T T T
»Science may set limits to knowledge, but should not set limits to imagination.« — Bertrand Russell

dict.cc Plugin for OS X's Dictionary.App

I just wrote a little Python script that imports the vocabulary data from Paul Hemetsberger's dict.cc project into Leopard's Dictionary.app.
This is great if you need this fabulous online dictionary while on the move.

Update: A new and much easier installable version can be found here.

Screenshot of the <code />dict.cc Plugin
Screenshot of the dict.cc Plugin

The code is quick 'n dirty and some strings aren't processed correctly. This is compensated by the links to OS X's build-in New Oxford American Dictionary.

Regrettably dict.cc's license prohibits redistributing the vocabulary database. So, if you want to use Dictionary.app to translate words from german to english you'll have to build it yourself:

  • get my script (just email me, about 50k download it below)
  • Join the Apple Developer Connection and get the OS X Developer Tools (approx. 1 Gig)
  • get dict.cc's Database
  • Type make and grab a cup of coffee :)

Update: From now on you can import de-en, en-de, or both databases into Dictionary.App.

Update 2: Script is now downloadable. Get it below.
Follow the instructions in Readme.txt and don't forget that you'll need dictionary data from dict.cc and Apple's Developer Tools.

Update 3: It also works inside OS X's Dictionary widget :)

Screenshot of dict.cc in OS X's dictionary widget

Update 4: A new and much easier installable version can be found here.

Documentation of the Dictionary Development Kit

AttachmentSize
dictplugin-distrib.zip7.25 KB
noam661 said 15 weeks 21 hours ago:

Thanks for sharing mate. I was looking for the new version.

2008-08-07 8:16
Matt Serwin said 10 weeks 1 day ago:

Thanks for the info, that is a cool feature.

2008-09-10 20:43
Anonymous said 7 weeks 4 days ago:

why dont you simply link to the file, and not to a web page which linx to another webpage? and so on? like with warez

2008-09-28 20:38
lipflip said 7 weeks 4 days ago:
lipflip's picture

historical reasons. this page is the blog post announcing the plugin, later on i set up a “timeless” landing-page with additional information, installation/deinstallation instructions etc.. good point, though. i’ll set up an redirect…

2008-09-29 0:28

Post new comment

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
  • Allowed HTML tags: <a> <em> <strong> <cite> <code> <ul> <ol> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd> <i> <b> <p> <blockquote> <q>
  • You can use Markdown syntax to format and style the text. Also see and Markdown Extra for tables, footnotes, and more.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Image CAPTCHA
Copy the characters (respecting upper/lower case) from the image.
© Philipp Brauner / About / Contact & Feedback