PREFERRED TRANSCRIPT STYLE

Transcription

1 z PREFERRED TRANSCRIPT STYLE AD Summation s award-winning litigation support software products are used by over 60,000 attorneys and legal assistants nationwide. AD Summation s powerful searching capability allows users to instantly locate relevant testimony in transcripts. All AD Summation products support transcripts in ASCII text format. A court reporter s computer-aided transcription ( CAT ) system should include the option to save or export a transcript in Summation or Amicus format, both of which are compatible with Summation. If, however, a court reporter s CAT system does not allow export to Summation or Amicus format -- or if a court reporter uses word-processing software to produce a transcript and does not have the option to export a transcript in Summation or Amicus format -- the specifications and accompanying illustration below will guide you in creating a Summation-compatible transcript file. Transcript conformity to this specification will save AD Summation users transcript-loading time and also enhance searching capability and note-location accuracy. AD SUMMATION PREFERRED TRANSCRIPT STYLE SPECIFICATION Transcript size is less than one megabyte. Page number specifications: o All transcript pages are numbered. o Page numbers appear next to the left margin, with the first digit of the page number appearing in Column 1. (See illustration of column numbers and transcript elements below.) o Page numbers appear at the top of each page o Page numbers contain at least four digits, including zeros, if necessary. For example, Page 34 would be shown as 0034 or o The very first line of the transcript (Line 1 of the title page) contains the starting page number of that volume. For example, 0001 or if the volume starts on Page 1; 0123 or if the volume starts on Page 123. All lines in the transcript are numbered. Line numbers appear in Columns 2 and 3 Text starts at least one space after the line number. (We recommend starting text in Column 7.) No lines are longer than 78 characters (letters and spaces) If possible, there are no page breaks. If you must include them, they should be on the line preceding the page number. There is a consistent number of lines per page if neither page breaks nor Summation s page number format are used. No headers or footers appear, except for headers bearing page numbers only. In the example below, the column numbers at the top designate how many spaces from the left margin a given transcript element should occur.

2 2 AD Summation Preferred Transcript Style Illustration TIPS FOR WORKING WITH WORD-PROCESSED TRANSCRIPTS Sometimes word-processed transcripts (e.g., those produced using Microsoft Word or WordPerfect) may not display correctly in Summation. This is because, even if the word-processed transcript is exported to ASCII or TXT format, word-processing programs leave behind embedded formatting characters that interfere with proper display in Summation. If you open a word-processed transcript in Microsoft WordPad and see unusual characters, the transcript file probably needs additional massaging before loading into Summation. In a nutshell, the closer the transcript files are to pure ASCII text format, the better. We have come up with some suggested methods to remedy these issues. Success depends on how heavily a transcript has been formatted; e.g., graphics contained in the footers. USING GENERIC / TEXT ONLY PRINTER Reporters can try using word-processing software to create a PRN file, rather than create an ASCII file. Make a copy of your transcript within the word-processing program to use as a test file and format it in this way: 1. All pages must have a page number, including the title page, appearance page, etc. 2. The page number should appear at the top of each page. 3. Delete all headers, except for page numbers. 4. Delete all footers. 5. Make sure all lines are numbered. 6. For Microsoft Word transcripts, it may help to click the checkbox for Use printer metrics to lay out document, located in the Layout Options listing of the Compatibility Options section under the Advanced tab of the Options screen. 7. Print the file, selecting Generic / Text Only as the printer. (To add Generic / Text Only as a printer, see Adding Generic / Text Only as a Printer, below.) 8. When prompted, save the file to.prn format (or as Printer Files in Windows 7).

3 3 9. Save the file to a location that you will remember later; e.g., your Desktop. 10. Open the.prn file with Notepad to view the result. You can then also save it as a.txt file. ADDITIONAL SUGGESTIONS Fix curly quotes If unusual characters (such as smart or curly quotes) occur within the word-processed transcript and are causing display issues in Summation, convert them to regular characters before creating a text file. For specific instruction, consult your word-processing program s Help file. Convert file via a CAT system Alternatively, try importing a word-processed ASCII file into a CAT system. Apply the CAT system s standard transcript formatting, then export the file in a Summation-friendly format: Amicus, CAT-generated ASCII or Summation. Sometimes condensed-printing programs can also successfully perform this conversion. Double-check transcript page-and-line integrity Whatever method you choose, check the page-and-line integrity of the transcript in Summation with that of the original transcript to ensure that the text appears in the correct position. ADDING GENERIC / TEXT ONLY AS A PRINTER Follow the instructions below to add Generic / Text Only as a printer. NOTE: These steps may vary somewhat, depending on which version of Windows you are running. The screens may also look slightly different, depending on your view options. 1. In Control Panel, double-click Devices and Printers to open the Devices and Printers screen. Click Add a printer.

4 4 2. Choose the Add a local printer option. 3. In the Choose a printer port screen, choose Use an existing port and select FILE: (Print to File) from the drop-down menu. 4. In the Install the printer driver screen, scroll down the left-hand list of Manufacturers and choose Generic. In the right-hand Printers list, select Generic / Text Only. 5. The printer will be named Generic / Text Only by default. This is the name which will appear on the list of printers that you will select from when printing.

5 5 6. In the Printer Sharing screen, select Do not share this printer. 7. In the You ve successfully added Generic / Text Only screen, deselect Set as the default printer. Click Finish. You will now see the Generic / Text Only printer icon in the Devices and Printers folder, in addition to those of other physical printers you have already loaded. You can use Generic / Text Only as if it were another physical printer, even though it will only be used to create a.prn file.

6 6 TRANSCRIPT DISPLAY OPTIONS WITHIN SUMMATION In addition to the drag-and-drop method, transcripts may be brought into AD Summation software manually from CD or other media. Simply open AD Summation to the desired case, then click File Load Transcript. From there you can browse to the desired drive or folder and select the transcript to be loaded. Usually, a transcript will not require reformatting when you load it into AD Summation, particularly if provided to you by your court reporter in the AD Summation Preferred Transcript Style, outlined above in this document. Occasionally, however, an electronic transcript will require reformatting in order to be displayed correctly and provide accurate search results. Most common transcript formatting issues can be remedied without your intervention by using AD Summation s TranForm utility, which is selected by default when you load a transcript. If TranForm is unable to handle a formatting issue, an Error Log file is generated to help with troubleshooting. Load Transcript window, showing Use TranForm box checked If manual fine-tuning of a transcript format is necessary (usually a simple matter of adjusting page breaks, lines per page, left margins or header lines), follow these simple steps: MODIFYING TRANSCRIPT FORMATTING 1. Right-click the transcript filename in the Case Explorer Transcripts folder, click [transcript filename] Utilities and select one of the options below: a. Format [transcript filename] to access the Transcript Format Information window b. TranForm [transcript filename] to access the TranForm Options window 2. Make any necessary changes to the format settings. 3. Click OK to save your changes or Cancel to discard your changes. 4. Close and reopen the transcript so your changes can take effect. Transcript Format Information window TranForm Options window