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Current limitations of Words Close Together technology
English only
For the foreseeable future, Words Close Together will be aimed primarily at English language text. The WCT search engine works with any language without accents (for example, Latin). The preparation tools, however, are heavily oriented toward English. These tools attempt to distinguish headings from text. To do this, they rely on knowledge of English prepositions and conjunctions -- words that normally have a lower case first letter even though the line is in "Title Case". Headings may contain numbers in the form of English words: Chapter One, Chapter Two, ... Chapter Ninety-Nine. Occasionally text contains headings with ordinal numbers ... first, second, third, etc. Alternate language words (ein, zwei, drei, premier, deuxieme, etc.) could be implemented in foreign language editions of the software. We prefer to get the technology working well in one language first.
Another consideration is the selection of punctuation characters allowed within a word. English allows hyphens and apostrophes that have letters on either side. English corporate names may contain embedded ampersands. These English language features are currently standard within Words Close Together technology.
Printable ASCII characters
For now, foreign words within English text are stripped of their accents. The problem they present is how the person conducting a search distinguishes between accented and unaccented letters. One solution is to use "word wheels" (lists of selectable terms) as offered with our FindIt search engine in the mid-1980s. This solution may be implemented in 2008. With this enhancement, application to most European languages will become possible. Many of the preparation tools may have to be made "open source" at that time so that people knowledgeable of the various languages may apply appropriate rule sets to distinguish searchable terms, enumerators, and heading lines.
Some Asian languages require 16 bit characters. Technically, the WCT search engine could be adapted to handle wide character sets. Barring a major technology sale or cooperative venture, adaptation to 16 bit characters is not a short term priority.
Windows operating system only
Would we like our engine to work in Unix, Linux, and Apple environments? Sure. However, people are better served if I get all four levels of search, together with the entire range of tools, released in their entirety before taking on these attractive possibilities. For now, it's Windows only. Sorry.
Indexing software temporarily kept in-house
Ideally, I would keep the indexing software entirely in-house until the patent is secured. The actual date of release will balance your needs for convenience versus the needs of Marpex Inc. to protect its investment against reverse engineering and copy-cat products.
Slow development
Working on this since 2001? What's going on?
To put it simply, I am one person. Marpex Inc. is a family firm (an Ohio S-Corp). I continued full time teaching at Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio until December 2004, so the first 3 1/2 years of development were part time only. This project is big. My commitment is to excellence and to a "love for God that reaches to our neighbor" (secular translation: a firm commitment to the worth and dignity of customers).
So the releases come slowly. For some reason, a song attributed to Saint Francis of Assisi comes to mind:
If you want your dream to be,
Take your time, go slowly.
Do few things, but do them well.
Heartfelt work grows purely.
If you want to live life free,
Take your time, go slowly.
Do few things, but do them well.
Heartfelt work grows purely.
Day by day, stone by stone,
Build your secret slowly.
Day by day, you'll grow too.
You'll know heaven's glory.
If you want your dream to be,
Take your time, go slowly.
Small beginnings, greater ends
Heartfelt work grows purely.
If you want to live life free,
Take your time, go slowly.
Do few things, but do them well.
Heartfelt joys are holy.The ultimate limitation
G.K. Chesterton was once asked to write on "What is wrong with the world?" His answer was: "Me." Right on! The mirror is a good place to start looking for limitations. So here is the ultimate limitation to the Words Close Together search engine project: "Me" ...
Doug Lowry
President, Marpex Inc.
Professor of Business and Marketing (ret.), Franciscan University
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