OESF Portables Forum
Everything Else => General Support and Discussion => Zaurus General Forums => Archived Forums => Software => Topic started by: ashikase on September 28, 2004, 10:28:38 pm
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knQuiz is a kanji quiz program based off of the quiz component of KanjiNirvana.
Features include:- support for VGA/QVGA
- stroke checking
- entry notes
- entries can be single kanji or kanji compounds
- study lists are stored as UTF-8 text files (with .knq extension)[/li]
Source files and the binary ipk are available from the NihongoNirvana Sourceforge page (here (http://sourceforge.net/projects/nihongonirvana/)).
Please note that this release is of beta quality, and still contains bugs. Any comments/suggestions/other feedback is greatly appreciated. I would especially like to hear from people with a 5x00 device, as I only have a C760 to test with.
- ashikase
anpachi, gifu, japan
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Hi Ashikase,
This is an absolutely wonderful program ! And it works fine, too. I like the way the strokes are coloured according to how ugly I wrote them Just a few minor quibbles.
- In portrait, the meaning window isn't always readable: with large descriptions, the scroll bars make the window so small it's unreadable.
- When I start it up in landscape view (c860 here), switch to portrait, then back to landscape, then the buttons (show - clear stroke - clear) are hidden under the taskbar !
- I seem to remember that the quiz regards a few strokes as 2 separate ones. I'm talking about e.g. stroke 7 of "to eat" (taberu). The hook back up is part of the stroke, not a separate one. Same for all kanji using this radical
But all in all, a program that I found was stable, and very very useful, and that I will use very frequently throughout my next 2 years of Japanese studies !
Peter.
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PeterL:
I've already fixed points 1 and 2... they will be in the next release.
As for point 3... the stroke recognition algorithm and database comes from Todd David Rudick's JavaDict (http://www.cs.arizona.edu/japan/JavaDict/), and has been modified and added to by several people over time. However, not all of the stroke order definitions are completely accurate (though it's hard to be 'accurate', as Japan's 'official' stroke order occasionally change over time). While I would like to improve the algorithm/database, it's probably the most complicated portion of my program. If you see any other strange stroke order problems, though, let me know, and hopefully I can fix the stroke definition file (/opt/QtPalmtop/knquiz/strokedict).
I will probably release another version of the program before the weekend; there's still a few more bugs I want to squash first, though.
- ashikase
anpachi, gifu, japan
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I just released version 0.6.
What's new: - fixed:
- rotation issue
- program now properly sizes itself when rotating
- scrollbar issue in reading/meaning/note fields
- display frame issue
- display frame would not expand/contract to handle contents
- problem with score label running off the screen
- problem that occurred when previously loaded file could not
be found[/li]
- added:
- option for left handed users
- 'leftHanded' in settings file
- option to specify location of dictionaries
- 'dictPath' in settings file[/li]
[/li]
You can get it at the SourceForge site listed in my original post.
- ashikase
anpachi, gifu, japan
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Hi,
how to use this software ??
When I start it, I´am first getting a message box ´Study list completed. Starting review round...´.
Then there shows up the knQuiz main-window with a big light-gray question mark on the top-left, a white square below and on the left-bottom. Between the tqo squares is a small textbox ´EDICT 25APR02 V02-001/Main Japanese-English´.
An the whole right is the handwriting-input-field.
Is this correct?
If I write something in the input-field should I press ´Show Answer´?
If I do this, I´am getting four black question marks instead of one light-gray and at the bottom besides ´Undo Stroke´and ´Clear´ two other buttons: ´Right´ and ´Wrong´.
Something is missing I think.
Can you please help me?
Would it be possible to use this program to test kana, because kanatest doesn´t work for me.
Thanks
Cryssli
PS: What is the ´Load´ and ´Save´ option good?
Also I suggest to make it possible to install it on SD or CF.
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Cryssli:
What version of knQuiz are you using? The problem that you desribe sounds like a bug that was fixed in 0.6.
To use the program, you must use 'Load' to load a study list. Some sample study lists are included with the program, and can be found in /home/zaurus/Documents/Quiz_Files. Study lists have a '.knq' extension.
The problem with question marks showing up could mean that you don't have your zaurus setup to show Japanese. But since it sounds like you might be using an old version, it could just be part of the bug that I mentioned.
As for using the program to test kana, technically it is possible. However, the included dictionaries only provide information for kanji and kanji compounds. Also, the stroke feedback only works for kanji; it wouldn't work for kana because kana - or at least hiragana - contains curved lines (the algorithm works for kanji because kanji can be defined in terms of straight lines).
You could write your own study list with notes, though, and use the notes for testing (notes show up in the third (bottom) text box in the program). The study lists are text files saved with UTF-8 encoding (the Zaurus's Text Editor has an option to save as UTF-8, under Code Preferences). As for the format of the file, each line represents one entry. The first word of the file is considered the entry itself, and anything following that is considered a note. So, for example:
# This is a comment
entry This is a note
? a
? ta and some other info
? some note
? wa
(the question marks above represent kana characters... apparently this forum's software isn't Japanese-language friendly)
Note that the save/save as features are currently not implemented. I plan to make it possible to edit the notes field during the quiz, and be able to save the study list with the new notes. I also plan to make it possible to add entries to a list by simply pasting them into the program (or by adding them from the new version of Kanji Nirvana that I am working on).
Finally, about installing to CF/SD... I haven't tried doing this, so I didn't know that it couldn't be done. I will look into it. In the meantime, in 0.6 you can specify where the dictionary files are stored by changing the 'dictPath' settings in the knQuiz settings file (~/Settings/knquiz.conf). With this, you could move the dictionary files (/opt/QtPalmtop/knquiz/*) to CF/SD.
Please let me know how it turns out.
- ashikase
anpachi, gifu, japan
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I have the problem with the display in landscape mode always, even without rotation, it looks like this:
[img]http://shiroikuma.com/peiji/images/03.png\" border=\"0\" class=\"linked-image\" /]
Can you fix this, Ashikase?
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rehorrericha:
In that screenshot, what font is being used? Whatever font it is, it's taking up a lot more space than Sharp's default Japanese font (lcfont); it almost looks double-spaced.
The way my program is setup, it specifies a fixed number of lines for the reading/meaning/note boxes; in your case, your font is so big that the required number of lines won't fit on the screen.
I can modify the program to make the boxes fit on the screen, but that font would probably only allow a few lines (requiring lots of scrolling); in portrait mode, it would decrease the size of the drawing input area.
Fix or no fix, either way I'd recommend changing your font, if possible. If you need help doing it, let me know.
- ashikase
anpachi, gifu, japan
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Yeah, I've replaced the default lcfont with ArialUnicode font. The reason for this is, the lcfont is not a full unicode font and for some programs that I use, I need to display also Czech, Chinese, and other languages. These programs don't allow to chose the font that they use, hence they only use lcfont, so in order to display useful output, I had to rename the Arial Unicode to lcfont.
Is it possible to have a settings thing in knQuiz to pick which font, and which size you want to use?
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rehorrericha:
Sorry for taking so long to reply.
The next version takes care of the problem of the reading/meaning/note box sizing issue. It also introduces a feature that allows fonts to be scaled using the magnify/demagnify buttons (for those that don't have these buttons (5x00?), the font can also be adjusted by editing the settings file).
I should have the new version out within a couple of days, if not sooner.
- ashikase
anpachi, gifu, japan
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Cool, looking forward to it...
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The next version has quite a few changes (too many, actually), so it's taking me a bit longer than I thought. That, and I'm getting a little burned out (^_^;)
Sorry for the delay, hopefully will have the last few bugs wrapped up... let's just say soon.
- ashikase
anpachi, gifu, japan
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the later the better
anyway thank you so much for all you've already done !!!!
and for what you're going to offer us !!
THANK YOU !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Ok, I decided to release a small update to take care of the font/sizing issues.
From the history file:
VERSION 0.7:
- fixed:
- the reading/meaning/note fields are now no longer dependent on font
size
- this fixes issue where dialog boxes would grow too large to fit on
the screen
- made widget size modifications for QVGA mode
- misc. other fixes and optimizations (see CHANGELOG)
- added:
- the font size of the reading/meaning/note boxes can now be changed
using the 'magnify'/'demagnify' buttons
- the font setting is saved to the settings file (knquiz.conf)
- units without the magnify buttons can modify the font size by
editing the settings file
- the maximum allowed font size is 36pt
By the way, is anyone using this on a 5x00? I'm planning some changes to the dictionary classes, which will require Qt's EUC codec. Unfortunately, the U.S. models apparently don't have this codec enabled in libqte, which means that the next version of knQuiz may not work for those models. However, I've seen a replacement libqte floating around on zaurus-ja.sourceforge.jp... has anyone tried this?
- ashikase
anpachi, gifu, japan
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Hi, I made some flashcard sets for knQuiz:
- The jouyou kanji (http://www.get-set.net/zaurus/jouyou.zip) (as tought in japanese schools) according to grade.
- The Kanji according to frequency (http://www.get-set.net/zaurus/frequency.zip) of use.
Enjoy!
Ashikase: Are you planning to add support for compound kanji (linked to edict) in future releases of your excellent knQuiz program?
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nanpanman:
The current version (as well as all previously released versions) already includes support for compounds - try adding one to a study list.
knQuiz currently uses a reduced version of EDICT; in the next release, I want to include the full version, which is about 5 times as big. The problem is that, with the way that the program currently works, the entire dictionary gets read into memory; this can take up a lot of space (try checking knQuiz's memory usage). I'm currently working on improving the dictionary classes to reduce this.
Something else I plan to add is the option to include all reading/meaning information in the study list itself, and package the dictionaries as a separate, optional install. Not only would this relieve the memory requirements, it would also allow people to make their own custom lists (for example, lists for kana, lists using alternative definitions, etc.).
- ashikase
anpachi, gifu, japan
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The current version (as well as all previously released versions) already includes support for compounds - try adding one to a study list.
OK I will try it
Until now I just assumed it didn't support compounds because i looked at the sample.knq file with my editor and there were some compounds in here. but when i loaded it in knquiz the compounds were broken down into seperate kanji again.
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nanpanman:
knQuiz contains an option ('breakCompounds', in knquiz.conf) that will test the individual parts of a compound, in addition to the compound itself.
For example, if your list contains: (benkyou)
... it will test for: (benkyou), (ben), (kyou)
- ashikase
anpachi, gifu, japan
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nanpanman I saw you were french and actually I'm searching for any good french<>english dictionnary for the Zaurus... So may be ?
If you need a good japanese<>french dictionnary I have a great one ( & free). It's called Royal
You can use it on the Zaurus with Zten or on PPC, PC, ... with Buckinghame EB.
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ashikase: naruhodo! I loaded the sample.knq in knquiz again, but still i only get separate kanji... however, sometimes I it only shows only a dash with the buttons right/wrong, so maybe this is supposed to be the compound. I'm not using your latest version so I will upgrade to see If that fixes my compound problem (^^;;
mukei: french? how did you figure that out?? actually I am dutch
But if you are looking for a good french/english dictionary you can get one here (http://sourceforge.net/projects/bedic) for zbedic.
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I check the readme in your zip files and saw you CV (amazing one )
That's why I thought you were french sorry !!
Yes I'm french
thanks for the dictionary but I was searching for a free one...
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nanpanman:
Yes, make sure to get the latest version (0.7). The copy of edict in the previous version was accidentally truncated.
- ashikase
anpachi, gifu, japan
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Hi , I am having a serious bug with all versions
I use Cacko 1.21B. What is the font used by KnQuizz ? Lcfont ? Because I tried to replace it with a unifont font and it had no effect. Well keep up the good job ! (And I hope to be able to use this nice piece of soft soon ;p)
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The cacko rom doesn't come with a font that will display kanji, hiragana or katakana - you will have to install one and make the relavent links,then you'll probably need to reboot. If you have the latest version of kanji quiz you can edit the font list (as per the previous post)
Stu
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Actually, in the current version of knQuiz, the font size can be changed but not the font itself.
The problem is that the current version uses the default application font. The default font for the English locale does not support Japanese. The only fix is to either set your locale to Japanese, or to set your application font (somehow) to a font with Japanese support (lcfont, unifont).
I will try adding an option to the next version that will allow the font family to be set, so that the above work-arounds will not be necessary.
- ashikase
anpachi, gifu, japan
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Okay, I installed Knquiz 0.7 and now compounds work fine for me!
To celebrate this occasion I made some more studylists:
* kanji according to frequency use
* words according to frequency of use
* JLPT vocabulary according to level (1-4)
* jouyou kanji according to grade
* common words according to edict
I haven't tested all lists yet, so you could get mixed results.. (when a word is not in edict for example). Also I recommend to switch of the "break down compound" feature for lists that contain words written in both kanji and kana.
download studylists (http://www.get-set.net/zaurus/studylists.zip)
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nanpanman:
Yeah, there is a bug in the 'break compounds' feature for words that contain both kanji and kana; the kana gets added to the list as well. I'll fix this eventually (^_^)
- ashikase
anpachi, gifu, japan
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Hi,
I'd love to try out your program, and from the things that I've read here, it's very good! But I seem to be running into some problems
I have successfully installed knquiz 0.7, but I can't seem to load any of the study lists. Each time I try 'load' I only end up with a empty directory when I look in '/home/zaurus/Documents/Quiz_Files'. But I have checked there, and the directory does contain sample.knq, jlpt2.knq, jlpt3.knq and jlpt4.knq.
I'm not exactly sure what I'm doing wrong. I have tried downloading from another mirror, and reinstalling, but it didn't help. I have a C860 and I'm running the original Sharp ROM with the menus converted.
I hope I can get this working!
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Surreal:
Did you have any problems when installing it? It sounds like the postinst script failed.
At the end of the install, it should have registered the '.knq' extension with knQuiz. Try looking at the file "/opt/QtPalmtop/etc/mime-types"; it should contain a line that says:
application/knquiz knqIf that line is missing, add it.
Let me know if that fixes it.
- ashikase
anpachi, gifu, japan
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Thanks a lot ashikase! The problem was in the mime-types file. The installation appeared to be fine, but I guess an error did occurred somewhere.
I noticed when I edited the file that the text "application/knquiz knq" was there, but for some reason, it was appended to the end of the last line in the file, and not on a new line. That's the reason why it wasn't working, though I'm not sure how that could have happened.
Your program looks great so far
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Surreal:
It sounds like a previous program didn't properly append to the mime-types (it didn't append a new line). I'm curious... what was the mime-type right before knquiz?
- ashikase
anpachi, gifu, japan
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ashikase:
Hmm... that's intesting. The mime-type before knquiz is "application/x-rom rom". knquiz got appended at the end of the mime-types file, smashed in with that line above. Though I'm not 100% sure, I think this mime-type was for the palm emulator that I was playing with a little while ago. Thanks again for your help!
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I'm trying to run knquiz 0.7 on an SL-C3200.
The app just bombs out when trying to load a lesson. It's not a memory issue because I have a huge swap.
When I start it from console it just bombs out with no error message or completely locks up the Z.
What's wrong?
It didn't do this before on an 860 under Cacko.
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Solved this...
The app depends on lcfont. I had previously deleted lcfont from the system. If you copy the symlinks back, it works like a charm.