© F. Dell'Orso, Bibliography Formatting Software: An Evaluation Template
Last update: November, 17, 2003


      4. Bookends: shorter grid
 4.10. Formatting language to define output styles - FL

The overstriked grid's items have not been taken into account for the purposes of this shorter evaluation: it does not imply at all that the package cannot perform the relevant function.
The numbering and the content are the same as the full version of the evaluation grid.
    

10 FL-Formatting language to define output styles

Bookends
Bookends: made up of: coded field names -can actually use more fields than are available for input-, text strings, punctuation, style (italics etc.), special codes (tab, return, record number ...)

10.1 Selection
1. fields 2. subfields

Bookends: no (only first name and qualifications in personal names; the four digits year in the date field for output purposes)

10.2 Add text
     1. in front of/after
     2. regardless of field presence
     3. depending on field presence
     4. depending on field content

Bookends: yes

10.3 Distinguishes among occurrences of a repeatable field:
     1. by punctuation -separators
     2. because of position / sequence number
     3. can count them

Bookends: 2 3 as far as names are concerned for output, punctuation, purposes

10.4 Produces tagged format output --apart from export routines

Bookends: yes (but cannot output keywords each tagged on a different line)

10.5 Displays RT (reference type)

Bookends: yes

10.6 Produces permuted indexes (words in/out/and context)

Bookends:

10.7 Offers conditional commands (IF ... THEN ...)

Bookends: no (implied in built-in options to be selected)

10.8 Upper/lowercase conversion

Bookends: can force sentence case, title case, all CAPS

10.9 Look-up tables to expand acronyms, abbreviations, replace text

Bookends:   Journal Glossaries can replace abbreviation while entering data, short/full form when outputting

10.10 Contextual Record Preview

Bookends:  yes

10.11 Text added in styles can be language dependent for each record
     1. text lists can be modified
     2. new lists can be added (new language)
     3. text can be present in various fields

Bookends:

10.12 Checks format syntax

Bookends: no

10.13 Level of difficulty of the formatting language

Bookends: rich, not complicated, no programming skills required



Table of contents Index

© F. Dell'Orso, Bibliography Formatting Software: An Evaluation Template
Last update: November, 17, 2003