Desk Accessory (DA) is a special form of a Palm program that can be launched in a pop-up window or the instant lookup capability. DA is usually launched by a DA Launcher. But Abstract's DA can be launched by its regular version or by a DA Launcher.
All Abstract's dictionary software has a DA version. English dictionary A-Lex starting with version 1.6 can also launch its own DA so a DA launcher software is no longer necessary for Palm OS 4 or higher. However, the dictionary DAs are still DA compatible and thus can be launched by a DA launcher. (One might still find a dedicated DA launcher desirable since it may contain other advance launching functions.)
For Abstract dictionary software that can launch its own DA with Palm OS 4.0 or newer, the following are the instructions for using it:
From any application, except the regular version itself, effecting the selected trigger will pop up the dictionary in a small window on top of the current application and if there is detectable cursor or word marking, the word entry will be automatically displayed.
The following is the current list of Instant Lookup triggers.
Please note that you cannot pop-up the DA within its regular version, but this is not necessary since Abstract dictionary software already has cross-referencing capability within itself.
Note that the Find and Calc button triggers were supported in older versions of Abstract DA. They are no longer supported because these hard keys are not found on recent Palm based PDAs.
As indicated earlier, starting with Palm OS 4, it is no longer necessary to install a DA Launcher to use the Instant Lookup capability of Abstract dictionary software. However, one might still have other reasons to use a DA Launcher. For example, for Palm PDA devices using OS older than 4. This section discusses briefly DA Launcher and how to use it with Abstract dictionary DAs.
DA Launcher is a Palm program that can launch a DA program in a pop-up window. A very convenient feature for using dictionary. The original DA Launcher is a freeware. Its current Palm OS 5 compatible version is DA Launcher 5.0 and it is available from the most of the popular Palm software catalogs. There are also many shareware and commercial versions of the DA Launcher.
Most of the DA Launchers for Palm OS 4.0 or older are a 'hack' and usually require HackMaster or its equivalent. When installing a HackMaster, make sure it is compatible with your Palm device. HackMaster built for Palm OS older than 5 ARE NOT compatible with OS 5.
Make sure you download the correct DA Launcher for your PDA device.
Note that A-Lex DA is launched by the DA Launcher or by the regular A-Lex, not by the normal application launcher. Therefore, there is no icon for A-Lex in the Home application screen. Please also note that the 'regular' A-Lex and A-Lex DA can co-exist peacefully.
DA Launcher 5.0 does not need a HackMaster. The link provided points to the download ZIP directly. The DA Launcher 5.0 homepage is in Japanese. The site does not seem to have an official English page. But most of the download packages from English Palm software catalogs contain English instructions.
Note that this is an OS 5 compatible DA Launcher but it cannot be used with older Palm OS. In fact, it is usually easier to use Abstract's Instant Lookup capability instead of DA Launcher under OS 5.
A brief and unofficial instruction: Install the English .prc. Tap its icon and enable it and configure the favorite DA (hopefully including an Abstract's product.) The DA can be launched by drawing a diagonal stroke from the lower-left corner of the graffiti area to the upper-right. DA can then be selected. We haven't figured out how one-tap can be done with this version of DA Launcher. But this version does not require a HackMaster.
The following are some illustrations on some key steps of using 5.0 on Tungsten using Graffiti based triggers like Command or Pen button.
1. The DA Launcher and A-Lex should be activated.
2. Stroke diagonally from lower-left of the graffiti area upper-right to the display screen area. This should pop up the DA bar displayed in step 3.
3. Select DA.
Treos do not have the graffiti writing area with silk screen icons, where DA Launcher is invoked. DA Launcher 4.1b1 supports launching DAs from keyboard by pressing Option and Return key at the same time.
When installing a HackMaster, make sure it is compatible with your Palm device. HackMaster built for Palm OS older than 5 ARE NOT compatible with OS 5.
You need to do the following to use DA version of Abstract's dictionary software:
Install Hackmaster or its equivalent. Pick Hackmaster or TealMaster or X-Master or any other compatible ones.
Install App/DA Launcher 0.7 or DA Launcher40.b2 and enable it under Hackmaster.
Install DA version of the desire dictionary software. Installation of 'regular' version is not necessary but their PDB databases must be installed. DA Launcher will automatically recognize the DAs. You are now ready to use it
A tip for using DA Launcher: There are several versions of DA Launch. App/DA Launcher 0.7 allows user to configure a tapping area to the last launched. If you use this option, looking up the definition of word or phrase can be a one-tap deal. Of course, if you are using more than one dictionary DA, you will still have to select the appropriate DA each time you switch DA.
Note that DA Launcher 0.7 and XMaster are for Palm OS older than 5. They are not compatible with Palm OS 5.
This section uses DA Launcher 0.7 and XMaster as an example illustrating the installation key steps. Both of these software are freeware.
1. Launch XMaster and make sure DA Launcher hack is activated.
2. Configure the desirable DA Launcher location. Note that the Last DA is very useful in achieving one-tap look-up.
3. The DA list is displayed by tapping the configure area. Select the desirable DA. Once a DA selection has been made, the Last DA is defined and one-tap look-up to a dictionary can be done. Note that there is only one Last DA. If you have more than one DAs and your are interested in launching DA other than the last DA, you must pop and select from the DA list again.
Abstract dictionary desk accessories (DA) will automatically look up the marked word or word containing the cursor PROVIDED that cursor and word marking are done via the standard Palm OS API. Most of Palm built-in PIM applications are in this category. Some well-known text readers like QED are also in this category.
There are applications that do not use Palm OS API to handle text, cursor and marking. Many document readers or views are in this category because they have to reneder text and graphics in ways not conveniently supported by Palm OS API.
Some provides hook or interface for thrid party software to interact. Plucker, a very popular freeware document viewer, provides such a hook and Abstract DA can seamlessly work with it. See later section on Plucker.
Most of the Palm applications provide copying a marked text to the Palm clipboard. An Abstract DA user then can first launch the Abstract DA and invoke clipboard lookup function, either by navigating the Edit menu or using the shortcut.
If an application neither uses standard Palm OS API, nor provides a hook for thrid party software nor provides clipboard copying, an Abstract DA user then have to enter the lookup word manually after launching the DA.
Plucker is a popular freeware e-book viewer. (Plucker actually includes more functions than just viewing e-books.) Abstract DA software are designed to work with Plucker via the Plucker Plugin Interface (PPI) making dictionary lookup a truely tap-tap operation.
You should have your favorite Abstract DA dictionary software installed. See previous section on how to install an Abstract dictionary DA.
Note that Plucker Plugin Interface knows how to launch a DA. Therefore, it is not necessary to have a DA launcher.
This section only describes the minimum Plucker set up required. You may be interested other parts of Plucker software. Please visit http://www.plkr.org for more complete info.
Visit http://www.plkr.org/faq/6.5 a see a catalog of free and preformatted e-books that are ready to be viewed by Plucker.
That's it for the setup!
After the set up is done, just tap on any word while viewer a document inside Plucker to look up the word in the specified Abstract dictionary software. The following is a screen shot of a lookup after tapping any part of the word 'surcease' of a document.
