Andy's Pali Page - Free software palitrans

If you simply wish to use Palitrans for entering French and/or German texts, just scroll to the bottom of this web page (ignoring everything on this web page completely) and download the software. Everything you need can be found by reading the buttons 'Help', 'How to Use' and 'Copyright (c) Andy Shaw'.

If you wish to use Palitrans for entering Pali texts, please read this web page. The program is simple to use and the above buttons explain everything, but Palitrans has a few extra features that are specifically designed to help people learning Pali.

Before you try using palitrans, I strongly recommend that you print my Pali fonts page for reference. It contains a lot of useful information, including handy reference information and important information about word processors. My Pali fonts page is at: Fonts

You may also wish to print this web page before reading it. It makes it much easier to understand, and it is handy to have as a "ready reference" while you are testing and using the software.

I'm going to start by saying the best way to understand all of the following is simply to download the program, start it, and trying typing some things in the Pali transliteration style.

People who have mastered the transliteration style will not need to learn any new knowledge or typing skills to use the program. People new to Pali will have a very simple and intuitive way to create quality documents using Pali fonts.

palitrans is very simple, and only 212 Kb. It works under Windows 95 and above. You will need the 'LeedsBit PaliTranslit' font and an English language keyboard (comes with standard Windows) for it to work correctly (if you need it, you can get the free 'LeedsBit PaliTranslit' font from this web site).

palitrans allows you to type Pali texts using the very intuitive and portable transliteration style. As you type, the keys will be converted and displayed as Pali characters with all of the diacritical marks.

You can then copy your text into your word processor in a format that is compatible with the 'LeedsBit PaliTranslit', 'Times_Norman', 'CSX', 'VriRomanPali CN', or 'Skt Times' font for further editing and printing.

If you choose to save your file to disk, the Pali characters with diacritical marks will automatically be translated into the standard transliteration format. Your text remains portable and compatible with other computer systems.

The nice thing is that when you open any "text" file written in the transliteration style, you will see all of the Pali diacriticals while you are working with the program, and be able to generate them with the standard diacritical typing style. Then when you save the file, it's back in the original transliteration format.

Conclusion: you can "copy and paste" your work into a word processor and keep the fonts, or you can save the file to disk in transliteration format. If you later wish to edit your existing disk file, you simply open it and all of the Pali diacritical marks magically appear again.

How it works if you wish to use a full-powered word processor for printing and are using an English language keyboard (international instructions below):

1. You type in some text using the transliteration style. The text is converted to the Pali font while you are typing.

3. You will be asked if you wish to have the text in the font "LeedsBit PaliTranslit" or "Times_Norman".

5. You "Select All" text and select the correct font - and you're done. You can now edit the text in your word processor using the special font codes, and print the text if you wish.

The big advantage is that the Pali transliteration style is a very intuitive and natural way of typing Pali. Most fonts require complicated resetting of keyboards or the memorization of a lot of special codes and keystrokes.

Example 2 - working with an existing text that has parts of it in the transliteration style

1. Select the text you wish to convert to a Pali font.
2. Copy it
3. Switch to palitrans
4. Paste it
5. Copy it again
6. Choose which of the four fonts you would like to use
7. Paste it back into your word processor.

This allows you to convert "chunks" of transliterated text that may be spread out throughout a word processor file (like and article, a test, or a book).

aa

ii

uu

"n

~n

.n

.d

.t

.l

.m

("m also supported for .m)

Aa

Ii

Uu

"N

~N

.N

.D

.T

.L

.M

("M also supported for .M)

You can only edit about 10 pages of text at a time, but this is enough for an essay, article or section of a book.

The software is free under the terms of the GNU General Public License (if someone wishes to port it to the Macintosh, it is written in MS VC++ 6.0 and I will gladly send them the source code).

The download file is small (212 Kb) so it is not "zipped" or compressed. You can simply download it, double-click on the program icon to start it, and try it out.

The LeedsBit PaliTranslit font only supports Pali and English - not your native language. If you are creating Pali/other-language files, you can create the Pali part with palitrans, copy the Pali into your word processor, and add your second language comments with your word processor.

Step 1: open your word processor.
Step 2: select the English language keyboard
Step 3: open palitrans
Step 4: select the English language keyboard again.
Step 5: create your Pali text (and save to disk if you wish).
Step 5: 'Copy All to Clipboard'
Step 6: paste the text into your word processor
Step 7: Select the Pali text in your word processor
Step 8: select the LeedsBit PaliTranslit or Norman font.
Step 9: position your cursor where you wish to insert you native language comments.
Step 10: select your native language keyboard
Step 11: select the native language font you wish to use and then enter your text.

NOTE: You must have the "LeedsBit PaliTranslit" font and an English virtual keyboard (comes standard with Windows) installed on your computer for the program to work correctly. (It does not matter which type of material, solid keyboard you use).

palitrans supports the 'LeedsBit PaliTranslit', 'Times_Norman', 'CSX', 'VriRomanPali CN' and
'Skt Times' fonts.