# README

This program provides a fast local dictionary, with the option to add any word &
its definition to Anki.

You'll need a working Go runtime in order to build this program. Usually you can
get this from your distribution's package manager, or from
https://go.dev/doc/install.

## Getting started

You need a copy of
https://kaikki.org/frwiktionary/raw-wiktextract-data.jsonl.gz. Uncompress it to
raw-wiktextract-data.jsonl. This is a structured dump of French wiktionary.

To be able to add Anki cards, you need to install the `anki-connect` extension.
You can find instructions to do so here: https://git.sr.ht/~foosoft/anki-connect
When you're running this app, you'll also need to have Anki open (with the
`anki-connect` plugin installed) in order to add new cards.

Also from Anki, take note of the name of the Deck where you want to add new
cards, and the `Type` of these cards (appears in the upper-left of the 'add new
cards' dialog in Anki).

(Note: currently this application assumes that your card type has two fields:
"Front" and "Back". Eventually, this may be configurable. If the fields are
called something else in your card type, you'll currently have to update the
json tags for the `fields` struct in `add.go`.)

With all this done, you can now run the app! The first time you run it, the app
will build a SQLite database of words and definitions from the Wiktionary data,
which will take a minute or two. From the root of this repository, you can use a
command like this to start the app:

```
go run . -rawDictionary=raw-wiktextract-data.jsonl -deck="Français" -model="Basic-830ae"
```

In addition to starting the program and then looking up a word interactively,
it's also possible to provide the first word to look up as a command-line
argument. Then, for example, you could add a shell function to invoke the
program and immediately go to a definition.

For example, if you've compiled the program and placed it in your path, you
could add a shell function to your `.zshrc` or `.bashrc` with all the arguments
you need, like this:

```
wk() {
  french-wiktionary-flashcards dictionary=/path/to/dictionary.sqlite3 -deck="Français" -model="Basic-830ae" -initialWord="$*"
}
```

and then, to start the program and go immediately to a definition (e.g.
"poisson"), you could invoke it like this:

```
$ wk poisson
```

## Usage

```
Usage of french-wiktionary-flashcards:
  -apiURL string
        Base URL to access the anki-connect plugin API. (default
        "http://localhost:8765")
  -deck string
        Name of the deck where new Anki cards will be created.
  -dictionary string
        Path to the parsed dictionary data. This will be generated
        from rawDictionary. (default "dictionary.sqlite3")
  -model string
        Name of the card type ('model') for new Anki cards.
  -initialWord string
        Optional: first word to look up on program launch.
  -rawDictionary string
        Path to the raw wiktionary data. You can get this by
        downloading and unzipping
        https://kaikki.org/frwiktionary/raw-wiktextract-data.jsonl.gz
        (for French). (default "raw-wiktextract-data.jsonl")
```

# TODO

- combine definitions for identical words (e.g. accroire, n & v)
- render HTML entities in definitions
- italicise part-of-speech, and maybe remove numbers from them

# Ideas for future improvements

- if the deck and model aren't provided, figure out the defaults and use them
- provide history (scrollback) of words looked up, to make it easier to switch
  between definitions
- store data in sqlite with more structure to make it easier to customize
  the format of definitions on cards
- figure out some way to customize the names of the fields on the flashcards