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Re: Qamoose Web Interface - Is it buggy?



--- "Edward H. Trager" <ehtrager at umich dot edu> wrote:
> When I enter "مصر" into Qamoose at
> http://qamoose.arabeyes.org/dict_main.cgi,
> I get :
> 
>   "Sorry, the term you're seeking was NOT found"
> 
> It does not matter whether I choose "exact" or "any match".
> 
> But, when I enter "Egypt", I get the answer --
> 
>       English : Egypt
> 	Arabic  : مصر
>  
> Please make it clear if the text box only accepts English.

Well, the webpage clearly notes "The English to Arabic Dictionary"
below its logo.
 
> But, if it accepts only English, then why the Javascript 
> virtual keyboard for Arabic?

That keyboard is there for those looking to suggest terms that are not
currently in the dictionary (ie. note the 'modify/suggest' bottom form);
the terms once approved will be added to our ever-growing "user-defined" 
dictionary.
 
> I am sure you can make the dictionary lookup both ways,
> i.e., English->Arabic and also Arabic->English.  You can use
> either one text box or two.  If you have just one text box,
> you could have the server detect whether the entered text was
> in UTF-8 or just the ASCII subset.  If ASCII, then do English
> lookup.  If UTF-8, then do Arabic lookup.  This would be very
> nice.

We could but it would be lacking in so many ways that we are opting
not to even venture in that direction.  We already have an Arabic-to-
English dictionary on our drawing boards, but we don't have enough
resources (ie. people and volunteers) to get it all done.  Hopefully
in the not too distant future.
 
> Also, it would be very nice if the dictionary provided the
> fully vocalized entry.  I know this is more work, but it would
> be very nice for people like me: I am just beginning to learn
> Arabic.

There are other sites out there that address these issues as this
dictionary was/is not meant to be a teaching tool (not in the caliber
that you note).

BTW: in the future do please submit a bug report [1] if you have such
     application specific issues.

[1] http://bugs.arabeyes.org

Salam.

 - Nadim



		
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