Phonology Assistant Downloads

Minimum system requirements

• Computer and processor: Computer with Pentium (or equivalent) at
  
  • 333 megahertz (MHz) or higher if Phonology Assistant doesn’t need to read data from a FieldWorks database
  • 1 gigahertz (GHz) or higher if Phonology Assistant needs to read data from a FieldWorks database
• Memory: 128 MB of RAM if Phonology Assistant doesn’t need to read data from a FieldWorks database. Otherwise, 512 MB of RAM is required
• Hard disk: Hard disk space requirements will vary depending on existing machine configuration. If the Microsoft .Net Framework 2.0 is not installed, then 284 megabytes is required for installation. Otherwise 13 megabytes is required.
• Operating system: Windows 2000 with at least Service Pack 4 (SP4); or Windows XP with Service Pack 2 (SP2), Windows XP Media Center Edition, or Windows Vista.
• Display: 1024 by 768 pixels screen resolution (for laptops, use native display resolution)
• Peripherals: Mouse or compatible pointing device

Upgrading SIL FieldWorks and SIL Encoding Converters

If you are using Phonology Assistant, FieldWorks, Speech Analyzer, and/or SIL Converters, you should upgrade them all to avoid eventual conflicts with older versions of the others. If you no longer need one of these products, first remove it, then upgrade to at least FW 5.0, SA 3.0.1, and/or SIL Converters 2.6.1. The new software is available on the SIL Language Freeware CDs or may be downloaded from:

• FieldWorks 5.0: http://www.sil.org/computing/fieldworks
• Speech Analyzer 3.0.1: http://www.sil.org/computing/sa/
• SIL Converters 2.6.1: http://scripts.sil.org/EncCnvtrs

Technical Details: Old and new versions can be installed and work together normally. However, if you then uninstall any of the programs, it will remove some core encoding converter registry settings that any remaining programs depend on. As a result, encoding converters within FieldWorks, Speech Analyzer and Phonology Assistant will lose some functionality until the registry settings are restored. Typical error messages may state “Encoding Converter not found” or “Error initializing Document reader”. The problem can be fixed by doing the following: (1) Log on to an administrative user account; (2) download or copy RegisterSEC.bat to your hard disk (RegisterSEC.bat is found on each installation package in the FieldWorks, Speech Analyzer, Phonology Assistant or Encoding Converters directory); (3) run RegisterSEC.bat by either (a) right-clicking RegisterSEC.bat and clicking Run As Administrator (Windows Vista) or (b) double-clicking RegisterSEC.bat (Windows XP or 2000). Alternatively you can fix the problem by running the appropriate installer and selecting Repair, or, if you know how, you can also use Regasm to register SilEncConverters22.dll in c:\Program Files\Common Files\SIL\2.6.0.0 or 2.6.1.0.

FieldWorks, Speech Analyzer, Phonology Assistant or Encoding Converters

Word Viewer. Phonology Assistant Training materials require Microsoft Word, OpenOffice, or another program that can read Word documents. If you do not have one of these programs, you may download the free Word Viewer from http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=95E24C87-8732-48D5-8689-AB826E7B8FDF. In addition, an RTF viewer such as Word, OpenOffice or the Word Viewer is required to view RTF files exported from Phonology Assistant. WordPad is able to read simple RTF files, but is not recommended since Phonology Assistant exports fairly complex RTF that is rendered poorly in WordPad.

We recommend never using WordPad to edit Toolbox/SFM data sources because by default, WordPad does not save the file as a Unicode text file. Therefore, when your file is not explicitly saved as a Unicode text file, WordPad will make your data unusable by Phonology Assistant.

Custom Keyboards

Microsoft Windows provides many built-in keyboards for typing major languages. These can be enabled in the Control Panel under the Regional and Language Options option.

If Windows does not provide a built-in keyboard that works for your language, or if you type transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) or using characters not supported by a built-in keyboard (for example in tone or orthographic text), then you will need to install a custom keyboard. There are two basic methods for installing custom keyboards.

Keyman

If you already have Keyman 6.2, it will continue to work with Phonology Assistant 3.0.1. For new Keyman users, or those who wish to upgrade, Keyman 7.0 is available for download from http://www.tavultesoft.com/70/download.php. There are several editions to choose from. All of them require that you purchase a license within 30 days of installation. (Note: there are no longer any free editions of Keyman.) For more information on the Web, go to http://www.tavultesoft.com/keyman/editions.php. A Keyman keyboard developed by the Non-Roman Script Initiative (NRSI) for typing IPA characters can be downloaded from: http://scripts.sil.org/UniIPAKeyboard.

Microsoft Keyboard Layout Creator (MSKLC)

You can download a free version of MSKLC from http://www.microsoft.com/globaldev/tools/msklc.mspx. MSKLC allows you to create, modify, and install custom keyboards without any purchases.

If you have an existing MSKLC keyboard, you can install that without downloading the MSKLC package. You only need the full package to create or modify existing keyboards. A keyboard developed by the NRSI for typing IPA characters can be downloaded from: http://scripts.sil.org/UniIPAKeyboard.

Download Phonology Assistant

You can download Phonology Assistant 3.0.1 as a full install package or the Phonology Assistant only package.

Review the latest ReadMe information for more details on this release.

Review the latest Setup information for more detailed setup and removal instructions. This includes specific upgrade instructions for beta testers or users with an older version of Phonology Assistant currently installed.

These online ReadMe and Setup files may be newer than the files included in the software download.

Download Full Install

Phonology Assistant 3.0.1 requires Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0, which is included in the full install but increases the download size.

1. Download the full install (34.5 MB; MD5 hash 8020da93c39dd1c3f8bf676334ec7ff0).
2. Double-click Phonology Assistant 3.0.1 with .NET.exe.
3. Choose a folder on your computer to extract the setup files to.
4. Double-click Setup.exe.

Download Phonology Assistant only

Use this download only if Microsoft .NET 2.0 has been previously installed on your computer. (Windows Vista has .NET built in.)

1. Download the Phonology Assistant only install (8.35 MB; MD5 hash 964b73c54df4e64c1bbe0e2dc97582c5).
2. Double-click Phonology Assistant 3.0.1 only.exe.
3. Choose a folder on your computer to extract the setup files to.
4. Double-click Setup.exe.

Notice for FieldWorks Users

If Phonology Assistant displays the following message (where PA_Installation_Folder is the folder in which Phonology Assistant is installed on your computer), you may correct this problem by downloading the update program from Service Bulletin PA301-20080528.

Error Message:

The version of this FieldWorks project indicates it is too recent to be read by Phonology Assistant. You must download the file 'FwSQLQueriesShortNames.xml' from the Phonology Assistant website and copy it to the following folder:

PA_Installation_Folder

When 'FwSQLQueriesShortNames.xml' is present in that folder, your FieldWorks project can be read by Phonology Assistant.

The Phonology Assistant website can be found at: http://www.sil.org/computing/pa/index.htm