New feature in ELAN for merging annotations

ELAN
1

We’ve just discovered new feature in ELAN 6.7. which might be useful or it might be a bug:

  1. Create new eaf file with any template with types and CVs.
  2. Create tier activation with type such as Activation in NEUROGES template
    https://neuroges.neuroges-bast.info/storage/neuroges-lecture-materials/April2022/template_2018_neuroges.etf
  3. Create annotations such as movement and next annotation (adjacent) rest position.
  4. Merge annotation movement with the next annotation (rest position).
  5. New annotation is movement rest position.
  6. Close the file.
  7. Open the file again
  8. New annotation is not movement rest position, but movement.
    Try the same with annotations on tier without any type (default or notes)
  9. Add annotations such as aaa and bbb.
  10. Merge annotation aaa with the next annotation (bbb).
  11. New annotation is aaa bbb.
  12. Close the file.
  13. Open the file again
  14. New annotation is still aaa bbb.
    Elan seems to change such labels automatically, but it’s not useful in case we would like to have movement rest position, but not movement or we would have rest position instead of movement.
    Screenshot 2024-03-26 at 22.16.51
    Screenshot 2024-03-26 at 22.16.36
    Screenshot 2024-03-26 at 22.16.24
    Screenshot 2024-03-26 at 22.16.17
    Screenshot 2024-03-26 at 22.16.17752×537 63.2 KB

    Screenshot 2024-03-26 at 22.16.08
    You can try this eaf file: eaf file
2

This is a bug. Apparently the Merge with Next/Previous function doesn’t check if the annotation is connected to a controlled vocabulary entry and, if so, remove the reference to that entry. When opening the eaf file again the shown annotation value is updated based on the link to the CV entry. (In the eaf the value is still like this:
<ANNOTATION_VALUE>movement rest position</ANNOTATION_VALUE>

We’ll see if this can be changed in the merging function.

The link to the CV entry is removed when an annotation based on a CV entry is edited by holding down the shift key when double clicking the annotation (i.e. when overriding the CV and entering free text). As a temporary workaround this can be done after merging: shift+double-click the merged annotation, add a space and hit Enter (maybe shift+double-click again to remove the white space again).