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The Linguist's Shoebox

Integrated data management and analysis for the field linguist

Limits and restrictions

Limits

Data or settings item Limit
Database fields
  • 32,000 characters per field
  • horizontal scrolling is limited to 1,000 characters in any line
Database records
  • limited by available memory (RAM)
  • "record" view: scrolling is limited to about 10,000 lines
  • "browse" view: scrolling is limited to about 210,000 records
Database template
  • one per database type
Export processes
  • about 30 per database type
Fonts
  • one per data field (i.e., no subfields—the Standard Format equivalent to character styles or inline-embedded tags)
  • limited by "system resources" on Windows 3.1
Interlinear setup
  • one per database type
Marker hierarchy
  • no specific limit (more than seven levels is uncommon)
Sort order
  • Shoebox 3 and 4: about 250 characters
  • Shoebox 5: 2500 characters
Variables
  • Shoebox 3 and 4: about 30 per project
  • Shoebox 5: unlimited
Word list and concordance
  • Shoebox 4:
    • 255 different primary (textual) reference items
    • numeric range 0-255 for secondary references
    • numeric range 0-255 for tertiary references
  • Shoebox 5:
    • 32,750 different primary (textual) reference items
    • numeric range 0-65,500 for secondary references
    • numeric range 0-255 for tertiary references
  • limited by available memory (RAM)
  • scrolling is limited to about 210,000 words or concordance lines

Restricted characters

Data or settings item Restricted characters
Database fields
  • character codes less than 32—except 10 and 13 (end of line)
  • Caution: character code 26 (end of file) can cause data loss
  • Note: backslash is allowed in data fields
Field names
  • \ { } , ;
Markers
  • \ { } |
  • cannot contain spaces (use _ instead)
  • Note: markers that begin with _ are reserved by Shoebox (e.g., \_sh)
Variable names
  • [ ]
  • cannot contain spaces (use _ instead)

Note: We recommend using letters, digits, and underscore in markers and the names of other settings item.

Features not in Shoebox 5

shoebox graphicGet Shoebox