FAQ
General
-
I see four different files in the download area. Which one should I download?
The two files that have .exe extensions are for the Windows platform. The two files that have .tbz extensions are for Linux. The files that end with -full include a 5.0 java runtime and are substantially larger. If you don't have a 5.0 version of the jdk/jre installed on your system then download the full version for your platform. If you have no idea what the heck java is, then also download the full version. -
Where does my data get saved to?
All the cedict entries, category lists, stats, etc are stored in a file called chinese.script. On Windows, zdt 0.3.0 and older, this file resides in your <ZDT_INSTALL_DIR>. In zdt 0.3.1 and newer versions, this file resides in 'c:\documents and settings\<USER>\zdt' directory. On Linux, this file will be in <ZDT_INSTALL_DIR>. -
If I uninstall the zdt, will I lose my data?
If you are uninstalling a version of zdt 0.3.0 and older, then yes. Please make a copy of your chinese.script file if you would like to save your data. zdt 0.3.1 and newer versions save the file in your windows user directory so they will not be uninstalled. -
How do I use the zdt auto update mechanism?
The zdt auto update mechanism will only work on zdt version 0.3.1 or later. Please see this page for step-by-step instructions.
Usage
-
What are the different ways to insert characters into a category?
The zdt tries to be flexible and easy to use in this regard.
- Manually. In the category editor, use the 'Add Character' (Ctrl-N) function and type in a chinese character to add. Useful if adding an entry that doesn't exist in the database.
- Drag & drop between categories. Make sure the Category View is visible. Select an entry or entries from a category editor and drag it to the desired category in the Category View.
- Drag & drop between Dictionary View. Perform a search in the Dictionary View. Drag results into a category editor. Copy and paste also works. Especially useful if you don't know the chinese character or don't have a Chinese IME installed as you can easily add entries by pinyin.
- Copy and paste chinese characters from any source. Select chinese characters from a website, the Annotator view, a text file, etc, and then copy and paste them into the desired category.
- Import from text file. You can create word lists in a program like Excel or download user contributed lists from this site. Import them via the 'Import' button in the category view. The files to import must conform to the zdt format. (see below)
-
What is the zdt file format?
The zdt exports files into a tab delimited format. The base format just includes traditional character, simplified character, pinyin and definition. However when exporting, users have the choice of whether or not they would like to export their current statistics as well. Defintions are separated by forward slashes (/). The base format is:traditional char [tab] simplfied char [tab] pinyin [tab] /definition1/definition2/
The statistics portion includes:[tab] char learned? [tab] correct streak [tab] number correct [tab] times tested [tab] last tested date
- How do I input the pinyin lǜ in the flashcard view?
The zdt follows the CEDICT format. So in this case lǜ would be written as lu:4.
Troubleshooting
-
How do I know I have the right version of Java on my system?
The quickest way, is to open up a windows command prompt and type 'java -version'. You should see something like this:C:\> java -version java version "1.5.0" Java<TM> 2 Runtime Environment, Standard Edition <build 1.5.0-b64> Java HotSpot<TM> Client VM (build 1.5.0-b64, mixed mode)
-
Why does some of the pinyin text appear to be garbled?
It's most likely that you're not using a unicode based font. Try Arial which comes with most systems. A good looking font that I've found is the Arial Unicode MS font which comes with Microsoft Office. Arial also seems to work well. To change the fonts from within the application, go to Window -> Preferences in the menu. Go to the 'Fonts' section and hit the 'Change Font' button.