This page allows users to select passages to compare witnesses. As the texts in the database expand functionalities will as well.

Use the dropdown menu on the left to select passages. All passages where the database currently have text have active links. Bava Metsia (fourth order, second tractate), Chapter 2 has the most encoded witnesses, and is the best locus for exploring the functions of the site.

After selecting witnesses, the selection list in the middle area will refresh with only those witnesses that have text for the selected passage, and the input fields and buttons will be active. Select a witness by entering a numeral in the input field. This allows the user to choose the order that the witnesses are presented in output.

Use the buttons in the righthand area to specify whether comparison is done by chapter ("div3" in TEI speak) or mishnah ("ab") and the type of output requested.

Output types are as follows:

• Alignment table, in which each each witness is presented horizontally, and each token (word) is aligned with its corresponding element in the other witnesses. Alignment is done using CollateX.
• Text with Apparatus. The witness selected with the lowest selection number (typically 1) is the default base text. The apparatus coordinates the alignment output from CollateX to the base text.
• Parallel-Column Synopsis. Using the order from the selection list, this section of the output page presents the selected text in parallel columns.

This is a demo. There is no error-checking on user input, for instance. And much work remains to be done, especially on processing fragmentary texts. Feedback is requested.