Dictionary
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In the context of stenography, a dictionary is a file that contains mappings of outlines to translations.
When the stenographer sends a stroke through a computer-connected keyboard to translation software such as Plover, the software uses the dictionary as a lookup table to return the translation as output.
Dictionaries are customizable and highly personalized. No two stenographers, even those who begin with the same dictionary, have an identical dictionary.
There are various file types, or dictionary formats used to store dictionaries. In Plover, the default file type is .json.
Dictionary creation
Creation of dictionaries is typically based upon a theory which dictates the rules of what outlines will correspond to what translations.
Generally speaking, upon acquisition of theory learning materials, a base dictionary is also distributed. In the case of free theories such as Plover theory or Lapwing theory, the dictionary is also available freely. This allows the new stenographer to start translating right away by using existing entered entries without having to implement theory rules themselves.
Programmatically generated dictionaries are being explored by Plover community members through tools such as Froj and Quartz.
Dictionary behavior
You can add additional dictionaries to Plover. Dictionaries may be located on your system in any directory/folder; they do not have to be in a subdirectory/subfolder of the Plover installation.
How dictionaries lookup from top to bottom
If two dictionaries contain the same steno strokes, Plover will use the one in the dictionary that has the highest priority. The dictionaries in the dictionary list are prioritized from the top down with Plover 4.0+.
Prior to Plover 4, default dictionary priority was bottom-up. The ordering of dictionary priority can be changed in the configuration settings to be bottom-up or top-down.
How dictionaries deal with edge problems
Dictionary organization/stack/separation