CPod Vocabulary . . . Export to PlecoDict ???

calkins
 May 05, 2008, 05:06 AM posted in General Discussion

There's been a lot of discussion lately about PlecoDict's value in studying Chinese on the go.  I'm wondering if it'd be possible for CPod to implement a vocabulary export feature, specifically for Pleco.  Something similar to ZDT's "export to plecodict" format.

 

I know there are bigger fish to fry, and maybe it's a third party issue, but it might be nice to add on the wish list. 

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boran
 May 05, 2008, 06:00 AM

What does one of the lines from the CSV file look like when you export from the Vocab Manager as a CSV file? If it's similar to the PlecoDict format (which uses tabs instead of commas to separate words) you may be able to convert it manually in the meantime. That is, open up the CSV file in a text editor and do a global find-and-replace to replace all "," with a (you can usually use the "\t" character to represent a tab in a Find and Replace dialog). Sorry, I'm only a Basic member otherwise I would try to do it myself but I don't have access to what CPod's CSV format looks like.

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trevelyan
 May 05, 2008, 08:13 AM

I think it's a good idea. Mike Love is coming out with V2 of Plecodict sometime later this year. The update involves some significant changes to the database, so it makes sense to wait before doing any push here. Suggestions on additional export formats, methods are always welcome. It will be interesting to see what happens with the Palm versus iPhone.

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bryan
 May 05, 2008, 02:39 PM

Meanwhile, if you have Excel, I have found that if you export from CPod as xml and import into Excel (depending on version) via: Data->Import External Data->Import Data, things work quite smoothly. You just have to move your columns so that you end up with: char pinyin definition. You can literally select the 3 columns and copy into a text editor. You may find the tab delimiting occurs automatically in the text file. Then just sync and import.

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calkins
 May 05, 2008, 03:12 PM

Thanks Dave...definitely makes sense to wait until V2 is released. Brian and Bryan, good suggestions. I did try exporting as .csv and .xml, but got all the additional info (mp3 location, etc.). I didn't think to import it into Excel and delete that info. I will try that, thanks.

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frances
 May 05, 2008, 03:26 PM

PlecoDict 2.0 should be coming out very soon, but they will have a flashcard converter to convert your flashcards and their statistics to the new version. Don't let your wait for the new PlecoDict delay your learning. (That said, PlecoDict version 2.0 is now in beta v. 4a, and it's getting polished. The full regular release should be soon.)