Testing Tools
To install Babylon, click on the tab for your operating system.
Windows
You must have Java 19 or higher installed on your machine to run Babylon.
Click here to download Java. After the download is finished, double click (run) the file to install Java.
If the Babylon installer fails to start by double-clicking, you can start it manually as follows:
Double click on desktop shortcut setup by the installer or on the babylon.cmd file in the Babylon directory.
When Babylon is up and running, open the document called Babylon Beta 3.bnf in the doc directory. Please read the other documents in this directory. There are sample documents in the Samples directory. See After Installation.
Macintosh
You must have Java 19 or higher installed on your machine to run Babylon.
First determine if your computer is running on Apple or Intel hardware:
Download one of the following:
After the download is finished, double click (run) the file to install Java.
To run the installer, open Finder and go to the folder the installer is in, typically Downloads, right click on the file, select Open With and select JavaLauncher.
If the above fails, try the following:
The installer does not install the desktop shortcut correctly. To run Babylon, open Finder, go to the folder where Babylon is installed and double click on Babylon.jar. You may drag Babylon.jar to the desktop to create a shortcut.
When Babylon is up and running, open the document called Babylon Beta 3.bnf in the doc directory. Please read the other documents in this directory. There are sample documents in the Samples directory. See After Installation.
Linux
You must have Java 19 or higher installed on your machine to run Babylon.
Download Java for your distro from Oracle's website. Run the installer to install Java.
If the Babylon installer fails to start by double-clicking, you can start it manually as follows:
The installer does not install the desktop shortcut correctly. Here is how to fix it:
Double click on the shortcut or on the babylon.sh file in the Babylon directory.
When Babylon is up and running, open the document called Babylon Beta 3.bnf in the doc directory. Please read the other documents in this directory. There are sample documents in the Samples directory. See After Installation.
Babylon does not use native operating system methods for switching languages or keyboards. Do not use such methods. Use Babylon's methods, which are uniform across operating systems.
There are two ways to switch languages, implicitly by selecting a font or explicitly by selecting a language. When you select an Assyrian or English font, Babylon sets the font and automatically sets the language for that font. When you select a language Babylon sets the language but does not set the font, the previous font for that language is used. If you are using the same font for each language, selecting a language is the fastest way to switch a language. Use the language buttons on the status bar on the bottom to select a language, or use F5 for English and F6 for Assyrian, or select the language from the Format menu.
Only the Assyrian fonts whose names begin with NSC are supported by Babylon. Other Assyrian fonts on your system will not work. Fonts are named with the following convention:
Four keyboard layouts are provided:
The Assyrian Standard Keyboard Layout is based on an analysis of the frequency of use for each Assyrian letter. The most frequently used letters are placed at the center and the 7 vowels are placed on the top row for fast one-touch typing. Babylon fully supports contextual analysis when typing Assyrian text: only one key per letter is assigned, with Babylon taking care of the correct shape to use for each letter. To view the keyboard layout, place the cursor in an Assyrian portion of the text and press Ctrl+K (View|Keyboard Layout). You may print the layout for future reference.
The Assyrian Phonetic Keyboard Layout follows the English keyboard while still allowing for one touch vowel typing.
The Syriac 101 Standard Keyboard and Syriac Phonetic Keyboard are the same as Microsoft Word's layouts.
You can set the default layout using the Tools|Options command. Click on Language, then select Assyrian, then select the desired layout.
You can change the layout temporarily with the Ctrl+K (View|Keyboard Layout) command.
Although the Assyrian layout has separate keys for Eastern and Western Assyrian vowels, Babylon automatically selects the correct vowel based on the font you are using, so there is no need to use the Shift key for typing vowels (this is 1-Touch Automatic® vowel mode). You can force Babylon to use the vowel you actually type by setting the vowel mode in Tools|Vowels|Typing (see the Vowel Typing.bnf document).
Babylon can automatically convert between Eastern and Western Assyrian vowels (Tools|Vowels|Convert).
Babylon will attempt to place each vowel at the best position above or below the letter it is on. You can manually adjust the position of each vowel in the four cardinal directions. When the cursor is on a vowel, Babylon shows that vowel in a different color (red or blue, depending on the text color). To adjust the position of a vowel, press Shift+Alt+Up, Down, Left or Right.