$Id: README,v 1.1 2002/05/24 08:48:39 ianmacd Exp $


WHAT IS IT?
-----------

Ruby/DICT is a client-side library implementation of the DICT protocol, as
described in RFC 2229.

In the words of the RFC:

   The DICT protocol is designed to provide access to multiple
   databases.  Word definitions can be requested, the word index can be
   searched (using an easily extended set of algorithms), information
   about the server can be provided (e.g., which index search strategies
   are supported, or which databases are available), and information
   about a database can be provided (e.g., copyright, citation, or
   distribution information).  Further, the DICT protocol has hooks that
   can be used to restrict access to some or all of the databases.


INSTALLATION
------------

Please see the INSTALL file for details of how to install Ruby/DICT.


USAGE
-----

I. dict.rb

dict.rb is the library that implements Ruby/DICT. Once it is installed,
you may use it to build your own DICT protocol clients.

Please see dict(3) or dict.html for more information.


II. rdict

rdict is a dictionary client built on top of the Ruby/DICT library.

Here are some examples of its usage:

$ rdict -D

  This will provide you with a list of databases you can query.

$ rdict -S

  This will provide you with a list of strategies you can employ to match
  words.

$ rdict -m -s prefix foo

  This shows you a list of all words that begin with 'foo' in all of the
  databases.

$ rdict -m -s re '^(cu|ke)rb$'

  This shows you all the definitions relating to both 'curb' and 'kerb' from
  all the databases. The 're' strategy allows regular expression matching.

$ rdict -m -s suffix fix

  This shows a list of all words that end in 'fix' in all of the databases.

$ rdict -d jargon -m -s prefix ''

  This displays a list of all the entries in the 'jargon' database.


Please see rdict(1) or rdict.html for more information.

http://www.dict.org/ is the home page of the DICT Development Group.