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