seven user dictionary DBs--ugh
- Thread starter sfrrr
- Start date
If you can access all 7 databases in PlecoDict, then you could consolidate them by adding all of the entries in each database to a flashcard list, using export (with "include user entry text") to dump that list to a text file, deleting the 7 databases, then reimporting that text file back into PlecoDict; that should give you the contents of all 7 files in a single, clean database. If you can only access the most recent one, then unfortunately the text editor is the only option that will work.
We're still trying to track down this bug, it's a pretty nasty one... Is there any way that you could send along those 7 files? Last time I think you only had two, we've never heard of anyone having this many before and it might help us find the bug more quickly if we can see multiple examples of corrupted databases from the same PPC.
We're still trying to track down this bug, it's a pretty nasty one... Is there any way that you could send along those 7 files? Last time I think you only had two, we've never heard of anyone having this many before and it might help us find the bug more quickly if we can see multiple examples of corrupted databases from the same PPC.
A
Anonymous
Guest
did you receive those user DBs? I'm pretty sure I sent them, but I could have day-dreamt it.
Sandra
Sandra
We didn't get them, but there's no rush - we still haven't been able to figure out the cause of this, but we've come up with a bug fix that should cover almost any possibility. Basically, if the file is still valid but we can't get write access to it (because ActiveSync or some other program is behaving badly and keeping the file open) we'll just copy all of the data out of it and create a new file (and try to delete the older one at the next opportunity). Or we'll disable whatever feature uses that file until you're done with whatever program is keeping the file open. We're still working on the file corruption issue, but we've traced it back to a pretty specific little section of code and it should be pretty easy to find the problem once we've got a few more files.
BTW, did any of these 7 databases appear after you installed Beta 2 or did they all come from Beta 1?
BTW, did any of these 7 databases appear after you installed Beta 2 or did they all come from Beta 1?
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Anonymous
Guest
I can't remember. Sorry.
Do you still want the user dictionary DBs? I still have a pristine set waiting if you're interested.
Sandra
Do you still want the user dictionary DBs? I still have a pristine set waiting if you're interested.
Sandra
A
Anonymous
Guest
I'm about to send them again. Also, a new excitement, if you can stand it. Or, to put it more positively, maybe this will give you an insight into why so many user dicts. As you suggested, I moved the PlecoDict folder out of SD Card\program files and into the SD Card root. I then resumed adding words to my flash card file. At one point (when I was almost done, of course), I noticed that the dropdown list of flash card lists had only five or six lists listed. Also, PD couldn't find its handwriting recognition module. I figured this was probably some fixable registry issue, but, since I wasn't noticing much improvement anyway, I put the plecodict folder back into SD Card\Program Files. And everything was happy again.
Sandra
Sandra
Did you exit PlecoDict before moving the folder? (not just minimizing it, but choosing Quit from the Dict menu) If not, that would explain your problem right there. If you're sure you exited PlecoDict then this really doesn't make sense... any bug severe enough to cause problems like this based solely on the file location would probably also prevent PlecoDict from starting up at all.
We're now thinking about dropping the file search altogether and just putting the install directory in a registry entry - since everyone's running some variety of installer anyway it would be easy to make sure this was set up on installation.
We're now thinking about dropping the file search altogether and just putting the install directory in a registry entry - since everyone's running some variety of installer anyway it would be easy to make sure this was set up on installation.
Hmm... well in that case it's really baffling. And Beta 2 shouldn't even be able to find those files if they're in \\SD Card\Program Files\PlecoDict - this is probably a stupid question, but are you sure you're running Beta 2 now? Is there any way you could possibly have reverted to Beta 1 without knowing about it?
According to PD's about page, I'm running 0.9b2. That looks like beta 2 to me, but what do I know.
I just realized that another feature doesn't work for me and hasn't for several weeks. PD doesn't remember the last several words I've inputted in the current session. Doesn't matter whether using English or Chinese dictionaries. Total amnesia.
I know it worked in beta 1 and I'm pretty sure it worked when I began to use beta 2.
Is there a log file or something that should be moved to a particular directory? Or something?
Thanks,
Sandra
I just realized that another feature doesn't work for me and hasn't for several weeks. PD doesn't remember the last several words I've inputted in the current session. Doesn't matter whether using English or Chinese dictionaries. Total amnesia.
I know it worked in beta 1 and I'm pretty sure it worked when I began to use beta 2.
Is there a log file or something that should be moved to a particular directory? Or something?
Thanks,
Sandra
That's Beta 2, yeah... very odd. We've already fixed most of the reported bugs, but we don't want to release Beta 3 until we're reasonably certain that this seemingly-unpredictable stuff has been fixed as well.
I'm not seeing this new problem... one thing you could try: use a registry editor to go into HKLM\Software\Pleco Software\PlecoDict and delete the "RecentQueries" and "RecentQueriesVersion" keys - if there's something wrong with them then deleting those keys should clear it up. You could also delete the Application/ApplicationVersion and RecentEntries/RecentEntriesVersion keys if deleting the RecentQueries ones doesn't fix it, though then you'd have to re-do all of your Preferences settings which might be rather annoying.
I'm not seeing this new problem... one thing you could try: use a registry editor to go into HKLM\Software\Pleco Software\PlecoDict and delete the "RecentQueries" and "RecentQueriesVersion" keys - if there's something wrong with them then deleting those keys should clear it up. You could also delete the Application/ApplicationVersion and RecentEntries/RecentEntriesVersion keys if deleting the RecentQueries ones doesn't fix it, though then you'd have to re-do all of your Preferences settings which might be rather annoying.
Mike--this am, I started seeing the disappearing Card problem in the flash card manager. Then, all hell broke loose and I've been steadily losing parts of PD every few minutes. Time for a reinstall and then I'll test everything all over again. I'm probably going to do a hard reboot, so it will be installed on a fairly clean system. (I say "fairly" because I'm not sure yet in what order I'm reinstalling my programs.) So, I guess my last few or several problems have been with conflicts on the Axim x51v rather than on your side. The multiple user dicts, however, is an old problem. That much I know.
Sandra
Sandra
I'm seeing some odd disappearances on our x51v, as well, disappearances that have nothing to do with PlecoDict - for example, I tried to enable font linking (which lets programs draw Chinese characters with non-Chinese fonts) using a registry editor, the setting looked like it had applied OK even when I exited/re-opened the registry editor but after soft resetting the setting had disappeared. It took several more attempts before the setting finally "took", but the mere fact that it's possible for a change to the registry to be lost or unsaved is pretty troubling in and of itself. Given the bugs in Palm's first attempt at a flash-memory-based OS (in the Tungsten T5) I suppose it's not that unreasonable that Microsoft's first attempt would be buggy as well, but I had (perhaps naiively) expected at least a little better from them.
Which parts of PD were you losing? The ones that have their own data files (handwriting recognizer, radicals, etc) or just individual screens? If you encountered a problem where the Entry List would draw blanks instead of Chinese characters, that's related to the Windows CE bug involving font files kept on SD cards - if you move PlecoDict's fonts to \\Windows\Fonts that should take care of that bug anyway. If other files like the handwriting recognizer went missing, you might be falling victim to a recurrent (and oft-discussed) WinCE bug where the SD card can vanish for no good reason (do a Google search for "pocket pc" "sd card disappearing" and you'll see what I mean) - one suggestion is that you avoid using a blank name on your SD card, so if its name is currently blank you might want to stick it in a PC-based card reader and give it a name (using My Computer or the Format command).
Which parts of PD were you losing? The ones that have their own data files (handwriting recognizer, radicals, etc) or just individual screens? If you encountered a problem where the Entry List would draw blanks instead of Chinese characters, that's related to the Windows CE bug involving font files kept on SD cards - if you move PlecoDict's fonts to \\Windows\Fonts that should take care of that bug anyway. If other files like the handwriting recognizer went missing, you might be falling victim to a recurrent (and oft-discussed) WinCE bug where the SD card can vanish for no good reason (do a Google search for "pocket pc" "sd card disappearing" and you'll see what I mean) - one suggestion is that you avoid using a blank name on your SD card, so if its name is currently blank you might want to stick it in a PC-based card reader and give it a name (using My Computer or the Format command).
Wow. And you caught me just in time. I just finished backing everything up and was about to hard reboot. Maybe I'll just reinstall the two troublesome programs. (The other one's problem is that it's too slow for my tightly wrapped little nerves, so I need to move it back to RAM.)
Some of the problem, I think, is ActiveSync. I'm hoping that Microsoft really does release an update the end of the month. Or sooner. Then, I hope, WM5 will remember my CF card all the time. Right now, we're batting maybe 50%, and that may be stupendous in baseball, but it sucks for a storage device.
Right now, PD has pared itself down to an empty input screen--has only the up and down arrows and the input box itself. No toolbar, no dictionary. But it still has its bottom menu bar. And, periodically, when I bring it up, it displays the characters at 535...what? points? Why 535? And it displays magnified words at 2 points.
Which reminds me, several weeks ago, I lost the magnification feature. Just doesn't work.
Every time msft releases an operating system, no matter for what, they cause more trouble than most of us can tolerate. So, why do we still install a new OS at the earliest opportunity?
That makes me either stupid or a tech editor.
Sandra[/code]
Some of the problem, I think, is ActiveSync. I'm hoping that Microsoft really does release an update the end of the month. Or sooner. Then, I hope, WM5 will remember my CF card all the time. Right now, we're batting maybe 50%, and that may be stupendous in baseball, but it sucks for a storage device.
Right now, PD has pared itself down to an empty input screen--has only the up and down arrows and the input box itself. No toolbar, no dictionary. But it still has its bottom menu bar. And, periodically, when I bring it up, it displays the characters at 535...what? points? Why 535? And it displays magnified words at 2 points.
Which reminds me, several weeks ago, I lost the magnification feature. Just doesn't work.
Every time msft releases an operating system, no matter for what, they cause more trouble than most of us can tolerate. So, why do we still install a new OS at the earliest opportunity?
That makes me either stupid or a tech editor.
Sandra[/code]
That looks like it's registry-related; for some reason (which at this point I'm not yet prepared to blame entirely on Microsoft) PlecoDict's preferences can get corrupted and end up with the font set at size 535 and the toolbar set to entirely blank buttons.
The solution is to use a registry editor to go to HKLM\Software\Pleco Software\PlecoDict and delete everything in there (as per my earlier suggestion), then go in to Memory and kill all running programs, then soft reset, then go back into the registry editor again and hope that it worked and the settings are gone. If not, repeat several more times and hopefully one of them will actually take.
The solution is to use a registry editor to go to HKLM\Software\Pleco Software\PlecoDict and delete everything in there (as per my earlier suggestion), then go in to Memory and kill all running programs, then soft reset, then go back into the registry editor again and hope that it worked and the settings are gone. If not, repeat several more times and hopefully one of them will actually take.