Editing Concept Sets With Backref

It is intended that permanent Equivalence editing be done with the whole group's needs in mind, rather than to please just one individual user. Vocabulary additions, specialized nomenclature, slang and acronyms that would be common to a particular group, subgroup, purpose or project, would be entered and saved in a User Equivalence File, as named with the corresponding APICP flag ueqprefix, and pointed to in the managing program; e.g., a Vortex script.

While it is possible to create several User Equivalence Files for different groups with differing acronyms and vocabulary, this is not always necessary. More often than not there is only one User Equivalence File per system, and multiples are created only to resolve conflicts in terminology.

Running with See References on produces anywhere from 75 to 200 equivalences associated with a particular word; more than 256 words are truncated. This is usually much more than is prudent, so it is intended that with See References on, you would edit such a list down to correspond more closely to what you really had in mind for the search question at hand.

To check existing equivalence set for a word, use the BACKREF program, where the syntax is:

backref -e input_file output_file

where input_file is your ASCII equiv source filename, and output_file is the backreferenced and indexed binary file which the Metamorph engine will use. The default User Equiv source file is eqvsusr.lst and its binary counterpart is eqvsusr.

When you enter a query like "power struggle" in a query input box, where concept search has been enabled, your search already knows 57 equivalences for power, and 23 equivalences for struggle. Using the above command for BACKREF, you can see what those sets are composed of, and you can edit them. When asked to enter a root term, enter power, and the list below would be revealed:

power;n  57 equivalences
  ability;n          intensity;n        primacy;n          might;u
  acquistion;n       jurisdiction;n     regency;n          reign;u
  ascendency;n       justice;n          restraint;n        rule;u
  authority;n        kingship;n         scepter;n          sovereignty;u
  carte blanche;n    leadership;n       skill;n            sway;u
  clutches;n         majesty;n          strength;n         electrify;v
  command;n          mastership;n       suction;n
  control;n          mastery;n          superiority;n
  domination;n       militarism;n       supremacy;n
  dominion;n         monarchy;n         vigor;n
  efficiency;n       nuclear fission;n  weight;n
  electricity;n      omnipotence;n      ability;u
  energy;n           persuasiveness;n   capability;u
  force;n            potency;n          control;u
  hegemony;n         predominance;n     energy;u
  imperialism;n      preponderance;n    faculty;u
  influence;n        pressure;n         function;u

struggle;n  23 equivalences
  battle;n       agonize;v
  combat;n       compete;v
  competition;n  contest;v
  conflict;n     fight;v
  effort;n       flounder;v
  exertion;n     strive;v
  experience;n
  fight;n
  scuffle;n
  strife;n
  attempt;u
  clash;u
  conflict;u
  endeavor;u
  fight;u
  flight;u
  oppose;u

The root entry appears at the top, with its equivalences (each with an assigned class, or part of speech) listed underneath. The `n' following (or preceding) "power" stands for "noun", and is the class to which "power" has been assigned. (`v' means "verb"; `u' means "unclassed".)

Once editing a root word's set of equivalences, you'll have these choices, offered below:

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx = Saves all changes made to list to User Equivalence File. 
          Delete > Deletes equivalence (named by number).                   
             Add > Opens word entry line below list to add new equivalence. 
             Zap > Deletes entire equivalence list.                         
    Change-class > Prompts on line below for new word class assignment.     
 By-class-delete > Deletes all words in the entered class.                  
    Save Changes > Saves all changes made to list to User Equiv File.      
    Undo Changes > Restores previous root word entry screen.                
       Redisplay > Refreshes the list with any changes made (or as it was).

If you choose "Save Changes", any changes made to the list will be saved to the named User Equivalence File when you quit the program with qq.

When a new word is added, you are prompted to enter its class. When the new word is added to the list, it will be sorted in alphabetically at its appropriate place in the list, under the class to which it belongs. Existing thesaurus entries have been classed according to the standard parts of speech as described below. However, you may create and assign any class you like.

In the example above under "struggle", you might want to delete-by-class all those entries listed as verbs. Doing so would eliminate with one keystroke all equivalences classed as `v': "agonize", "compete", "contest", "fight", "flounder", and "strive". The classes in use are as follows:

Pxxx = Pronoun         
   P > Pronoun         
   c > conjunction     
   i > interjection    
   m > modifier        
   n > noun            
   p > preposition     
   u > unclassed       
   v > verb

You can Undo Changes anytime while editing, to escape from the action you are in. This restores the entry screen, which lets you choose another root word to edit, add to, or delete. When you are finished editing a word, either Save or Undo Changes, then qq to Quit. At that point the source file will be indexed into its binary form usable by the search, if you have saved any changes.