Thesaurus Dialog

Use the thesaurus dialog to look up synonyms and antonyms.

Word field: Enter the word you want to look up synonyms or antonyms for in the Word field. The Word field is a drop-down list containing all the words looked up so far.

Look Up button: Press the Look Up button to search for the word entered in the Word field. Any matching word categories will be displayed in the Categories list.

Antonyms check box: When checked, the Categories list will show antonym categories in addition to synonym categories when the Look Up button is pressed. If the Antonyms check box is not checked, only synonym categories will be displayed in the list.

Suggest button: Causes the Suggestion Dialog to appear, containing words which are similar to the word in the Word field. The Suggest button is useful for obtaining possible alternatives if the word is not found.

Categories list: Displays the major word categories matching the word when the Look Up button is pressed. Select a category from the list to see its synonyms in the Synonyms list.

Synonyms list: Displays the synonyms contained by the category selected in the Categories list. If you double-click on a synonym, it will be entered into the Word field and looked up automatically.

Options button: Displays the Option Dialog.

Close button: Closes the Thesaurus Dialog.


Option Dialog

Use the Option Dialog to configure and edit user-thesaurus files.

You can add your own synonyms and word categories to user-thesaurus files. The contents of user-thesaurus files will be included in any look-ups made using the Thesaurus Dialog. You can have several user thesaurus files open at once. User-thesaurus files are optional. You can still look up synonyms and antonyms even if no user-thesaurus files are open.

A user-thesaurus file contains one or more word categories. Each category contains one or more synonyms. The words in a category are of the same class or part of speech: adjective, adverb, noun, or verb.

Thesaurus Files list: Lists the currently open user thesaurus files.

Add thesaurus file button: Opens a new or existing user-thesaurus file. Use the file-open dialog which appears to select an existing user-thesaurus file, or enter the name of a new file. Do not use the file-open dialog to change directories: the user-thesaurus file must be located in the directory which is selected when the file-open dialog appears.

Remove thesaurus file button: Closes the user-thesaurus file which is currently selected in the Thesaurus Files list. Note that the user-thesaurus file is not deleted. You can use the Add button to re-open the user-thesaurus file later.

Categories list: Displays the set of word categories contained within the selected user-thesaurus file.

New category button: Displays the New Category Dialog. Use the dialog to enter the name and other information about a word category you would like to add to the selected user-thesaurus file. The new category will be temporarily added to the Categories list. The category isn't added to the user-thesaurus file permanently until you add a word to it.

Words list: Displays the set of words (synonyms) contained within the selected category.

Add word button: Adds the word entered into the Words list's edit area into the current category. The word you enter may contain spaces, but it should have no more than 31 characters.

Delete word button: Removes the selected word from the category. The category is deleted from the user-thesaurus file (and the Categories list) if it is empty as a result of the word deletion.

Close button: Closes the Options Dialog.


New Category Dialog

Use the New Category Dialog to define the name and other characteristics of a category to be added to a user thesaurus.

Category Name field: Enter the name of the new category in this field. The name may contain spaces, but should begin with a letter and should have no more than 25 characters. A word or short phrase that represents the meaning of words the category will contain is recommended.

Category Word Class: Defines the class (part of speech) of the words contained by the category. The class you choose will be displayed along with the category name when the category is displayed in the Thesaurus Dialog.

OK button: Accepts the new category name and closes the New Category Dialog.

Cancel button: Discards the new category name and closes the New Category Dialog.


Suggestion Dialog

The Suggestion Dialog contains suggested replacements for unknown key words.

Suggestions list: Contains words which are similar to the key word.

Look Up button: Returns to the Thesaurus Dialog and automatically looks up the selected suggestion.

Cancel button: Closes the Suggestion Dialog.


Synonym

A synonym is a word which has the same meaning as another word. Examples: "sad" and "unhappy."


Antonym

An antonym is a word which has a meaning opposite to another word. Examples: "cold" and "hot."


Word Categories

A word category is a grouping of words which have the same general meaning. The name of the word category describes the meaning of the words it contains.

A key word may match several word categories. For example, the word "set" can mean "to place," "a collection," "to adjust," etc.