Dictionary editor

• Dictionary Entries
• Entry Details
• Automatically detected inflections

Dictionary Entries

The Dictionary Entries section shows the entries that are included in the dictionary. For each entry, it shows the base form and an extract of the variants of this entry.

In the Dictionary Entries section, you can do the following tasks:

Importing lists of entries

With this icon, you can import dictionary entries from different sources. You can import dictionary entries from other dictionaries, from flat files, or from database tables.

Creating new entries

With this icon, you can create new entries. Clicking this icon moves the cursor to the Entry Details section, where you can edit the base form and the variants of dictionary entries.

Removing selected entries

With this icon, you can remove selected entries.

Filtering the list of entries

By typing text in the Filter entry field, the dictionary entries are filtered to display only the entries whose base form match the specified filter text. To show all entries again, clear the Filter check box.

The following list shows the syntax of patterns:

• Entries in the Filter entry field are not case-sensitive.
• The expression pattern must match the first characters of words. For example, typing Ge might display base-form entries like Germany or German.
• An asterisk (*) in patterns represents zero or wildcard characters. For example, the pattern ge*n might display base-form entries like german, Germany, or generous.
• A hyphen (-) at the beginning of a pattern excludes the entries that match the expression pattern. For example, the pattern -ge might display base-form entries like bear, crocodile, or greek.
• A hyphen (-) in the middle of an expression pattern is interpreted as a hyphen. For example, the pattern en-*3 displays base-form entries like en-US3.
• To search for an asterisk (*) or a hyphen (-) at the beginning of words, you must use a backslash character (\) as prefix. For example, the pattern \*\*\* * \*\*\* displays base-form entries like *** WOW ***, or the pattern \-3 displays base-form entries like -345.

Using the single-click mode

With this icon, you can select the Single-Click mode. If the Single-Click mode is selected, you can single-click an entry in the Dictionary Entries section to show its details in the Entry Details section.

Using the double-click mode

With this icon, you can select the Double-Click mode. If the Double-Click mode is selected, you must double-click an entry in the Dictionary Entries section to show its details in the Entry Details section.

In the Double-Click mode, you can select multiple dictionary entries, browse their variants, and drop them into another entry.

Entry Details

Creating new entries

With this icon, you can create new entries. Clicking this icon moves the cursor to the Entry Details section, where you can edit the base form and the variants of dictionary entries.

Base form

The base form of a dictionary entry is the term that is shown as the base-form attribute in an annotation.

The Base Form field must not be empty. If you do not specify a base form for a new entry, the entry is deleted. If you clear the Base Form field of an existing entry, the base form is automatically reset to the previously specified base form.

Different dictionary entries can have the same base form. You can also merge the variants of such entries into one single entry.

Variants

A variant of a base form is a different notation or a synonym of the base form. Add these variants to the list of variants to detect them during dictionary lookup.

If a variant is detected in text, an annotation is created. In the annotation, the base-form attribute is set to the base form of the entry, and the variant is set to the covered text.

The list of variants shows all variants for the entry that is selected in the list of dictionary entries.

You can add variants to a base form by selecting a base form in the list of dictionary entries, typing a new variant in the Variants entry field, and clicking Add Variant.

You can edit variants by clicking a variant in the list of variants and typing the new notation. To remove variants, select a variant in the list of variants and click Remove Variants.

You can assign an entry or more entries as variant of another entry. For example, you might have the following dictionary entries:

car
automobile

The entry car does not have variants. The entry automobile has the variant motor vehicle. To assign the entry automobile as a variant for the entry car, you can drag and drop the entry car from the list of dictionary entries to the variants of the entry automobile to the variants column of the entry car in the list of dictionary entries or to the list of variants in the Entry Details section. This results in one entry with the baseform car and its variants automobile and motor vehicle.

To assign multiple entries to another entry, mark and drag them to the other entry.

Automatically detected inflections

The Automatically detected inflections for entry section shows the inflections of the base form or already added variants. You do not need to add these variants to the list of variants because they are automatically detected during dictionary lookup.

For example, if your dictionary contains the base form customer, the automatically detected inflections for the English language includes customers. You do not need to add customers manually to the variants because it is automatically found at runtime.

The automatically detected inflections are displayed for the selected language. If you use a different language in the properties of the Dictionary lookup operator, different inflections might be found at runtime.

The icons in the first column of the inflection table show whether the entry is an in-vocabulary-word or an out-of-vocabulary word.

indicates an in-vocabulary-word.

indicates an out-of-vocabulary word.