Web Braille

Web Braille

[Steve Holmes]

I just started the sign up process for the US NLS Web Braille program.  I
understand the files you download are in grade 2 ASCII Braille format with
an extension of .BRF.  Is there any way to convert these files back to
normal ASCII to be read visually with less or emacs?  In other words, is
it possible to "reverse" the process of grade 2 translation?  If so, what
tools are best for the job?

Thanks for any ideas.

Re: Web Braille

[Ryan Mann]

Have you trieed NFB trans?  You can get it at www.nfb.org.
On Thu, 30 May 
2002, Steve Holmes wrote:

> I just started the sign up process for the US NLS Web Braille program.  I
> understand the files you download are in grade 2 ASCII Braille format with
> an extension of .BRF.  Is there any way to convert these files back to
> normal ASCII to be read visually with less or emacs?  In other words, is
> it possible to "reverse" the process of grade 2 translation?  If so, what
> tools are best for the job?
> 
> Thanks for any ideas.
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
> 

-- 


Ryan

Re: Web Braille

[Igor Gueths]

Hi all. Nfbtrans can output to a braille blazer right? If so, is the
blazer configured through printcap or some other printer capabilities
database managed by nfbtrans? Thanks!

Gates go to hell, your OS is waiting for you there!

On Thu, 30 May 2002, Ryan Mann wrote:

> Have you trieed NFB trans?  You can get it at www.nfb.org.
> On Thu, 30 May
> 2002, Steve Holmes wrote:
>
> > I just started the sign up process for the US NLS Web Braille program.  I
> > understand the files you download are in grade 2 ASCII Braille format with
> > an extension of .BRF.  Is there any way to convert these files back to
> > normal ASCII to be read visually with less or emacs?  In other words, is
> > it possible to "reverse" the process of grade 2 translation?  If so, what
> > tools are best for the job?
> >
> > Thanks for any ideas.
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Speakup mailing list
> > Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> > http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
> >
>
> --
>
>
> Ryan
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
>

Re: Web Braille

[Buddy Brannan]

Get the latest version of NFBTrans at
http://www.mindspring.com/~n8kl
-- 
Buddy Brannan, KB5ELV/3  | I choose you to take up all of my time.
Email: davros@ycardz.com | I choose you because you're funny and kind
                         | I want easy people from now on.
                         | --the Nields

Re: Web Braille

[Cheryl Homiak]

Hi Buddy.
That url dosen't work any more; I just tried it to be sure. Earthlink changed
their policies a few months ago as I recall. But the
www.nfb.org/nfbtrans.htm
works ()I think that is right; I'm doing it from memory).
Anyway, it's been posted a couple of times so if I'm wrong you can find it in
the archives.

Cheryl

Re: Web Braille

[jwantz]

Hi,
I successfully compiled nfbtranss.  Not only did I need to rm MAKEFILE 
Makefile but I also had to convert the names of the .c files from 
uppercase to lower case.  However I did not have to modify the contents 
of the makefile in any way.  I am using make version 3.79.1.  Now, all I 
need to do is sign up with NLS.

     Jim Wantz WB0TFK
On Thu, 30 May 2002, Cheryl Homiak wrote:

> Hi Buddy.
> That url dosen't work any more; I just tried it to be sure. Earthlink changed
> their policies a few months ago as I recall. But the
> www.nfb.org/nfbtrans.htm
> works ()I think that is right; I'm doing it from memory).
> Anyway, it's been posted a couple of times so if I'm wrong you can find it in
> the archives.
> 
> Cheryl
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
> 

Re: Web Braille

[Janina Sajka]

Cheryl makes a good point. I also don't recall the specific
details, but I do recall one needs to edit one of the files,
possible the Makefile, to get nfbtrans to compile on Linux. I
think there's also an issue with filenames being in the wrong
case, or something like that.

I recall writing the current maintainer of nfbtrans about this.
He was willing to fix it but he didn't have a Linux machine to
work on. I suggested I could give him an account on mine, so that
he could ssh on over and do the job. But, he didn't know what ssh
was, and our conversation never went further.

Bottom line is that he was willing, so maybe someone can take
this up with him? Especially, if one of you is still hosting
login via telnet, you might want to consider offering him an
account for a few days.


-- 
	
				Janina Sajka, Director
				Technology Research and Development
				Governmental Relations Group
				American Foundation for the Blind (AFB)

Email: janina@afb.net		Phone: (202) 408-8175

Chair, Accessibility SIG
Open Electronic Book Forum (OEBF)
http://www.openebook.org

Re: Web Braille

[Buddy Brannan]

Here's the relevant section from the NFBTrans readme:


     Unzip nfbtrans into an empty directory.  From the unix shell type
mv MAKEFILE Makefile
Then enter
make lowercase

     This is necessary because the program files were zipped in MSDOS and the
file names are in upper case when unzipped in unix.  Files specifically for
the MSDOS version are also removed at this time.

     Compile nfbtrans by entering make target where target is ultrix, linux,
sunos, djgpp, or aix.  You will have to add the target for your machine to
makefile if it is not one of these. The termcap entry in
the LIB= statement may need to be removed in linux.  When the compile is
successful, copy nfbtrans to usually /usr/local/bin and set permissions
usually chmod 755 nfbtrans.  Copy nfbtrans.cnf, back.tab, english.dic, spell.dat
and braille.tab to /usr/local/lib.  Edit nfbtrans.cnf and change options if
necessary.

You may have to change permissions on the files you've copied into
/usr/local/lib. I recall having some sort of problem the first time I
set up NFBTrans, but I can't remember the nature of them. Anyway, it
works great under Linux. 
-- 
Buddy Brannan, KB5ELV/3  | I choose you to take up all of my time.
Email: davros@ycardz.com | I choose you because you're funny and kind
                         | I want easy people from now on.
                         | --the Nields

Re: Web Braille

[Steve Holmes]

Actually everything I needed to know including the renaming of the
MAKEFILE was accounted for in the readme file.  The only thing I would
consider would be a possible install script to install the support
files.  Also, I couldn't get his makedoc file to work right eather so
I rewrote the thing in Bourn shell and it works great now.  His csh
environment got an error on my box.

Perhaps I can write him later on today and mention these things.

On Fri, May 31, 2002 at 10:08:32AM -0400, Janina Sajka wrote:
> Cheryl makes a good point. I also don't recall the specific
> details, but I do recall one needs to edit one of the files,
> possible the Makefile, to get nfbtrans to compile on Linux. I
> think there's also an issue with filenames being in the wrong
> case, or something like that.
> 
> I recall writing the current maintainer of nfbtrans about this.
> He was willing to fix it but he didn't have a Linux machine to
> work on. I suggested I could give him an account on mine, so that
> he could ssh on over and do the job. But, he didn't know what ssh
> was, and our conversation never went further.
> 
> Bottom line is that he was willing, so maybe someone can take
> this up with him? Especially, if one of you is still hosting
> login via telnet, you might want to consider offering him an
> account for a few days.
> 
> 
> -- 
> 	
> 				Janina Sajka, Director
> 				Technology Research and Development
> 				Governmental Relations Group
> 				American Foundation for the Blind (AFB)
> 
> Email: janina@afb.net		Phone: (202) 408-8175
> 
> Chair, Accessibility SIG
> Open Electronic Book Forum (OEBF)
> http://www.openebook.org
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup

Re: Web Braille

[Cheryl Homiak]

Actually, the makefile is ok. And one step in the process is "make lowercase"
and that works too, but that's where a file is misnamed and you have to change
the name of the file. i think it's some kind of readme that has the problem. But
once the error is seen, one just renames the file and redoes the make.
I've also found that sometimes english.dic gets seen as a directory when you go
to run nfbtrans; I have no idea why. Then you have to erase it from where you've
put it and recopy it over from your nrbtrans source directory.
and I got the same response from Randy; he doesn't currently have a linux/unix
system to work on it with.

Cheryl

Re: Web Braille

[Ed Barnes]

Hi Janina and list.
Janina, I don't know who is maintaining nfbtrans however I am hosting 
telnet so if you wish to contact the maintainer of nfbtrans and pass him 
my e-mail I'd be happy to create an user account for him so he can fix 
the relevant files in nfbtrans to make it easier to setup under Linux.
The only info I need from  him is requested username and an alternate 
e-mail addy where I may contact him to send him the account details.
Hope this is of some assistance and hope your week of vacation was 
enjoyable.
Regards,
Ed Barnes
On 
Fri, 31 May 2002, Janina Sajka wrote:

> Cheryl makes a good point. I also don't recall the specific
> details, but I do recall one needs to edit one of the files,
> possible the Makefile, to get nfbtrans to compile on Linux. I
> think there's also an issue with filenames being in the wrong
> case, or something like that.
> 
> I recall writing the current maintainer of nfbtrans about this.
> He was willing to fix it but he didn't have a Linux machine to
> work on. I suggested I could give him an account on mine, so that
> he could ssh on over and do the job. But, he didn't know what ssh
> was, and our conversation never went further.
> 
> Bottom line is that he was willing, so maybe someone can take
> this up with him? Especially, if one of you is still hosting
> login via telnet, you might want to consider offering him an
> account for a few days.
> 
> 
> 

Re: Web Braille

[Buddy Brannan]

Make that
http://www.mindspring.com/~n8kl/files/
It'll be nfbtrxxx.zip 
where xxx is a version number.
-- 
Buddy Brannan, KB5ELV/3  | I choose you to take up all of my time.
Email: davros@ycardz.com | I choose you because you're funny and kind
                         | I want easy people from now on.
                         | --the Nields

Re: Web Braille

[Steve Holmes]

Is this more current than what you would find at nfb.org?

On Thu, May 30, 2002 at 10:35:17PM -0400, Buddy Brannan wrote:
> Make that
> http://www.mindspring.com/~n8kl/files/
> It'll be nfbtrxxx.zip 
> where xxx is a version number.
> -- 
> Buddy Brannan, KB5ELV/3  | I choose you to take up all of my time.
> Email: davros@ycardz.com | I choose you because you're funny and kind
>                          | I want easy people from now on.
>                          | --the Nields
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup

Re: Web Braille

[Cheryl Homiak]

Yes, nfbtrans backtranslates and is compilable in linux.
http://www.nfb.org/nfbtrans.htm
This is the latest version; 7.68.
Hope this helps; there may be other alternatives too.

Cheryl

Re: Web Braille

[Saqib Shaikh]

nfbtrans with the backtranslator option.

Saqib
----- Original Message -----
From: "Steve Holmes" <steve@holmesgrown.com>
To: <speakup@braille.uwo.ca>
Sent: Thursday, May 30, 2002 9:52 PM
Subject: Web Braille


> I just started the sign up process for the US NLS Web Braille program.  I
> understand the files you download are in grade 2 ASCII Braille format with
> an extension of .BRF.  Is there any way to convert these files back to
> normal ASCII to be read visually with less or emacs?  In other words, is
> it possible to "reverse" the process of grade 2 translation?  If so, what
> tools are best for the job?
>
> Thanks for any ideas.
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup

Re: Web Braille

[Steve Holmes]

Thanks for the quick suggestions; will give it a try as soon as they
set me up and when I download nfbtrans.  I've heard a lot about this
program for normal BRL translation so I'm glad you can back translate
with it too.  It sounds like a good doctor's perscription to me:).

Thanks again.

On Thu, May 30, 2002 at 10:27:48PM +0100, Saqib Shaikh wrote:
> nfbtrans with the backtranslator option.
> 
> Saqib
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Steve Holmes" <steve@holmesgrown.com>
> To: <speakup@braille.uwo.ca>
> Sent: Thursday, May 30, 2002 9:52 PM
> Subject: Web Braille
> 
> 
> > I just started the sign up process for the US NLS Web Braille program.  I
> > understand the files you download are in grade 2 ASCII Braille format with
> > an extension of .BRF.  Is there any way to convert these files back to
> > normal ASCII to be read visually with less or emacs?  In other words, is
> > it possible to "reverse" the process of grade 2 translation?  If so, what
> > tools are best for the job?
> >
> > Thanks for any ideas.
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Speakup mailing list
> > Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> > http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup

Web Braille

[Ann Parsons]

Hi all,

Yes, Steve, NFBTrans is available for Linux as is Turbo Braille.
However, NFBTrans has a back translater so that'd probably be a better
bet.   Works just fine on LOC braille files.

Ann P.
 
-- 
			Ann K. Parsons  
email:  akp@eznet.net 			ICQ Number:  33006854
WEB SITE:  http://home.eznet.net/~akp
"All that is gold does not glitter.  Not all those who wander are lost."  JRRT