tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Jan 10 08:13:21 2000
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Re: RE: Dictionary
On Sat, 8 Jan 2000 01:25:44 -0500 Alan Anderson
<[email protected]> wrote:
> ja' pagh:
> >I personally use an Access database to track vocabulary, although I admit it
> >is fairly out of date.
>
> I finally decided to use Access for my vocabulary list also. Being able
> to produce reports in various formats is a very useful feature to have.
>
> After seeing how ohter people deal with sorting, I have to marvel at
> the way almost all of us turn {n} and {ng} into "n1" and "n2", etc.,
> with "z" taking the place of {'}. :-)
>
> >With some work designing the database, you can print
> >a nice looking Klingon-English wordlist, and with some more work, you can do
> >the same the other way.
>
> My primary output from the database is a file that is formatted for the
> Palm Dictionary module maker. But I've done some experimentation with
> sending it to a page layout program to make a *very* nice looking list
> in Klingon order. It's not nearly as easy going the other direction,
> with all the various English words used to define a single Klingon word.
I know what I need to do to accomplish this, but it will require
a LOT of time. I need to create a list of each English word and
relate it to the proper Klingon word. Instead of just having a
single text field with all the English words in it, I need to
have separate English definitions and link them to the Klingon
words. Likely, I'll do this in addition to the single text field.
The idea is that one table will have all the Klingon words and
definitions suitable for translation the Dictionary program for
the Pilot. More fields will be kept in another table linked to
this one such that a query can create a dynaset that can be
translated into my JFile database (with more info in it than the
dictionary program, though it is slower for lookup). Still
another table will have the English words and links to the
original table, so that another query can create a report that
will be the printed dictionary, both for K-E and E-K. Yet
another table will have canon examples of each entry. This
section might also create a text file that can be appended to
the dictionary file in order to create the phrases section in
the Dictionary program.
I'll probably never get around to doing all this, but I can see
how it would work.
> >ghunchu'wI' has done a particularly nice job on his,
> >printing it in a booklet format that he can carry around if he wants to.
>
> My original intent for the booklet was to make something with *all* the
> vocabulary in one place, and for it to be small enough to put it in my
> pocket so I could have it with me at qep'a' without any problem. Being
> able *always* to carry it made it possible for me to practice Klingon
> anywhere, jotting down little notes about what was going on. And having
> worn out one copy of TKD, I was hoping to take some of the strain off my
> second copy so it would last for longer than a couple of years before it
> fell apart. :-) I didn't want to use a computerized translator, because
> I quickly discovered that I stopped learning vocabulary once I installed
> a Klingon word list on my computer. It *had* to be a printed book so I
> would have an incentive to memorize the words myself.
Having it in JFile has a similar effect. Lookup is
extraordinarily slow.
> Now that I feel confident enough in my knowledge of vocabulary, I've let
> myself have the luxury of a computer-based dictionary again. I'm rather
> happy with my carefully groomed Palm Dictionary module, and it's *much*
> easier to keep it up to date than a printed list.
This really is the factor that stopped me from working with my
printed dictionary and got me into these various
computer-maintained dictionaries. The JFile has been my master
dictionary, since that's the most portable, updatable database I
have, and I can note in it which words need to be updated into
the other dictionaries.
> -- ghunchu'wI' 'utlh
charghwI' 'utlh