Lexicon Authoring

Lexicons are collections of words and their synonyms. These terms are arranged in a tree structure, making it possible to group them hierarchically with branches and sub-branches that represent certain categories and sub-categories. Each node in the tree (called a "lexicon node") can be used as a text filter for the data stream.

Creating Lexicons

You can create and define as many lexicons as needed for your model.

To create a lexicon:

1. On the application toolbar, click. Lexicons.
2. Click the Add New Lexicon (+) button if a project is already loaded. Otherwise, select a project from the Project dropdown list, then click Add New Lexicon (+).
3. In the Create Lexicon window:
   1. In the Name field, enter a name for the lexicon. The name cannot exceed 255 characters in length.
   2. In the Description field, enter a description for the lexicon if needed.
   3. In the Root Node Name field, enter the name of the lexicon’s root node (the highest node in the lexicon tree). The name cannot exceed 255 characters in length.
   4. In the Root Node Description field, enter a description for the root node, if needed.
   5. In the Root Node Synonyms field, enter any terms that the system should consider the same as the root node’s name, using operators as needed. Separate each term with a comma or line break.
4. Click Create to create the lexicon, or click Cancel to discard it.

Loading Lexicons

A project's existing lexicons can be loaded into the diagramming area for further development.

To load an existing lexicon:

1. On the application toolbar, click. Lexicons.
2. If not already in an active project, select one from the Project dropdown menu.
3. In the table of existing lexicons, click the Edit Lexicon Tree button.

Managing Lexicons

A project can have zero or many lexicons. The Lexicon Management window (opened by click Lexicons on the application toolbar) provides an interface for selecting and managing the lexicons in a given project.

Each row in the lexicon table has a set of action buttons. Clicking a button performs the selected action on the corresponding lexicon:

• Edit – Changes the lexicon's name, description, or synonyms, or links/unlinks the lexicon from a tag.
• Edit Tree – Loads the lexicon in the diagramming area to edit its nodes as needed.
• Export – Saves the lexicon as a file on the local machine.
• Duplicate – Makes a copy of the lexicon.
• Delete – Removes the lexicon from the system.

note

Lexicons can only be deleted if they are not referenced by other entities in the model.

Working with Lexicon Nodes

A number of different actions can be performed on lexicon nodes.

Adding Child Lexicon Nodes

Child lexicon nodes can be added to existing lexicon nodes to further refine a model's pattern recognition.

To add a child lexicon node:

1. In the diagramming area, right-click a lexicon node.
2. In the context menu, click Add Child Node.
3. In the dialog, enter the required information for the new node:
   1. In the Name field, enter a name for the node. The name cannot exceed 255 characters in length.
   2. In the Parent field, verify that the correct parent node is selected.
   3. In the Description field, enter a description for the node, if needed.
   4. In the Synonyms field, enter any terms that the system should consider the same as the node's name, using operators as needed. Separate each term with a comma or line break.
4. Check the Keep dialog open for more adds checkbox to avoid dismissing the dialog after adding the new node.
5. Click Add to add the node, or click Cancel to discard it.

Editing Lexicon Nodes

Existing lexicon nodes can be edited to ensure their information is accurate and up-to-date.

To edit a lexicon node:

1. In the diagramming area, right-click a lexicon node to edit.
2. In the Name field, change the name of the current node as necessary.
3. In the Parent field, change the node that the current node is attached to as needed.
4. In the Description field, change the description of the current node as needed.
5. In the Synonyms field, enter terms that the system should consider synonymous with the current node's term, using operators as needed and separating the terms with commas. When finished, click Accept (✓) or press ENTER.
6. Under the Synonyms field, the synonyms associated with the node are listed as separate UI chips. Click X beside the appropriate term to remove it.

Expanding and Collapsing Lexicon Nodes

Lexicon nodes can be collapsed to conserve space in the diagramming area, or expanded to show their contents.

To collapse an expanded lexicon node, click the Collapse button beside it.

To expand a collapsed lexicon node, click the Expand button beside it.

Deleting Lexicon Nodes

Lexicon nodes that are no longer necessary or have been created in error can be removed.

To delete a lexicon node:

1. In the diagramming area, right-click a lexicon node to delete.
2. In the context menu beside the selected node, choose the preferred deletion option:
   1. Click Remove Node Only to remove the selected node while preserving its child nodes.
   2. Click Remove Descendants Only to preserve the selected node while removing its child nodes.
   3. Click Remove Node & Descendants to remove the selected node and its child nodes.

note

The available deletion options may change depending on whether the selected node has any child nodes attached.

Using Synonym Operators

In all lexicons, the Root Node Synonyms and Synonyms fields accommodate wildcard (*) and variant (~) operators for more accurate matching:

• The wildcard (*) operator represents additional characters or words. For example, using found * as a synonym would return found him, found treasure, found a clue, and the like.
• The variant (~) operator represents alternative forms of root words, which can be useful for verbs that conjugate irregularly. For example, using reason~ as a synonym would return reasons, reasoned, reasoning, and other forms. Similarly, fall~ would return fell, falling, and so on.