BDicty Dictionary
www.beiks.com

User Guide

Table of contents

• Installation
• Public & Commercial versions
• Looking up words
• Switching among languages
• Switching the view mode
• Adding new words^*
• Looking up words from within another program^*
• Hints

 * Only available in the Commercial version

Installation
A usable BDicty Dictionary has 2 components - general program for working with dictionaries and the dictionaries themselves. It is pretty much like a CD playing system and CDs.

1. BDicty is a shell program for using dictionaries
2. Language databases (lexicons) for BDicty has file names like TheLanguage.pdb (for example English.pdb, En2Spa.pdb, Ger2En.pdb etc.). There could be one or more such files installed the same way some CD players allow more than one CD to be loaded, although only one can be played at a time.

To install a dictionary into your device you will need to HotSync at least 2 files: the program (BDicty.prc) and a lexicon (Lexicon_name.pdb).

Every lexicon allows unidirectional translation. The direction is usually indicated by the lexicon title, e.g. En2Ger.PDB. To translate bi-directionally you need a pair of lexicons. For example to translate from English to German you need En2Ger.pdb and Ger2En.pdb. Some lexicons are unidirectional by themselves and to not have opposites, like Thesauruses, acronym dictionaries etc.

BDicty supports unlimited number of lexicons. It all depends on the available memory in the device.
Only one BDicty.prc file is required for all lexicons. 

Public And Commercial versions

BDicty comes in two versions - Public and Commercial.

The Public version is free and available for download form our web site. It has the most basic functionality a dictionary needs - the ability to lookup words. In its "About" menu it shows you it is Demo (or Public), even if you have a full version of a lexicon.

The Commercial version of BDicty gives you several advantages over the Public one, among which are the ability to add your own words, different screen views/modes, support for phrasebooks, technical support and many more. For the full list and the latest version (updates are also free for the Commercial version users) please check on our web site. Registration is $10.

The Language Lexicons are also available also in two version: Demo and Licensed (full).
The Demo lexicons can be used by anyone while the licensed are encrypted and licensed only to a specific user (by his/her User Name in PalmOS™). The Demo lexicons have only small amount of the words in the full versions (usually about 10%).

For some languages there are Standard and Extended (Gold) versions. Sometimes they differ not only by the amount of entries, but also by available examples, phrases and other information.

Refer to our website for detailed information on the available lexicons. 

Looking up words

Tap on the field "Word:...." and enter two letters, for example "AB".
A list with words will appear on the right of the screen (or bottom, depending on the view mode).
Tap on a word from the list to see its translation.
Translation will appear in the appropriate field.

Note: There are only 10 % of the words in Demo lexicons. Do not be surprised if you can not find a word in a Demo lexicon.    

Switching among languages (lexicons)

BDicty supports unlimited number of lexicons. Only one of them is active at a time, in the very same way that a CD player can play only one disc at a time.

Switching the view mode

The Commercial BDicty allows you to have two view modes for the list of words - horizontal and vertical. This feature is especially useful for phrasebooks, topic dictionaries, travel books etc.

Adjust the mode for better view by tapping on "1" or "2". Mode "1" (wider words list) is when looking for a word in the languages with longer words (like German). Mode "2" is when you find the word to see more of its translation on the screen.

If there is a Smart View option available in your copy of BDicty, you can use it to expand the translation field size automatically upon finding a word in the dictionary.    

Adding new words

You may enter a new word by typing it the regular way as if you search for it. Then tap on the field where its translation should be and enter it. When done, you must tap on the (REC) button that would appear on the upper right corner of the display.

The feature is available only in the Commercial BDicty version.

If you need to find a translation for a word while in another program, you can invoke BDicty by entering "/" (the stroke for invoking system command) and then quickly taping the FIND silkscreen button while the "COMMAND:" prompt of PalmOS is on the screen.

The word under the cursor (if any) will be automatically selected in the BDicty screen that will appear.

Note that this is not standard program feature for PalmOS at the moment and sometimes it might fail to properly execute. Please report such cases to support@beiks.com.

Hints

To delete the currently selected word and enter a new one, just drag the pen over the current word. This way, you will select the word. Now you can simply enter the new one - the selection will be deleted automatically with your first stroke.

Sometimes the fastest way to enter a word is through Palm's visual keyboard. Especially if you know how to spell the word you are looking for.

To add/update word, just enter the word and tap in the description field, then enter the translation text. When ready, hit the "Rec." button that had appeared on the screen. Only user-entered words can be updated.

To Delete a word, leave its translation empty and tap the (REC) button.

To Undo all changes in description, tap in the word's field and change it to any other word.