Batch exporting tab-delimited text files

ELAN
1

Hello!

I need to export a lot of files as tab-delimited text files. I tried writing a python script and failed to do this that way. So I used the ‘export multiple files as’ option.

The issue is that when I export this way, all the annotations from one tier appear in the output in a big block, followed by the annotations from the next tier; the timestamps are accurate but they do not appear in order.

My follow-up analyses require that the timestamps in the output text file appear in order, because I will compare the annotation in row 1 to row 2, row 2 to row 3 etc.

Q1) When using the ‘export multiple files as’, is there something I need to check so that the output is structured in such a way as the start time is what dictates the order of the rows?

Q2) when setting the domain for the ‘export multiple files as’, is there anyway to tell ELAN only to search for files whose names contain a specific string?

I am willing to develop a Python script or something if you think that would solve either of these problems.

Thanks!

2

Hello,

Sorry for the late response.

For Q1, when using the “export multiple files as” dialog, in the Output options, you could use
the option Separate column for each tier which gives each tier its own column in the export file. Annotations that have the same begin time and the same end time are exported in the same row i.e. the same tab-delimited line. Then the records will be in the order of their begin time.

For Q2, there is no setting available when setting the domain to specify the search based on specific file name string.