Dico

2 Introduction to GNU Dico

GNU Dico is an implementation of DICT dictionary server (described in RFC 2229) and a set of accompanying utilities. The GNU Dico server uses two-layer model. The protocol layer is responsible for the correct DICT protocol dialog and is provided by the dicod server binary. The database layer is responsible for searching and retrieving data from dictionary databases. This layer is provided by external loadable modules. Thus, Dico does not impose any specific dictionary database format. A single server can handle databases in various formats, provided that appropriate modules are available. Several database modules are shipped with GNU Dico. The following is a short introductions for some of them. See Modules, for a complete list of available modules with detailed descriptions.

dictorg

This module provides full support for the format designed by the DICT development group (http://dict.org). This is a de facto standard for DICT databases. A number of dictionary databases in this format are provided by the FreeDict project (http://freedict.org).

wordnet

Support for ‘WordNet’ databases. WordNet is a lexical database for the English language developed in the Princeton University and distributed under a BSD style license.

gcide

Support for ‘GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English’. This dictionary derived from Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, supplemented with some of the definitions from WordNet. It was edited by Patrick J. Cassidy, proof-read and supplemented by volunteers from around the world. It is available from http://gcide.gnu.org.ua.

guile

This module provides an interface to Guile, the GNU’s Ubiquitous Intelligent Language for Extensions (http://www.gnu.org/software/guile) and allows you to write Dico modules in Scheme programming language.

python

This module provides an interface to Python (http://www.python.org) and can be used to write Dico modules in it.

outline

This module handles simple databases in GNU Emacs outline format. It is designed mostly for test purposes.

This manual describes how to configure and use the Dico dictionary system. It also describes the API for writing Dico modules in C, Scheme or Python.