FlashCard Definitions Export

[benelso]

I am trying to create a text file which could serve as a glossary (containing characters, pronunciation, and a short definition) for the words in my flashcard lists. I was thinking I might could use the flashcard export feature and possible post processing of my own to create such a file which I could then move to my PC.

The buttons available in the export dialog box would seem to indicate that I can get definitions output to my XML file, with also mappings being made to non-proprietary dictionaries. I have experimented with all 8 combinations of "Card definitions", "Free dict defs", and "Remap" --- the resulting XML file doesn't seem to change - it always looks the same and has lines of the form:

<dictref dictid="PABC" entryid="1006122412" />

for each entry. Is this the dictionary link? If so, what dictionary is PABC? Why do all combinations of the check boxes in the export dialog output the same file? Am I doing something wrong? Is there an alternative to using export for doing what I am trying to do?

Any help/ideas on making such a glossary would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Brent

 

[mikelove]

Have you actually installed the free dictionaries (available at http://www.pleco.com/dictaddons.html)? If not, that would explain why the free dictionary remapping feature isn't working. You could also try installing the beta 2.0.1 update, since that fixes a couple of bugs with remapping.

The dictref tag you mention is indeed a link to a dictionary entry, in this case one from the (non-free) ABC dictionary - the ID lets Pleco accurately link up the flashcard to its corresponding dictionary entry if it's imported again.

Another option would be to permanently remap your flashcard to a particular free dictionary, using the "Remap to dict" option in the Batch Commands screen (accessible through Manage Flashcards) - that will also make it easy for you to figure out which cards don't have corresponding entries in a free dictionary and delete them / fill in your own as appropriate.

 

[benelso]

Thanks, your reply is just the info I was looking for.

I now have a user dictionary to hold the definitions for those cards missing definitions in the installed free dictionaries and all is working well. When I export with remap, I get a tab-delimited file that I can take into Excel on my PC to do some formatting for my final glossary.

A question about user dictionaries: how do I back up my user dictionary to my PC? I have looked and cannot find the file on my WM device (my plan was just to manually copy the file to my PC).

Thanks,

Brent

p.s. The new flashcards system is *most* impressive. Thanks much for your hard work!

 

[mikelove]

Glad to hear it!

The file should be stored in the \\My Documents folder on your Windows Mobile device's internal memory - this page has more detailed instructions for backing it up and restoring it (along with your flashcards).

 

[benelso]

The "Pleco Flashcards" file is the only Pleco-related file I see in My Documents. I was expecting to see some additional file there with the user dictionary in it.

Thanks,

Brent

 

[mikelove]

Well that's odd... are you sure you've actually created a user dictionary and aren't just storing those definitions in flashcards? Do you see a "USR" dictionary when you cycle through your installed dictionaries? Check the \\, \\Program Files\Pleco, and \\Storage Card\Pleco directories - any "PlecoCUser" or "PlecoEUser" files in there?

 

[benelso]

Mystery solved.

I originally created the dictionary with the name: "DC-names" and then later changed it to "UDC" in the configure box. The file was found in My Documents with the name "DC-Names.pqb" rather than the name the backup document suggested it would have. It was hard to realize what it was since Win Mobile doesn't show file extensions and this was also a name of a flashcard file I had previously exported in my testing. Anyone know how to get WinMobile to show file extensions?

Thanks!

 

[radioman]

Not sure where to put this so I will put it here.

On importing sentences, I see that I can write the definition to a custom user dictionary. I did this, and it appears to bring up the individual cards for editing fine. Is there an advantage to putting it in the dictionary?

One advantage I am guessing is that I can somehow read all the imported definitions. Is that possible to read through the user dictionary in Pleco using the reader or something? or would I have to export it?

As far as overwriting imported cards, for 2.0.1 if I try and import a card that already exists, will it overwrite the score file?

Example: if I have 100 imported cards using sentences with custom definitions, and I add another 5 cards externally to the original file and import, will it just update the 5 cards and leave scoring, etc alone for the other ones? (in general I would like to keep adding to the same external deck and do a whole scale import of the file again.

If I change one of the 100, with regard to headword and/or pronunciation and/or definition, what is the trigger for the overwrite?

 

[mikelove]

About the only advantage to putting the words in the user dictionary is if you actually want to look them up as dictionary entries - we put that option in there mainly for the sake of people who were exploiting the fact that all custom flashcards were user dictionary entries in 1.0. It's a little faster to browse through your custom definitions, I guess, but there's a bit of a performance hit to using the user dictionary, and the entries take up more space there than they do in flashcards, so if you don't have a strong reason to want to store definitions in the user dictionary it's probably best not to.

Overwriting cards is governed by the "Duplicate Entries" setting on the flashcard Import screen, so if you set that to "Skip," the new words will be added but the old ones should be left untouched. As far as changes, if you change the definition the importer will still consider the card a duplicate and skip it (leaving the old definition unchanged), if you change the headword / pronunciation it'll be treated as a brand new card. The "Replace" option for duplicate-handling will delete the old version's scores, so that wouldn't help with this unfortunately.

 

[radioman]

But the score change would only be for the cards that are actually modified and not skipped, correct?

Also, with regard to flashcards, I have 3 sides to the card - headword, pronuciation, definition.

Is there a way to run a flashcard session, to show the definition, and at the point of flipping the card just show the headword and definition (without the pinyin?). That is, I would want the option to ignore the pinyin portion of the card when running the deck. If I need the pinyin, I could click on the headword for anything unknown.

 

[mikelove]

The score change would apply to any duplicated card with "Replace," even if the card's text hasn't changed - we don't compare the texts, we just blindly delete the old card and create a new one if the headword / Pinyin match.

There's no way to hide any part of the card when it's "flipped," - we used to have that option in 1.0 but took it out in 2.0 to make the self-scored setup a bit less confusing for people. In hindsight, though, given how confusing the rest of the flashcard system is we probably should have just left it in, so it may reappear in a future release (possibly through an "Advanced" mode).