For instance, CorpusSearch sets the line comment delimiter to "//", your preference file might set it to "/!/", and you might run a query file that sets it to "/>". It is the last value that CorpusSearch uses when running the query file in question. When running another query file that doesn't explicitly set the line comment delimiter, the value that CorpusSearch would use in that case is the one in your preference file.
You do not need a preference file to run CorpusSearch. But if a preference file does exist in the same directory as the query file you are running, CorpusSearch will automatically read the preference file.
Preference files have the extension .prf and must be stored
in the same directory as the query file.
Content of preference files
The content of preference files consists of various CorpusSearch commands
along with the values that you wish to associate with them, including a
default definition file.
// sample preference file for a Korean corpus corpus_comment_begin: < corpus_comment_end: > corpus_line_comment: ;; define: korean.def node: S
The output from a search that calls a preference file will include a line in the preface like the following:
This is what the line would look like in context.preference file: korean.prf
If you intended to use a preference file, but you don't see a "preference file" line in your output file, check that the following requirements are met:/* PREFACE: CorpusSearch copyright Beth Randall 2000. Date: Mon Feb 26 09:28:55 EST 2001 command file: search.q preference file: korean.prf input file: file001.psd output file: file001.psd.out query: ([1]NNC iPrecedes [2]NNC) */