LATEST VERSION INFO THREAD - Mobysaurus Thesaurus - 1.0.55 - Jan 30, 2007

[Wordzilla]

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

WEBSITE: http://www.donationcoder.com/Software/Other/mobysaurus, http://www.mobysaurus.com

Direct Download: http://www.donationcoder.com/Software/Other/mobysaurus/moby_thesaurus.exe
Online Help: http://www.donationcoder.com/Help/6/



LATEST SOFTWARE RELEASE

v1.0.55 - 1/30/07

• Added: "Auto-run and Minimize-to-tray when Windows starts" option
• Additional options during installation
• Bug fix: auto-complete query

v1.0.5 - 1/14/07

• New feature: Auto-detect word spelling variants and inflectional forms
• Added Back/Forward buttons

v1.0.45 - 11/24/06

• Safe Search - allows you to show/hide vulgar and offensive words.   Thanks to Cavalcader and Tomos
• Improved error logging and reporting for troubleshooting and product support
• Auto-updater checker (if enabled) will only prompt once on the same day
• Fully remembers window status across sessions
• Menu bar items re-arranged
• Important Bug Fix     Thanks to our beloved mouser  
  Windows 98/SE Users:
  A bug in the license management module of the previous Mobysaurus Thesaurus was found to cause the program to crash on load. This version addresses this issue.
  Other operating systems are not reported to be affected by this bug.

v1.0.41 - 11/16/06

This release is intended to fix a bug in version 1.0.4 that might display annoying error messages in certain cases.

• Adds auto-complete feature
• Adds The Free Dictionary to Search Engines
• Allows looking up words and phrases in your default (external) browser easily via the menu bar or context menus
• Allows displaying more than one row of tabs, see "Options"
• Easily switch tabs with F1-F5 hotkeys
• "Shift + Enter to launch WordWeb" automatical tooltip is disabled

v1.0.37 - 11/06/06

• Performance improvements
• Improved updater module
• minor bug fixes

v1.0.36 - 10/24/06

• Changed wording: "root" -> "headword"
• Improvements and minor bug fixes

v1.0.35 - 10/19/06

• Added "Suggest Roots" tab for users to find desired roots easily
• Compacted database (size)

v1.0.30 - 10/10/06

• Faster startup
• Added ability to remember last search engine
• Added WordZilla to search engines
• Click to automatically select word, no need to double click now
• Removed "risky" collaborative editing link
• Minor bug fixes and improvements.

v1.0.27 - 9/23/06

• Added the ability to remember/restore the window size and splitter locations of the last session.
• Fixed a bug in wildcard search which may cause the program to fail.
• Some minor bug fixes and improvements.

v1.0.25 - 9/21/06

• Major addition: System-wide (customizable) hotkey support + auto-capturing highlighted word/phrase in almost any program.
• Faster start-up and better performance.
• Better WordWeb support. (now detects "system32" folder too, single instance lookup, close all WordWeb windows upon exit, etc.)
• Added "Close to Tray" option.
• Additional functions in sys tray shortcut menu.

v1.0.20 - 9/15/06

Thanks to Cavalcader and cemole

• Added WordWeb support.
• Improve suggestion-as-you-type feature for better performance.
• Added search query auto-completion function
• Added option to keep search history (both dropdown and in history tab) across sessions
• Added "Double click to display shortcut menu", "Look up in WordWeb" options
• Fixed an auto-updater bug.

Features:






v1.0.15 - 9/11/06

• Added "Check for Updates" - with an option to auto-check for updates when idle.
• Fixed a bug which in some cases would cause the program to fail when launch from another program.

v1.0.10 - 9/7/06

Thanks to cemole

• Added "Minimize to Tray" Option
• Added auto-navigation after search
• Updated a few hard-coded web links
• Disabled auto-updater

v1.0.00 - 8/16/06

• Initial Release

[cemole]

Mobysaurus,
Wow, there is already another update to 1.0.15 which includes a direct link to WordWeb which was suggested before. I think that's pretty nice for people who have it but not relevant for others.

[cemole]

Is it possible to remember the last search engine for online look-ups? I guess everyone has their favorites and it may or may not be Wikipedia. Also I think it could be an option to whether to use the embedded browser within Moby T (which is good as a default) or use some other web browser.

And a personal request of mine maybe: Minimize to Tray on Close.

Thank you.

[cemole]

There are many suggestions in Moby T for words one looks up. Sometimes it gets difficult to differentiate between words when they're all together, separated by a comma. I was wondering whether having a bold comma or listing words one under the other maybe in columns would be a easier on the eye to go through the list.
Thank you.

[Wordzilla]

Mobysaurus,
Wow, there is already another update to 1.0.15 which includes a direct link to WordWeb which was suggested before. I think that's pretty nice for people who have it but not relevant for others.

Well, since WordWeb has a very decent free version, very neat and fast, I think many ppl will take advantage of it.

It's a good thing that with wordweb installed, you can almost instantly look up unfamiliar words and phrase in WordWeb from the Mobysaurus Thesaurus program. Actually saves a lot of time for the user if he's got many unfamiliar words since he no longer has to switch windows or open some big bulky dictionary software which takes more than 5 seconds to load - WordWeb just pops up instantly.

Also wrt the Mobysaurus Dictionary, I'm yet to make actual plans for it, however definitely we r going to have one, and hopefully based on an online collaboratively maintained English dictionary database.

- Anderson

[Wordzilla]

Is it possible to remember the last search engine for online look-ups? I guess everyone has their favorites and it may or may not be Wikipedia.

Yes, maybe I'll try to implement this feature in the next version, together with the ability to allow users to add their own favorite search entries.

Also I think it could be an option to whether to use the embedded browser within Moby T (which is good as a default) or use some other web browser.

Not yet sure how to do it in the best way that it won't confuse the user, since we already have the "Find Online" tab. It should be a desired tweak coz IE sometimes renders pages too slow.

And a personal request of mine maybe: Minimize to Tray on Close.

I think I'll add this option in the next version, but leave it unchecked by default.


- Anderson

[Wordzilla]

There are many suggestions in Moby T for words one looks up. Sometimes it gets difficult to differentiate between words when they're all together, separated by a comma.

Yeah, same feeling here. With a database so huge (however by no means comprehensive enough, hehe), it's oftentimes dazzling to see so many words generate from a single query. 

I was wondering whether having a bold comma or listing words one under the other maybe in columns would be a easier on the eye to go through the list.

Not sure whether the bold comma method would help but displaying words in a scrollable long list could be a nice option.

I'm very interested in avoiding killing ppl's eyes with overwhelming amounts of synonyms
So if you are a moby user and not happy with how moby displays synonyms or have some nice ideas, just post it and let us know. Thank you! 

[Cavalcader]

I would toss in a vote for a columnar list, maybe 2-3 across or something to conserve space or see more at once. (That might be tricky to set up for different font sizes or faces, though.) I think it's the ragged nature of the synonym rows that makes it a little tough to read -- it's just kinda dense.

Is there any way to "tell" the program where WordWeb is? It's saying it can't find it installed here, but it's in a very straightforward "c:\program files\wordweb" dir. 

BTW, thanks for the mention up top!

[Wordzilla]

Is there any way to "tell" the program where WordWeb is? It's saying it can't find it installed here, but it's in a very straightforward "c:\program files\wordweb" dir. 

Hmm... can you give me more details wrt your OS and WordWeb version? 

Thanks!


p.s. The program detects the existence of "wweb32.dll" in "windir" (windows environment variable, usually "c:\windows", "c:\winnt") to determine whether WordWeb is installed. However older versions of WordWeb (like v2.2) installs the dll into the "system32" folder so Moby won't be able to detect its installation.

Tested to work with WordWeb 4.0 and above (current version is 4.5)

- Anderson

[Cavalcader]

No, it's current -- WW 4.5a, but it's been upgraded over the years, so (good catch!) it is in system32 (XP Pro SP2). Betcha other folks will get snagged on that one too. I went ahead and moved mine -- thanks for the tip!

BTW, it's really cool that you pass WW the current/active word -- please do consider assigning a hotkey to the WW menu item.   It's very classy too that it offers to take you to download the latest version if it doesn't find it installed.

Oh, here's a thought: please think about a way to see if WW is already running (right now it just opens a new instance). Not a huge problem, but I tried it just to see.   Here're some details:

Info & sample code

Programmers: Using WordWeb from your programs

You can either use the command line, send a message to the system tray icon (which will show WordWeb as though the use had clicked on it on the system tray), or you can call the WordWeb DLL that is installed to the Windows or Windows System folder.

If your software is widely distributed and you add support for WordWeb, please e-mail wordweb@wordweb.info. to be added to a mailing list so you can be informed of new versions and test compatibility before public release.

Command Line (requires WordWeb version 2.2 or higher)

You can use the Windows RUNDLL32 program to invoke WordWeb thus:

  Rundll32  WWEB32.DLL,ShowRunDLL word_to_lookup

Running the above from the command shell would show WordWeb with the word “word_to_lookup” selected. This can be empty, and also a multi-part phrase.

Show from the system tray (requires WordWeb version 2.2 or higher)
[note: must already be running in the notification area  - cc]

Send the wm_WordWebShowAtom message to the tray window, which is called “WordWeb Tray Icon”. WParam should be a global atom containing the word to look up. LParam should be the handle to the main window of the calling program if you want to enable word replacement, otherwise zero. WordWeb will delete the atom, do not delete it from your code.

If the Copy/Replace button is clicked, and LParam<>0, the LParam window is sent the wm_WordWebShowAtom message (with LParam being the atom containing the replacement word). WordWeb will delete the atom, do not delete it from your code.

Both WParam and LParam can be zero. Here is some sample code:


H:=FindWindow(‘WordWeb Tray Icon’,’WordWeb Tray Icon’);
If H<>0 then

Begin
SetForegroundWindow(H); // So WordWeb can activate
wm_WordWebShowAtom :=RegisterWindowMessage('WordWebShowAtom');
LoopupWord:=’test’;
SendMessage(H,wm_WordWebShowAtom,GlobalAddAtom(PChar(LookupWord)),Self.Handle);

end else {... WordWeb not found}

You then also need to write a message handler for the Self.Handle window to process the wm_WordWebShowAtom message and replace the lookup word with ReplaceWord obtained from GlobalGetAtomName(WParam, ReplaceWord, 255). This should return quickly as the message is sent, not posted.

Using the DLL

Here’s what the Borland Pascal/Delphi declarations for the DLL function call look like in case you choose this method to show WordWeb (always produces a new window, even if one is already showing). This is also available in WordWeb version 1.6x.

function ShowModalWordWeb(InP,OutP:PChar; CloseOnCopy:Boolean; AParent:Integer): Boolean; stdcall;

Shows WordWeb modally - i.e. it shows the window but waits for the window to close before returning. InP functions the same as P in ShowWordWeb. OutP points to a buffer to contain any selected word (the buffer should be 255 bytes long). CloseOnCopy determines whether the function returns with the selected word when the user presses the copy button. If this is true, pressing Copy closes the window, OutP contains the selected word and the function returns true. If WordWeb is closed by pressing Close the function returns false.

[Wordzilla]

No, it's current -- WW 4.5a, but it's been upgraded over the years, so (good catch!) it is in system32 (XP Pro SP2). Betcha other folks will get snagged on that one too. I went ahead and moved mine -- thanks for the tip!

hehe, I really shouldn't have you digg into your system32 folder and drag that file out, already 3,000 files out there, not fun! 

Fixed in v1.0.22 Beta.

BTW, it's really cool that you pass WW the current/active word -- please do consider assigning a hotkey to the WW menu item.   It's very classy too that it offers to take you to download the latest version if it doesn't find it installed.

Actually there is a top-secreeet one - SHIFT + ENTER

Have been shamelessly keeping this to myself coz the online documentation is not completed yet. 

Oh, here's a thought: please think about a way to see if WW is already running (right now it just opens a new instance). Not a huge problem, but I tried it just to see.   Here're some details:

Thanks! That's so thoughtful of you! I couldn't manage to get it work well with Moby this way but -

Check out the latest Beta and tell me if you think Moby offers more than that. 

[Cavalcader]

hehe, I really shouldn't have you digg into your system32 folder and drag that file out, already 3,000 files out there, not fun!

Ehh, not a problem.   Just type the first few letters of the DLL and there it is. Besides, it's only about 2100, unless you count subdirs, in which case it's over 7k. Heh!

Fixed in v1.0.22 Beta.

Thanks! That should eliminate a bunch of yells for help. 

Actually there is a top-secreeet one - SHIFT + ENTER
Have been shamelessly keeping this to myself coz the online documentation is not completed yet.

Ah hah! How rude.   Works great, thanks!

I couldn't manage to get it work well with Moby this way but -
Check out the latest Beta and tell me if you think Moby offers more than that.

That looks like a good solution -- I checked to make sure it doesn't close any WW windows it didn't open, and it does pay attention to that as well. Great job!

[Wordzilla]

OK, after a series of rapid-fire updates, guess it's good time to work on the documentation stuff, and of course - the online collaborative Moby!

http://thesaurus.mobyword.com (still under construction, thou all Moby entries have been wikized, so try searching some words)

[Cavalcader]

Looks nice so far -- did a search on thesaurus.    It matches the offline version, but there's some unusual synonyms for that particular word!

Entry ID: 26661 (Please DO NOT MODIFY this Tracking ID)


Root: thesaurus

Synonyms:

    * armory
    * arsenal
    * biographical dictionary
    * cache
    * chemical dictionary
    * desk dictionary
    * dialect dictionary
[...]
    * dictionary of quotations
    * electronics dictionary
[...]
    * foreign-language dictionary
    * gazetteer
    * general dictionary
    * geological dictionary
[...]
    * rhyming dictionary
    * science dictionary
[...]
    * unabridged dictionary

Also, I'm guessing there'll be a color code for the results that just hasn't been posted yet?

[cemole]

I think the dates on the update are off Today is the 23rd! Also the version on the Donationcoder homepage is 1.0.27. I wouldn't be surprised that Mobysaurus has that ready to go actually judging by the way he updates Moby T.

[Wordzilla]

I think the dates on the update are off Today is the 23rd!

Thank you!    Silly mistake of mine, how embarassing... LOL 

[Cavalcader]

Silly mistake of mine, how embarassing... LOL

Yeah! You're not allowed to be human -- what in the world were you thinking?

[cemole]

Hi Mobysaurus,

I have a problem with the hotkey: I can't get it to work. My understanding is that it can either be used to search for a word in Moby T or start-up the application. Is this correct? I've tried different combinations of keys and enabled it (of course) to no avail.

Also another minor thing although it can be frustrating. Whenever the program has to launch a browser, it's always Internet Explorer instead of my default application (Firefox). I've checked my settings and have Firefox set as my default application. I don't have this problem with any other application either. Any suggestions why this might be happening?

Are you planning on maybe including the ability for user's to add their own words/definitions/dictionaries etc. to the Moby T. database?

[Wordzilla]

I have a problem with the hotkey: I can't get it to work. My understanding is that it can either be used to search for a word in Moby T or start-up the application. Is this correct?

Well, largely my fault for not yet having any documentation published.    (Been too busy visiting folks these week, and hope I can catch up with my regular moby work asap.)

The hotkey (default Ctrl+Alt+A) is for you to show moby when it's minimized in the tray or not being the active window, in other words, you must have Moby running to use the key combinations.

And it's not used to lookup a word inside the Moby program, but words in other programs (like Word) other than Moby.

For example, let's say I have Moby minimized in the tray now, and am editing this post on DC forum in Firefox. I select a word here from my editing window and press the hotkey, then Moby pops up from the tray area and automatically shows me synonyms for the word I selected. (without having me to first copy the word to clipboard, then call Moby manually from tray and paste the word into the search box and click enter.)

I got the idea from WordWeb and it's been saving me a lota time. 

Also another minor thing although it can be frustrating. Whenever the program has to launch a browser, it's always Internet Explorer instead of my default application (Firefox). I've checked my settings and have Firefox set as my default application. I don't have this problem with any other application either. Any suggestions why this might be happening?

FF's also my default browser (abs. no favor over IE here ) but I can't seem to reproduce the problem you mentioned on my PCs. Lemme look into it thou.

Are you planning on maybe including the ability for user's to add their own words/definitions/dictionaries etc. to the Moby T. database?

It'd be great if Moby allows the user to make additions/changes to the db some time. I know this feature is a must but don't yet have a detailed plan for it. It seems to me a somewhat complicated process since you have to validate user's inputs, protect the database from corruption, index mods and new entries, etc.

Btw, the Moby database is to be updated every month from November on, based on the changes we make on WordZilla.org. If you are interested, just register as a wiki user on the site and make changes to whichever entry you want, v easy. 

[cemole]

The hotkey (default Ctrl+Alt+A) is for you to show moby when it's minimized in the tray or not being the active window, in other words, you must have Moby running to use the key combinations.

And it's not used to lookup a word inside the Moby program, but words in other programs (like Word) other than Moby.

For example, let's say I have Moby minimized in the tray now, and am editing this post on DC forum in Firefox. I select a word here from my editing window and press the hotkey, then Moby pops up from the tray area and automatically shows me synonyms for the word I selected. (without having me to first copy the word to clipboard, then call Moby manually from tray and paste the word into the search box and click enter.)

I get nothing when I use the hotkey combination (selected as Ctrl+Alt+A and enabled). I've tried in Word as well as FF as you have suggested but nada! Could there be an issue because I installed Moby as a user with limited privileges?

[Wordzilla]

I get nothing when I use the hotkey combination (selected as Ctrl+Alt+A and enabled). I've tried in Word as well as FF as you have suggested but nada! Could there be an issue because I installed Moby as a user with limited privileges?

That's strange since I tested it on my other laptop w/o seeing any problem.
It seems to me unlikely that the user privilege thing's getting in the way, but could you try installing it as administrator?


btw, if anybody else experiences this problem, post here and let us know, thanks!

[cemole]

That's strange since I tested it on my other laptop w/o seeing any problem.
It seems to me unlikely that the user privilege thing's getting in the way, but could you try installing it as administrator?

Well, apparently something else was blocking the keyboard combination. I changed it Ctrl + Alt + Q and it worked. Sorry for something that isn't.

[Wordzilla]

Well, apparently something else was blocking the keyboard combination. I changed it Ctrl + Alt + Q and it worked. Sorry for something that isn't.

Hah, probably it was my fault in part. Moby 1.0.30 only registers hotkey once (when u start the program or activate another hotkey), so if you have Moby running and launch another program which registers the same key combination - the hotkey will no longer work for Moby.

I coded v1.0.35 to renew its system hotkey registration periodically. 

[Wordzilla]

I'm a bit excited about this new "Suggest Roots" tab in v1.0.35. 

Basically, it performs a full-text search into the database, displaying whatever entries that contain the search input - as simple as it sounds.

It allows you to drop in almost any word that comes to your mind first, and let the program find appropriate roots. After that you just pick one or more roots to start with. It really saves a lot of time spent thinking "what would be the best root".

For example, I have this "fancy talk" word in my mind right and nah - it's not a root/headword, so in this case, I have to think and think again for a more general term related to "fancy talk" which hopefully is a root and therefore will show more synonyms for "fancy talk". A fair amount of time could be wasted during this and sometimes it gets frustrating.

Now we have "Suggest Roots"!

e.g., suggested roots for "fancy talk": big talk, bullshit, buncombe, bunk, bunkum, fish story, gas, hot air, tall story

[mouser]

cool !