Quote:
Originally Posted by karunaji
I would say that it is a special type of book that is also a database. As dictionary entries contain the same elements as any other book (different fonts, text formatting, pictures, audio, links to other entries etc.) it becomes an overlay to any ebook format. Some elements are even global, like style sheets. I hope that epub format designers have anticipated such use.
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When displayed it looks like a book but it is not a book when used as a look up dictionary. There has to be a rapid indexing mechanism that leads directly to the area of interest and it needs to be displayed as an overlay to whatever book you are reading, thus it looks like a book but does not act like a book. It is a database that displays like a book.
Cool Reader has dictionary support and can also read ePUB files so any eBook Reader that support Cool Reader also can support dictionaries so long as you use Cool reader to read the book. However, a full implementation of dictionaries on an eBook reader should be able to use the dictionary no matter what the format of the book is in. This is why ePUB format should not be a requirement for support of dictionaries. It needs way more specific support requirements that current ePUB in order to be an exchange format for dictionaries.
Dale