The Autocode Window

NOTE: Most search patterns only work for English currently, as dictionaries for other languages are not yet provided.

The Autocode window allows you to assign features to existing segments using search patterns. For instance, we can identify passive clauses in English using a pattern like:

Using the Rule Editor, we define a rule like:

We can then press the "Show" button, and all instances matching the search query are shown, with a check-box next to each. We can uncheck any item which is a false match (not truly a passive). Clicking on "Code Selected" will then assign the "passive" feature to each of the selected segments.

In this way we can quickly code many of the more common grammatical patterns. To see a sample of such autocode rules, add a new layer to your project, and use the scheme included with the system "clauses.xml". This includes rules for process type (mental, verbal, etc.), voice (active, passive), modality, nonfinite clauses, etc.

Opening Autocoder: Click on the Autocode button on the main window of CorpusTool.

Adding a new rule: To add a new rule, click the "Add" button in the list of buttons at the top of the Autocode window. A window like the following will appear:

Select a feature which you want to code automatically. Then specify a search pattern to use (see section on "Corpus Search" for how to specify a search query). Then press "Save" to keep this rule in memory.

Editing a rule: Click on the Edit button to edit the currently displayed rule.

Deleting a rule: Click on the Delete button to delete the currently displayed rule.

Coding with a Rule: When you have a rule selected, press the Show button to see all segments which match the search pattern component. A new toolbar appears with three widgets:

• Display All/Agreements/Conflicting/Nonconflicting: selecting from this list allows you to filter out some of the matches:
  • All: shows all of the matches
  • Agreements: shows all segments already coded with the specified feature.
  • Conflicting: shows those segments which are already coded with a feature which conflicts with the feature you are autocoding. For instance, if autocoding as 'passive', this would show all segments already coded as 'active'.
  • Nonconficting: shows all segments which are neither agreements nor conflicting.
• Select All/None: selecting one of these options will select/deselect the check boxes next to each segment.
• Code Selected: Clicking on this button will automatically code all displayed segments which are selected.

Hints

1. For some grammatical phenomena, you can provide a pair of rules like:
   • Select passive if contains 'be% @participle'
   • Select active if clauses and not passive
   Use the first rule to code passives and then use the second rule to put everything else as active.
2. Provide one rule such as the passive rule above. Code these. Then edit the rule, inserting a # between the search terms, e.g.,
   • Select passive if contains 'be% # @participle'
   This will find some instances where 'not' or an adverb falls between the verbs.