tdv/README.adoc

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StarDict Terminal UI
====================
'sdtui' aims to provide an easy way of viewing translation as well as other
kinds of dictionaries in your terminal. I wasn't successful in finding any free
dictionary software of this kind, GUI or not, and thus decided to write my own.
The project is covered by a permissive license, unlike vast majority of other
similar projects, and can serve as a base for implementing other dictionary
software. I wasn't able to reuse _anything_.
Further Development
-------------------
While I've been successfully using sdtui for a long time now, some work has to
be done yet before the software can be considered fit for inclusion in regular
Linux and/or BSD distributions. Help is much appreciated.
An approximate list of things that need to be resolved:
- rewrite the frontend using a proper TUI framework
- possibly make it work better with multiple dictionaries as now it's only
acceptable if you give them short names in the configuration so that they
all fit in the header
- figure out a way to become capable of displaying most dictionaries
Packages
--------
Regular releases are sporadic. git master should be stable enough. You can get
a package with the latest development version from Archlinux's AUR.
Building and Running
--------------------
Build dependencies: CMake, pkg-config, xsltproc, docbook-xsl +
Runtime dependencies: ncursesw, zlib, ICU, termo (included),
glib-2.0, pango, gtk+ (optional, any version)
$ git clone --recursive https://git.janouch.name/p/sdtui.git
$ mkdir sdtui/build
$ cd sdtui/build
$ cmake .. -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug -DWITH_GTK=ON
$ make
To install the application, you can do either the usual:
# make install
Or you can try telling CMake to make a package for you. For Debian it is:
$ cpack -G DEB
# dpkg -i sdtui-*.deb
Note that for versions of CMake before 2.8.9, you need to prefix `cpack` with
`fakeroot` or file ownership will end up wrong.
Having the program installed, simply run it with a StarDict '.ifo' file as an
argument. It is however highly recommended to configure it, see below.
Extensions
----------
As the original StarDict is a bit of a clusterfuck with regard to collation of
dictionary entries, I had to introduce an additional `collation` field into the
'.ifo' file. When sdtui discovers this field while reading the dictionary, it
automatically reorders the index according to that locale (e.g. "cs_CZ").
This operation may take a little while, in the order of seconds.
Configuration
-------------
To get a nicer look in 256color terminals, create _~/.config/sdtui/sdtui.conf_
with the following. Note that it is intended for black-on-white terminals.
....
[Settings]
center-search = true
underline-last = false
hl-common-prefix = true
watch-selection = true
[Colors]
header = reverse
header-active = ul
search = ul
even = 16 231
odd = 16 255
....
The `watch-selection` option makes the application watch the X11 primary
selection for changes and automatically search for selected text.
This feature requires GTK+ and it will never work on Wayland by its design.
You can also set up some dictionaries to be loaded at startup automatically:
....
[Dictionaries]
name1 = ~/path/to/dict.ifo
name2 = ~/another/dict.ifo
....
Dictionaries
------------
Unfortunately this application only really works with specific dictionaries.
Word definitions have to be in plain text, separated by newlines.
https://mega.co.nz/#!axtD0QRK!sbtBgizksyfkPqKvKEgr8GQ11rsWhtqyRgUUV0B7pwg[
CZ <--> { EN, DE, PL, RU } dictionaries]
Contributing and Support
------------------------
Use https://git.janouch.name/p/sdtui to report any bugs, request features,
or submit pull requests. `git send-email` is tolerated. If you want to discuss
the project, feel free to join me at ircs://irc.janouch.name, channel #dev.
Bitcoin donations are accepted at: 12r5uEWEgcHC46xd64tt3hHt9EUvYYDHe9
License
-------
This software is released under the terms of the 0BSD license, the text of which
is included within the package along with the list of authors.