About SignBank 2002

SignBank 2002
A FileMaker Database for Macintosh & Windows

SignBank Database Design
by Valerie Sutton, Inventor SignWriting

FileMaker Programming Design
by Todd Duell, Formulations Pro

SignBank 2002 was made possible
by a grant from the Forschungszentrum
für Gebärdensprache in Basel, Switzerland.

SignBank 2002 was inspired by the original SignBank I and II, which are no longer in use. SignBank I and II were a set of Macintosh Desk Accessories developed by Valerie Sutton , Michael Ogawa and the Deaf Action Committee For SignWriting from 1986-1992.

Download the SignBank 2002 Reference Manual
by Valerie Sutton, in PDF format.

Published in 2002 & 2021 by
The SignWriting Press

SignBank.org
www.SignBank.org

About Valerie Sutton,
SignBank Designer

The brainchild of SignWriting inventor Valerie Sutton, SignBank is a database program specially-designed for SignWriting, a visual way to write the handshapes, movements and facial expressions of any Sign Language in the world. SignWriting is used around the world to record different Sign Languages. It is one of five sections of Sutton Movement Writing, a movement notation system invented by Valerie Sutton in 1974.

For more about Valerie Sutton, read:

Sutton Movement Writing & Shorthand
A Global Writing System For A Global Age

...not tied to any one culture or any one language...
...recording hundreds of languages, bringing cultures together...

About Todd Duell,
SignBank Programmer

The SignBank Database is written in FileMaker Pro 5.0. Working on the project was a little like building a house. I designed the plan for the house, but the house was constructed in FileMaker Pro 5.0, by programmer and developer Todd Duell, of Formulations Pro in San Diego. The Formulations Pro consulting group develops databases in the medical and pharmaceutical industries, using FileMaker Pro, and are located in several states in the United States.

SignBank is an unusal and brand new way to program in FileMaker. Todd Duell's design has broken new ground in using FileMaker to its fullest potential.

To build the SignBank database in FileMaker, the programming had to be flexible and creative. FileMaker was not originally designed to "look up by a graphic", or to "sort dictionaries by visual symbols". But Todd accomplished this design in FileMaker, which from our SignWriting perspective, is monumental. We have been waiting for over a decade to accomplish this task in computers, and Todd's FileMaker design will be used by hundreds, if not thousands of Sign Language users in 27 countries.

Now that SignBank's FileMaker construction is complete, we can move into the house. Teachers, researchers and students will "live in SignBank", adding signs, sorting signs, printing signs, creating large multi-lingual databases for the world to use and enjoy.

So a special thanks to Todd Duell for doing this unusual job...We feel very fortunate to be able to sort our dictionaries by Sign-Symbol-Sequence!

Valerie Sutton
Sutton@SignWriting.org

About SignWriting

The SignBank Database is written in SignWriting, a set of visually-designed symbols used to write the handshapes, movement, and facial expressions of Sign Languages.

SignWriting is used in 27 countries to record 27 different Sign Languages.
The system can write any Sign Language, because it records body movement. SignWriting is one of five sections of Sutton Movement Writing, a complete movement notation system invented by Valerie Sutton in 1974.

SignBank®, SignWriting®, SignWriter® and Sign-Symbol-Sequence® are trademarks belonging to the Center For Sutton Movement Writing, Inc.

Sponsored by
The Center For Sutton Movement Writing, Inc.
A US nonprofit, 501c3, tax-exempt, educational membership organization.

Published by
The Deaf Action Committee For SignWriting (the DAC)
P.O. Box 517, La Jolla, California, 92038-0517, USA
DAC@SignWriting.org

SignWritingSite
www.SignWriting.org