brat - nlp annotation tool

1. What is brat?

　　Brat is a web-browser based nlp annotation tool by which members in nlp group can annote data collaboratively.

2. How to install brat?

　　At first, you need a web server, for example apache

　　　　sudo apt-get install apache2

　　　　if you want to use directory in your home, i.e. /home/'usrname'/public_html : 

　　　　　　cp /etct/apache2/sites-available/default /etc/apache2/sites-available/usr-public [whatever you like] 

　　　　　　change the directory in 'usr-public' to /home/'usrname'/public_html

　　　　　　sudo a2dissite default && a2ensite usr-public

　　　　　　sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 reload/restart

　　and then you need to configure the CGI property for apache2. To do so, you need to

　　　　configure httpd.conf in  /etc/apache2/ 

<Directory /home/*/public_html>
    AllowOverride Options Indexes FileInfo Limit
    AddType application/xhtml+xml .xhtml
    AddType font/ttf .ttf
    # For CGI support
    AddHandler cgi-script .cgi
    # Comment out the line above and uncomment the line below for FastCGI
    #AddHandler fastcgi-script fcgi
</Directory>

# For FastCGI, Single user installs should be fine with anything over 8
#FastCgiConfig -maxProcesses 16

　　　　change the CGI directory in /etc/apache2/sites-available/usr-public to /home/'usrname'/public_html [not the sub directory in public_html]

　　Install brat:

　　　　simply unzip the file download from offical website and copy it to the web server directory, say /home/'usrname'/public_html here, and 

　　　　　　sudo sh ./install.sh

　　Test:

　　　　open your browser and go to url 'http://localhost/brat/index.xhtml'. If every thing works well, there will be an interface with 'welcome', otherwise error messages will be delivered. Typically, there will be 3 types of errors like

　　　　　　actiongetcollectioninformation .... .... ....　

　　　　if you encounter with this situation, you may refer to debug tool troubleshooting.sh in drat/tools and look into error_log of apache for more information [the default error_log location is configured in /etc/apache2/envvras ]. Make sure that your files have appropriate permissions. 

3. How to use it?　

　　log in.

　　put your files in data folder.

　　generate .ann files by  

　　　　find data -name '*.txt' | sed -e 's|\.txt|.ann|g' | xargs touch

　　
　　chmod files

　　build your own annotation.conf file. It should have the available ner tags in this file if you are to assign ner data.