Bar Ilan Software Support - Chapter 16 Customizing Responsa
Introduction
Most Bar Ilan Responsa settings are set in the course of actually working with the program, e.g., choosing active databases and display options for search result. However, you can alter many other Responsa settings to conform to your personal preferences as well, namely:
The appearance of the main Responsa window (see above, p. 13) Print options (above, p. 96) and printer fonts (above, p. 96) File-saving options (above, p. 100) Settings for copying and pasting Bar Ilan Responsa CD texts Format of source references Display colors and hypertext color Screen fonts Order of books in Responsa databases Other, miscellaneous options For information on those options which have not been discussed in previous chapters, see below.
• Once you change Bar Ilan Responsa Software settings, they “stick” from session to session until you change them. • You can reset all program options to their original settings by clicking Tools, then Options, then General, then Restore Default Options, then OK.
Copy and Paste Options If you copied and pasted Responsa text into another Windows application and the results came out unsatisfactorily, you may have to alter Responsa’s copy options. To do so:
1. From the Tools menu, in the Bar Ilan Responsa Software CD click Options.
2. Click the Copy tab.
3. Choose the appropriate word processor.
4. If you want to include the source reference (e.g., בראשית א, א) before or after the text being copied, click Include Source Reference at the Top or Include Search Reference at the Bottom. Otherwise, click Do Not Include Source Reference.
5. Click OK.
6. If the text still doesn’t come out right, in the Bar Ilan CD click ANSI/224 and try again, or check your word processor settings (see below).
• Ordinarily, when copying text from the Bible, each verse will be copied as a separate paragraph. If you want to copy all the verses you selected as a single, continuous paragraph, click Copy Tanach as Single Paragraph.
Formatting Source References You can change the way that source references are displayed when copying, saving, printing or listing former texts. For example, when copying text from the Talmud Bavli, you can have the source reference displayed as מסכת ברכות דף ב עמוד א, or simply as ברכות ב ע"א, etc.
To change the format of source references:
1. From the Tools menu, in the Bar Ilan Responsa Disc click Options.
2. Click the Text tab.
3. Click the Format of Source References button.
4. Click the tab of the desired database, and then click the line with the desired format.
• If you are not satisfied with the formats specified by the Bar Ilan Responsa Disc, click the User Defined button. Then specify the format of your choice and click OK. If you are not satisfied with these formats either, click Additional Options and then Specify Pattern. You can then specify almost any conceivable format by specifying the appropriate forms and clicking OK. 5. Repeat this process as many times as desired for the different databases.
6. Click OK twice to accept your choices.
• Changing this option only affects copying, saving, printing, and listing former texts; you cannot change the format of source references which appear in the title bars of Bar Ilan Responsa windows (for example, when displaying texts of your choice). • Currently it is only possible to change the format of source references in the following databases: Bible, Mishnah, Tosefta, Talmud Bavli, Rambam, and Shulchan Aruch
Word Processor Settings Sometimes Responsa texts pasted into your word processor might not come out correctly even after you altered the copy options. If this happens, try altering your word processor settings as follows:
Word Processor
Do this
English word processors
Make sure that the font and the Hebrew location of the pasted text are identical to those of the active Responsa screen font
Word (Hebrew)
Make sure that the current paragraph direction is Hebrew (RTL)
Write (Hebrew)
Make sure that the current paragraph direction is Hebrew (RTL)
Changing Colors in Bar Ilan Responsa 1. From the Tools menu, click Options.
2. Click the Colors tab.
3. Click the item whose color you want to change.
4. Click the desired color from the palette.
5. Click OK.
6. Repeat steps 3–5 as many times as desired, and click OK when you’re finished.
• If you made a mistake, you can restore the original Bar Ilan Responsa Program colors by clicking Reset, and then OK.
Hypertext Links To display hypertext links in a different color from ordinary text:
1. From the Tools menu, click Options.
2. From the General tab, click Display Hypertext Links as Colored Text. (If you want hypertext links displayed in the same color as other text, clear this check box.)
3. Click the Colors tab, in the Bar Ilan Responsa Disc and select the desired color for the hypertext links.
4. Click OK twice.
Cross-References To determine which cross-references will be displayed on particular texts:
1. From the Tools menu, choose Options.
2. Choose the Text tab.
3. If you want all cross-references displayed by default, in the Bar Ilan Responsa CD click Display All Cross-References. If you only want to display cross-references from particular books, uncheck Display All Cross References, and click Select Books. Then select the desired books from the database tree and click OK.
4. Click OK.
Screen Fonts To change the fonts used to display search results and other Responsa texts on screen:
1. From the Tools menu, click Options.
2. Click the Fonts tab. 3. Click Hebrew Font. If you want to change the font used for the Bar Ilan Responsa trees (e.g., the Database tree), click Tree Font. 4. Select the font you want to use. 5. Click OK twice to confirm your choice.
• To change screen fonts on the fly, make sure the Fonts toolbar is displayed (see below, p. 124). Then select the desired font, size, and style (bold, italic, or regular) from this toolbar. • Changing screen fonts does not affect printer fonts. For information on changing printer fonts, see above, p. 96. • You can reduce the size of the screen font by pressing ] (the right bracket key) repeatedly. Likewise, you can enlarge the screen font by pressing [ (the left bracket key) repeatedly. • To restore Bar Ilan Responsa’s default font settings, perform steps 1–2 above. Then click Restore Default Options, and click OK.
Changing Margins and Line Spacing of Texts in Responsa Windows To change margins and line spacing of texts in Responsa windows:
1. From the Tools menu, in the Bar Ilan Software Program click Options.
2. Click the Display tab.
3. Click the desired line spacing and margins (specified in millimeters).
4. Select the font you want to use.
5. Click OK to confirm your choice.
Interface Language To change the interface language of Bar Ilan Responsa Disc, click Tools, and then choose the desired language (Hebrew, English, or French). Responsa will restart in the interface language you specified.
Default Language for Biographies To change the default language for biographies:
1. Click Tools, then Options.
2. Click the General tab.
3. Under Biographies, click the desired language.
4. Click OK to confirm your choice.
Toolbars The Bar Ilan Responsa Disc has three toolbars: (1) the main toolbar, which enables you to perform most Responsa functions; (2) the Fonts toolbar, which enables you to change display fonts on the fly, and (3) the Additional icons toolbar.
1. To view or hide any of the toolbars, click View from the main menu bar, and then Toolbars. Then click the toolbar(s) you want to hide or display.
• All of the toolbars can be dragged to any part of the screen. Likewise, you can close any of the toolbars by clicking the X in the upper right hand corner of the relevant toolbar. 2. To customize toolbars, do one of the following:
Drag toolbar icons in the Bar Ilan Responsa Project to another toolbar while holding down the Alt key. To delete icons from a toolbar, drag them off that toolbar while holding down the Alt key. Click View, then Toolbars, then Customize. Then select the desired options and click OK.
Keyboard Shortcuts To create new keyboard shortcuts or to change existing keyboard shortcuts:
1. From the Tools menu, click Keyboard Shortcuts.
2. Select the relevant menu in the first column, and then the relevant action from the second column (for example, View – Combine Duplicate Results).
3. Click Create Shortcut.
4. Click the new shortcut key or key combination (for example, Ctrl-Shift-J) from the keyboard.
5. Confirm by clicking OK twice.
• You can remove existing keyboard shortcuts by following steps 1–2 above; then click the shortcut key listed under Assigned Shortcuts, and then click Remove. Click OK twice to confirm your choice. • You can restore all the original keyboard shortcuts by performing step 1 above; then click Reset All, and click OK twice to confirm.
Changing the Order of Books in Databases 1. From the Tools menu, click Options.
2. Click the General tab.
3. Click List Books in Databases.
4. To list books in alphabetical order, click the bookshelf icon next to the relevant database, so letters appear at the bottom of the icon (like this: ).
To list books in the order in which they actually appear, click the bookshelf icon again, so that no letters appear at the bottom of the icon (like this: ).
5. Click OK twice.
Changing the Appearance of the Database Tree 1. From the Tools menu, choose Options.
2. Choose the General Tab.
3. Choose Customize Database Tree.
4. Click plus or minus signs to open or close desired branches of the database tree.
5. Click OK twice.
Changing the Way Responsa are Listed When selecting books from the responsa database to search or display, you can alter the way these books are listed. To list all responsa in alphabetical order:
1. Click Tools, then Options.
2. Click the General tab.
3. Click List Books in Databases by.
4. Click the bookshelf icon next to the responsa database, so that letters appear at the bottom of the icon.
5. Click OK
6. Click the Search tab, and make sure that the List Responsa by Periods checkbox is cleared.
• If you want to change the order in which responsa are listed when selecting books to display from the responsa database, click the Text tab rather than the Search tab (and similarly below). 7. Click OK.
To list all responsa in chronological order:
1. Click Tools, then Options.
2. Click the General tab.
3. Click List Books in Databases by.
4. Click the bookshelf icon next to the responsa database, so that letters do not appear at the bottom of the icon.
5. Click OK.
6. Click the Search (or Text) tab, and make sure that the List Responsa by Periods checkbox is cleared.
7. Click OK.
To list responsa divided by historical periods, with the responsa in each period arranged in alphabetical order:
1. Click Tools, then Options.
2. Click the General tab.
3. Click List Books in Databases by.
4. Click the bookshelf icon next to the responsa database, so that letters appear at the bottom of the icon.
5. Click OK.
6. Click the Search (or Text) tab, and check the List Responsa by Periods checkbox.
7. Click OK.
To list responsa divided by historical periods (medieval, sixteenth century, seventeenth-nineteenth centuries, and twentieth and twenty-first century responsa), with the responsa in each period arranged in chronological order:
1. Click Tools, then Options.
2. Click the General tab.
3. Click List Books in Databases by.
4. Click the bookshelf icon next to the responsa database, so that letters do not appear at the bottom of the icon.
5. Click OK.
6. Click the Search (or Text) tab, and check the List Responsa by Periods checkbox.
7. Click OK.
Automatically Maximizing Responsa Windows To automatically display all Responsa windows maximized:
1. From the Tools menu, click Options.
2. Click General.
3. Click Open All Windows Maximized.
4. Click OK.
Automatically Combining Duplicate Search Results To ensure that duplicate results are automatically combined whenever you search:
1. From the Tools menu, click Options.
2. Click Search.
3. Click Combine Duplicate Results Automatically.
4. Click OK.
Filtering Forms in All Databases To automatically filter out the same forms for all databases you are searching, so you won't have to filter out forms individually for each database:
1. From the Tools menu, click Options.
2. Click the Search tab.
3. Click the checkbox next to Filter forms in all databases.
4. Click OK.
Automatically Expanding Links (Cross-References) To automatically expand links (cross-references):
1. From the Tools menu, click Options.
2. Click the Text tab.
3. Click Automatically Expand Cross-References.
4. Click OK.
Options for Working with Expanded Display Results Ordinarily, if you expand search results and then click Next Result or Previous Result, the current result will be replaced by the new result.
If you want to display each additional result in its own window:
1. From the main menu bar, click Tools.
2. Click Options.
3. Click Expand Each Result in a New Window.
4. Click OK.
Autosaving the List of Active Responsa Windows You can autosave the list of active Responsa windows, so these windows will reopen automatically the next time you start Responsa. To do so:
1. Click Tools.
2. Click Options.
3. Click General . 4. Click the box labeled Save Autorecover Info Every...Minutes, and type the desired number of minutes in the box.
5. Click OK.
• If the Save Autorecover Info box is not checked, you can have Responsa display a reminder to confirm that you want to exit before you close the program. To do so, perform steps 1–3 above and click the Reminder to Confirm Before Exiting checkbox; then click OK.
Miscellaneous Settings Several other Responsa settings can be altered by clicking Options from the Tools menu, clicking the General tab, and selecting the options you want to change. Specifically:
• You can set the maximum number of text or search results windows by specifying the desired number and clicking OK. • You can display or hide fields for typing the location of user-specified texts (see above, p. 68): users who prefer clicking icons presumably have no need for these fields, while other users may want to display them. • When performing a search in multiple databases, you can display the breakdown of results by database to find out how many times the search expression occurs in each database (cf. above, p. 58). • You can display scroll bars on either side of Responsa windows. • You can prevent Responsa from displaying automatic reminders to backup your personal data. • You can have Responsa list the dates of various types of user input (for example, saved searches and user-added notes) as Hebrew dates, rather than as Gregorian dates. Other, text-related Responsa settings can be changed by clicking Tools, then Options, then Text, and selecting the appropriate options. Thus:
• You can display text from the Talmud Yerushalmi by chapter and halachah rather than by page in the Venice edition. • You can display text from the Torah and commentaries by the weekly Torah portion (parashah) rather than by chapter