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GNOME Documentation Project
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Copyright © 2003 Hu Zheng
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History
| Title | Date | Author | Publisher |
|---|
StarDict Manual V2.2.1 | Jun 2003 | Hu Zheng | GNOME Documentation Project |
This manual describes version 2.2.1 of StarDict.
StarDict Manual V2.2.1
About This Document
1. Introduction
StarDict is an international dictionary written for the GNOME environment.
It has powerful features such as "Glob-style pattern matching," "Scan selected word," "Fuzzy query," etc.
2.1. Starting StarDict
You can start StarDict in the following ways:
- Applications menu
Choose Accessories->StarDict.
- Command line
Type stardict, then press Return.
You can specify a word to query too :
stardict word
or a Glob-style pattern matching string :
stardict wo?d*
or do a fuzzy query :
stardict /word
2.2. When You Start StarDict
When you start StarDict, the following window is displayed.
The StarDict main window consists of the following elements:
- Search input combo
Use this field to enter the word that you want to look up.
You can also access recently-queried words through the dropdown box.
- Tool buttons
You can click these buttons to do fuzzy quering, look up the previously queried word,
look up the next and previous words from the list on the left, and pop up the main menu.
- Word list
Shows the words that have been found in this search.
- Definition area
StarDict displays the definition of a word in this area of the window.
- Setting buttons
The bottom-left of the window contains the Scan selection check button,
the Info button and
the Quit button.
Checking the Scan selection check button will cause StarDict
to automatically look up words that you highlight in any application.
The bottom-right of the window contains the Internet search button,
the StarDict project website button,
the Dictionary management button and the Preferences button.
2.3. Notification area icon
StarDict will also add an icon to the notification area. When you iconify the main window, the
window will be hiden. After you click the icon, the window will be shown again. If you right click this icon, it
will popup a menu where you can choose to toggle Scan selection, or to Quit.
You can toggle Scan selection directly by ctrl-clicking the icon. Clicking the middle mouse button on
the icon will query the selected word.
2.4. Scan selection
StarDict can automatically scan selections. This means that when you select a word or phrase
in StarDict or in any other application,
StarDict will get the text that you selected and search for it, then display a floating window containing
the result of the search.
You can drag the window to move it. The floating window will disappear when you move your pointer some distance away.
The StarDict floating window consists of the following elements:
- Tool buttons
The buttons will be hidden automatically to save display space. When your mouse pointer enters the floating window,
the buttons will appear immediately, and disappear again as the mouse pointer leaves.
You can click these buttons to query a word in the main window,
copy the query result to clipboard,
pronounce the word, stop selection scanning, etc.
To the far right is the Lock floating window button. If the
floating window is locked, it will always be shown there.
- Definition area
The query result is displayed in this area.
3.1. Looking Up a Word
To look up the definition of a word, perform the following steps:
Type the word that you want to look up in the Search
combo box.
StarDict will show the definition immediately. If not found, you can
press Return to do a fuzzy query or just click the Fuzzy query button.
Use the scrollbar to scroll through the definition. Select the words in the word list to view the
related words.
3.2. Clearing the Display Area
To clear the text of the Search input combo, click the Clear button on the
left, or just press Alt-C or ESC.
3.3. To Copy Text to Another Application
There are two ways to copy the text in the display area to another application:
To copy all of the text, click the Copy button by the top of the Defintion area.
To copy some of the text, select the text that you want to copy, then click your mouse's right
button and choose Copy.
3.4. To Find Text in the Display Area
To find text in the display area, perform the following steps:
click the Find button by the top of the Definition area.
Type the string that you want to find in the Find text box,
then press Return. You cannot use wildcards.
To find the next occurrence of the word, press Return again.
4. Preferences
To configure StarDict, click the Preferences button at the
right-bottom corner of the main window or click the Main menu button and choose
Preferences.
4.1. Dictionary
- Hide main window when starting StarDict.
Controls whether the main window appears when you first start the program.
If you select this option, you will only see an icon in the notification area
after starting StarDict. You may still get to the main
window by clicking on this icon.
Default: FALSE.
- Only do scanning while modifier key being pressed.
Only do scanning while the modifier key being pressed. The modifier key is set
by "Scan modifier key".
Default: FALSE.
- Use custom font.
Allows you to override the system's default font
when running StarDict.
If this option is turned on, then the font named in the "Custom Font" option will be
used instead of the system font.
Default: FALSE.
Font settings will take effect the next time you run StarDict.
- Enable sound event.
Whether enable sound event. StarDict will play sound event when button is
active, released, and when pop up menu.
Default: TRUE.
4.2. Main Window
- Search website list area
You can search the websites in this list when you
right-click the Internet search button in the main window.
4.3. Notification area icon
- Query in the floating window when middle mouse button clicked.
Whether query in the floating window, or the main window. This happens when user clicks the middle
mouse button on the notification area icon.
Default: TRUE.
4.4. Floating Window
- Max window width.
Sets the floating window's max width.
Default: 320.
- Max window height.
Sets the floating window's max height.
Default: 240.
5. Dictionary Management
To manage the dictionaries, click the Manage dictionaries button at the bottom-right corner of the main window, or click
the Main menu button and choose Dict manage.
In the dictionary management dialog, you can disable dictionaries that you don't need,
and you can set the order in which the dictonaries are queried.
StarDict will search the dictionary files at "~/.stardict/dic" and "/usr/share/stardict/dic", and
search tree dictionary files at "~/.stardict/treedict" and "/usr/share/stardict/treedict"
6. Related Projects
StarDict would not be possible without many other projects' contributions. Here is a short list of
projects that helped StarDict.
6.1. StarDict 1.31
The original Motif/LessTif-based StarDict 1.31 written in 1999. StarDict 2 got many
good ideas from StarDict1.31 such as "Scan selection." Many of StarDict 2's features, like
"Fuzzy query," come from StarDict1.31.
6.2. StarDict 1.33+
StarDict1.33+ is a big enhancement of StarDict1.31. It added many dictionaries, and so it made me realize that dictionary
data was not a barrier to a new, GTK2-based dictionary program. If there had been no StarDict1.33+, I would not have
started the StarDict 2 project. The author also helped me to port the StarDict 1.3 dictionary
data files to StarDict 2.
6.3. The DICT Project
Many dictd dictionaries have been ported to StarDict.
dictzip, which came from dictd, is also used by StarDict.
To find more information about the DICT Project, please visit
www.dict.org.
6.4. *Quick
Many wquick dictionaries have been ported to StarDict.
To find more information about *Quick, please visit
*Quick.
6.5. The Blowfish Project
The Blowfish Project provided the Oxford English-Chinese dictionary.
To find more information about the Blowfish Project, please visit the
Blowfish Project Web site.
6.6. XDICT
XDICT's dictionary has been ported to StarDict.
6.7. cdict5
cdict5's dictionary has been ported to StarDict.
6.8. CEDICT
CEDICT's dictionary has been ported to StarDict.
To find more information about the CEDICT Project, please visit the
CEDICT Project Web site.
6.9. CFFD
StarDict's icon was created with this software. CFFD also provided some useful
information to me.
To find more information about the CFFD Project, please visit the
CFFD Project Web site.
