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EDICT Reader

What can this program do for me?

EDICT Reader enables you to search for Japanese and English words and their translations in a database compiled from the EDICT dictionary file of The Electronic Dictionary Research and Development Group, Monash University © 2002. Presently, this file has more than 100,000 entries. Since this is a dictionary file listing many words not written in kanji, you may find additional information not contained in KanjiQuick. Also, KanjiQuick may be used to identify kanji found in EDICT.

You should first download a recent EDICT version. As the file is updated often, here is the URL for downloading and more information about EDICT. Save the EDICT file to your KanjiQuick data folder or move it there after downloading. If EDICT comes as a compressed file (e.g. EDICT.zip, EDICT.exe), it must be decompressed before you can use it.

For conversion of EDICT to database format, click the   EDICT  button in the upper right corner of  KanjiQuick's main program , which will load the EDICT Reader module. Then choose  File >  Convert  from the  EDICT Reader  menu and follow the instructions. If you previously loaded an older version of the EDICT database file, you should delete or move it from the KanjiQuick data folder before you start the conversion. The EDICT converter will warn you if the EDICT file you have downloaded is corrupted or if you are about to convert a version which is not newer than your present EDICT database.

EDICT Reader is very easy to use. There are 4 ways to search for entries:
 • Search for kanji, jukugo and kana-kanji strings
 • Search for readings (kana only)
 • Search for English matches (with pattern matching options)
 • Search from combined criteria (combination of any or all search strings)

Results are displayed in the  table grid . Click on any line to move its data to the  central textbox .

Matches may be sorted according to different criteria.

You may choose 5 different font sizes.

How to use EDICT Reader

1. Choose database
When you start the   EDICT  Reader from KanjiQuick, EDICT.dat is the default database. If this file is not present in your KanjiQuick data folder or if you wish to use an alternate database, you may load it from the menu,  File >  Load Database .

2. Search string input
Enter or paste your search criteria into the appropriate  input box  of the  EDICT  window.

 EDICT  Reader is linked with  KanjiQuick . When EDICT Reader is launched from KanjiQuick, any text in the  Jukugo  or  Kanji display box  will be displayed in the  EDICT  Reader  kanji search box , so it is easy to search for EDICT Reader entries matching a character you have found in KanjiQuick. You may drag and drop text from  KanjiQuick  to  EDICT  Reader and vice-versa.

Drag and drop characters into the  EDICT   kanji input box  from  KanjiQuick's  main window  display boxes , or the  Kanji ,  Jukugo , or  Items Lists .

Do not Drag & Drop characters from the  Results List  or  Text Analysis   Text input box . The Drag & Drop will function, but the data you drag away will no longer be in the source text, since both of these files may be edited or saved by you. If you wish to perform an EDICT search on a string in either of these sources, first highlight it and double-click on the string, then drag it from the  Kanji  or  Jukugo List  that appears.

In order to allow direct Japanese language input, Japanese language support (MS IME) must be enabled.

Note that pattern matching is activated for search criteria in all input fields. Thus, if you input any string, EDICT Reader will display all entries containing this string within a phrase or a single word. For example if you input "nation," EDICT Reader will also display matches like "national," "explanation," and "international." You may search for single words by entering spaces before and after the string, or search for words ending with "nation" by entering a space only after the search string.

Pattern matching can be disabled for English search criteria only. Choose  Settings >  Auto Wildcard  from the menu to enable or disable. If disabled, you may still use pattern matching by entering * or ? as appropriate.

Capitalization is ignored in a search.

Click the   Clear  button to delete all entries.

The maximum number of matches displayed is 5,000. If your search yields more matches than this, you are requested to modify your search criteria in order to reduce the number of matches. You may choose 1,000 or 2,000 as the maximum number to speed up output to the display.

3. Start search
Click the   Search  button located  below any field with valid search  criteria entered in the box to begin searching. Text strings from other fields will be excluded from the search. Click the   Comb. Search  button to use search criteria from all fields for a combined search.

4. Display results
After completing the search, the count of all matches is displayed in the title bar and the maximum possible entries will be displayed in the  table grid . You may adjust each column or row height and width individually to better view the results. Use the scroll bars to move within the search results.

5. Display single entries in the central textbox
Click on a row to have its contents displayed in the  central textbox .

6. Search using data strings from results
When displayed in the  central textbox , any selected kanji, kana or English string can be moved to one of the  input fields  and used for a follow-up search.

7. Sort matches
By default, results will be sorted by order of characters in the  kanji column . Choose a different sorting order from the options in the upper right corner (valid for the next search). Double-click anywhere in the desired column to change the sorting order of the displayed results.

8. Font size
The font size for the  table grid  and the  central textbox  may be selected from 8 to 16 points. Use the menu ( Settings >  Font size ), or choose a value from the font size box. The font used within  EDICT  Reader is Arial Unicode MS.

9. Linking EDICT Reader with KanjiQuick
When EDICT Reader is launched from KanjiQuick, any text in the jukugo or kanji window will be displayed in the EDICT Reader kanji search box, so it is easy to search for EDICT database entries matching a character you have found in KanjiQuick. You may drag and drop text from KanjiQuick to EDICT Reader and vice-versa.

If you want to know how many entries there are in EDICT Reader for any search string you used with KanjiQuick, simply check  EDICT Monitor  from the  KanjiQuick   Extras  menu. However, please be aware that due to the double search both in the KanjiQuick and EDICT databases, it will require more time to complete a search.

To remind you that  EDICT Monitor  is running, a red "read" square will flash on and off in the left corner of the   EDICT  button.

Voice generation (optional)

Text strings in the  EDICT   Central display box  or the  table grid  can be read by a Japanese voice. To have an entry in the table read, click on a cell while pressing a Shift key. To have characters in the  Central display box  read, select text and press a Shift key before you release the mouse button. See Voice Generation for further information.

Copyright notices
The EDICT Reader program and all its data are protected by copyrights and must not be altered in any manner. Use for commercial purposes is not permitted. By use of this program you confirm your acceptance of and compliance with all copyrights. Detailed copyright regulations for the EDICT data can be found here.

© EDICT Data by The Electronic Dictionary Research and Development Group, Monash University, 2002.

© EDICT Reader program by Kay Genenz on behalf of JaF ("Fachverband Japanisch als Fremdsprache e.V."), Duesseldorf, Germany, 2002.

The EDICT Reader program has been thoroughly tested in order to ensure proper operation. Although no failures were detected prior to release, under unknown conditions, software products of any kind may behave in an unpredictable manner. Therefore, the author and publisher are not liable for any loss of data or any damages that may be linked to the use of this program..

EDICT Reader may be used without registration. KanjiQuick must be registered if you wish to continue using it after evaluation. For inquiries, please contact:
JaF ("Fachverband Japanisch als Fremdsprache e.V.," c/o Seminar E Orientalische Sprachen, Nassestr. 2, 53113 Bonn.
Email: Info@kanji.de)