<World Script> 0, 7
for Swedish and <World Script> 0, 4
for Italy, AG continues to stem words (converting "opzioni", for example, to "opziony").
To get AG to not stem words, you need a localized version of Apple Guide that doesn't have the stemmer in it. A good place to start would be the Apple Guide International Versions Web page.
Check Apple Guide Complete, pages 3-12 to 3-14, and Real World Apple Guide, page 114, for specific stemming criteria.
For example, in the absence of any <Ignore>, <Exception>, or <Synonym> commands, Apple Guide stems "opening" to "open". To enable all variations of the stemmed form (such as "open", "opened", "opens", "opening", and "opener"), add this line to your Guide Script source files:
<Synonym> "opening", "open"
With this synonym in place, the various forms of "open" will match the index term "opening".
If you choose, you can even anticipate misspelled words. For example, the term 'maintenance' is stemmed to "mainten". If you add these synonyms--
<Synonym> "maintenance","mainten"
<Synonym> "maintenance","maintan"
--a search on either "maintenance" or "maintanance" would be successful. Talk about service!
Note: If your Guide uses mixins, make sure that the mixins are located in the proper location. If you then open the main Guide (to which your mixin is attached), Guide Maker will take the mixin's index modifications into account.
When the user types a search phrase, Apple Guide
Note: Exceptions apply to single words only.
<Ignore> "programmers"
. This <Ignore> command would shut "programmers" out of your Look For search entirely.
<Synonym> "programmers", "programm"
Since you've defined a <Synonym>, you don't need an <Exception> in this example. However, instead of performing steps 2 and 3 above, you could create an <Exception> to prevent the desired word from being stemmed:
<Exception> "programmers"
This <Exception> strategy isn't recommended though--it'll handle this one case, but none of the variations. The first strategy--creating a <Synonym> linking the stemmed form of the index term to the actual index term--almost always gives better results.
In this example, the index of the Guide file contains these commands:
<Index> "Using the CD ROM Drive"
<Header> "How do I"
<Topic> "Insert a CD"
<Topic> "Use a CD"
<Topic> "Listen to Audio CDs"
If the user types "How do I start using my Audio CD" in Look For's search box and clicks Search, it kicks off the following sequence of events:
<Synonym> "Using the CD ROM Drive", "Audio CD"
<Exception> "Using"
<Ignore> "How"
<Ignore> "Do"
<Ignore> "I"
<Ignore> "my"
<Ignore> "start"
<Synonym> "Using the CD ROM Drive", "Using Audio CDs"
<Synonym> "Using the CD ROM Drive", "Music CD"
<Exception> "Playing"
<Exception> "Exiting"
If you intend to rely on Look For to work its magic on a considerable number of index entries, it is best to test your compiled Guide with Guide Maker's Test Look For utility. Test Look For shows you how Apple Guide goes about analyzing search phrases. Try typing each index term into Test Look For to see how Apple Guide stems the phrase, then set up a synonym for each.
For more information on Guide Maker's Test Look For utility, see Apple Guide Complete, pages 6-8 through 6-12.
© 1997, guideWorks, LLC -- Last updated: 970325 GPB