The Apparatus Explorer is an web application that:
- visualizes the XML output of ITSEE’s Collation Editor so that it appears as an ECM-styled digital critical apparatus with the addition of a graph that visualizes any encoded genealogical relationships.
- enables a user to upload their own collation files and edit genealogical relationships of readings.
- provides a platform for any user to publish their digital critical apparatus for public viewing.
- allows a user to edit most elements of the apparatus including variation unit indices, reading names, reading text, reading type, and witnesses
The Apparatus Explorer is foremost a tool for visualizing a digital critical apparatus and editing its data. The long-term goal, however, is that this would grow into a platform for textual scholars and researchers to publish their collation data in a user-friendly interface. The Apparatus Explorer embraces the fact that it is not a print apparatus and leans into visualizations only possible in a digital medium.