Configuration:Create Dictionary

The computer checks the validity of placed words with every move (if not running in challenge mode) and asks for confirmation in case of unknown words. To avoid those queries and to let the computer participate in the game a comprehensible dictionary is essential.

The dictionary is just a simple text file with a formatting according the [[wikipedia:INI_file|ini file format], but with the ending .dic. The program is capable to read different encodings but will always save in UTF-8 format.

If a dictionary is saved by the program, which happens after any change, the content will be encrypted. The corresponding [Key] must not get changed.

Configuration of the header and applying of categories

General information are provided at the top, using the [Header] identification. Data on Author and Version will be shown in the configuration dialog. You can enter more information here, like licensing or comments as well, but not all will be recognized and used by Scrabble3D. If the standard category should get a different name as Standard, you may enter it at StandardCategory=<Name>. In case of an encrypted dictionary the [Key] to decode it follows. Don't touch this generated value. Words can be assigned to categories, whose names are listed in the section [Categories]. Up to 255 categories can be used. The assignment of words to a particular category is done by the number. The section [Words] contains all words. Letters are capitalized on reading. Every line corresponds to a word. If the word is followed by an equal sign the rest of the line (or up to the semicolon) describes the meaning of this word. If a semicolon follows the number identifies the category as defined in the section above.

[Header] Author=John Doe Version=0.0.1 Licence=GPL Comment=Just a demo StandardCategory=Nouns [Categories] 1=Verb 2=Adjective [Words] AA AARDVARK=an African anteater ABDUCE=to abduct;1 ADDITIVELY=;2

In the example the word AA has no meaning and is assigned to the standard category "Nouns". The second word AARDVARK got a meaning but no special category again. And the next two words are assigned to the category 1 (Verb) and 2 (Adjective) with or without a description.

Handling of digraphs

Dictionary that contains of digraphs or trigraphs needs special treatment. For a proper use of those multi characters letters you have to configure the letter set accordingly. For example, the Spanish Scrabble rules show the digraphs CH, LL, and RR as single character on one tile. Since it's not possible to enter the character directly, the dictionary replaces them by 1, 2, and 3. That means entries in the section [Words] like LLAMAR or CHAMPURRA are represented as 2AMAR and 1AMPU3A respectively. And to show digraphs instead of the number the dictionary adds a section [Replace] with the content 1=CH 2=LL 3=RR. In this case, the letter set uses 1..3 for letters. You can use any character for replacement.

[Header] Version=100003 Author=MIO StandardCategory=Conforme al DRAE License=Creative Commons NC3 Release=2010-05-21 Comentario=Los dígrafos CH, LL y RR han sido reemplazados por 1, 2 y 3 respectivamente. [Replace] 1=CH 2=LL 3=RR [Categories] [Words] 2AMAR 1AMPU3A

Integration of letter set

In case of a dictionary that does not have an inbuilt letter set or if you define a very specific dictionary like math, it could be useful to add the appropriate standard letter set to the dictionary. If a distribution is provided with the dictionary, the program will check the current configuration after loading the dictionary and applies it on confirmation. The parameter are specified at section [Header] with the (exact) key words [Letters], [Values], and [Counts]. The example shows the section from the "math" dictionary

[Header] ... Letters=⁼,0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,−,×,÷,+,.,!,^,²,³,√,∜,∞,>,< Values=0,3,1,2,4,3,3,4,5,4,4,6,6,7,6,8,10,9,10,10,7,10,10,10,10 Counts=18,6,10,8,7,7,7,7,6,6,6,4,4,3,4,3,1,1,1,1,3,1,1,1,1 ... [Words] −1+26×4⁼103=;3 −1+4×26⁼103=;3 ...