ELAN supports the following options:
Adding new tier types
Every tier is assigned to a tier type. The tier type specifies the stereotypical
constraints (and, as a consequence, whether or not the tiers are time-alignable).
Information about the relationship between tiers is given in two different places:
for each individual tier it is given in the Add tier dialog
window (see Adding new tiers), and for all tiers belonging to one
tier type it is given in the Add type window (this section), i.e.:
- Add tier attributes window: specify the parent tier
of the individual tier.
- Add type window: specify the stereotypical
constraints of tiers belonging to one type.
To create a tier type, do the following:
- Click on the Type > Add new tier type... menu.
The Add Type dialog window appears:
Figure 2.6. Add a tier type
- Enter the following information for the new type:
- Go to Type name. Enter the name or label for
the type.
- Go to Stereotype. Select the stereotypical
constraint that apply to the tiers based on this type (see Basic Information: Annotations, tiers and tier types).
- Optionally go to Use Controlled Vocabulary.
Select a controlled vocabulary or leave this to None (see Associating a tier type with Controlled Vocabularies).
- Optionally go to Lexicon Connection. Click
the + button to select a lexicon and a lexicon
entry field to be associated with this tier type (see Consulting a Lexicon, Set the Lexicon Service and entry field information for a Tier Type and Lexicons).
- Optionally go to ISO Data Category to
associate this type with a data category via the +
button (see Associating a tier type with a Data Category.
- The Time-alignable checkbox cannot be edited,
its value depends on and changes with the selected
Stereotype.
- Click Add to save the settings; otherwise click
Close to exit the window without saving them.
Changing tier types
Do the following to change the attributes of an already existing tier type:
- Click on Edit > Change tier type… The
Change type dialog window appears.
- The labels of all available tier types are displayed in the Current
Types table, e.g.:
Figure 2.7. Change a tier type
- Click on the tier type whose attributes you want to change.
- Change the settings. The Stereotype drop down box will be
disabled if there is at least one tier based on the selected type. For changing
the Stereotype of a tier consider the options to copy (see
Copying tiers) or to reparent a tier (see Changing the parent of a tier).
Associations with a Lexicon field or a ISO Data
Category can be changed via their +
button or removed by clicking their - button.
- Click Change to save the changes. Otherwise click
Close to exit the window without saving the
changes.
Deleting tier types
To delete a tier type, do the following:
Click on Edit menu.
- Go to Delete tier type…
- A dialog window appears. The names of all available tier types are displayed
in the Current Types table, e.g.:
Figure 2.8. Delete a tier type
- Click on the type you want to delete.
- Click Delete to delete the type; otherwise click
Close to close the dialog window.
You can only delete a tier type if it is not used by any of the tiers. If
it is used, the following error message appears:
Figure 2.9. Tier type is used
Importing tier types
It is possible to import tier types from .eaf
or
.etf
files.
Click on Edit > Import types.... Here you can select a
.eaf or .etf file by clicking on Browse. Select the file you want
to use in the next window and click Select. Finally click
Import to import the tier types from the selected file.
Associating a tier type with a Data Category
Note
This functionality is currently out of order, please see the note at Data categories
In ELAN it is possible to associate a tier type with a data category of the ISO Data
Category Repository (DCR). To do so click on Type in the ELAN
main menu and select Change Tier Type.... In the window that
now appears, click the Browse... button to the right of the
ISO Data Category
option. In the next window(Local Data Category Selection), select a category from the list
and click Apply to associate the selected data category to
the tier type.
Figure 2.10. Local Data Category Selection
More information about the ISO DCR and how to use it can be found in Data categories.