rdict(1)

NAME

rdict - a DICT protocol client

SYNOPSIS
    rdict [-h|--host server] [-p|--port service] [-d|--database dbname]
          [-m|--match] [-s|--strategy strategy] [-C|--nocorrect]
          [-D|--dbs] [-S|--strats] [-H|--serverhelp] [-i|--info dbname]
          [-I|--serverinfo] [-T|--status] [-b|--debug] [-u|--user user]
          [-k|--key key] [-v|--verbose] word1 [word2 ... wordn]
    rdict [--help|-v|--version]

DESCRIPTION

rdict is an RFC 2229 compliant Dictionary Server Protocol (DICT) client that provides access to dictionary definitions from a set of natural language dictionary databases.

OPTIONS

-h server or --host server
    Specifies the hostname for the DICT server. If no servers are specified, the default behavior is to try dict.org, followed by alt0.dict.org.

-p port or --port port
    Specifies the port (e.g. 2628) or service (e.g. dict) for connections. The default is 2628, as specified in the DICT Protocol RFC.

-d dbname or --database dbname
    Specifies a specific database to search. The default is to search all databases (a '*' from the DICT protocol). Note that a '!' in the DICT protocol means to search all of the databases until a match is found, and then stop searching.

-m or --match
    Instead of printing a definition, perform a match using the specified strategy.

-s strategy or --strategy strategy
    Specify a matching strategy. By default, the server default match strategy is used. This is usually 'exact' for definitions, and a server-defined optimal spelling correction strategy for matches ('.' from the DICT protocol). The available strategies are dependent on the server implementation. For a list of available strategies, see the -S or --strats option.

-C or --nocorrect
    Usually, if a definition is requested and the word cannot be found, spelling correction is requested from the server, and a list of possible words are provided. This option disables the generation of this list.

-D or --dbs
    Query the server and display a list of available databases.

-S or --strats
    Query the server and display a list of available search strategies.

-H or --serverhelp
    Query the server and display the help information that it provides.

-i dbname or --info dbname
    Request information on the specified database (usually the server will provide origination, descriptive or other information about the database or its contents).

-I or --serverinfo
    Query the server and display information about the server.

-T or --status
    Query the server for status information.

-u user or --user user
    Specifies the username for authentication.

-k key or --key key
    Specifies the shared secret for authentication.

-V or --version
    Display version information.

--help
    Display help information.

-v or --verbose
    Be verbose.

-b or --debug
    Display debugging information. This is long-winded, as the entire protocol exchange will be dumped.

EXAMPLES

$ rdict -D
    This will provide you with a list of databases you can query.

$ rdict -S
    This will provide you with a list of strategies you can employ to match words.

$ rdict -m -s prefix foo
    This shows you a list of all words that begin with 'foo' in all of the databases.

$ rdict -s re '^(cu|ke)rb$'
    This shows you all the definitions relating to both 'curb' and 'kerb' from all the databases. The 're' strategy allows regular expression matching.

$ rdict -m -s suffix fix
    This shows a list of all words that end in 'fix' in all of the databases.

$ rdict -d jargon -m -s prefix ''
    This displays a list of all the entries in the 'jargon' database.

AUTHOR

Written by Ian Macdonald <ian@caliban.org>

COPYRIGHT
    Copyright (C) 2002-2005 Ian Macdonald

    This is free software; see the source for copying conditions.
    There is NO warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS
    FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

SEE ALSO

    • Ruby/DICT home page - http://www.caliban.org/ruby/

    • dict(3)

    • The DICT development group - http://www.dict.org/

    • RFC 2229 - ftp://ftp.isi.edu/in-notes/rfc2229.txt

BUGS

    • MIME is not implemented

    • command pipelining is not implemented

    • URL parsing is not implemented