[Cc:ing gnome-doc and gnome-i18n since the new package will require new translations and documentation]
Hi all. After two months of fast and steady development inside the "new-dictionary" branch of gnome-utils, the new GNOME Dictionary code has finally landed into gnome-utils HEAD branch. It's still under development, but the code is already pretty much stable for daily use[*] and it's unlikely for it to have major changes at this point. * What's new? The old Dictionary code had become a collection of hacks and rotting code; this is a complete rewrite of that code, with a twist for enhancements and better maintainability. The new Dictionary is based on a object oriented library, called libgdict, which supports multiple dictionary sources, using multiple transport methods (albeit, at the moment, only a RFC2229 client is provided; I plan to add more in the next GNOME release cycle). * New features The new features of this release are the new print format and the new applet, using an aligned window (like Seth's gnome-blog applet) for the definitions. You can now search the text using a bottom pane, a-la-Evince, instead of a find dialog. You can add multiple dictionary sources: if you have a preferred dictionary server (or your preferred database) you can create a new source and switch between the other sources you have. You can save a definition into a text file. The new Dictionary code supports gnome-doc-utils, making localization and documentation easier. I know everyone like shiny screenshots, so: http://log.emmanuelebassi.net/2005/11/29/dictionary-applet8/ http://log.emmanuelebassi.net/2005/12/07/maintainership/ http://log.emmanuelebassi.net/2005/12/09/dictionary-applet9/ http://log.emmanuelebassi.net/2005/12/13/dictionary-applet10/ http://log.emmanuelebassi.net/2005/12/15/dictionary-applet11-and-final/ * Known regressions There a few known regressions, some of which are going to be addressed before the UI/code freeze, some are going to be fixed in the next release cycles and some are going to be removed for good: + Speller widget [still under consideration] + The entry doesn't do word completion [fixable before 2.14] + Web search [removed(**)] + Syntax highlighting [fixable before 2.14 (***)] The important issue that this release addresses is the re-factoring of the code, which was something short of unmaintainable; while these regressions might seem important, I'd like to point out that two months ago this code didn't even exist. I'd like to thank gnome-util's maintainer Vincent Noel, for the great support and trust he gave me while writing this code. +++ [*] During the composition of this email, for instance. ;-) [**] I've removed the web search because it was basically useless: firing up a web browser for searching words isn't really ideal, especially when all major browsers under Linux offer a link to Dictionary.com, and when we have other applications doing it - like the deskbar applet; it was handy for users behind a proxy, though: for them, I'm going to add a HTTP based transport in the next release cycle, using Dictionary.com web APIs. [***] Even though it's not for certain, as the syntax is not standard, and dictionary entries might break it without notice. Also, when using non-English dictionary sources it might lead to messy output (and I don't want parse rules for every written language to be included inside the code base). I'm still thinking about this. Ciao, Emmanuele. -- Emmanuele Bassi - <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Log: http://log.emmanuelebassi.net _______________________________________________ gnome-i18n mailing list gnome-i18n@gnome.org http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/gnome-i18n
