ANN: knQuiz 0.5

[ashikase]

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).

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

[PeterL]

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.

[ashikase]

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, 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

[ashikase]

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

[Cryssli]

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.

[ashikase]

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:

Code: [Select]

# 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

[ShiroiKuma]

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?

[ashikase]

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

[ShiroiKuma]

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?

[ashikase]

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

[ShiroiKuma]

Cool, looking forward to it...  

[ashikase]

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

[Mukei]

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 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ashikase]

Ok, I decided to release a small update to take care of the font/sizing issues.

From the history file:

Code: [Select]

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

[nanpanman]

Hi, I made some flashcard sets for knQuiz:

• The jouyou kanji (as tought in japanese schools) according to grade.
• The Kanji according to frequency of use.

Enjoy!

Ashikase: Are you planning to add support for compound kanji (linked to edict) in future releases of your excellent knQuiz program?