CC converter is a utility that converts information downloaded from the online CAUL Current Contents database in Australia into Refer/BibIX format so it can be imported by bibliographic programs such as EndNote and ProCite.
System requirements:
CC converter should run on any Macintosh computer using system 6.0.5 or later. It is 32-bit and system 7 compatible. Under system 7 it supports the required apple events, balloon help and drag and drop (you may have to rebuild the desktop [restart your computer holding down the option and command keys] before this works).
Installation:
CC converter is an application and can be stored anywhere on your disk. Running the application will create a preferences file 'CC Converter Prefs' in your System Folder (System 6) or your Preferences Folder (System 7).
If you are using version 1.0:
1.1 and later versions use a preferences file format that is different to that used in 1.0. Later versions will read the version 1.0 format (keeping your settings) but write changed settings in the new format, which 1.0 can not use.
Use:
- Start CC converter by double clicking the icon.
An identification screen will be displayed briefly.
- Use the Open and Convert.. option. You will be prompted to select the file you wish to convert (only TEXT files can be selected) or if you are using System 7 simply drag the file(s) onto the CC converter icon.
- Give a name and location for the new converted file.
- Sit back and watch while CC converter does it's stuff.
The default settings will extract the essential information (author name(s), article title, abstract and source) for each record. If you want more (or less) information or want the information in a different format then you will need to change the configuration.
You may also have to change the configuration depending on how you copied the references onto your computer. Reference information from the CAUL Current Contents service can be copied to your local computer in several ways. Unfortunately the different methods result in slightly different files. CC converter can convert all of them but needs some addition information for one type.
Manual screen copying.
Select the desired text in the terminal screen with the mouse, copy it and paste it into a word processor then save the file as "Text only".
This works OK but it's tedious if you have a lot of references to copy.
Automatic screen capture.
Most communications programs can be set up to write everything that appears on the screen to a text file (screen logging). In NCSA Telnet this is done by selecting Capture Session to File (Session menu in 2.5 and later?).
This saves a lot of mouse work :) but if (and only if) you are using NCSA Telnet some spaces and end of line information is lost :(. Note: the problem isn't with NCSA Telnet.
CC Converter can convert these files but it cannot detect them automatically. You must select the NCSA Telnet Compatible option and specify the number of "pages" in the original file.
If you look at the file to be converted using a word processor you should see several lines containing
PAGE = X OF Y
The number Y is the number the converter needs.
For example
4BL X [] nlacp1 DOCUMENTS1 TO20PAGE =2 OF41measured in the culture medium of hybridoma strains.
The number of pages is 41 so the button 10-99 Pages should be selected.
CAUL download search option
Searches can also be copied to your computer using the /F:Download command in conjunction with screen logging. For CC converter to be able to convert these files they must be downloaded as PLAIN TEXT (option 2 in the CAUL Select Format menu). Also make sure you have Remove Blank lines (Input) OFF when converting these files.
This is definately the preferred option for getting the information onto your computer.
[There is no need to set the NCSA Telnet Compatible option/pages nos with these files if you are using NCSA Telnet/Capture Session to File].
Configuration:
There are a lot of options that you can change. They have been separated into those affecting the file to be converted (Input), those affecting how the converted file is created (Output) and those affecting how the file is converted (Preferences).
INPUT
The pop up menu in the input dialog allows you to choose the conversion option depending on what database service your file is from. Currently the only option is CAUL Current Contents.
NCSA Telnet Compatible option is only required if you are copying files to your computer using the Capture Session to File option in NCSA Telnet (see above). NOTE: this option is NOT required if you are using Capture Session to File in conjunction with the CAUL download function (/F:Download).
OUTPUT
There may be some situations when instead of wanting to import CC data into a database you simply want to "clean up" the output so that it is more readable. Using the Output option ( Y) you can change the way CC converter processes the file. The output for carbon based lifeforms is;
Application of the Polymerase Chain Reaction Technique to the Detection of Pathogens in Water
Toranzos, G.A.; Alvarez, A.J.; Dvorsky, E.A.
Water Science and Technology, 1993 27: 3-4, 207-210
Enteric pathogens may be present in fecally contaminated waters at extremely low [PART OF THE ABSTRACT DELETED FOR BREVITY] sample.
or (output for software)
%T Application of the Polymerase Chain Reaction Technique to the Detection of Pathogens in Water
%A Toranzos, G.A.
%A Alvarez, A.J.
%A Dvorsky, E.A.
%B Water Science and Technology
%D 1993
%V 27
%N 3-4
%P 207-210
%X Enteric pathogens may be present in fecally contaminated waters at extremely low [PART OF THE ABSTRACT DELETED FOR BREVITY] sample.
%K DNA
%0 Journal Article
Save text as
When CC Converter saves the converted file it gives the file a creator attribute. This attribute sets which application will open the file when it is double-clicked. You can use this option to set which word processing program will open the converted file. If your favourite program is not on the list you can select the Other.. option and manually enter the four character creator code into the text box. A number of disk utility programs can be used to find the creator attribute of applications.
Note this option does not format the file it only changes the files creator. Converted files are text files and can be opened by any word processor.
Remove blank lines
If checked blank lines in the original file are NOT copied into the new file. The ability to turn off this feature is intended to facilitate conversion of partial screen captures where not all the fields in each reference have been copied. Normally the converter adds a blank line between each reference and removes any other blank lines which may interfere with importing the data. With partial references the end of reference information may be missing so it's necessary to manually insert them into the original file. Unselecting the option preserves these blank lines in the converted file.
NOTE: Set Remove Blank lines OFF when converting Download format files.
Prompt for Destination
If this option is selected you will be prompted to give a new file name using a standard save file dialog for each converted file. Unselecting this option means that the default new file name is used. Any existing file with the same name is overwritten. If the name of the file to be converted is longer than 28 characters you will always be prompted to supply a new name.
PREFERENCES
A typical CC reference (screen captured) looks something like:
RT I
UI LB968-0037
TI APPLICATION OF THE POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION TECHNIQUE TO THE
DETECTION OF PATHOGENS IN WATER
------------------------- Press ENTER to see more -------------------------
/H:Help /P:Previous step /A:Database menu /S:Search menu
/U:Scroll up /F:Print offline /Q:Quit /O:Other options /N:STAIRS Cmd: __
DOCUMENTS 1 TO 7 PAGE = 5 OF 13
AU TORANZOS G A (Reprint). ALVAREZ A J. DVORSKY E A.
AD UNIV PUERTO RICO, DEPT BIOL, RIO PIEDRAS, PR, 00931 USA (Reprint)
SO WATER SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, 1993 v27, n3-4 p.207-210
AB Enteric pathogens may be present in fecally contaminated waters at
extremely low concentrations. In addition, these pathogens may be
[PART OF THE ABSTRACT DELETED FOR BREVITY]
original sample.
AK MPN PCR. ENTERIC PATHOGENS. WATER MICROBIOLOGY. QUANTITATIVE PCR
KP DNA
JS WATER RESOURCES. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES. ENGINEERING, CIVIL
RE 14 REFS
LA ENGLISH
DO ARTICLE
IS 0273-1223
TC For table of contents see UI LB968-0000
AA Y
GA LB968
CAUL/ISI08 DOCUMENT= 4 OF 7
PUBDATE = 9307 INDATE = 930814
There are a number of lines (particularly the menu's) that need to be removed before the data can be used. In the Ignore lines preferences window you can list those lines (actually the first part of those lines) that CC Converter should ignore. The default settings should remove most of this junk information. There are several blank boxes where you can list extra lines. Please note that the information in the boxes has to match exactly with the start of the lines, so spaces are important.
The tags (RT, UI, TI, AU etc) that Current Contents prefixes records with indicate (to you and CC Converter) what the information on those lines is. Using the Tags preference selection you can control which tagged lines will be processed and what new tag the line will be given.
The tag preferences window:
When converting a file to be imported into a bibliographic database, CC tags are replaced by Refer/BibIX tags (for example AU is replaced with %A). Refer tags can be changed in the tags preferences window. You may need to do this because of differences in the way items are imported into different bibliographic software (check the section on importing files in your user manual) or if you want to import fields that are not covered by the default settings. Suggestions for Refer tags and a short description of the field are given for each item in the list. Some items do not have an equivalent Refer tag. In EndNote (ProCite users will have to read their manual) these can be imported using custom fields (%1, %2, %3, %4). Or they can be imported into one of the other fields such as Notes %N.
If an item is not given a Refer tag (Refer Tag box is empty) then lines containing that item are not written into the new file. Thus if you don't [for some bizarre reason ;)] want the names of authors delete the %A tag for the AU item. Items with a Refer tag (ie those that are copied to the converted file) are marked with a • symbol.
Default settings for CC Converter are to convert the author, title, abstract, keywords, source, page numbers, year, volume, issue and journal title fields and ignore the rest.
Some items in the tags list are not actually CC tags (eg Issue). Some of these additional items are to allow changing of Refer tags for items that are part of a CC field. For example the source (SO) field contains the journal title, date of publication, volume, issue and page number information which require separate Refer tags.
Other Tags
Reprint Author & Address
Extracts the name and address of the author to whom reprint requests should be sent into whatever Refer field is specified. The author information is case converted using the preferences set for the AU field while the address information is case converted using the preferences set for this field.
Reference Type
Use this field to set a specific type for a reference. With the default setting each reference will be imported as a journal article. If you change the settings references may be imported as some other type. This is because EndNote (and presumably ProCite) sets the reference type depending on what Refer tags it contains. Reference type can also be set to a specific type using the %0 (zero) Refer tag. For a journal article the tag is %0 Journal Article.
Case Changing:
Several fields (eg title, author, keywords) of CC records are given in all upper case. CC Converter goes some of the way towards converting these fields to more common English usage by optionally changing the case of the letters during conversion.
Case can be changed to all lowercase (ie THE CAT SAT ON THE MAT -> the cat sat on the mat) or to all but the first letter of each word to lowercase (ie THE CAT SAT ON THE MAT -> The Cat Sat On The Mat). The option to case change a field is only available when a Refer tag is given for that field, since if there is no Refer tag the field isn't written to the new file so there is no point in case converting it. All of the fields can be optionally case converted, however, turning it on for those fields that do not require it will simply slow the conversion.
Words that you don't want case changed (such as acronyms RAM, DNA etc) can be added to the list in the uppercase preferences window. Words that you want to be converted entirely to lowercase (such as the, as etc) or that are of mixed case (mRNA, MacIntosh etc) can be added to the list in the mixed case preferences window.
Thus if DNA is in the uppercase list and conversion to all lowercase is selected
STRUCTURE OF THE DNA OF CATS -> structure of the DNA of cats
LEGAL STUFF
CC Converter is shareware, as such, if you continue using it after a reasonable period of evaluation, you are expected to pay the shareware fee. It may not be sold or distributed on/in any media for profit without the prior consent of the author. By using the program the user agrees that the author is in no way liable for damage incurred through its use.
25/9/1994 Kevin Sanderson Kevin.Sanderson@path.utas.edu.au
