On May 15, 2008, at 17:42 , jonathon wrote:
If you are using OOo 3.0, you have to learn to program in half a dozen languages, to install your dictionary. This is because it was deemed that dictionary.lst was "too difficult to hand edit."
Because somebody MADE it too difficult? Basically, unless the Wizard is vastly smarter in 3.0 than exists in 2.4, OO is effectively unable to use any dictionaries that don't come pre-packaged specifically for OO. FWIW, it was interesting to discover that there are over 80 MB of installed but unused dictionaries taking up valuable disk space. If they're already installed, why does the wizard even exist?
If you are using OOo 2.4, or lower: * Find a file called dictionary.lst;
Sadly, my paper was due before before i was able to work through all this; i had to complete it with half of every page marked in red underlines. Nonetheless, i will offer up this travelogue of my experiences for anybody else who wishes to travel into the jungle. In the immortal words of the Grateful Dead: "What a long, strange trip it's been"! Also, since my attempt to get OO to recognize this dictionary was ultimately unsuccessful, it might be useful as forensic information.
On the Mac, OO keeps *two* files called dictionary.lst: there is one inside the application bundle [/Applications/OpenOffice.org 2.4.app/ Contents/share/dict/ooo/, in my case] and another in the home directory ["~/Library/Application Support/OpenOffice.org/2/user/ wordbook/"]. The wordbook directory, strangely enough, held only dictionary.lst, DicOOo.lst, Standard.dic, and something called Chemistry.dic. None of these were proper list files, the first only contained datestamps, the second was a pointer to the Wizard script. The last two were some sort of binary. I guess the existence of Chemistry.dic must be a hangover from the aborted attempt to use the Wizard.
So the "ooo" folder held all the dictionary files mentioned previously, though i will mention that i didn't have a single file ending in .dct. Rather, those all ended in .dic [just like the file i was trying to add]. Anyway, i copied the new dictionary over, edited the lst file as you mentioned, started OO again, and typed some chemical nomenclature. The result: more red lines. As i've said, it's too late for this semester. Next time i need to write a technical paper i'll probably give koffice a try.
-- Using a rusty Amiga 4000T, a shiny PowerMac G5, & a homebuilt Ubuntu box It's 2008. Where are all the flying cars? I was promised flying cars! --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
