What does one use to add words to the dictionaries

[Golden234]

Hi all,
I have been using GD for a bit and like it; but one issue I have seen very little on, is how to add words to the dictionaries.
As usual, I find the the free dictionaries, while good as far as they go, generally would benefit from having those words added, which I had to look up elsewhere.
I have found stardict-editor, but find it a bit hard to use for quickly adding a few words each time I find some good candidates.
Or is there a quick way to compile or merge words from a plain text file?

What do the power GD users use?

TIA

[dg333]

Why StarDict? You can use ABBYY Lingvo dictionary source files (DSL), they can be of simplest format:

Code: Select all

source word
<tab or space(s)>translation

[Golden234]

Thank you for your reply.

I will have a look at the Abbyy dictionaries and their format

The main reason I used startdict-editor, because I could find it, and because I was using stardict dictionaries. I have done a bit of translation - mostly with on-line dictionaries, but I am new to some of these local dictionaries and would like to add words they don't have as yet easily and without spending more time maintaining the dictionaries than doing 'work' .

I am assuming though that even with the Abbyy dictionary DSL files, the source words need to be in alphabetic sequence?
Also I see some references to a 'compiler'. Is it needed for GD or only for Abbyy?

[dg333]

I am assuming though that even with the Abbyy dictionary DSL files, the source words need to be in alphabetic sequence?

Lingvo alphabetizes words automatically when compiling DSL to LSD (the latter is the binary format used by Lingvo). Not sure about GD, but it seems to do the same when (re)creating indexes.

[Golden234]

Since I don't have Lingvo, I had to assume as much, but since it was suggested I use the DSL format for GD, and nothing was said about GD compiling - and nothing I have found indicates GD is even capable of compiling anything - the DSL file and I have not been able to find any other DSL compiler, I'm still not sure how much work it will be to maintain a reasonably sized dictionary in the DSL format, i.e just how useful it would be.

So my question still is:
what dictionary format do most people use and how do they maintain it?

I have meanwhile found more information on this forum on the DSL format and will try some of the suggestions once I get a chance.

[C2BlEv]

So my question still is:
what dictionary format do most people use and how do they maintain it?

GD uses DSL format without compiling. If size matters, then the dsl can be compressed by dictzip. Personally, I maintain lots of dictionaries in pure text dsl format. I use emeditor for any revisions and additions. I have not had any issues with working with 100Mb dsl dictionaries but most dictionaries are much smaller.

[C2BlEv]

I am assuming though that even with the Abbyy dictionary DSL files, the source words need to be in alphabetic sequence?
Also I see some references to a 'compiler'. Is it needed for GD or only for Abbyy?

No compiler is necessary for GD. No alphabetic sequence is necessary. The format in GD is pretty permissive.

[Golden234]

GD uses DSL format without compiling. If size matters, then the dsl can be compressed by dictzip. Personally, I maintain lots of dictionaries in pure text dsl format. I use emeditor for any revisions and additions. I have not had any issues with working with 100Mb dsl dictionaries but most dictionaries are much smaller.

Thank you for the explanation.
I have experimented a bit with the DSL format by now and it looks reasonably easy to use, once one knows what not to do and which editor and which configuration 'works'

The only problem I have seen is that I have to exit GD if I want to save the updated text file. A bit of a nuisance.

This could be avoided, I expect, if GD opened the dict files R/O or alternately closed the files between searches.
As far as I can tell, it never writes to them in any case, though it might have to flush some buffers before a new search, if it does not close the files.
It is too bad that GD assumes it is the only one wanting access - at least so it looks from here

[Gloggy]

The only problem I have seen is that I have to exit GD if I want to save the updated text file. A bit of a nuisance.
This could be avoided, I expect, if GD opened the dict files R/O or alternately closed the files between searches.

With the recent builds of Goldendict (on Windows), it is not required to restart GD and it doesn't lock the DSL files anymore.

Here's what I typically do: I have my DSL dictionary, then add it to GoldenDict, and when I need to change it, I just open the DSL file in any text editor, modify it any way I wish and then press Ctrl-F5 (rescan dictionaries) in GoldenDict so that it finds the changes and rebuilds the index for the changed dictionary. Pretty handy and no restarts needed!

[Golden234]

Thank you for that explanation.
I will give it a try.
I have had some problems with getting GD to restart if I shut it down, so I hope this helps to avoid this problem.