DICT(1) DICT(1)
NAME
dict, adict - dictionary browser
SYNOPSIS
dict [ -k ] [ -d dictname ] [ -c command ] [ pattern ] adict
[ -d dictname ] [ pattern ]
DESCRIPTION
Dict is a dictionary browser. If a pattern is given on the
command line, dict prints all matching entries; otherwise it
repeatedly accepts and executes commands. The options are
-d dictname Use the given dictionary. A list of available
dictionaries is printed by option -d?. The
default is the first dictionary on the list
that is installed on the system.
-c command Execute one command and quit. The command syn-
tax is described below.
-k Print a pronunciation key.
Patterns are regular expressions (see regexp(7)), with an
implicit leading `^' and trailing `$'. Patterns are matched
against an index of headwords and variants, to form a `match
set'. By default, both patterns and the index are folded:
upper case characters are mapped into their lower case
equivalents, and Latin accented characters are mapped into
their non-accented equivalents. In interactive mode, there
is always a `current match set' and a `current entry' within
the match set. Commands can change either or both, as well
as print the entries or information about them.
Commands have an address followed by a command letter.
Addresses have the form:
/re/ Set the match set to all entries matching the regu-
lar expression re, sorted in dictionary order. Set
the current entry to the first of the match set.
!re! Like /re/ but use exact matching, i.e., without case
and accent folding.
n An integer n means change the current entry to the
nth of the current match set.
#n The integer n is an absolute byte offset into the
raw dictionary. (See the A command, below.)
addr+ After setting the match set and current entry
according to addr, change the match set and current
entry to be the next entry in the dictionary (not
necessarily in the match set) after the current
entry.
addr- Like addr+ but go to previous dictionary entry.
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The command letters come in pairs: a lower case and the cor-
responding upper case letter. The lower case version prints
something about the current entry only, and advances the
current entry to the next in the match set (wrapping around
to the beginning after the last). The upper case version
prints something about all of the match set and resets the
current entry to the beginning of the set.
p,P Print the whole entry.
h,H Print only the headword(s) of the entry.
a,A Print the dictionary byte offset of the entry.
r,R Print the whole entry in raw format (without translat-
ing special characters, etc.).
If no command letter is given for the first command, H is
assumed. After an H, the default command is p. Otherwise,
the default command is the previous command.
Dict searches for dictionaries in the directory named by
$dictpath (default /usr/local/plan9/dict).
Adict is a dictionary browser for acme(1). When run with no
arguments, it creates a new acme window named /adict/ list-
ing the installed dictionaries. Clicking with button 3 on a
dictionary name will create a new empty window named
/adict/dict/. Typing and then clicking on a pattern in this
window will create a new lookup window named
/adict/dict/pattern containing the dictionary's definition
of pattern. Clicking with button 3 on any word in this new
window will create new lookup windows.
If adict is run with a pattern , it starts with the
/adict/dict/pattern window.
If adict is run with no pattern but with a -d option, it
starts with the /adict/dict/ window.
FILES
/usr/local/plan9/dict
dictionaries
SEE ALSO
regexp(7)
SOURCE
/usr/local/plan9/src/cmd/dict
/usr/local/plan9/bin/adict
BUGS
A font with wide coverage of the Unicode Standard should be
used for best results. (Try
/usr/local/plan9/font/pelm/unicode.9.font.)
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If the pattern doesn't begin with a few literal characters,
matching takes a long time.
The dictionaries are not distributed outside Bell Labs,
though see /usr/local/plan9/dict/README for information on
using free dictionaries prepared by Project Gutenberg.
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