CHANGING THE SIZE OF EXISTING SELECTIONS

Quotes are made up of two pieces in Transana, the reference points to the original data and the quote text.

When a quote is first created, the text in the source document that a quote points to will match the quoted text exactly. However, there are analytic circumstances where a researcher might want to edit a quote’s text without altering the original source document. For example, the researcher might want to replace a distracting clause from text with ellipses to make the analytic point of the quote easier to see.

When you change the size of a text selection, in most instance, you want to change the underlying reference to the source rather than merely altering the text used to represent that portion of the source document.

Shorten Text Selections

To reduce the size of a text selection, we will use Transana’s ability to create sub-Quotes. Take the following steps:

1. Load the existing Quote into Transana’s main interface.
2. Make an improved selection within the Quote, leaving off undesired characters at the start or the end of the Quote’s text in the Document Window.
3. Create a new Quote from the existing Quote by right-clicking (ctrl-clicking on macOS) the existing quote and choosing Add Text Quote from the popup menu.
4. Give the new Quote a name that is slightly different than the original Quote. (You can’t have two Quotes with the same name in the same Collection.) Notice that the Quote text, the start and end characters, and the length are different, but the coding is the same. Press OK.
5. Delete the original Quote.

Lengthen Text Selections

To increase the size of a text selection, we will use Transana’s Quote Merge capabilities. Follow these steps:

1. Right-click (ctrl-click on macOS) the original Quote in its Collection in the Database Tree. Choose Locate Quote in Document from the popup menu. Note exactly where the original selection starts and ends.
2. Make a selection before or after the original Quote that either ends right before the Quote starts or starts right where the Quote ends, with no overlap and no skipped characters (including punctuation and spaces). This selection should include only what you want to add to the original Quote. (Note that if you want to extend your Quote both before and after the original, you need to repeat this process twice, or you need to create a whole new Quote from scratch.)
3. Right-click (ctrl-click on macOS) the original Quote and choose Add Text Quote. Give the new Quote a temporary name indicating it is to be merged with the original. You do not need to add any coding. Press OK to save the Quote.
4. Now right-click (ctrl-click on macOS) the original Quote and choose Merge Quotes from the popup menu.
5. At the top of the form, you will see a section called Quotes to Merge. Select the new Quote you just created.
6. You will notice that the proposed merged Quote will have the same ID as your original Quote, as well as the same coding. You will want to adjust the Quote Text to remove blank lines that are introduced by the merge process.
7. When you press OK on the Merge form, the two Quotes will be merged using the merge defined on the form. The temporary merge Quote you created will be deleted, leaving only your expanded original Quote.

There are two possibilities when you think about changing the size of a Snapshot.

Changing the Size of the Snapshot

You can change the way a Snapshot appears when it is opened or is presented in Transana’s Reports.

1. Open your Snapshot.
2. Change the mode to Code Image.
3. Use a combination of zooming, positioning, resizing, and framing to get your image to look exactly the way you want it to within the Snapshot Window.
4. Change the mode back to Review to save your changes.

Changing the size of a Coding Shape

There is no method for changing the size of an existing Coding Shape. You will need to load the Snapshot, change the mode to Code Image, right-click (ctrl-click on macOS) the Coding Shape, and choose the Delete option from the popup menu, noting the Keyword that the Coding Shape represents. Then re-draw the Coding Shape for that Keyword in the desired size.

There are two possibilities when you think about changing the size of a PDF Quote or a PDF Snapshot.

Changing the Size of a PDF Quote or PDF Snapshot

You can change the way a PDF Quote or PDF Snapshot appears when it is opened or is presented in Transana’s Reports.

1. Open your PDF Quote or PDF Snapshot.
2. Change the mode to Edit Selection.
3. Use a combination of zooming, positioning, resizing, and framing to get your image to look exactly the way you want it to within the PDF Window.
4. Change the mode back to Review to save your changes.

Changing the size of a Coding Shape

There is no method for changing the size of an existing Coding Shape. You will need to load the PDF Document, change the mode to Code Text or Code Image, right-click (ctrl-click on macOS) the Coding Shape, and choose the Delete option from the popup menu, noting the Keyword that the Coding Shape represents. Then re-draw the Coding Shape for that Keyword in the desired size.

Clips are made up of two pieces in Transana, the reference points to the original time codes and the clip transcript.

When a clip is first created, the highlighted text in the source transcript. That text might not match the original time code, and there are analytic circumstances where a researcher might want to edit a clip’s transcript without altering the original source transcript. For example, the researcher might want to replace a distracting clause from text with ellipses to make the analytic point of the clip easier to see.

When you change the size of a clip transcript, in most instance, you want to change the underlying reference to the source clip rather than merely altering the transcript text used to represent that portion of the source transcript.

Shorten Clip Selections

To reduce the size of a clip, we will use Transana’s ability to create sub-Clips. Take the following steps:

1. Load the existing Clip into Transana’s main interface.
2. Look at the shortened selection you want to make. If there are already time codes to serve as the appropriate Clip boundaries, skip to the next step. If you need to add a time code, you should insert it into the original source Transcript, not just into the Clip Transcript. To do so, follow these steps:
   1. Right-click (ctrl-click on macOS) the original clip and choose Locate Clip in Episode from the popup menu. This loads the source of your clip, with your clip text highlighted.
   2. Insert the time code(s) you need in the source Transcript.
   3. Press the Propagate Changes button in the Document Toolbar. This saves the changes to the original source Transcript and allows you to propagate these changes out to the Clips you have created from this portion of the Transcript. Be sure to accept the changes for the Clip you want to shorten when given the opportunity.
   4. Now load the Clip that you wish to shorten again. You will see that it now contains the Time Codes you added, so you can continue the process of shortening the Clip.
3. Make an improved selection within the Clip, leaving off undesired transcript text at the start or the end of the Clip’s transcript in the Document Window.
4. Create a new Clip from the existing Clip by right-clicking (ctrl-clicking on macOS) the existing Clip and choosing Add Clip from the popup menu.
5. Give the new Clip a name that is slightly different than the original Clip. (You can’t have two Clips with the same name in the same Collection.) Notice that the Clip text, the start and end positions, and the length are different, but the coding is the same. Press OK.
6. Delete the original Clip.

Lengthen Clips

To increase the size of a clip, we will use Transana’s Clip Merge capabilities. Follow these steps:

1. Right-click (ctrl-click on macOS) the original Clip in its Collection in the Database Tree. Choose Locate Clip in Episode from the popup menu. Note where the original transcript selection starts and ends.
2. Look at the longer selection you want to make. If you need to add a time code, go ahead and do so.
3. Make a selection before or after the original Clip that either ends before the time code where the original Clip starts or starts right after the time code where the original Clip selection ends. This selection should include only what you want to add to the original Clip.
4. Right-click (ctrl-click on macOS) the original Clip and choose Add Clip. Give the new Clip a temporary name indicating it is to be merged with the original. You do not need to add any coding. Press OK to save the Clip.
5. Now right-click (ctrl-click on macOS) the original Clip and choose Merge Clips from the popup menu.
6. At the top of the form, you will see a section called Clips to Merge. Select the new Clip you just created.
7. You will notice that the proposed merged Clip will have the same ID as your original Clip, as well as the same coding. You will want to adjust the Clip Text to remove blank lines that are introduced by the merge process.
8. When you press OK on the Merge form, the two Clips will be merged using the merge defined on the form. The temporary merge Clip you created will be deleted, leaving only your expanded original Clip.