Szirty, a member of the Hungarian OS/2 mailing list (os2@lists.bme.hu) got the idea to make a graphical interface for the Vonyi/Patya English-Hungarian dictionary database. That is why I made PMszótár using the Watcom VX-REXX environment. To run the application you need the file VROBJ.DLL version 2.1d. The DLL and the dictionary database can be downloaded from http://xenia.sote.hu/~kadzsol/rexx/sajat.
2. Installation
Unzip the downloaded files (pmszotar.zip, vrobj.zip, hun-eng.zip) in a directory of your choice and run INSTALL.CMD. It will create in icon on your Desktop which can be used to start the application.
3. Search options
Case sensitive:
The program will do distinquish between upper and lower case letters. For example, if you search for the word London, the word london will not be found.
Case insensitive:
The program will not distinquish between upper and lower case letters. For example, if you search for the word London, the word london will be found.
English:
The search language is English.
Hungarian:
The search language is Hungarian.
Exact match:
The program will search for whole matching words only. For example, if you are looking for the word kill, the word killer will not be found.
No accent:
The program removes the accented characters during search. It means that the records of the database and the search term are fileterd and the high ASCII characters (above code 122) are replaced with an underscore before comparision occurs. This option is useful if you cannot properly type accented characters. Unfortunately, checking this option slows down the search significantly, so it is much better to translate the word database using the CONVERT.CMD utility. It works only for Hungarian language in its current form, but you might be able to change the translataion table in the program to match your needs and replace the characters you cannot use.
4. Menu
File -> Open:
With this option you can select and load a new word database. The structure of the new database should match the structure of the old one, otherwise the program will not function correctly.
File -> Add
With this option you can add new words to the database. The new records are appended to the end of the database. You cannot add new records if a query is running.
File -> Edit:
With this option the database can be opened with E.EXE. Queries cannot be performed until the database open. Be careful and do not change the structure of the database.
File -> Exit:
With this option you can exit the program.
Configuration -> Strategy:
If you select the Fast option the program will load the database into memory and will transfer a copy of it to the search thread. This will enable the program to work fast because the database is available in memory at any time. However, the program should keep 2 copies of the database in memory which might result in swapping on some memory constrained systems. If the Medium fast option is selected the program loads the database every time into memory when a search thread is started. Since loading the database takes some time it will result in a slower operation, however, the program will work with 1 copy of the database resulting in a much lower memory consumption. It seems that this option provides the best performance/resource usage ratio. If the slow option is selected the database is not loaded into memory but read line by line from the disk. This operation mode uses very little memory, but it is also very slow.
Configuration -> Default database:
The file specified here is used as the default word database.
Help -> Usage:
This options displays this readme file. You would get the same result by pressing F1.
Help -> About PMszótár:
This option displays the version number of PMszótár.
5. Miscellaneous information
If you double click on the free area of the application (for example on the area between the push buttons) you will change to the mini (minimized) operation mode. In this mode only those components will be displayed which are needed to operate the program in order to minimize the Desktop area used by the program. With an other double click you can maximize the interface.
You may copy any line of the result to the clipboard by double clicking on it.
The application can be ported to any language. To do so you should translate pmszotar.rsf and readme.txt and save them with an extension describing the language.
This application is freeware. You are entitled to freely use and distribute it. You are not entitled to sell it. The author is not responsible for any damage caused by this program.
