Dictionary Wordfast Classic

(PC only) Wordfast can be linked to virtually any external dictionary application, such as the Collins ^™ On-line, Harrap's^™ Shorter, Merriam Webster's ^™, Microsoft Encarta ^™, any web-based dictionary or database, Trados Multiterm ^™ etc, using the Select dictionary button of the Terminology/Reference tab.

The access keystroke (Keys button) defines the keystrokes used for accessing an external dictionary, where some fields are replaced with values as in the following table:

Field	will be replaced by Wordfast with	Example
{SearchWord}	the word you are searching for	house
{SourceSegment}	the text of the source segment (without tags, if any)
{TargetSegment}	the text of the target segment (without tags, if any)
{SL-CD}	The source language code with local variant	EN-US
{SL}	The source language code, in 2 characters	EN
{TL-CD}	The target language code with local variant	FR-FR
{TL}	2-character target language code	FR
{pause}	Pauses the execution for 200 milliseconds
{PAUSE}	Pauses the execution for 4 seconds
{pause=Harraps}	Pauses until the application's window caption contains the string "Harraps". Case-insensitive. 10-second timeout.
{Ms-Word}	Returns the focus to the Ms-Word application

To set up the "Keys" parameter, start your dictionary application, then note the sequence of keystrokes necessary to perform a word search. Once this is done, click the Keys button and enter the caption of the dictionary application window, followed by a semi-colon, followed by the keys you noted. For example,

Harraps;{pause}{F3}{Escape}%e{SearchWord}{Enter}

will instruct Wordfast to look for an application whose window name begins with Harraps, activate it, pause for 200 milliseconds, then type an F3 key, followed by an Escape Key, then Alt+E, then the searched-for word, then an Enter key. All typable keys are simply entered as they are, in lowercase. Function keys and other special keys are entered as follows:

A, B, C etc	a, b, c etc		F1 etc	{F1} etc
Enter	{Enter}		End	{End}
Escape	{Escape}		Tabulator	{Tab}
Alt	%		Shift	+
Ctrl	^		Up	{Up}
Down	{Down}		PageUp	{PgUp}
PageDown	{PgDn]		Home	{Home}

Once the dictionary has been setup, close Wordfast. Position the cursor on a word, or select an expression, and click the Dictionary icon (or press Ctrl+Alt+D. For the dictionary #2, use the Ctrl+Alt+F shortcut). Wordfast will launch the dictionary application (or activate the relevant window if the application is already running) and execute the sequence of keystrokes you defined.

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