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OpenPecha format

The OpenPecha Format (OPF) is a standoff markdown file format in which annotation layers are linked to a base text layer. Virtually unlimited annotaton layers can be added for layers of same-type tags, witnesses, commentaries, translations, and more.

OpenPecha's Character Coordinate Translation Vector (CCTV) ties tags in annotation layers to characters in the base layer. This means that whenever a character in the base layer changes position, annotations that link to it are automatically updated to point to its new coordinates.

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OPF file structure

OPF is an open folder format, which means it’s not a compiled file, but simply an open folder with a specific hierarchy. An OpenPecha folder contains the following folders and files:

  • A root directory with unique and persistent OpenPecha ID, e.g. P000780 .
  • An index.yml file that contains an index or table of contents for the text.
  • A meta.yml file that contains metadata about the file
  • A base folder that contains one .txt file for each volume in the work
  • A layers folders that contain a .yml file for each annotation layer. These are linked to the base layer text. For example, title is a layer with formatting annotations similar to the inline tag in HTML.

A sample OPF file might have an internal structure like this:

  • πŸ“ P000780.opf
    • πŸ“„ index.yml
    • πŸ“„ meta.yml
    • πŸ“ base
      • v001.txt
      • v002.txt
    • πŸ“ layers
      • πŸ“ v001
        • πŸ“„ Title.yml
        • πŸ“„ Author.yml
        • πŸ“„ Tsawa.yml
        • πŸ“„ Yigchung.yml
      • πŸ“ v002
        • πŸ“„ title.yml

Here is a live example P0000001

Layers

Each layer is represented by a .yml file and contains a collection of particular types of annotations with shared attributes.

Types of layers

class LayerEnum(Enum):
    index = "index"

    book_title = "BookTitle"
    sub_title = "SubTitle"
    book_number = "BookNumber"
    poti_title = "PotiTitle"
    author = "Author"
    chapter = "Chapter"

    topic = "Text"
    sub_topic = "SubText"

    pagination = "Pagination"
    citation = "Citation"
    correction = "Correction"
    error_candidate = "ErrorCandidate"
    peydurma = "Peydurma"
    sabche = "Sabche"
    tsawa = "Tsawa"
    yigchung = "Yigchung"
    archaic = "Archaic"
    durchen = "Durchen"
    footnote = "Footnote"
    segment = "Segment"

Index layer

The index layer is similar to a table of contents and contains text and subtext annotations. The index file splits a text into subsections, and assigns to these sections unique identifiers (UUIDs). Annotation references are also stored in the index as a unique ID associated with a span of characters. Whenever there’s a change to the base text, these spans are updated. When an annotation is referred to outside the index, however, it isn’t referred to as a span (as in a tag system like XML), but as an ID.

Example:

id: 68f9113d7a7f4f97b1c61af77251e6d7
annotation_type: index
revision: '00001'
annotations:
  51f58796058b461ab32f3c972ee5417c:
    work_id: T1
    parts:
      3cbe647abf404688a79c24d14742826c:
        work_id: T1-1
        span:
        - vol: 1
          start: 27
          end: 396711
    span:
    - vol: 1
      start: 27
      end: 934579

Example layer

Here's the example of a correction layer:

id: 2ea1861be051406a858307cd592ef5ec
annotation_type: Correction
revision: '00001'
annotations:
  1e19a11e32d54d7897021d5be594d563:
    correction: ΰ½˜ΰ½†ΰ½²ΰ½ ΰ½ΌΰΌ‹
    certainty: null
    span:
      start: 145863
      end: 145868
  497e4044c77b4877a233a3c98b267672:
    correction: ΰ½˜ΰ½†ΰ½²ΰ½ ΰ½ΌΰΌ‹
    certainty: null
    span:
      start: 145966
      end: 145971

OpenPecha Data repositories and versioning

OpenPecha etexts are stored as Git repositories that include the following branches:

  • Master
    • The master branch contains a .opf folder, which is protected
    • Only admins and repo owners can directly update the master branch from the other online branches
  • Publication
    • The publication branch is for collaboratively improving the text
    • Only admin or text owners can merge changes from the publication branch to the master branch
    • GitHub Actions is set up to update the .opf folder in the master branch when the publication branch changes
  • Custom repos
    • Here users outside of the collaboration team can edit texts and export them in various formats
    • These edits are not recorded and don't update the master branch OPF files
    • The exported text is released in the temp section of the release
  • Releases
    • The initial section contains the src text as-is in its original format, e.g. .txt, .epub, .hfml, .docx, etc.
    • The temp section contains a user's exported text outside of the collaboration
    • The V### section contains the official release of the exported text