Sequence Publishing - TheSage's English Dictionary and Thesaurus Documentation

TheSage is a professional software package that integrates a complete dictionary and a multifaceted thesaurus of the English language into a single and powerful language reference system.

TheSage has been developed for the Windows 95/98/ME/2000/NT/XP operating systems. It is highly recommended that the latest OS Service Packs be installed.

TheSage requires downloading a setup file of approximately 8 MB in size and, once installed, TheSage occupies approximately 20 MB of hard drive space. TheSage has no special RAM requirements and will use about as much memory as any other program.

2.2 Installing top
To install TheSage, execute the setup program and follow the instructions.
Once installed, TheSage come be invoked from the Start menu, the Desktop, the Quick Launch toolbar, or directly from its folder in the hard drive.

2.3 Uninstalling top
TheSage's package includes an uninstaller utility. To run it, navigate through the Start Menu or through the hard drive to TheSage's folder. Alternatively, it is possible to uninstall TheSage through 'Add/Remove Programs' applet located in the 'Control Panel'.

TheSage's English Dictionary and Thesaurus has been designed with simplicity of use in mind, striving to be as intuitive and useful as possible.

The Dictionary comprises:

More than 145,000 references with multiple detailed definitions (over 200,000).

A large collection of examples of usage (approx. 35,000).

Encyclopedic information (geographical, historical, political,...).

Academic knowledge (medicine, biology,... ).

The Thesaurus encompasses:

Synonyms, antonyms, hypernyms, hyponyms, meronyms, holonyms,...

Nearly 1,200,000 relationships between definitions.

The essential functionality includes the following:

Tabbed interface allowing multiple definitions and searches to be readily available.

Quick cross-referencing (any and all displayed words are clickable, triggering a lookup).

Standard and advanced wildcard search functionality.

Anagram search.

History and session record keeping.

Options that allow customization of the appearance of TheSage.

Copy to clipboard of all or part of the information displayed.

Below are detailed explanations on how to carry out a lookup, a wildcard search, and an anagram search.

3.1 Looking up a word in TheSage top
To look up a word or words in TheSage's Dictionary, type it (or them) and then click on 'LookUp'. Alternatively, type the word(s) and then simply press ENTER.
For example: chatoyant, african violet, prestigious, natural law, atomic weight, titanosaur, legerdemain,...
If the word is found in TheSage's index, a new tab will be created displaying this word's information as shown below:

The image above shows what is called a lookup tree. The color buttons on each node of the tree are referred to as semaphores and serve to toggle (open/close) the display of nested levels.
The information in the tree is conceptually divided into lemma, part(s) of speech, definition(s), example(s), and thesaurus.

At the top of the tree is the lemma which corresponds to the entry found in the dictionary. Usually, the lemma is the same as the word searched for. However, if the word typed is an inflection or derivation (i.e. 'plays' or 'prettier') and this word is not found, TheSage will automatically extract and display the base word (i.e 'play' or 'pretty').
The parts of speech are found at the second nested level of the lookup tree. In the case of the image above, these are 'Noun' and 'Verb' and serve to group definitions accordingly.
At the third nested level are the definitions. These are numbered and their background color can be changed (selected) to help isolate them visually.
Examples of use can be found as branches of the lemma, parts of speech, and definitions. Those examples found under a particular definition only apply to that definition. The examples found under a given part of speech are the collection of all examples for definitions under such part of speech. Finally, the examples under the lemma are all examples available for this entry.
The thesaurus contains related entries to the lemma in function of following relationships: synonym, antonym, hypernym, hyponym, attribute, entailment, cause, similar, derived, holonym, meronym, category, region, usage, and other (under 'see also'). As with examples, thesauri can be found as branches of the lemma, parts of speech, and definitions. The same logic applies.

Note that any and all displayed words are clickable, automatically triggering a new lookup.

3.2 Wildcard Search top
To select index entries that match a wildcard pattern, type the pattern and click on 'Search'. Alternatively, type '=' followed by the pattern and press ENTER.
Patterns are formed by a combination of letters/numbers and special characters (see below).
Special characters:
* matches any number of occurrences of any character.
? matches a single character.
# matches a single vowel (a, e, i , o , u).
$ matches a single consonant (b, c, d, f, ..., x, y, z).
(abc..) matches a single character to one of those in the parenthesis.
(#-ae) matches a single vowel except 'a' and 'e'.
Examples:
=ch#p returns chap, chip, chop.
=$ait returns bait, gait, wait.
=($-g)ait return bait, wait.
=s$(rl)##n returns screen, spleen, sprain, strain, syrian.
=*##?#tion returns acquisition, aeration, alienation,...
The results from a wildcard search are displayed as follows:

Note, again, that any and all displayed words are clickable, automatically triggering a lookup.

3.3 Anagram Search top
To find all anagrams of a character string in TheSage's index, type the string and click on 'Anagram'. Alternatively, type '>' followed by the string and press ENTER.
The anagram search returns only those words that are found in the dictionary, that is, valid English words. It does not return all possible anagrams of a character string.
Examples:
>humanity returns hitman, mithan, mutiny, amity,...
>furniture returns nurture, fenrir, future, return,...
>playing returns gainly, laying, paling, paying,...
>bachelor returns cholera, chorale, bleach, boreal,...
The results from an anagram search are displayed as follows:

Note, once more, that any and all displayed words are clickable, automatically triggering a lookup.

In order to make TheSage as useful as possible, supplementary operations have been implemented.

4.1 Tab Operations top
As explained, all information resulting from a lookup or search is displayed in a tab for ease of access. In order to facilitate working with tabs, the following functionality is supported:

A tab can be closed by means of a mouse RIGHT-CLICK or MIDDLE-CLICK as long as there is more than one tab open.
Tabs can be reordered by means of drag'n'drop operations. All is needed is to hold down the LEFT mouse button while pressing the CTRL key. The dragged tab will always be placed before the one it is dropped on. To place a tab as the right-most, drag this tab to the available space on the right or outside of the tab control.

4.2 History top
TheSage keeps a record of all words (lookups and searches) carried out as well as the time and duration of each of the sessions when it has been active.
There are two ways to access the History. First, there is a dropdown list that shows only those entries typed in the current session, as shown below:

Second, there is a History tab that shows all entries from the current as well as previous sessions. The History tab is always shown in the left-most position and can neither by dragged nor replaced as the left-most tab. It is possible, however, to close it by right or middle clicking on it as with any other tab.
The History tab is activated/deactivated by means of the button 'H' on the top-right corner, as shown below:

As usual, any and all displayed words are clickable, automatically triggering a lookup.

4.3 Clipboard top
All or part of the information regarding a lookup and search can be copied to the clipboard by means of context (RIGHT-CLICK) menus. The operation of this feature is quite intuitive.
If the clipboard operation is conducted on a wildcard/anagram tab, the context menu looks as follows:

If the clipboard operation is conducted on a lookup tab, the contents of context menu will vary depending on which part of the tree it is invoked on. Essentially, however, the menu looks as follows:

In addition to the context menu, it is possible to copy directly to the clipboard the word under the mouse by means of the combination CTRL + LEFT-CLICK.
The information copied to the clipboard is in ASCII format. In the case of a wildcard/anagram tab, the contents of the clipboard equate to a text file with one entry per line. In the case of a lookup tab, the contents of the clipboard equate to a text file depicting a nested structure and where each line stands for a branch of the lookup tree.

The Options dialog is invoked by clicking on the button 'O' located on the top-right and gives access to a number of parameters that will allow you to customize the appearance and behavior of TheSage.

Each options tab provides a brief description of its contents.

In order to ease the selection of custom colors, the 'color chooser' controls implement a magnifier-dropper (RIGHT-CLICK) in addition to the standard Windows color dialog (LEFT-CLICK). The magnifier moves with the mouse cursor (or arrow keys) and can be used to inspect any location on the screen. The magnifier zooms in/out by pressing SHIFT + UP/DOWN, and increases/decreases its size by pressing SHIFT + RIGHT/LEFT. Once over the desired pixel, LEFT click on it to select its color or RIGHT click to dismiss the magnifier.

Note that, regardless of what changes you make to TheSage, you can always restore the default settings (under the 'General' tab).

TheSage's project has accomplished all its core objectives and the package is fully functional. Nonetheless, updates will be made available as the project evolves.

We value feedback. Please, contact us at TheSage@SequencePublishing.com with any comments, bug reports, etc.

Visit http://www.SequencePublishing.com for up-to-date information regarding TheSage.

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IF YOU DO NOT AGREE WITH THE TERMS OF THIS LICENSE AGREEMENT, YOU ARE NOT AUTHORIZED TO USE THIS SOFTWARE

Permission is hereby granted to anyone to freely use TheSage's English Dictionary and Thesaurus (hereafter referred to as 'this software') for any purpose with the exception of including it in a product, in which case both permission and acknowledgment are required.

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, the software and documentation are provided "as is". Franc Morales and Leah Gilner (hereafter referred to as 'the authors') disclaim all other warranties and conditions, either express or implied, including, but not limited to, implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, conformance with description, title and non-infringement of third party rights. In no event shall the authors be liable for any indirect, incidental, consequential, special or exemplary damages or lost profits whatsoever (including, without limitation, damages for loss of business profits, business interruption, loss of business information, or any other pecuniary loss) arising out of the use or inability to use the software product, even if the authors have been advised of the possibility of such damages.

The authors allow you to distribute this software if all of the following conditions are met: you are not charging any money for it, the distribution files are kept together and unmodified, and the authors' permission is obtained before distribution. You may give this software package to friends or colleagues, burn it onto cd-rom's (or other media) and upload it to free/shareware sites as long as the original package remains unmodified.

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You may not disassemble or reverse engineer any part of this software.

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The authors are not required to make available technical support for this software. The authors may, from time to time, revise or update this software. In so doing, the authors incur no obligation to furnish such revision or updates to you.

This license agreement will immediately and automatically terminate without notice if you fail to comply with any one of the terms and conditions cited. Upon termination of this license agreement, you agree to promptly remove the software from your system.

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