Oxford English Dictionary software comparison
Anthony Hope
OED cd-rom (see below) a few months ago, but -- although I'm not sure
that you could call me an "experienced" user of the electronic Oxford
English Dictionary -- I thought I'd send a follow-up anyway, because
it would be shame if no one responded to an article on what is, after
all, quite an important subject in the domain of English usage.
I've been using Version 1.10 of the OED cd-rom (for Windows) for a
while now, and I'm very happy with it. I too have heard horror stories
about Version 3, and they did put me off upgrading. Your detailed
account of the restrictions that the OUP have put on the usage of
Version 3 has convinced me that upgrading would be a bad idea -- as if
the cost alone weren't convincing enough. Thanks for the warning!
I'm also writing because I wanted to supply some info that might be of
use to Mac users. I recently switched from a PC to a Mac, and I
thought I would have to run the OED (if at all) under PC emulation.
But, although the OED does run perfectly well that way, it turns out
that the Macintosh version of the dictionary-access software -- which
is downloadable from the OUP website (link below) -- can read exactly
the same cd-rom as the Windows version. So I've been able to use the
Mac software (albeit only in 'Classic' mode on my OS X machine) to
access dictionary definitions off the cd-rom that came with the
Windows version of the OED. Neat.
http://www.oup.co.uk/ep/prodsupp/ref/oed2v1/#Q7
Oh, and here's another tip for Mac users: despite what the OED
documentation says, renaming your hard drive (or partition) and
copying the dictionary data file across isn't the only way to run the
OED off your hard disk. You can also make a disk image of the cd-rom
and run the OED off that. It's much quicker than reading from the
cd-rom drive, as you rightly point out, Robert. Plus, the disk-image
method saves you having to rename your hard drive just for the sake of
running one application, which I personally find quite unsettling.
Well, I hope this info has been of use to someone. Until the OUP see
sense and release a more affordable upgrade -- or an affordable newer
version -- of the OED (their handling of the long-awaited Third
Edition will be a real test of their mettle), I'll be sticking with my
trusty (and remarkably flexible) old Version 1.
AH
> From: Robert Holmgren
> Newsgroups: alt.english.usage
> Subject: Oxford English Dictionary software comparison
> Date: Sun, 02 Mar 2003 23:46:54 -0500
> Message-ID: <ptm56vkgnn7dir8tt...@4ax.com>
>
> Recently I had an opportunity to observe the new OED Version 3
> software in use. I own Version 1 of the OED Second Edition software,
> and my impression is that the new Version 3 is not much improved --
> that in several respects it is, in fact, inferior. Perhaps
> more experienced users would care to respond to the
> following observations (admittedly based on a very brief
> experience)? I'm trying to discover whether there is any
> good reason to upgrade from v1 to v3 (at a cost of USD
> 125.00).
>
> OUP seems to have transformed the engine into bloatware on a
> massive scale. Whereas v1 fit on a diskette (just under 2
> million bytes), v3 is now about 1 billion 70 million bytes,
> not including dictionary data (about 530 times larger!).
> This amounts to the biggest application I have ever seen --
> much bigger than any modern operating system -- and *NOT*
> including the dictionary data!
>
> Ordinary lookups seem slower, and to consume much more
> random access memory. Speed declines markedly when other
> applications are running. In contrast, v1 is lean and fast.
>
> v1.10 (but not v1.13 or v1.14) could be installed entirely
> on a hard disk. No "validation" of the data disk was
> required. v1.10 could be networked (OUP says that v3 cannot
> be networked). v1 ran on a Macintosh.
>
> Installation and operation of the C-Dilla security system in
> v3 is not documented by OUP. I have read genuinely scary
> stories about C-Dilla, including that it writes to areas of
> the hard disk MBR (Master Boot Record) that are not used by
> Windows, but which can interfere with both OS/2's Logical
> Volume Manager and with Linux (affecting dual boot computers
> such as mine). I have read reports that C-Dilla slows down
> disk reads and writes of unrelated applications. C-Dilla
> was insinuated into TurboTax several months ago, causing a
> firestorm of protest, malfunctioning computers, and rapid
> withdrawal of C-Dilla by the publisher. How C-Dilla works
> specifically with the OED, I don't know -- because OUP says
> nothing about it (which strikes me as irresponsible, and not
> befitting a great University Press).
>
> During the v1 era, to the query "Can I copy the OED2 data-
> file to my hard drive?", OUP famously responded:
>
> Yes, but we don't recommend it. The data on the
> CD-ROM is compressed and optimized for retrieval
> off the CD-ROM. You will not notice a significant
> increase in speed when retrieving from the hard drive.
>
> Which is, of course, sheer nonsense (as hundreds of users
> subsequently proved): it is *immensely* faster to retrieve
> data from a hard disk than from a CD-ROM. Soon thereafter,
> OUP introduced v1.13, which disallowed hard disk operation
> altogether. New documents were posted on their website
> claiming that the OED could not be run from the hard disk,
> period -- a blatant falsehood. It seems to me that OUP is
> much more concerned with protecting their intellectual
> property rights than with facilitating use of the OED, no
> matter how high our cost (about USD 400 in those days).
> Now, of course, v3 can be installed to hard disk, but you
> need to revalidate every 90 days by inserting the physical
> CD-ROM (which means that if you run multiple machines, e.g.
> desktops at more than one location plus travel notebooks,
> you need to shlep the physical CD wherever you go -- no such
> limitation with v1).
>
> The v3 box claims "ADVANCED SEARCH CAPABILITIES". How do
> these capabilities differ from v1? I see little or no
> difference.
>
> I read in newsgroups that v3 will not run under any Virtual
> PC implementations (Novell, Linux, OS/2, Apple, etc). v1
> ran everywhere.
>
> The v3 capacity to "auto-search from the clipboard" is
> welcome. About 25% of the time, however, these searches run
> into a dead end -- a screen that says "No entries found".
> Incredibly (for an HTML or SGML application), I can find no
> Back button, to restore the previous screen! I'm stuck in a
> cul de sac, with no keyboard shortcut enabling escape and
> restoration of the last-previous lookup (whence this dead
> end link originated). In v1 the previous screen is still
> displayed. Am I missing something?
>
> Similarly, I can't find any way to adjust Font Size. On a
> 1400x1050 pixel screen, the default font size is too small
> for my old eyes. Font Size adjustments in v1 were front and
> center. I hope I'm wrong, but I can't find any Font
> controls whatsoever.
>
> Each Quotation in v1 appeared on a separate line (a line
> break after every quote). They were easy to scan visually.
> In v3, quotations are displayed bunched together in a single
> "paragraph". Much less readable and legible, in my opinion.
> Indeed, if you run v1 and v3 side-by-side, v1 appears (to my
> eye) much more elegant.
>
> The Additions are billed as a major new feature of v3. In
> fact, they seem to me to be very thin and insubstantial.
> Most of the time, there aren't any Additions; in those rare
> cases where they exist, they aren't integrated into the main
> dictionary, but simply tacked on like afterthoughts.
>
> In sum, I question whether this "upgrade" is worthwhile, or
> anything more than an attempt by OUP to provide a fresh
> income stream. I profoundly object to paying through the
> nose and yet being treated like a potential criminal under
> layers of security. Somehow I doubt that Murray, Onions, et al.
> would approve. I'd enjoy very much to know what more experienced
> users think.
>
> ---------------
> Robert Holmgren
Robert Holmgren
>Hi, Robert.
Hi Anthony.
> I recently switched from a PC to a Mac, and I thought I
> would have to run the OED (if at all) under PC emulation.
> But, although the OED does run perfectly well that way,
> it turns out that the Macintosh version of the
> dictionary-access software -- which is downloadable from
> the OUP website (link below) -- can read exactly the same
> cd-rom as the Windows version.
Hah! Very illuminating. When I bought the OED (2nd Ed.) v1
(from amazon.com, I think, back in 1997 or 1998), OUP
marketed separate packages for Mac and Windows. The
implication was that a buyer had to choose, or else purchase
twice -- at USD 395 a pop. So it's genuine news that the
dictionary data CDs are identical, and moreover that the Mac
software is freely available (never, to my knowledge,
offered in America).
> I've been able to use the Mac software (albeit only in
> 'Classic' mode on my OS X machine) to access dictionary
> definitions off the cd-rom that came with the Windows
> version of the OED. Neat.
Neat indeed. What are the constraints of Classic mode?
Does it hamper other programs, or is it merely a curiosity
(like 16 bit vs. 32 bit on Windows)? Do you have to reboot
to quit Classic mode? I'm curious (I intend to get a G4 for
video editing).
> http://www.oup.co.uk/ep/prodsupp/ref/oed2v1/#Q7
Thanks for that link, and for the software download URLs:
http://www.oup.co.uk/zip/ep/oed1_14.zip <==Windows v1.14
http://www.oup.co.uk/sit/oedmac.sea <==Mac v1.0d
Anybody know where/if you can download v1.10?
AFAIK, the several technical pages that dealt with v1 on
OUP's American site were yanked offline about 3-4 years ago.
But perusing this British site, I read several statements
reminiscent of the American documents (which I copied when
they were available, if you're curious to read them), e.g.:
Q3: Can the OED run without the CD-ROM in the drive?
[A:] The OED has been specifically designed so that the
CD-ROM has to be in the CD drive each time the program
is opened.
Well, that's true for v1.14 (and v1.13) run plain-vanilla
(without workarounds), but not for v1.10 (which was mailed
to me by OUP in NYC when I requested it years ago). v1.13
and v1.14 eliminate the option to run the dictionary
straight off the hard drive without quibble or protest.
But I see no operational differences between the three v1
software releases for Windows -- they have identical user
interfaces (if I did perceive a difference, I suppose I'd
try to run v1.14 on a virtual CD-ROM drive). Maybe (?)
OUP solved in v1.14 the Greek font problem (to which they
offer a muddled solution on this web page, liable simply
to trigger the same problem again -- there's a better,
permanent solution), or the H-P printer driver conflict
(nowhere mentioned by OUP, or anyone else).
The bottom line, IMO, is that it's ridiculous to run v1 off
a CD -- much too slow. Speed limits are even more
pronounced in OED v3, which I purchased two months ago, and
have since consigned to the dustbin. OUP switched to an
agonizingly slow browser-like interface in v3. (Plus, I
virtually live on airplanes. What am I supposed to do, drag
the OED data disk around with me? Return to base between
the 70th and 90th day of use, to revalidate my purchase?
It's ludicrous.) I partially overcame the speed issue by
making a disk image of the CD with Blind Write (evaluation
version worked fine) and then mounting the image on a Daemon
Tools v3.29 virtual CD drive (also, fortuitously, overcoming
the 90 day revalidation aggravation because OED's software
sees the data on a "CD"!) -- only to discover a raft of petty
but insurmountable annoyances. Putting aside my many quibbles
about v3, including the odious C-Dilla spyware that OUP
imposes, and other issues I omitted to mention earlier (e.g.
the gratuitous splash screen you must click past when OED
launches, or the incessant carpal toggling between keyboard
and mouse [versus keyboard-driven v1]), two aspects of v3
drove me absolutely crazy. First, the tiny font size, which
I can't seem to enlarge (except by changing screen
resolution, which is onerous); second, the dead end screen
with no "Back" button to which you are conducted when any
query fails (which happens often -- seemingly far more often
than in v1). Plus, v3 remains markedly slower than v1, even
in an optimized virtual CD environment. So, like you, I'm
back to v1.10, for the straightforward hard disk installation,
clean user interface, and snappy performance. Maybe the
Additions entries are a v3 attraction, but they don't seem to
appear in any of the words I look up.
These concerns are, I suppose, of no import to a Mac user,
aye? Could you even use v3 on a Mac? With PC emulation,
perhaps?
> renaming your hard drive (or partition) and
> copying the dictionary data file across isn't the only way
> to run the OED off your hard disk. You can also make a
> disk image of the cd-rom and run the OED off that.
Could you elaborate a bit? Have you actually tried to
"rename your ... partition [presumably to "OED2"?] and copy
the dictionary data file across", to get v1.0d to work
on a Mac? What software do you use to make that CD image
and virtual CD drive? I imagine that Mac software v1.0d is
at the same level as Windows software v1.14, i.e. disallows
normal hard disk installation? Or is there an earlier Mac
software version that tolerated straightforward hard disk
use?
> the OED does run perfectly well ... under PC emulation.
What's the software cost of PC emulation? As you know, VPC
and Wine and the other Windows emulators are quite
expensive (Microsoft just bought Connectix, so I imagine
prices will come down while M$ drives the competitors out of
business, then go up again -- if past M$ practice prevails).
The irony here is that OUP has made it progressively more
difficult to use the OED in a flexible, user-friendly
fashion, and that loyal paying customers are the ones who
suffer!
Delighted that someone else cares about these issues! I
wish OUP did as well.
Odysseus
>
> On 24 May 2003 16:39:22 -0700, Anthony Hope wrote:
>
> > I've been able to use the Mac software (albeit only in
> > 'Classic' mode on my OS X machine) to access dictionary
> > definitions off the cd-rom that came with the Windows
> > version of the OED. Neat.
>
> Neat indeed. What are the constraints of Classic mode?
> Does it hamper other programs, or is it merely a curiosity
> (like 16 bit vs. 32 bit on Windows)? Do you have to reboot
> to quit Classic mode? I'm curious (I intend to get a G4 for
> video editing).
>
under OS X. Even if it crashes it shouldn't have any appreciable
effect on the rest of the system, which I believe inherited
preemptive multitasking and protected memory from its Unix side.
Current Macs can still boot up in OS 9, but that's different from
running Classic under X.
[snip]
> > renaming your hard drive (or partition) and
> > copying the dictionary data file across isn't the only way
> > to run the OED off your hard disk. You can also make a
> > disk image of the cd-rom and run the OED off that.
>
> Could you elaborate a bit? Have you actually tried to
> "rename your ... partition [presumably to "OED2"?] and copy
> the dictionary data file across", to get v1.0d to work
> on a Mac? What software do you use to make that CD image
> and virtual CD drive? I imagine that Mac software v1.0d is
> at the same level as Windows software v1.14, i.e. disallows
> normal hard disk installation? Or is there an earlier Mac
> software version that tolerated straightforward hard disk
> use?
>
With the last few system versions Apple has provided a utility,
imaginatively called Disk Copy, that allows one to make an image of
any disk (with read/write access or read-only, or even compressed).
When mounted the image behaves just like the original, barring
aggressive copy-protection. I still haven't acquired OS X but I'd be
very surprised if there's no equivalent for it.
--Odysseus
Anthony Hope
> Robert Holmgren wrote:
>> Anthony Hope wrote:
>>> ...
>>> renaming your hard drive (or partition) and
>>> copying the dictionary data file across isn't the only way
>>> to run the OED off your hard disk. You can also make a
>>> disk image of the cd-rom and run the OED off that.
>>
>> Could you elaborate a bit? Have you actually tried to
>> "rename your ... partition [presumably to "OED2"?] and copy
>> the dictionary data file across", to get v1.0d to work
>> on a Mac?
Actually, I hadn't tried that till just now. I had simply taken on
trust what the OED documentation says. At the time the documentation
was written, 1.0d was the latest version of the OED s/w for the Mac,
and the documentation implies that renaming your HD or partition
should allow you to run the OED off your Macintosh hard drive, using
1.0d, without fuss. Wrong.
I renamed my Mac hard disk to 'OED2'. I copied the dictionary file
from the cd-rom to the root of the HD. I then tried to use the 1.0d
s/w that I downloaded from the OUP website to access the dictionary
file from the HD. No joy. The s/w complains that it can't find the OED
cd-rom, and exits.
It may be that (as you suspected, Robert), in order to discourage
piracy, the OUP changed the 1.0d s/w to stop it reading straight from
a hard drive. If so, then, while I applaud the OUP's intention, I do
feel that they've made it harder for legitimate users to run and
access the dictionary as quickly and conveniently as possible.
Creating a CD image still works, though.
>> What software do you use to make that CD image
>> and virtual CD drive?
>
> With the last few system versions Apple has provided a utility,
> imaginatively called Disk Copy, that allows one to make an image of
> any disk (with read/write access or read-only, or even compressed).
> When mounted the image behaves just like the original, barring
> aggressive copy-protection. I still haven't acquired OS X but I'd be
> very surprised if there's no equivalent for it.
There is indeed an OS X version of Disk Copy. It's called -- wait for
it -- Disk Copy. It does the job. You can make an image of the OED
cd-rom by simply dragging the CD icon from the desktop to the Disk
Copy window. You can then mount the image (which should automatically
be named 'OED2') and run the Macintosh OED access s/w, which will read
from the mounted image -- the 'virtual CD drive' -- without complaint.
AH
Bull Lee
>>>Robert wrote:
>> Odysseus wrote:
>Anthony wrote:
> It may be that ... OUP changed the 1.0d s/w to stop [OED] reading
> straight from a hard drive. If so, then, while I applaud the OUP's
> intention, I do feel that they've made it harder for legitimate
> users to run and access the dictionary as quickly and conveniently
> as possible.
Yes! Shame on Oxford University Press. They've bowed to the
marketing philosophy du jour & think it's sexy and courant to adopt
HTML or XML or whatever it is. But they miss the point if they don't
implement it thoroughly. Version 1 was aesthetically pleasing and
professionally designed; version 3 looks like an ephemeral web site (I
find myself searching for a "Contact Webmaster" link, to suggest
improvements); perhaps OUP's intention is to transparently mimic the
online OED site (just a guess, I've never seen it). And, as someone
else pointed out, version 3 is very slow & very clumsy.
A deeper philosophical question concerns the propriety of OUP's
increasingly draconian effort to protect "their" intellectual property
(the English language?), using covert schemes like SafeCast v2.40.11.
The great bulk of the OED was assembled in the nineteenth century; I
assume that the First Edition + Supplements ought now to be in the
public domain (if they aren't, we can thank the hard lobbying of OUP
and other publishers for recent, self-serving extensions to copyright
protection -- does OUP pay royalties to the thousands of authors on
whom the OED is based? Oh sure.). Doubtless OUP is entitled to adopt
security measures, but they're also obliged to inform users of the
global change to operation of our computers that SafeCast2 effects
(whether the OED is running or not), and of the consequences (to
overall speed, multi-booting, and so forth). I don't want SafeCast2
[C-Dilla], and I removed it, but OED version 3 restored it when next
run (without asking). Not acceptable. So I uninstalled OED version
3, and guess what: C-Dilla "License Management System" did *not*
uninstall! (Add/Remove solves that - but it isn't "nice".)
Increasingly, it seems like we just rent our computers from Microsoft
and other software publishers, who do whatever they want with them
(including reports back to headquarters about our activities -- a
[dubious] accusation frequently leveled against SafeCast2).
I don't think you can run version 3 without SafeCast2. I was told by
a sympathetic staffer at OUP that you can detach, so to speak, version
3 from C-Dilla (and the attendant revalidation requirements) by
running SafeDisc2Cleaner.exe against SCRfrsh.exe in version 3's \BIN
folder; but that this procedure reportedly doesn't liberate OED from
its need to find C-Dilla installed (despite not used). So there's no
point doing it (which probably would also violate OUP's user license).
Nor can you readily make an archival, backup copy of the CD, due to
copying errors embedded in the disc that burning programs choke on.
To their credit, OUP in Cary, North Carolina told me that if the CD
goes south, they will exchange it. But five years from now? Alcohol
120% will make an image (Robert reports that BlindWrite also will make
an accurate image, presumably with the SafeCast2 option selected); but
burning a CD copy may be another matter.
Unfortunately, I don't own version 1, so I can't downgrade to it, as
others suggested.
> Maybe (?) OUP solved in v1.14 the Greek font problem (to which
> they offer a muddled solution on this web page, liable simply
> to trigger the same problem again -- there's a better, permanent
> solution), or the H-P printer driver conflict (nowhere mentioned
> by OUP, or anyone else).
Umm, what are these problems, and solutions? These are version 1 only
issues?
Robert Holmgren
<kat...@rcn.erase.this.nonsense.com> wrote:
>> Maybe (?) OUP solved in v1.14 the Greek font problem (to which
>> they offer a muddled solution on this web page, liable simply
>> to trigger the same problem again -- there's a better, permanent
>> solution), or the H-P printer driver conflict (nowhere mentioned
>> by OUP, or anyone else).
> What are these problems, and solutions? These are version 1 only
> issues?
They both afflict v1. I can't speak about other OED versions.
The "Greek font problem" is the sudden, and inexplicable, replacement
of all characters on the screen with Greek characters, which just
won't go away. You can reinstall the OED, or reinstall the fonts, but
nothing helps: you seem to be stuck with nonsensical Greek chars.
I've seen this phenomenon under Win3.x, Win9x, and WinNT, as well as
Win-OS/2 (a debugged Win3.x); I have _not_ seen it under either
Win2000 or WinXP, but that may simply be because I wised up and
determined how to prevent it. I still don't know what triggers the
Greek problem -- but plainly the proper English fonts somehow get
"lost", and Greek takes their place.
The solution lies with the built-in Fonts facility (Control Panel ==>
Fonts), which manages a subdirectory of the main Windows directory
(\WINNT or \WINDOWS) on your BootDrive. First uninstall the eighteen
v1 OED fonts, by "Deleting" them using the Fonts facility (in some
versions of Windows, there's an option to "Remove"). Then drop to
DOS, do a DIR, and make sure they're really gone. Empty the Recycle
Bin. Now reboot your machine, to reinitialize the Fonts folder (the
Fonts folder is special: every font located in it is treated
virtually like a System file, can't be deleted, replaced, etc, and
only gets truly initialized when Windows is first started). Reopen
Control Panel ==> Fonts, click on File, click on "Install New Font..."
(or "Add Font"). Navigate in the dialog to the OED's own dedicated
Fonts folder (the \FONTS subdirectory of your OED v1 installation, if
you did a normal install off diskette). There are eighteen (18)
dedicated OED fonts, with the following prose descriptions:
ARIOUP.TTF Arial OUP (True Type)
ARIBOUP.TTF Arial OUP Bold (True Type)
ARIBIOUP.TTF Arial OUP Bold Italic (True Type)
ARITOUP.TTF Arial OUP Italic (True Type)
ARIALSC.TTF Arial Small Caps OUP Regular (True Type)
HADAS.TTF Monotype Hadassah (True Type)
PI6OUP.TTF Pi6OUP MT (True Type)
PI7OUP.TTF Pi7OUP MT (True Type)
PI8OUP.TTF Pi8OUP MT (True Type)
PI9OUP.TTF Pi9OUP MT (True Type)
PLANOUP.TTF Plantin OUP (True Type)
PLANBOUP.TTF Plantin OUP Bold (True Type)
PLANZOUP.TTF Plantin OUP Bold Italic (True Type)
PLANIOUP.TTF Plantin OUP Italic (True Type)
PLANSC.TTF Plantin Small Caps OUP (True Type)
PORGRK.TTF Porson Greek OUP One (True Type)
PORGRK2.TTF Porson Greek OUP Two (True Type)
TNRPHON.TTF Times New Roman Phonetic (True Type)
Select all 18 fonts. Make SURE that you check the box "Copy fonts to
Fonts folder"! Click OK, so that the OED fonts are not only
registered with the Fonts facility, but also imported into the
systemwide Fonts subdirectory on BootDrive. Lastly, drop into this
BootDrive Fonts subdir with DOS, and set the attribute bit to Read-
only for all these OED fonts, so that they can't erased or overwritten
-- command:
ATTRIB +R *OUP.TTF
ATTRIB +R ARIALSC.TTF
ATTRIB +R HADAS.TTF
ATTRIB +R PLANSC.TTF
ATTRIB +R PORGR*.TTF
ATTRIB +R TNRPHON.TTF
Now relaunch the OED. The correct fonts will be restored, and you
won't see Greek again.
An H-P printer driver conflict may be indicated when suddenly, for no
apparent reason, the OED stops working. It usually happens after a
new printer is installed. You launch OED, it starts to load, then
OED.EXE traps (GPF) -- you can't get past the scratch screen. The
underlying cause is a Hewlett-Packard printer driver. Many H-P
printer drivers seem to be incompatible with OED v1. The solution is
to use the equivalent Microsoft-authored printer driver instead -- in
other words, the driver supplied by the operating system, instead of
the driver that comes on a CD with your printer or that you download
from HP. The MS drivers always work with OED. In cases where a new
printer or an older operating system doesn't have an exact built-in
driver, you can often use a backlevel driver, e.g. an LJ4 driver will
almost always work with new HP laser printers.
Hope this helps somebody.
Robert Holmgren
Anthony Hope
HP-incompatibility problem is even worse: the last thing you'd expect
is that a new printer would somehow interfere with an electronic
dictionary!
Incidentally, I've found a good webpage that has info on how to
install the OED (v1.10) on a Windows machine that *doesn't* have a
floppy drive:
http://hoary.org/toys/oedlite.html
I think the page also has extracts from that documentation you
mentioned, Robert -- which used to be on the OUP-USA website.
AH
Robert Holmgren <holm...@acedsl.com> wrote in message news:<1t3sdvse4ld9n1n8m...@4ax.com>...
Robert Holmgren
wrote:
> Incidentally, I've found a good webpage that has info on how to
> install the OED (v1.10) on a Windows machine that *doesn't* have a
> floppy drive:
> http://hoary.org/toys/oedlite.html
Yeah, that's great. The author of that page (Peter Evans) is an old
friend (a very funny guy too: note that the sole support for
"expapillate" is Cockeram). But I think Peter's procedure for
installing the OED v1.10 without using a diskette is unnecessarily
complicated.
As an example, in what follows I assume OED2.DAT is located in the
root directory of drive D:.
A barebones install consists of seven (7) files, plus the 18 fonts, as
follows:
IPC.DLL 20,436 <== needed only for DDE
OED.EXE 447,280
OED.HLP 160,450 <== could be eliminated too...
OED_LOGO.BMP 140,680
XWI321.DLL 211,285
XWI321TE.DLL 58,759
__QUERY.TMP 1
.\FONTS
[18 fonts]
Put the 7 files in a dedicated subdirectory, e.g. D:\OEDV110
Install the 18 fonts using Control Panel ==> Fonts (be !SURE! to
check the box "Copy fonts to Font folder"). You can now delete the
\FONTS subdirectory under \OEDV110, to recover disk space.
There are three independent ways that OED.EXE v1.10 can "find" the
"CD-ROM", any one of which will usually suffice (a network
installation might need method 2 regardless):
1) Consult the "Filename=D:\" spec in the "[data]" stanza of OED.INI
(located in the system directory \WINDOWS or \WINNT). Even though
v1.10 is distributed with a simple OED.INI, DDE interprocess
communication will be facilitated if you use the more elaborate
format of later versions (between the asterisks):
**************************************
[data]
Filename=D:\
[Macro]
ExeName=OED.EXE
PathName=D:\OEDV110
ServiceName=OED
AppName=Oxford English Dictionary (Second Edition)
**************************************
2) Consult the environment variable OED. Set "OED=D:" either (local)
in a DOS session ("SET OED=D:") or (global) in the Environment
(Control Panel ==> System ==> Advanced ==> Environment Variables
==> System variables ==> New)
3) Search local disks for a hard disk or CD labeled "OED2". Command
at DOS "LABEL D:OED2". Hard disks should all be lettered higher
than the _first_ CD drive on your machine -- if OED.EXE hits the
first CD drive, and hasn't yet found any drive labeled "OED2", it
reports an error.
If you're using the data CD-ROM, you really don't have to do anything,
because OED.EXE will find the CD as long as it is in the _first_ CD
drive.
That's it. That's all. OED will run.
Simple Networking for OED v1.10
-------------------------------
When I bought OED v1, an insert in the package invited me to contact a
lady in Oxford UK to obtain, as a gift courtesy OUP, Network software
for the OED "while supplies last". This must have been before "OED
Online" began to glint in OUP's avaricious eye. Now, of course,
network capability entails costly licensing fees or a different
magnetic tape version.
In fact, you can readily network the OED without additional software,
on both a home LAN, for example, or even the WAN. I surmise that this
does not violate the v1.10 user license, because OUP was giving
networking software away for free during that brief arcadian period
when supplies, and a magnanimous spirit, lasted.
A server hard drive with OED2.DAT in the root should be LABELed
"OED2". You must have a working OED installation on the server; put
all executables in a subdirectory of the same drive as OED2.DAT,
e.g. \OEDV110. Make sure Sharing of this drive is turned on for
"everybody" at the Server.
On client machines, map the network share that has file OED2.DAT to a
local drive, e.g. drive O:
NET USE localdriveletter: \\SERVERMACHINENAME\OED2.DAT_DRIVELETTER
[/USER:username [password]]
e.g.:
NET USE O: \\MYSERVER\D$ <== a local UNC share
NET USE O: \\123.456.78.90\D /USER:Yup meagain <== an Internet share
Install, on each client, the OED fonts (you'll run the OED executable
off the server).
Launch O:\OEDV110\OED.EXE
If you get an error stating "Cannot read from drive H:" and H: is your
first (or only) CD drive, then you must do one of three things. You
can hit "Cancel" (instead of "Abort"), and the executable will proceed
to find the network drive labeled "OED2". For a no-intervention
solution, either reassign the driveletter of your CD to any letter
_after_ "O", or else (much simpler) establish the OED environment
variable with "SET OED=O:". Done.
Something nice to grab from OED v3
----------------------------------
The only (optional) feature of v3 that I like is that v3 can monitor
the clipboard incessantly, and when a new word appears on it, OED v3
can automatically look that word up. If you turn this feature on (via
"Options - Auto-search from clipboard"), v3 launches a little
freestanding program called AutoLookup.exe (with its required
DblClickHook.dll) -- about 65Kb altogether. AutoLookup is misnamed;
it doesn't actually do any looking-up, but simply Copies any double-
clicked (selected) word to the system clipboard, where v3 (if running
in "auto-search from clipboard" mode) senses the new arrival and looks
it up. AutoLookup is a very simple program (= Ctrl-C keystroke), and
appears to be a third-party creation (no Copyright holder identified).
Two points:
AutoLookup works only in Windows GUIs (not in DOS boxes)
AutoLookup does not require C-Dilla
Although v1 uses DDE instead of the clipboard to pipe a lookup query
into the OED engine, elementary programming can splice these concepts
together to produce auto-lookups of clipboard text in OED v1. If you
don't have AutoLookup.exe, use Ctrl-C to put words on the clipboard
after double-clicking them (one extra keystroke only).
The following is written in (free) WSH (Windows Script Host), because
the language is installed on every modern M$ box. You need one
additional component (also freeware): AutoItX.dll from
http://www.hiddensoft.com/AutoIt/downloads.asp
Put AutoItX.dll (an Active X control that can read the clipboard) in
the system directory %WINDIR%\system[32], and register it with your
system, i.e. command from DOS:
REGSVR32 AutoItX.dll
Then put this script (between, not including, the asterisks) in a
file:
**************************************
' OEDCLIP.VBS for Windows Scripting v5.x+ [VBS]
' Fetch word from Clipboard, pass lookup query to OED v1
' Requires AutoItX.dll (freeware) from www.hiddensoft.com
' Optionally uses AutoLookup.exe (+ DblClickHook.dll) from OED v3
' R.J.Holmgren 3/10/03
' Syntax:
' [d:\path\]{c|w}script.exe //nologo [d:\path\]oedclip.vbs
dim OED,WshShell,text,word,x
set WshShell=Wscript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
text=Wscript.ScriptFullName
OED=left(text,InStrRev(text,"\",-1,1))&"OED.EXE"
set AutoIt=CreateObject("AutoItX.Control")
text=AutoIt.ClipGet()
do
word=text
do until word<>text
Wscript.Sleep (1000)
word=AutoIt.ClipGet()
loop
text=word
word=lcase(trim(word))
if len(word)>0 then
if len(word)>59 then word=left(word,59)
x=InStr(1,word," ",1)
if x>1 then word=left(word,x-1)
' Wscript.Echo word
WshShell.Run OED,1
Wscript.Sleep (400)
WshShell.SendKeys "^w"
WshShell.SendKeys word
WshShell.SendKeys "{ENTER}{ENTER}"
else
WScript.Echo "Look-up word not supplied"
WScript.Quit(1)
end if
loop
WScript.Quit(0)
**************************************
Store the script as file OEDCLIP.VBS in the *same subdirectory* as OED
v1 executables, e.g. \OEDV110. If running OED from a remote server,
put the script on the server too, or else hard code the line above
that locates "OED" e.g.:
OED="O:\OEDV110\OED.EXE"
Start AutoLookup (if you have it), then launch the script from a DOS
command line or shortcut with:
[d:\path\]cscript.exe //nologo [d:\path\]oedclip.vbs
Any word you double-click (or Copy) summons an OED definition! Pretty
neat. Kill the WSH script with Ctrl-C; kill AutoLookup.exe by right-
clicking on the AutoLookup icon in the SysTray ==> Exit. Note that,
unlike the v3 facility, this script launches a lookup even if the OED
is not initially running. Slower and faster machines may require
adjustment of the 400ms "Sleep" duration (noticeable especially when
OED is first opened).
Other scripts for v1:
--------------------
There's an enhanced script for M$Word, if anybody is interested, which
works better than the OUP-supplied version, as well as scripts for
general word processor (and other) applications.
Barry Etheridge
Robert Lieblich
[gargantuan snip]
> Blimey! No wonder I bought Chambers ...... in a book!
Well done, Barry. I think we should enter your posting (99 percent
of which, all quoted from a prior posting I have snipped), in the
highest-ratio-of-quoted-text-to-new-material contest. It's
definitely a contender.
Since you're the one who did it, do you suppose you could explain
why people do such things?
--
Bob Lieblich
Whose scrolling hand is tired
Dr Robin Bignall
<Robert....@Verizon.net> wrote:
>Barry Etheridge wrote:
>
>[gargantuan snip]
>
>> Blimey! No wonder I bought Chambers ...... in a book!
>
>Well done, Barry. I think we should enter your posting (99 percent
>of which, all quoted from a prior posting I have snipped), in the
>highest-ratio-of-quoted-text-to-new-material contest. It's
>definitely a contender.
>
>Since you're the one who did it, do you suppose you could explain
>why people do such things?
It's common in pun threads, but I spotted no puns in those instructions.
Maybe I missed a couple.
--
wrmst rgrds
Robin Bignall
Remote Hertfordshire
England
Barry Etheridge
"Robert Lieblich" <Robert....@Verizon.net> wrote in message
news:3EED05F0...@Verizon.net...
Twas my judgement that the full effect could only be appreciated thus - I
don't suppose anybody actually *read* the original post in full. Well, it
could have been that. Or it could have been that I was replying in a state
of semi-consciousness due to the lateness of the hour. Or it could have been
that I had a cat sitting on my mouse!
Either way, you will be relieved to know that it is not my usual practice
and you should not expect to see it happen again until the next apocalypse
(which apparently is next Tuesday at 9.34am GMT, so I guess that's not as
comforting as I intended!
Anthony Hope
fascinating. I'm not saying I understood all of it, mind. But it was
fascinating anyway.
> There's an enhanced script for M$Word, if anybody is interested
Sock it to me. (I use the expression in a completely asexual sense, I
hasten to add: "fig.; freq. in imp., as catch-phrase 'sock it to me!',
used to express encouragement, sexual invitation, etc." --OED).
AH
Ayaz Ahmed Khan
> > There's an enhanced script for M$Word, if anybody is interested
>
> Sock it to me. (I use the expression in a completely asexual sense, I
> hasten to add: "fig.; freq. in imp., as catch-phrase 'sock it to me!',
> used to express encouragement, sexual invitation, etc." --OED).
Even when the intent is a sexual one, it wouldn't make much sense:
Sock ``an enhanced script for M$ Word'' to me. Or would it?
--
Ayaz Ahmed Khan
Yours Forever in,
Cyberspace.
Robert Holmgren
> Since you're the one who did it, do you suppose you
> could explain why people do such things?
You mean, read or comment long messages they don't care about?
Beats me.
>> There's an enhanced script for M$Word, if anybody is
>> interested
> Sock it to me...
Umm, OK. The macro operates on a selected word in M$Word; it looks
the word up in the OED. It's a smart macro: if nothing is selected
it grabs the word under the cursor. If there are multiple instances
of a word in the OED, it cross references them first (better behavior
than the WSH macro that I described before, which directly looks up
the first instance of a word).
It is "enhanced" only in comparison to the Word v2 macro of v1.10 --
but I merely adapt v1.10 to the OED.INI environment of the excellent
v1.14 macro for Word v6+ that OUP supplies in
http://www.oup.co.uk/zip/ep/oed1_14.zip, and make two minor changes to
the macro script (correct the DDE Topic name, and pause until a
just-launched OED process is ready to receive DDE commands). Tested
in Word97, Word2000, Word2002 SP2 (under Win2K SP3 and XP Pro SP1).
This modified version of the macro (OED.BAS) is at
http://www.serve.com/xywwweb/WORDMACR.ZIP
A v1.14-level OED.INI (in %WINDIR%, i.e. WINNT or WINDOWS), with a
"[Macro]" stanza, is prerequisite; it supplies the "Application"
name, the filename+file location, and the "Topic" (for DDE),
e.g.:
***************************************
[data]
Filename=D:\
[Macro]
ExeName=OED.EXE
PathName=D:\OEDV110
ServiceName=OED
AppName=Oxford English Dictionary (Second Edition)
***************************************
Register the macro with M$Word: Alt-F11 (open VB Editor) ==>
Ctrl-R (open Projects) ==> expand Normal ==> expand Modules ==>
make sure Modules is still highlighted (selected) ==> File ==>
Import File ==> Ctrl-S to "Save Normal". Close VB Editor (Alt-
F4).
Options
-------
Assign macro to a key: Tools ==> Customize... ==> Keyboard...
==> Categories: ==> Macro ==> select "OED" in "Macros:" listbox
==> "Press new shortcut key" ==> Assign.
Add macro to Toolbar: Tools ==> Customize... ==> Commands ==>
Macro ==> select "Normal.OED.OED" in the "Commands" box ==> drag
it with LMB [LeftMouseButton] to the Toolbar position you like
==> RMB on the text "Normal.OED.OED" in Toolbar ==> set checkmark
to "Default Style" ==> and pause here if you want to...
Replace the default icon in the Toolbar with an "OED Button
Image" (tiny version of the OED splash screen): launch your
basic Windows image editor (Microsoft Paint maybe), open
OEDButtonImage.BMP (in WORDMACR.ZIP) ==> Edit ==> "Select All"
==> Copy the button image ==> close image editor. Now RMB on the
new OED button in Toolbar ==> "Paste Button Image".
Incidentally, if you lose your OED v1.1 fonts, they're
downloadable at:
ftp://ftp.nottingham.ac.uk/pub/Projects/library/oedfonts.exe
Extract only the TTFs from this self-executing ZIP file, and discard
the rest.
Dr. Eric Segeler
I am new to this group and want to add my thanks that so important a
subject as the OED is being so meritoriously treated by you all. I
had been on the verge of ordering V3 from Oxford for my school and I
will now hold off, perhaps awaiting further development, perhaps
forever. We own an old copy of the CD and use v1.10. I had at one time
"upgraded" to 1.14 only to go back to 1.10 when I found that I
couldn't have the OED on my classroom hard drive unless running v1.10.
However, my school has upgraded most of its classroom computers to
new Pentium 3's or 4's, running Win 2000 and I cannot get the OED to
run. This seems to have been answered already in this thread, but can
someone clarify what would be the recommended procedure; short of
making a new partition to the hard drive (which is frowned upon by the
tech dept).
Thanks
Dr. Eric Segeler
Robert Holmgren
Segeler) wrote:
>I had been on the verge of ordering V3 from Oxford for my school and I
>will now hold off, perhaps awaiting further development, perhaps
>forever. We own an old copy of the CD and use v1.10. I had at one time
>"upgraded" to 1.14 only to go back to 1.10 when I found that I
>couldn't have the OED on my classroom hard drive unless running v1.10.
The _only_ purpose of the v1.14 "upgrade", as far as I can tell, was
to prevent you from having the OED on your hard drive.
>However, my school has upgraded most of its classroom computers to
>new Pentium 3's or 4's, running Win 2000 and I cannot get the OED to
>run.
What happens, exactly, when you try to run it? Works fine on all
my P4s under Win2K... (Got any Hewlett Packard printer drivers
installed?)
>can someone clarify what would be the recommended procedure
For... what? Installation of v1.10?
>short of
>making a new partition to the hard drive (which is frowned upon by the
>tech dept).
You don't require a new partition! You only require 640Mb disk space.
So defrag the target drive before, and then again after, you put
OED2.DAT on it (in the root directory only!).
I offered some non-standard ideas for installation in a previous msg
(there are several ways to go about it), but here are OUP-USA's
instructions (N.B.: get to the bottom of why OED won't run on your new
machines first):
-------------------------------
INSTALLING THE OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY, SECOND
EDITION ON CD-ROM DATA FILE ONTO A HARD DRIVE,
USING VERSION 1.10 (NOT VERSION 1.13+) OF OED SOFTWARE
^^^^^^^ ^^^^
The CD-ROM contains one file, OED2.DAT, which is approximately
640 Mb. To install the OED2 data file on your hard drive, you must
have at least 640 Mb free in one contiguous block on a hard drive.
You may want to use a disk utility program to optimize your hard drive
to insure that 640 Mb is available in one contiguous block.
WINDOWS VERSION
1. Change the volume of the hard disk to OED2. You may use the OS
volume command: LABEL C:OED2 (where C is the letter assigned to
your hard disk)
2. Using DOS or FILE MANAGER, copy the OED2.DAT to the root
directory, of your hard drive. The file cannot be located in a
subdirectory. Also, you cannot change the name of this file.
3. Install the software from the diskette, as instructed in the
manual remembering that the OED2.DAT file is now stored on your hard
disk).
4. Edit the OED.INI file (found in the \WINDOWS directory) to read:
[data]
Filename=C:\
where C: is the letter assigned to the hard disk
MACINTOSH VERSION
1. Name the hard disk OED2
2. Copy the file OED2.DAT straight onto the hard disk. The file
cannot be stored in a folder. Also, you cannot change the name of this
file.
3. Install the software from the diskette as instructed in the
manual.
Note: If your hard drive is partitioned into logical drives, the
partition in which you store the OED2.DAT file must be named OED2 and
have at least 640 Mb of free contiguous space.
TECHNICAL SUPPORT:
Electronic Publishing
Oxford University Press
198 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10016
PH 800-334-4249 Ext 6246
FX 212-726-6442
e-mail techs...@oup-usa.org
-------------------------------
Dr. Eric Segeler
> On 24 Jun 2003 16:17:24 -0700, sege...@lakeridgeacademy.org (Dr. Eric
> Segeler) wrote:
>
> >However, my school has upgraded most of its classroom computers to
> >new Pentium 3's or 4's, running Win 2000 and I cannot get the OED to
> >run.
>
> What happens, exactly, when you try to run it? Works fine on all
> my P4s under Win2K... (Got any Hewlett Packard printer drivers
> installed?)
No HP printer drivers to my knowledge. My printer is shared on the
school LAN as are many other printers. I Searched my HD files for
Hewlitt, got zilch. The printer I use as default is directly connected
to my computer and through that is shared out to the network. Printer
is an Epson color stylus 800.
When I try to run the OED, it starts with the normal splash screen,
but then I get the message: "OED caused a General Protection Fault in
module OED.EXE at 0006:E8BA," and my only option is CLOSE.
I carefully followed all the steps suggested by Robert Holgren in his
post of 6/28, but got the same error message as above.
Maybe the following is a clue, (I don't know); I get the same fault
message, same address, when I try installing (and running) the OED in
the conventional way (i.e. with original data CD in Drive D), on
another computer in my classroom also running Win 2000. On a third
computer, the one that will need replacement soon, it runs fine under
Win 98.
To summarize: Same GPF, 2 different computers. Win 2000 on each. Is
some program trying to access same address as OED? If its not Win 2000
related then why does it run on 3rd computer running Win 98? All 3
are on same LAN. Also, I can print from OED on that computer to my
printer thru the network just fine.
Dr. Eric Segeler
Robert Holmgren
Segeler) wrote:
>No HP printer drivers to my knowledge. My printer is shared on the
>school LAN as are many other printers.
Nevertheless it looks like a printer driver issue -- that's the GPF
that occurs when a driver is interfering. It isn't a case of which
printer is "default" (selected); it has to do with drivers installed.
You mention "many other printers": I'd guess that one or more of them
is H-P, and that the driver for it is installed locally. Also that
the old Win98 machine doesn't have the same printer drivers installed
(even if on same network). I've seen v1.10 on both Win2000 and WinXP,
without any problems whatsoever. Win2K is not the cause.
Try this on one of the Win2K machines: Control Panel ==> Printers ==>
tell me what printers are installed. If there's an H-P printer
listed, RightMouseButton on it ==> Properties ==> Advanced tab ==>
click down arrow in the "Driver" listbox, and all the drivers that
have ever been installed on the machine will be listed. If the H-P
printer is using a Microsoft-authored driver, it will sometimes say
"(MS)" in parenthesis, e.g. "HP Laserjet 1100 (MS)"; otherwise if it's
an H-P authored driver, it will just list as "HP Laserjet 1100".
I would swap out the HP driver for an MS driver, by clicking "New
Driver". That starts the Add Printer Driver Wizard. Click Next.
Select HP in the listbox at left, find the model in the listbox at
right, and reinstall the driver. Do this for each HP printer that is
installed. It works for me every time. Get it running off the CD
first, then deal with launching from hard disk. Make sure OED.INI is
properly configured -- the "Filename=..." spec should not list an
actual filename, only the path to the file: if CD-ROM is E:, then
spec should read "Filename=E:\". That should be the ONLY spec in the
[data] stanza of OED.INI. Good luck
Ivan Ivanov
Greetings from Sofia!
I'm new here and came while searching how to squeeze out some normal
activity from my OED2 1.10, file version 1.1.0.2, under Windows XP
Professional SP1.
Strange, it works fine under Windows 98 SE (on C:) with the database
file OED2.dat on C: without asking anything, but here (XP on D:) the
program all the time gave me either Error 33400 (???) or General
protection fault at 0006:FA6C (???). Than I remembered that Windows XP
doesn't allow direct access to the HDD without Administrator
privileges. And resolved all very easy.
How to run OED2 from the HDD under Windows XP Professional SP1:
1. Copy (just COPY!) the OED2 software wherever you like on your C:
physical or logical drive.
2. Install all the fonts of the SAME version any way you prefere. You
may do this with any font manager or copy them directly in Windows XP
directory\Fonts.
2. Copy OED2.dat on the ROOT directory of your C: physical or logical
drive.
3. Do not rename any drive or file to anything. Do not change any
attribute to any file to anything. The program doesn't seek the name
of the disk but the name of its database. You may name your HDD or
your CD-ROM (if you make a copy for safety) "Peter O'Toole" and the
program will work with it, too.
4. Go to Control Panel > Administrative tools > Local Security Policy
and DISABLE the third position "Limit local account use of blank
passwords to console logon only".
5. Click with the right button of the mouse on OED.exe or its shortcut
and choose Run as... > The following user > Administrator > OK.
6. That's all. You have your OED2 running normally!
In the normal case you don't need the file oed.ini, too. Version 1.10
doesn't make such a file, only version 1.14 does. You don't need this
file even if having OED2.dat on D:, and even if having OED2.dat on
both C: and D:, if you decided to be original, for example. The
database file only must be on the root directory with its original
name. The program will work in any of these cases.
I believe this will work as well under Windows 2000.
You know that versions 1.3 and above work only from the CD-ROM, but
why to turn the drive back and forth all the time just to check a word
in the dictionary.
Of course, you must have at least some of the Administrator rights on
the respective machine. For your personal computer that's sure, but
you may be have to establish such rights for the user of a machine in
a LAN (school etc.).
The only problem I receive is to print from within the program,
nevermind I have exactly the well known iron man LaserJet 4m with the
drivers of Microsoft. The program crashes and needs restarting. But if
you need so much to print an article, just select it with the mouse
(Ctrl + A doesn't work), copy and paste in Word. It preserves all -
fonts, sizes, styles, and even colors. Then print.
I think it's good to install the exact fonts of the version. They are
20 in 1.10 and 18 in 1.14, which is offered now at the page of OED2
version 1. I do not know why is this. I cannot, too, perceive why we
are recommended to update the working 1.10 from the HDD with the
non-working 1.14, file version 1.1.0.3. It's simply stupid. There is
nothing related to the copyright. The English software manners are
strange sometimes. Some years ago I saw a version of Encyclopaedia
Britannica, that was based on a very old version of Netscape (2.x, I
think) for some absolutely unknown criminal reason. That encyclopaedia
hanged, crashed, disappeared etc. all the time.
I hope that the above will help to someone.
I already sent this to Mr Robert Holmgren together with the so desired
1.10 software. I don't think it's illegal to give to someone the good
software instead the non-working one, if OUP themselves offer their so
called "full update" free in the same time. Mr Robert Holmgren didn't
answered to me. May be because of all that one-man-show here :)
I'm happy I read your impressions from OED2 version 3. I think I don't
need it urgently... for the moment :)