New iPhone versions and the User Dictionary

[wayfarer]

Sorry if this has been covered elsewhere,

I understand the newer versions on the iPhone (and I'm assuming potentially all interfaces if things go smoothly) are going to be internet based. I hope they'll be an option to download large chunks, if not the whole database for use when the phone isn't connected to the network (traveling in out of reach places, for study on airplanes, etc). But I also have another concern, how will the new system incorporate the User Dictionary?

Admittedly, I may use my user dictionary in ways most people don't, but I've found it's incredibly useful for organizing notes. For example, I study Chinese Medicine in China and have been slowly compiling a database of notes on herbs, acupuncture points, disease patters, etc on excel and can, without much hassle, select a few columns and turn them into dictionary entries. As I use my dictionary all the time, it's on my palm centro, having these notes seamlessly integrated is really handy.

I'd like to upgrade the centro one of these days to something can can read pdfs, wifi, etc - but I would hate loose the good set-up i have going.

Any idea on the fate of the user dictionary?

 

[mikelove]

User dictionaries won't be supported at all in the first iPhone release, but the code for them works fine on iPhone and we're planning to support them in the same update we add flashcard support in - it's just a matter of having a decent mechanism for people to transfer / backup their user-created databases with.

 

[maimengzhu]

Admittedly, I may use my user dictionary in ways most people don't, but I've found it's incredibly useful for organizing notes. For example, I study Chinese Medicine in China and have been slowly compiling a database of notes on herbs, acupuncture points, disease patters, etc on excel and can, without much hassle, select a few columns and turn them into dictionary entries. As I use my dictionary all the time, it's on my palm centro, having these notes seamlessly integrated is really handy.

Wayfarer, great use of Pleco for studying 中醫. I always put those notes into a Filemaker database on my laptop. Now that we have the iPhone and products like Bento, I can see porting my Chinese medicine notes to the iPhone. Then again, there are a number of database like products being sold like TCM Clinic Aid that save lots of time because they already have the basic information in the project and you can add your own notes.

Where are you studying in China?
Michael