'
glossaries.
The more common and more 'powerful' of the glossary types. Here, each
clause is
surrounded
by Word bookmarks (done automatically by Pathagoras) and given a user
supplied name. There is no limit to the
number of clauses in such a glossary, or the amount of text each entry
can contain. When displayed during a document assembly session,
the Pathagoras CheckBox Form displays the names
assigned to each entry.
'Simple list' glossaries.
These
are collections of single words or single lines of text. A carriage
return
indicates the end of one term and the beginning of the next. When displayed during a document assembly
session, the
Pathagoras CheckBox Form displays the
actual text that will be inserted into the
document. There is no limit to the
number of clauses that
this kind of glossary can contain, but there is a practical limit as to
the length of each clause. If you will be using clauses longer than one
line's worth of text, consider a bookmarked glossary.
More
details on how to create and edit both types of glossaries is presented
in other sections of this guide. Just click on the titles above.
Regardless of the type of
glossary (bookmarked or simple), they essentially work the same way.
The user selects a glossary which contains the desired clauses.
Pathagoras quickly displays the available clauses onto a CheckBox Form
from which the
user selects the desired clauses. The user chooses <Assemble>
to
create a new document or <Insert> if the clauses are to
be placed
in the current document. The user then presses <Next>.
Almost instantly, the selected clauses are assembled into a single,
easily editable, document.
Here is a simple example of
the CheckBox form displaying the contents of a simple list
glossary, playing on one's imagination how Abraham Lincoln might have
used Pathagoras, were it available in his day:
Figure 15.
Abraham
Lincoln's completed checkbox choices (from a 'simple glossary')
preceding his famous speech.
The
glossaries, simple or bookmarked, are powerful tools that will be the
core of most
document
assembly systems. However, a glossary is a
remarkably simple thing. It
is nothing more than a plain Word document. It is created,
stored, edited, moved,
copied,
deleted, etc., just like any other Word document.
This powerful simplicity is what sets Pathagoras apart from the major
document
assembly
programs
on the market.
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The Position #1 Glossary (The "General Glossary")
As you
build your document
assembly system, over time you will have several (perhaps many)
subject oriented glossaries from which you can build documents.
However, you will find
that you will also be collecting/creating a substantial number of
generic terms and clauses that are important to retain but which are
not
directly associated with a particular subject. For example, the address
to the
Clerk of the Court (or client, or agency, etc.) does not 'belong' to
the Contracts glossary more than it belongs
to the Wills or Proposals
glossaries.
So, you need a glossary that is more 'general' in nature, one that can
house those frequently used
addresses, signature
blocks, and other often called for 'boilerplate' or 'must have at my
fingertips' clauses and terms. This describes what Pathagoras refers to
as a 'general' glossary, and everybody needs one. The general glossary
can be called anything, but we suggest you call it "General
Glossary."
(Regardless of what name you choose, we will call the general glossary
by that name.)
Because of its generic nature, and because it
contains terms that
you frequently need throughout the day, the General Glossary should be
in
every library. Further, it should reside in the number one
position in each of those libraries. Why? Because
Pathagoras will
look
for a term sought via
an <Alt-G> call in the following order: (1) from the glossary
that matches the prefix (if a prefix is detected by Pathagoras); if not
found then (2) from the book sitting on the first shelf of the active
library.
If you did not originally place the General Glossary
on the first
shelf, it is easy to place it there. Use the <Switch> button on
the Document Assembly "Settings" screen to either switch the General
Glossary with another glossary currently occupying that shelf, or to
open up the slot for a 'direct shelving' of the glossary.
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See Part 5b
of this Users' Guide for an in-depth discussion on creating
& adding terms to Bookmarked
Glossary.
See Part 5c of this
Users' Guide for an in-depth discussion on creating
& adding terms to a Simple List
glossary.
Once
you
begin to use glossaries and appreciate their power, you will want to
add
new clauses, duplicate others, rename or reposition others. Pathagoras
helps you at each step.
Part 5b of discusses creating
& adding terms to Glossaries
Part 5c discusses Simple List glossaries.
Part 5d provides detailed regarding
the Glossary Functions
screen.
Part 5e discusses how to create an "Instant Glossary".
Part 5f teaches how to "Bulk Add" clauses into a glossary.
View Introduction (Part 1).
View
Part 2 of Users' Guide (PathSmart module)
View
Part 3 of Users' Guide (SaveSmart module).
Return
to Part 4 of Users' Guide (Document Assembly module).
View
Part 6 of Users' Guide (Database Linking module)
Continue
with Part 7 of Users' Guide (Other Features).
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