Importing text to paratext

Question

I am working on a translation of the Old Testament to northern Sami language. I have used Libre Office during the preparation of the text. I want to swap to Paratext software.

Is it an easy way to import text from text files to paratext?

Answer 1

Sure.
You will have to test it out and see how it works for you.
Here is a link to download it, you are welcome to tweak etc., and these are as is, i.e. I can’t guarantee that they will do what you want, so I would definitely not use them on your only copy of files, etc. Also, I don’t think they will work with Word on Mac.

drive.google.com

ParatextMacros.bas

Google Drive file.

As far as how to import these into Word, what I find easiest is to open a blank Word document, and use the key combination Alt-F11 to open up Visual Basic.
Then, I like to make sure I am in the normal template. When you open Visual Basic, it defaults to the current project/document, so using the Project Explorer window at the top left (if not visible, click View > Project Explorer), I will click on the line that says Normal. Then, click File > Import file, and import the ParatextMacros.bas file you downloaded.
I have several varieties of macros, two basic ones that use no styles, and presuppose that verses, headings, etc. will be marked in a specific way. These are basically only useful on single chapter files, and would likely need edited for what you want.
In a case where you have used extra characters etc. along with the chapter or verse numbers, the ParaStyle macro is useful. For example, if you wrote out chapter along with each chapter number, it can identify and remove the extra info. Or if your verse has extra markings, i.e. something like 1)., you can show that. For that you will also need to know what your font sizes etc. are.
The Parastyle macro also will offer to search for styles.
The styles macro only searches for styles, and lets you search for the style you want to, and asks for the desired marker.
There is also a Footnotes macro, which will find footnotes and embed them at the correct place in the text, with the footnote marking. However, it won’t mark the footnote reference info. (that can be done using Regex Pal in Paratext, I can give you my regex strings on that if you need it). The footnotes macro is already embedded in the Parastyle and Style macros.
Since Paratext is picky about order of headings and chapter markers, and often word files will have the order switched, I often will use a regex enabled text editor like Edit Pad Lite to swap the order of the headings and chapter markers. I can also give you the regex strings I use for that if you need them. RegexPal only works within chapter boundaries, so that step had to be done outside of Paratext.
Like I said, no guarantees these will work well for you, but I have used them multiple times over the last 10 years, and have been tweaking things on them with each new translation I import. I have found that by using a combination of these with a regex capable text editor, I can often import an entire New Testament in a couple of hours, depending on different factors. If the translator has included a lot of numbers in the text, and hasn’t used styles, it gets much more complicated.
Feel free to try these out, and let me know what you find. I am always trying to tweak them to cover a broader range of translation styles.
BEH

Answer 2

Yes there are a few converters that can do it as long as you have been consistent in the text. I have one that I use but it only works in Word. It does not do the Section heading or title information but will put in the rest markers (Not sure about the footnotes). I am sure some to the other Users have better converters if not I might be able to modify mine to work for you.

Answer 3

I also have some Macros for Word, that are able to do most of the work. If styles were used, it is able to mark almost everything, including footnotes, but there is always some cleanup after importing. I have been able to import a complete New Testament that was well formatted within 2 hours, but it all depends on the text that is being imported.
It does require a decent understanding of Paratext markers, as the user needs to specify what marker to use in a dialogue box.

Comments

That sounds way better then the version I have could I get a copy of yours?

Answer 4

LibreOffice Writer is able to save a document in Microsoft Word format. Perhaps you would want to try taking one OT book, creating a Word document from it, trying the Word macros on it, then seeing if the result can be imported into Paratext.

Answer 5

Thank you for your help.

It is possible I can use some part of the code.

My text of the Old Testament consist the old testament text and lot of comments to the text.

The comments should not be part of the final text. They are used during the translation.

I think the easiest solution for me is to convert the Libre Office/Word file to a plain text file, and then develop a converter for the text file.

In Paratext is the bible text and comments divided into two different files, and therefore I think it will be difficult to use a word macro.

(sorry for my bad English)