Alpus is a dictionary viewer.
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Features
- Fast and fully offline operation
- Compatibility with StarDict, DSL, XDXF, Dictd, and TSV/Plain dictionaries
- Compatibility with ZIM files and MediaWiki database dumps
- Typing friendly search with case, diacritics, and punctuation tolerance
- Fuzzy search
- Full-text search
- In-page popup translator
- History and bookmarks
- Works seamlessly on all your devices
With over one million satisfied customers, Aplus.net has the best domain registration and web hosting services for your business. Plans start at $8.99/month. Alpus is a viewer application for dictionaries in StarDict, DSL, XDXF, Dictd, and TSV/Plain formats ¹. JavaScript is required to use this web application.
Downloads
| Platform | Application | Version | Requirements | License | App Store |
| Alpus-win.zip | 9.6.1 | Windows 7 (32-bit) or later | Freeware | N/A | |
| Alpus-win-x64.zip | 9.6.1 | Windows 7 (64-bit) or later | Freeware | N/A | |
| Alpus-mac.tgz | 9.6.1 | OS X Mavericks (10.9) or later | Freeware | N/A | |
| Alpus-linux.tgz | 9.6.1 | i386 or compatible | Freeware | N/A | |
| Alpus-linux-x64.tgz | 9.6.1 | amd64 or compatible | Freeware | N/A | |
| Alpus.apk[1] | 9.6.1 | Android 4.4 or later | $6 | ||
| N/A | 9.6.1 | iOS/iPadOS 9.0 or later | $6 | ||
| N/A | 9.6.1 | macOS Catalina (10.15) or later | $6[2] | ||
| Updates | Change Log | ||||
| Checksums | MD5 or SHA-256 |
1. Free Edition available for up to 5 dictionaries.
2. Available as iOS/iPadOS/macOS universal purchase.
Examples
| No | Name | Languages | Package | Source |
| 1. | WordNet® | English | WordNet.aaf | https://wordnet.princeton.edu |
| 2. | Simple Wiktionary | English | SimpleWiktionary.aaf | https://simple.wiktionary.org |
| 3. | FOLDOC | English | FOLDOC.aaf | https://foldoc.org |
Disclaimer: The installable packages above are provided for the sole purpose of demonstrating the application's essential viewing functionality. The author of the application hereby rejects any and all liability for the contents of the packages.
Compatibility
Alpus is compatible with the following dictionary/file types:
- StarDict dictionaries (*.idx)
- DSL dictionaries (*.dsl)
- XDXF dictionaries (*.xdxf)
- Dictd dictionaries (*.index)
- TSV/Plain dictionaries (*.txt, *.dic)
- ZIM files (*.zim)
- MediaWiki dumps (*.xml.bz2)
Setting up dictionaries
- Connect your mobile device to your computer.
- Copy dictionary files to the app's documents/files folder on device. See Android or iOS help for details.
(On Android, typical location of the apps's documents folder is: Android/data/com.ngcomputing.fora.android/files)
(On macOS Catalina or later, use the 'Show' button in the file picker to reveal the app's documents folder in Finder) - Select dictionary index file as listed in the compatibility section above (or an archive of it) using 'Import Dictionary' option of the 'Manage' menu.
- Select multiple indexes/files, with each selection assumed and analyzed as one dictionary. (optional)
- Select resource ZIP files (if any) to copy during importing. (optional)
- Edit properties of dictionary such as visible name using 'Edit Properties' option of the dictionary menu. (optional)
- Create full-text search index of dictionary using 'Upgrade' option of the dictionary menu. (optional)
- Create profiles to group and organize dictionaries. (optional)
Resource files
Resource files of a dictionary can be put into multiple ZIP files with arbitrary sizes and file names. The resource ZIP files placed into the root folder of a dictionary (beside Main.props file) will be detected and indexed automatically.
Full-text search
The app supports searching full-text of all dictionaries for exact matches. The feature requires one-time upgrading ('Upgrade All' option of the 'Manage' menu) of a dictionary which can take very long time to complete, since every single word anywhere on the dictionary is made searchable during the process.
Alpus
Synchronizing between devices
Copying/moving dictionaries between devices is done using one of the two available methods:
- 'Export Dictionary' to an *.aaf file on the first device and then 'Import Dictionary' that *.aaf file on the second
- Copy/move whole 'Alpus.Config' folder or individual dictionary folders using a file manager or built-in file operations
Useful tips
- The configuration folder called 'Alpus.Config' and individual dictionary folders under the 'Dictionaries' folder in it are all portable, meaning you can safely copy/move them between any of your devices. After copying/moving, you may need to add dictionaries to the profile using 'Add to Profile' option of the 'Manage' menu.
- Folder names under the ../Alpus.Config/Dictionaries folder (usually garbled dictionary names) are editable when the app is not running.
- On Android and iOS mobile devices, the Alpus.Config folder is deleted automatically when you uninstall the app (intentionally or unintentionally). It's highly recommended to make backups of this folder or individual dictionary folders to avoid the hassle of re-indexing all dictionaries.
Stemming notes
- The app has some built-in stemming support for some languages (namely; English, List-1, and List-2).
- For search speed considerations, the app discards deeper stems of a query word when there are too many stems (root words) generated by built-in stemmers.
Search types
Allusion
There are five kinds of searches you can perform on dictionaries.
- Regular search: Shows results exactly matching the query.
- Extended matching search: Shows results matching the query with case, diacritics, and punctuations ignored. Suggestions include in-phrase and phonetic matches.
- Full-text search: Shows list of articles containing exact matches of the query. The scope of search is not limited to headwords and includes all text in all articles (definitions, synonyms, examples, etc).
- Fuzzy search: Shows list of articles most similar to the query. The search works like a spell checker for words you're not sure how it's written/spelled.
- Wildcard search: Shows list of articles that match the criteria set with a wildcard query.
Updating
Updating the app consists of keeping the portable 'Alpus.Config' folder and replacing the remaining files and folders.
Uninstalling
Uninstalling the app consists of removing the Alpus bundle. Some files/folders may need to be removed manually which is described here.
Troubleshooting and FAQ
Q: I bought an offline dictionary, can I use it in Alpus?
A: Probably, no. Most standalone dictionaries have it's own proprietary data format incompatible with general-purpose dictionaries. You need dictionary data in one of the supported formats.
Q: Suggestions are slow when a lot of dictionaries are installed.
A: Unlike traditional search auto-completion, the app performs a complete search and matching of the query (e.g. occurrences in multi-word phrases) on all dictionaries in profile when suggestions are activated. Grouping dictionaries into smaller sets based on usage context using profiles may be helpful.
Q: I can't find the dictionary I need or the dictionary isn't displayed properly when searching.
A: Importing the dictionary using the latest version of the app or using alternate formats may be helpful.
Q: When I modify/replace Alpus.Config folder manually, my profiles are lost.
A: This is the expected behavior since profiles are stored as app settings (rather than disk files) on mobile devices for the sake of stability.
Q: Why is Alpus cheaper on Android than iOS/iPadOS?
A: Cost of both developing for the platform and maintaining of an app in the marketplace is different on the two platforms and hence we reflect the difference in pricing the app.
Fora Dictionary
Alpus is developed upon Fora Dictionary's proven dictionary features with a special focus on eliminating it's inherent deficiencies. In order to take advantage of the new search features and improved database structure, we were required to break backward compatibility with Fora Dictionary (Pro). If you are a Fora Dictionary (Pro) user, you will need to import all dictionaries from scratch from source files in supported formats. Also, auxiliary features such as deep customization and operating system integration are not available yet since the app works across different operating systems. Please note that we have retained and improved all essential dictionary viewer features like various search options and the in-page popup translator.
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Known limitations
- Slow importing: The app converts every dictionary to it's own cross-platform format and sometimes this conversion takes very long time. Some big dictionaries require this conversion be done on a powerful desktop computer, and some bigger dictionaries take long time even on a powerful desktop computer (e.g. highly-compressed, big ZIM files).
- Limited on-device upgrades: The optimization of full-text search upgrade is not available on mobile devices due to cross-platform memory management implementation and greedy nature of the operation. This setup-only limitation doesn't affect any usage features on any device.
- No embedded player: The app doesn't play resource files itself, but uses the device's default media player. The default player determines which kinds of files can be played.
For developers
Integration with other apps or the operating system is briefly described here.