File Splitter Utility

File Splitter Utility

The File Splitter Utility allows you to split very large text files into multiple, smaller files. You can use the File Splitter to split a file that is several megabytes in size into smaller text files that can be more conveniently handled in multiple TextAloud articles. If you're creating MP3 or WMA files to download to a player, it is often useful to create multiple small audio files (for example, one audio file per chapter) instead of one very large MP3 / WMA file.

Using the File Splitter

From the menu, select File -> File Splitter Utility

The following fields are available in the File Splitter Utility window:

Field Description

Input File Path The name of the file to split. The entire path name must be specified, and may be a Word, RTF, PDF, HTML or text document.

Output File Directory The directory to use when writing the split files. An existing directory must be specified.

Base Output Filename The base filename used for naming the split files. Each split filename consists of a base file name followed by an underscore and sequence number. The base filename defaults from the input file.

Starting Output File Sequence Number A sequence number is appended to each split file name generated. Use this field to specify the starting sequence number.

Split Method Radio control that allows you to split using either a target size for the split files, or keyword(s) which appear in the source file.

Target Output File Size If Split Method is set to By Output Target File Size, use this field to specify the target size for split files.

Comma Delimited List of Strings If Split Method is set to By Specified Strings in Input File, use this field to specify the keyword(s) to split on. If using multiple keywords, use a comma to separate them.

Field	Description
Input File Path	The name of the file to split. The entire path name must be specified, and may be a Word, RTF, PDF, HTML or text document.
Output File Directory	The directory to use when writing the split files. An existing directory must be specified.
Base Output Filename	The base filename used for naming the split files. Each split filename consists of a base file name followed by an underscore and sequence number. The base filename defaults from the input file.
Starting Output File Sequence Number	A sequence number is appended to each split file name generated. Use this field to specify the starting sequence number.
Split Method	Radio control that allows you to split using either a target size for the split files, or keyword(s) which appear in the source file.
Target Output File Size	If Split Method is set to By Output Target File Size, use this field to specify the target size for split files.
Comma Delimited List of Strings	If Split Method is set to By Specified Strings in Input File, use this field to specify the keyword(s) to split on. If using multiple keywords, use a comma to separate them.

When splitting by target file size, the File Splitter will always split on sentence boundaries to ensure that sentence fragments are not loaded into TextAloud articles. The actual file sizes of the split articles will vary, but should be close to the specified target size.

Loading File Splitter Output into TextAloud

To load File Splitter output into TextAloud, follow these steps:

Make sure you're in Multi-Article Mode.
Select the Open button from the toolbar.
Navigate to the directory containing the split files.
Using either the Shift or Ctrl keys, select the split files, and press Open.
The selected files will be loaded into individual TextAloud articles.