Using word substitution list in FAB Subtitler

FAB Subtitler can use a word substitution list to substitute texts received from live transcription with other texts. This can be used to correct words which are frequently recognized incorrectly by the transcription service.

A word substitution list is a simple text file and you can find a sample of such file here.

Make absolutely sure that the text file is saved with BOM, for example “UTF-8 with BOM” to make sure that all characters are loaded correctly by FAB Subtitler.

Configuration

The word substitution file is currently used in FAB Subtitler only for the following functionalities:

  • Importing a file produced by file transcription
  • Reception of texts from live transcription service
  • Dictating text into speech interface
  • Importing news story texts from a news system rundown
  • Pasting text in a formatted way

Because the source of every of above functionalities is different and may contain different mistakes or texts that need to be corrected automatically, it is possible to define a different file containing word substitution list for every above functionality.

For importing a file produced by file transcription:

For reception of texts from live transcription service:

For dictating text into speech interface:

For importing news story texts from a news system rundown

For pasting text in a formatted way

Functionality

The file contains multiple lines. Each line contains text which will be replaced at the beginning of the line, followed by = and followed by the text which will replace the text in front of =

The text on the left before = is case-insensitive, but complete words are compared, not partial words. If separators are specified before =, they are ignored.

For example, when entering the following in the word substitution file:

Wetter vor 8 = Wetter vor acht
vor 8 = vor 88

then

„Wetter vor 8. In 88 Tagen um die Welt. Vor 8 Tagen hat es geregnet. Fehlen noch 8, 9 oder 10 Tage bis zum Sommeranfang?“

becomes

„Wetter vor acht. In 88 Tagen um die Welt. Vor 88 Tagen hat es geregnet. Fehlen noch 8, 9 oder 10 Tage bis zum Sommeranfang?“

All words to the left of = must match for the substitution to be made. If multiple matches occur, the longest version is used, e.g., for “Wetter vor 8,” it uses “Wetter vor acht” and not “vor 88.”

Text comparison of the text on the left side of = is case insensitive.

Another example:

Wetter vor 8 = Wetter vor acht

replaces all following versions:

Wetter vor 8  --> to -->  Wetter vor acht

Wetter. Vor 8. --> to --> Wetter. vor acht.

WETTeR, vOR, 8, --> to --> Wetter, vor, acht,

If the file changes on disk then it will be reloaded automatically by FAB Subtitler. It can however take up to 1 minute until the file is reloaded.

Wildcard substitution

The word substitution list can contain up to one wildcard word per substitution.

Examples:

  eu-*=EU-*

The above Will substitute “eu-institutions” to “EU-institutions”. Will not substitute “eu-” to anything. At least one additional character is needed after “eu-”.

  big sun* is=big wind* is

The above will substitute “big sunstorm is” to “big windstorm is”. It will not substitute “big sun is” to anything. At least one additional character is needed after “sun”.

Additional Configuration

The word substitution file can contain a special section [Config] where you can add the following lines:

[Config]
ItalianApostropheWordE = Y
ItalianApostropheChars = ÀÈÌÒÙÉ
ForceNLEndOfSentence = Y
ForceNewSubtEndOfSentence = Y
AllowFlushEndOfSentence = N
AllowFlushEndOfUnit = N
ThousandsSeparatorMinDigits = 5
ThousandsSeparatorChar = .
FrenchCharOE_UC = N
FrenchCharOE_LC = N
DutchCharIJ_UC = N
DutchCharIJ_LC = N

To section [Config] is valid for all languages. If you wish to define settings for one language only, then use the section name [Config-fr] or [Config-fr-fr] for French or [Config-de] or [Config-de-at] for German,

When ItalianApostropheWordE is configured to Y, the word È will be replaced by E’.

In ItalianApostropheChars you can configure the 6 characters that should be replaced by their equivalent followed by the apostrophe. Just leave ItalianApostropheChars empty if you do not want to replace any of those uppercase characters in the words other than È.

When ForceNLEndOfSentence is configured to Y, a new line will be forced after the end of sentence. Note that end of sentence requires the usage of FAB Subtitler Server because it is used for correct detection of end of sentence.

When ForceNewSubtEndOfSentence is configured to Y, a new subtitle will be forced after the end of sentence. Note that end of sentence requires the usage of FAB Subtitler Server because it is used for correct detection of end of sentence.

This page was last updated on 2026-05-26