eDict Documentation

eDict is an Internet dictionary client which uses the DICT protocol defined in RFC 2229. It makes lookups to one or more of the selected dictionaries. To do a lookup, a working network connection is necessary.

The start screen shows the information about all available dictionaries (more on this in the dictionary list section). To do a lookup, simply enter a word in the text box in the bottom and press enter or tap on the Lookup button. You can also tap on the links (blue words) in the result view.

History and Navigation

eDict has two different ways of navigation previously looked up works. The first way is to use the history menu. It contains the ten last unique words. You can also go back and forward in the history by tapping on the back/forward arrows on the upper right of the application. To refresh the current word, for example if you want to look it up using different dictionaries, tap the reload icon between the back/forward arrows.

Dictionary List

The dictionary list allows you to select one or more dictionaries to use for queries. The Select and Unselect All buttons are useful shortcuts. The Info button shows the brief information shown on the first display. Clicking details fetches a lot of information about the selected dictionaries. It is advisable to show details only for one or a few dictionaries at a time.

When reading the result of a query, you can hide the dictionary list to get more horizontal space for the text. Unfortunately the text is usually wider than the display anyway, since the results are shown using preformatted text (to maintain the layout). In future versions, this might become customizable.

Missing features

This is an early version of eDict and it is missing many planned features. This is an outline of what's missing.

Ability to do abritrary word matching (today matching is done automatically when no other results are found).
Configurable layout of text (preformatted or not, and font sizes).
Proxy (using the CONNECT method) settings to allow for use behind strict firewalls.
Ability to select the dictionary server to connect to. Currently the one at dict.org is used.
Save history list between settings.

License

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 675 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.

Developer and contact information

eDict is developed by David Hedbor (david@hedbor.org). More information about eDict can be found at http://david.hedbor.org/projects/edict/