How-To Work with
Jitterbits Dictionary 2.0 Desktop Edition
First start after initial installation of Jitterbits Dictionary Desktop Edition brings up the
application main screen, similar to the following:
As you can see there is no dictionary selected, so no way to translate anything. At this point
you have two options:
1. To select a translation and one of dictionaries coming with your Jitterbits
Dictionary installation, or
2. To import one or more dictionaries from a source text file (like ‘cedict_ts.u8’ for
Chinese-English translation)
Importing Dictionaries
To import dictionaries from a source file (like ‘cedict_ts.u8’ for Chinese-English
translation) you need to follow these steps
1. Select Dictionary / Import Dictionary / <Translation of your choice>
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2. This brings up the import dialog. You need to choose the source file to import, the
translation of interest (or ‘all’ if you want to create all possible dictionaries, this is
selected by default), and then click on [Import] button
3. After import completes, and if ‘all’ option is selected the import dialog disappears.
If you are doing a specific translation import, you’d need to close the import dialog
manually.
4.
Then you need to select an initial dictionary in order to start working with selected
set of dictionaries – use menu Dictionary / Select Dictionary.
Selecting and Organizing Dictionaries
1. Select an initial dictionary – use menu Dictionary / Select Dictionary. If no
translation/dictionary is available (means all choices are disabled) mind importing
some dictionaries from source file – look at previous topic for details on importing.
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2. You can further organize used translations and dictionaries. The idea is to remove
redundant menu options from Select Dictionary menu. So you can check only
available translations and related dictionaries you are interested in, and leave all
other unchecked.
3. After you have selected an initial dictionary, the selected translation and dictionary
are shown on the Jitterbits Dictionary status line.
Working With Translations and Dictionaries
1. You can see the currently selected dictionary on status line (look at the end of
previous topic) or as checked option on Select Dictionary menu
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2. The dictionary main screen consists of several parts. You can type (or copy/paste)
the word or phrase you’re interested in the search combo at upper left part of main
screen. If you’re impatient you can also press [Enter] key. Otherwise in few
moments the dictionary will show the list of found words automatically, without
any need to click somewhere else.
3. In normal mode search engine looks up for words starting with letters you typed,
and displays them in the list below combo, along with next words in current
dictionary in alphabetical order. The translations of currently selected word are
displayed on translations’ panel (middle right)
4. The leftmost button on upper right part of main screen (magnifying glass) switches
between normal and advanced mode of search. In advanced mode a dialog box
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appears allowing you to enter a word/phrase to look for in the whole database of
currently selected dictionary. This means not only words starting with given letters,
but also all words containing those letters, or words having translations which
contain the letters. Second click on advanced search button turns back to normal
search mode.
For instance the previous search produces results like below – word looked up could
be found in either words or corresponding translations:
5. During the work with currently selected dictionary, all selected/translated words are
saved in the history list. The two buttons (arrows) on upper right part of main
screen, allow you to go back and forward within history list. The history list of
selected words is also displayed on combo box’s drop down list.
6. Buttons on lower left part of main screen allow you to move forward or backward in
currently selected dictionary’s word list, as displayed – move to the beginning of
dictionary, move one page back, move one page forward, or move to the end of
dictionary.
7. Last button on upper right part of main screen (red X) clears search combo box,
allowing you to type a new word.
8. Normally, depending on word typed in search combo box, Jitterbits Dictionary
auto-switches to the needed dictionary within current translation. For instance if
you’re using Chinese-English Translation, and current dictionary is Pinyin-English,
and you have typed the word ‘beer’ (an English word), Jitterbits Dictionary
automatically will try to switch to English-Chinese dictionary (if one is available)
9. Jitterbits Dictionary automatically tries to display all information with correct font,
choosing another more appropriate font if needed. For instance if currently selected
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font is Tahoma which does not include Chinese characters, and you have installed
another font containing Chinese characters (e.g. MS Song), and you use ChineseEnglish translation, Jitterbits Dictionary will switch automatically to MS Song font.
Of course if you don’t have an appropriate font you would get small squares instead
of some of the letters. If you don’t have an appropriate font installed, look at section
Online Resources below.
10. When you have Jitterbits Dictionary minimized, each subsequent copying to
clipboard will cause Jitterbits Dictionary to re-activate and try to find copied word
or phrase (e.g. from a word document, or web page). This is useful when you want
to translate parts of text in background while reading a document.
Dictionary Settings
1. Select Options / Settings menu in order to show settings dialog. [Defaults] button
on upper right corner sets default settings, just as after installation of Jitterbits
Dictionary.
2. Word list length limits amount of words displayed in found words’ list on main
screen
3. History list length limits amount of words contained in history list – words you can
get back to by history buttons, or search combo drop-down list on main screen
4. Auto Select Dictionary controls auto-switching dictionaries within current
translation, depending on word typed. When setting is unchecked (off) autoswitching is disabled
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5. Dictionary Folder shows the folder on your PC, where translations and dictionary
files is located. You can choose another folder to use by Jitterbits Dictionary. If the
checkbox below folder is checked, the existing translations/dictionary files are
moved along to the newly selected dictionary folder.
6. Font shows you currently used font by Jitterbits Dictionary. You’re free to change
it to more appropriate font/size pair of your choice. Be aware to choose a font which
correctly displays all needed characters. To be sure in your selection, you can type
whatever you want in the text box below (Font Sample…). If you don’t have an
appropriate font installed, look at section Online Resources below.
Exporting to PDA
Jitterbits Dictionary allows you synchronize dictionaries and fonts you use on desktop
to the ones used on your PDA device. This is useful when you import/update your
desktop dictionaries and would like to copy changes to device as well.
1. In order to copy a set of translation dictionaries select Dictionary / Send
Dictionaries to PDA menu. This displays a dialog, where you’re allowed to choose
translation and dictionaries to copy to PDA. On pressing [OK] all checked
dictionaries will be copied to PDA synchronization folder.
2. In order to copy a font to PDA in order to install and use it in Jitterbits Dictionary
Pocket PC Edition, select Options / Send Font to PDA menu. Font Chooser dialog is
displayed allowing you to choose a font. On pressing [OK] selected font will be
copied to PDA synchronization folder.
3. Upon copying dictionaries or fonts to PDA synchronization folder you need to get
Jitterbits Dictionary Pocket PC Edition running on your device. It will move
dictionaries/fonts to appropriate locations and use them. Check out your PDA
screen for further instructions or messages
Used Resources
1. Dictionary folder is located by default in dicts sub-directory of Jitterbits Dictionary
installation directory. Below dicts folder there are sub-directories for all available
translations, containing dictionary files for that translation. You’re allowed to move
dictionary folder (along with all allowed translations and dictionaries) to a different
location of your choice.
2. Jitterbits Dictionary creates a directory in order to store user-dependant settings, log
files and temporary files. The directory is named .jbdirectory and is located in user
home directory on your machine.
3. Jitterbits Dictionary does not create any registry entries on your machine
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System Rquirements
1. Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows Millennium, Windows 98
2. Microsoft .Net Framework 2.0 Redistributable Package - Free download,
also available at ISS Website
Online Resources
1. You can use some of the following links to get a proper font. Because of the large
size, the fonts are normally in a zip file. You will need to unzip the file before
installing it. Installation of a font is quite straightforward – for PDA - copy the
font’s TTF-file into your device's \Windows\Fonts directory, and then soft-reset the
device; for desktop – select and install the font using Control Panel / Fonts utility of
your system.
Sim Sun
MS Song
Sun Globe
2. For PDA an alternative approach is to install the font to a storage card - you can see
how to do this here. If the link is not available, you can try an Internet search for
FontOnStorage.
3. Online updates for Jitterbits Dictionary itself and dictionaries of interest will be
available soon for all commercial customers (including customers upgrading from
version 1.x to version 2.0)
Feedback and Support
If you have any questions, comments or recommendations related to our products, do
not hesitate to contact us at support@jitterbits.com
Limitations of Demo Version
1. Demo/Freeware version is limited to one translation and one dictionary allowed.
2. One dictionary limitation means that auto-switching between dictionaries in a
translation is also senseless in demo version.
3. Synchronization of dictionaries and fonts to PDA is disabled in demo version.
4. Support and online updates are not available for demo version’s users, unless a
critical bug is reported.
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