Third party dictionaries?

[Mr.Feras]

Hi!
I recently saw the post by enterio about some features on the kindle scribe and MTP, and he mentioned third party dictionaries, which I was not aware were possible with kindles.

so, can someone explain the method for this? I'm certain it involves converting to kfx, but is there a header or setting in calibre and the plugin to make the kindle think that this a dictionary instead of a normal book, for looking up words.

thanks.

[Enterio]

On my Kindle (Paperwhite, 11th gen), the dictionaries are held in the "\documents\dictionaries" subfolder (I kept my firmware to an older version to keep my USB connection).
When I bought them online (on Amazon, see Kindle Default Dictionaries category), I received pre-made MOBI files that I only had to place in the aforementioned subfolder, without converting them to other file formats.
Afterwards, I set up my default dictionaries for every language on my Kindle in Settings → Language & Dictionaries → Dictionaries.

Hope that helped.

[Mr.Feras]

Got it! thank you.

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by Mr.Feras

Hi!
I recently saw the post by enterio about some features on the kindle scribe and MTP, and he mentioned third party dictionaries, which I was not aware were possible with kindles.

so, can someone explain the method for this? I'm certain it involves converting to kfx, but is there a header or setting in calibre and the plugin to make the kindle think that this a dictionary instead of a normal book, for looking up words.

thanks.

Kindle dictionary format is the original MOBI format, not KFX. They appear as .azw on the Kindle

I do not think you need to put them in /documents/dictionaries (anywhere in /documents should work), but it's probably convenient to keep them there.

This is a good article about where to find 3rd party dictionaries or how to create your own:

Kindle Dictionary Guide: How to Add, Change, and Create Custom Kindle Dictionaries

[Pen&Paper]

Originally Posted by tomsem

Kindle dictionary format is the original MOBI format, not KFX. They appear as .azw on the Kindle

I do not think you need to put them in /documents/dictionaries (anywhere in /documents should work), but it's probably convenient to keep them there.

This is a good article about where to find 3rd party dictionaries or how to create your own:

Kindle Dictionary Guide: How to Add, Change, and Create Custom Kindle Dictionaries

Thanks. I didn’t know it existed. I wonder if it’s possible to convert for Kindle this dictionary based on Wiktionary.

https://github.com/BoboTiG/ebook-reader-dict

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by Pen&Paper

Thanks. I didn’t know it existed. I wonder if it’s possible to convert for Kindle this dictionary based on Wiktionary.

https://github.com/BoboTiG/ebook-reader-dict

It should be possible, but interesting they do have not figured out how to make it available for Kindle there, given how comparatively popular Kindle is.

I think you could dump StarDict to XML and then it should be 'relatively easy' to migrate to mobi dictionary format.

[Pen&Paper]

Originally Posted by tomsem

It should be possible, but interesting they do have not figured out how to make it available for Kindle there, given how comparatively popular Kindle is.

I think you could dump StarDict to XML and then it should be 'relatively easy' to migrate to mobi dictionary format.

I found this github project. Many languages. There are dictionaries for Kindle in mobi fomat. Haven't tested yet.

https://github.com/Vuizur/Wiktionary-Dictionaries

[Pen&Paper]

Originally Posted by Pen&Paper

I found this github project. Many languages. There are dictionaries for Kindle in mobi fomat. Haven't tested yet.

https://github.com/Vuizur/Wiktionary-Dictionaries

EDIT : Not working on my Paperwhite...

[Pen&Paper]

I tested it on my Paperwhite. Was not working...

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by Pen&Paper

I tested it on my Paperwhite. Was not working...

You might file an issue on GitHub. Whatever I downloaded is not .mobi format as far as I can tell (calibre could not convert it, KindleUnpack could not unpack it).

[DNSB]

For me, KindleUnpack started to unpack it before calibre gave the following error message:

Spoiler:

calibre, version 7.9.100
ERROR: Unhandled exception: <b>TypeError</b>:a bytes-like object is required, not 'str'

calibre 7.9.100* embedded-python: True
Windows-10-10.0.22631-SP0 Windows ('64bit', 'WindowsPE')
('Windows', '10', '10.0.22631')
Python 3.11.5
Windows: ('10', '10.0.22631', 'SP0', 'Multiprocessor Free')
Interface language: None
EXE path: C:\Program Files\Calibre2\calibre.exe
Successfully initialized third party plugins: ACSM Input (0, 1, 0) && Gather KFX-ZIP (from KFX Input) (2, 10, 0) && DeDRM (10, 0, 9) && AZW6 Image Merge (1, 1, 1) && Package KFX (from KFX Input) (2, 10, 0) && ACSM Input Plugin GUI Extension (0, 1, 0) && Barnes & Noble (1, 5, 4) && Count Pages (1, 13, 6) && Diaps Editing Toolbag (0, 4, 0) && EpubCheck (0, 2, 5) && EpubMerge (2, 18, 0) && EpubSplit (3, 7, 0) && FanFicFare (4, 33, 0) && Find Duplicates (1, 10, 9) && Generate Cover (2, 3, 4) && Job Spy (1, 0, 239) && KFX metadata reader (from KFX Input) (2, 10, 0) && From KFX (2, 10, 0) && KFX Input (2, 10, 0) && Set KFX metadata (from KFX Output) (2, 7, 0) && KFX Output (2, 7, 0) && Kindle hi-res covers (0, 5, 1) && KindleUnpack - The Plugin (0, 83, 1) && Kobo Books (1, 10, 2) && Kobo Metadata (1, 5, 0) && Kobo Utilities (2, 16, 13) && KoboTouchExtended (3, 6, 7) && Modify ePub (1, 8, 3) && Obok DeDRM (10, 0, 9) && Open With (1, 8, 3) && Quality Check (1, 13, 10) && Resize Cover (1, 2, 1) && ScrambleEbook (0, 6, 0) && SmartEject (2, 5, 0) && Smashwords Metadata (1, 0, 2)
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "calibre_plugins.kindleunpack_plugin.action", line 271, in unpack_ebook
File "calibre_plugins.kindleunpack_plugin.mobi_stuf f", line 124, in unpackMOBI
File "calibre_plugins.kindleunpack_plugin.kindleunpackc ore.kindleunpack", line 934, in unpackBook
File "calibre_plugins.kindleunpack_plugin.kindleunpackc ore.kindleunpack", line 855, in process_all_mobi_headers
File "calibre_plugins.kindleunpack_plugin.kindleunpackc ore.kindleunpack", line 632, in processMobi7
File "calibre_plugins.kindleunpack_plugin.kindleunpackc ore.mobi_dict", line 200, in getPositionMap
UnicodeEncodeError: 'utf-8' codec can't encode characters in position 0-1: surrogates not allowed

During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred:

Traceback (most recent call last):
File "calibre_plugins.kindleunpack_plugin.action", line 273, in unpack_ebook
File "calibre_plugins.kindleunpack_plugin.utilities ", line 105, in showErrorDlg
File "traceback.py", line 183, in print_exc
File "traceback.py", line 125, in print_exception
File "traceback.py", line 982, in print
TypeError: a bytes-like object is required, not 'str'

OTOH, I seem to remember it being mentioned that the Mobi dictionary format was not the same as the standard mobi format.

Edit: Just for the heck of it, I copied the English-English Wiktionary file into /documents/dictionaries on my Paperwhite 10th gen. It showed up when I displayed English dictionaries and I was able to select it. A word lookup from within a book worked. All in all, I would say the dictionary does work on a Kindle.

[Pen&Paper]

Originally Posted by DNSB

For me, KindleUnpack started to unpack it before calibre gave the following error message:

Spoiler:

calibre, version 7.9.100
ERROR: Unhandled exception: <b>TypeError</b>:a bytes-like object is required, not 'str'

calibre 7.9.100* embedded-python: True
Windows-10-10.0.22631-SP0 Windows ('64bit', 'WindowsPE')
('Windows', '10', '10.0.22631')
Python 3.11.5
Windows: ('10', '10.0.22631', 'SP0', 'Multiprocessor Free')
Interface language: None
EXE path: C:\Program Files\Calibre2\calibre.exe
Successfully initialized third party plugins: ACSM Input (0, 1, 0) && Gather KFX-ZIP (from KFX Input) (2, 10, 0) && DeDRM (10, 0, 9) && AZW6 Image Merge (1, 1, 1) && Package KFX (from KFX Input) (2, 10, 0) && ACSM Input Plugin GUI Extension (0, 1, 0) && Barnes & Noble (1, 5, 4) && Count Pages (1, 13, 6) && Diaps Editing Toolbag (0, 4, 0) && EpubCheck (0, 2, 5) && EpubMerge (2, 18, 0) && EpubSplit (3, 7, 0) && FanFicFare (4, 33, 0) && Find Duplicates (1, 10, 9) && Generate Cover (2, 3, 4) && Job Spy (1, 0, 239) && KFX metadata reader (from KFX Input) (2, 10, 0) && From KFX (2, 10, 0) && KFX Input (2, 10, 0) && Set KFX metadata (from KFX Output) (2, 7, 0) && KFX Output (2, 7, 0) && Kindle hi-res covers (0, 5, 1) && KindleUnpack - The Plugin (0, 83, 1) && Kobo Books (1, 10, 2) && Kobo Metadata (1, 5, 0) && Kobo Utilities (2, 16, 13) && KoboTouchExtended (3, 6, 7) && Modify ePub (1, 8, 3) && Obok DeDRM (10, 0, 9) && Open With (1, 8, 3) && Quality Check (1, 13, 10) && Resize Cover (1, 2, 1) && ScrambleEbook (0, 6, 0) && SmartEject (2, 5, 0) && Smashwords Metadata (1, 0, 2)
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "calibre_plugins.kindleunpack_plugin.action", line 271, in unpack_ebook
File "calibre_plugins.kindleunpack_plugin.mobi_stuf f", line 124, in unpackMOBI
File "calibre_plugins.kindleunpack_plugin.kindleunpackc ore.kindleunpack", line 934, in unpackBook
File "calibre_plugins.kindleunpack_plugin.kindleunpackc ore.kindleunpack", line 855, in process_all_mobi_headers
File "calibre_plugins.kindleunpack_plugin.kindleunpackc ore.kindleunpack", line 632, in processMobi7
File "calibre_plugins.kindleunpack_plugin.kindleunpackc ore.mobi_dict", line 200, in getPositionMap
UnicodeEncodeError: 'utf-8' codec can't encode characters in position 0-1: surrogates not allowed

During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred:

Traceback (most recent call last):
File "calibre_plugins.kindleunpack_plugin.action", line 273, in unpack_ebook
File "calibre_plugins.kindleunpack_plugin.utilities ", line 105, in showErrorDlg
File "traceback.py", line 183, in print_exc
File "traceback.py", line 125, in print_exception
File "traceback.py", line 982, in print
TypeError: a bytes-like object is required, not 'str'

OTOH, I seem to remember it being mentioned that the Mobi dictionary format was not the same as the standard mobi format.

Edit: Just for the heck of it, I copied the English-English Wiktionary file into /documents/dictionaries on my Paperwhite 10th gen. It showed up when I displayed English dictionaries and I was able to select it. A word lookup from within a book worked. All in all, I would say the dictionary does work on a Kindle.

As far as I can see, this Wiktionary doesn't seem to include the etymology of the word like the one made for Kobo.

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by DNSB

For me, KindleUnpack started to unpack it before calibre gave the following error message:

Spoiler:

calibre, version 7.9.100
ERROR: Unhandled exception: <b>TypeError</b>:a bytes-like object is required, not 'str'

calibre 7.9.100* embedded-python: True
Windows-10-10.0.22631-SP0 Windows ('64bit', 'WindowsPE')
('Windows', '10', '10.0.22631')
Python 3.11.5
Windows: ('10', '10.0.22631', 'SP0', 'Multiprocessor Free')
Interface language: None
EXE path: C:\Program Files\Calibre2\calibre.exe
Successfully initialized third party plugins: ACSM Input (0, 1, 0) && Gather KFX-ZIP (from KFX Input) (2, 10, 0) && DeDRM (10, 0, 9) && AZW6 Image Merge (1, 1, 1) && Package KFX (from KFX Input) (2, 10, 0) && ACSM Input Plugin GUI Extension (0, 1, 0) && Barnes & Noble (1, 5, 4) && Count Pages (1, 13, 6) && Diaps Editing Toolbag (0, 4, 0) && EpubCheck (0, 2, 5) && EpubMerge (2, 18, 0) && EpubSplit (3, 7, 0) && FanFicFare (4, 33, 0) && Find Duplicates (1, 10, 9) && Generate Cover (2, 3, 4) && Job Spy (1, 0, 239) && KFX metadata reader (from KFX Input) (2, 10, 0) && From KFX (2, 10, 0) && KFX Input (2, 10, 0) && Set KFX metadata (from KFX Output) (2, 7, 0) && KFX Output (2, 7, 0) && Kindle hi-res covers (0, 5, 1) && KindleUnpack - The Plugin (0, 83, 1) && Kobo Books (1, 10, 2) && Kobo Metadata (1, 5, 0) && Kobo Utilities (2, 16, 13) && KoboTouchExtended (3, 6, 7) && Modify ePub (1, 8, 3) && Obok DeDRM (10, 0, 9) && Open With (1, 8, 3) && Quality Check (1, 13, 10) && Resize Cover (1, 2, 1) && ScrambleEbook (0, 6, 0) && SmartEject (2, 5, 0) && Smashwords Metadata (1, 0, 2)
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "calibre_plugins.kindleunpack_plugin.action", line 271, in unpack_ebook
File "calibre_plugins.kindleunpack_plugin.mobi_stuf f", line 124, in unpackMOBI
File "calibre_plugins.kindleunpack_plugin.kindleunpackc ore.kindleunpack", line 934, in unpackBook
File "calibre_plugins.kindleunpack_plugin.kindleunpackc ore.kindleunpack", line 855, in process_all_mobi_headers
File "calibre_plugins.kindleunpack_plugin.kindleunpackc ore.kindleunpack", line 632, in processMobi7
File "calibre_plugins.kindleunpack_plugin.kindleunpackc ore.mobi_dict", line 200, in getPositionMap
UnicodeEncodeError: 'utf-8' codec can't encode characters in position 0-1: surrogates not allowed

During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred:

Traceback (most recent call last):
File "calibre_plugins.kindleunpack_plugin.action", line 273, in unpack_ebook
File "calibre_plugins.kindleunpack_plugin.utilities ", line 105, in showErrorDlg
File "traceback.py", line 183, in print_exc
File "traceback.py", line 125, in print_exception
File "traceback.py", line 982, in print
TypeError: a bytes-like object is required, not 'str'

OTOH, I seem to remember it being mentioned that the Mobi dictionary format was not the same as the standard mobi format.

Edit: Just for the heck of it, I copied the English-English Wiktionary file into /documents/dictionaries on my Paperwhite 10th gen. It showed up when I displayed English dictionaries and I was able to select it. A word lookup from within a book worked. All in all, I would say the dictionary does work on a Kindle.

Well, it is standard mobi, and there was a specification for it on Mobipocket.com (probably still kicking around on Archive.org?). It has not changed as far as I know.

Seems there may be encoding issue?

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by tomsem

Well, it is standard mobi, and there was a specification for it on Mobipocket.com (probably still kicking around on Archive.org?). It has not changed as far as I know.

Seems there may be encoding issue?

Seems as if it works on my Paperwhite 10th gen.

When I unpacked it and then unpacked the kindlegensrc.zip file, it seemed to match what I saw in Creating Dictionaries which has several differences from a standard mobi.

The log file indicated it was created by KindleGen 2.9 under Windows with several warnings.