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DICT(1)								       DICT(1)

NAME
       dict - DICT Protocol Client

SYNOPSIS
       dict word
       dict [options] [word]
       dict [options] dict://host:port/d:word:database
       dict [options] dict://host:port/m:word:database:strategy

DESCRIPTION
       dict  is	 a  client  for	 the  Dictionary Server	Protocol (DICT), a TCP
       transaction based query/response	protocol that provides access to  dic-
       tionary	definitions  from  a  set of natural language dictionary data-
       bases.  Exit status is 0	if operation succeeded,	or non-zero otherwise.
       See EXIT	STATUS section.

OPTIONS
       -h server or --host server
	      Specifies	the hostname for the DICT server.  Server/port	combi-
	      nations  can  be	specified  in  the  configuration file.	 If no
	      servers are specified in the configuration file  or  or  on  the
	      command line, dict will fail.  If	IP lookup for a	server expands
	      to  a  list  of  IP addresses (as	dict.org does currently), then
	      each IP will be tried in the order listed.

       -p service or --port service
	      Specifies	the port (e.g.,	2628) or service (e.g.,	dict) for con-
	      nections.	 The default is	2628, as specified in the DICT	Proto-
	      col  RFC.	 Server/port combinations can be specified in the con-
	      figuration file.

       -d dbname or --database dbname
	      Specifies	a specific database to	search.	  The  default	is  to
	      search  all databases (a "*" from	the DICT protocol).  Note that
	      a	"!" in the DICT	protocol means to search all of	the  databases
	      until a match is found, and then stop searching.

       -m or --match
	      Instead  of  printing  a	definition,  perform a match using the
	      specified	strategy.

       -s strategy or --strategy strategy
	      Specify a	matching strategy.  By	default,  the  server  default
	      match  strategy  is  used.   This	is usually "exact" for defini-
	      tions, and some form of spelling-correction strategy for matches
	      ("." from	the DICT protocol).  The available strategies are  de-
	      pendent  on  the server implementation.  For a list of available
	      strategies, see the -S or	--strats option.

       -C or --nocorrect
	      Usually, if a definition is requested and	 the  word  cannot  be
	      found,  spelling	correction is requested	from the server, and a
	      list of possible words are provided.  This option	 disables  the
	      generation of this list.

       -c file or --config file
	      Specify the configuration	file.  The default is to try ~/.dictrc
	      and  /usr/local/etc/dict.conf, using the first file that exists.
	      If a specific configuration file is specified, then the defaults
	      will not be tried.

       -D or --dbs
	      Query the	server and display a list of available databases.

       -S or --strats
	      Query the	server and display a list of available search  strate-
	      gies.

       -H or --serverhelp
	      Query  the  server and display the help information that it pro-
	      vides.

       -i dbname or --info dbname
	      Request information  on  the  specified  database	 (usually  the
	      server  will provide origination,	descriptive, or	other informa-
	      tion about the database or its contents).

       -I or --serverinfo
	      Query the	server and display information about the server.

       -M or --mime
	      Send OPTION MIME command to the server.
	      NOTE: Server's capabilities are not checked.

       -f or --formatted
	      Enables formatted	output,	i.e. output  convenient	 for  postpro-
	      cessing  by  standard UNIX utilities. No,	it is not XML ;-) Also
	      error and	warning	messages like
	       " No matches...", "  Invalid  strategy..."  etc.	 are  sent  to
	      stderr, not to stdout.
	      Format:
	       -I, -i, -H and similar:
		  host<TAB>port
		  <SPC><SPC>line1
		  <SPC><SPC>line2
		  ...
	       -S:
		  host<TAB>port<TAB>strategy1<TAB>short	description1
		  host<TAB>port<TAB>strategy2<TAB>short	description2
		  ...
	       -D:
		  host<TAB>port<TAB>database1<TAB>database description1
		  host<TAB>port<TAB>database2<TAB>database description2
		  ...
	       -m:
		  host<TAB>port<TAB>database1<TAB>match1
		  host<TAB>port<TAB>database2<TAB>match2
		  ...

       -a or --noauth
	      Disable authentication (i.e., don't send an AUTH command).

       -u user or --user user
	      Specifies	the username for authentication.

       -k key or --key key
	      Specifies	the shared secret for authentication.

       -V or --version
	      Display version information.

       -L or --license
	      Display copyright	and license information.

       -4     Forces dict to use IPv4 addresses	only.

       -6     Forces dict to use IPv6 addresses	only.

       --help Display help information.

       -v or --verbose
	      Be verbose.

       -r or --raw
	      Be very verbose: show the	raw client/server interaction.

       --pipesize
	      Specify  the  buffer size	for pipelineing	commands.  The default
	      is 256, which should be sufficient for general tasks and be  be-
	      low the MTU for most transport media.  Larger values may provide
	      faster or	slower throughput, depending on	MTU.  If the buffer is
	      too  small, requests will	be serialized.	Values less than 0 and
	      greater than one million are silently changed to something  more
	      reasonable.

       --client	text
	      Specifies	additional text	to be sent using the CLIENT command.

       --debug flag
	      Set a debugging flag.  Valid flags are:

	      verbose
		     The same as -v or --verbose.

	      raw    The same as -r or --raw.

	      scan   Debug the scanner for the configuration file.

	      parse  Debug the parser for the configuration file.

	      pipe   Debug  TCP	 pipelining  support  (see  the	 DICT  RFC and
		     RFC1854).

	      serial Disable pipelining	support.

	      time   Perform transaction timing.

CONFIGURATION
       The configuration file currently	has a very simple format.   Lines  are
       used to specify servers,	for example:
	      server dict.org
       or, with	options:
	      server dict.org {	port 8080 }
	      server dict.org {	user username secret }
	      server dict.org {	port dict user username	secret }
       the  port and user options may be specified in any order.  The port op-
       tion is used to specify an optional port	(e.g., 2628) or	service	(e.g.,
       dict) for the TCP/IP connection.	 The user option is used to specify  a
       username	 and  shared secret to be used for authentication to this par-
       ticular server.

       Servers are tried in the	order listed until a connection	is made.

EXIT STATUS
	0  Successful completion

	20 No matches found
	21 Approximate matches found
	22 No databases	available
	23 No strategies available

	30 Unexpected response code from server
	31 Server is temporarily unavailable
	32 Server is shutting down
	33 Syntax error, command not recognized
	34 Syntax error, illegal parameters
	35 Command not implemented
	36 Command parameter not implemented
	37 Access denied
	38 Authentication failed
	39 Invalid database
	40 Invalid strategy
	41 Connection to server	failed

CREDITS
       dict was	written	by Rik Faith (faith@cs.unc.edu)	and is distributed un-
       der the terms of	the GNU	General	Public License.	 If you	need  to  dis-
       tribute under other terms, write	to the author.

       The main	libraries used by this programs	(zlib, regex, libmaa) are dis-
       tributed	under different	terms, so you may be able to use the libraries
       for  applications which are incompatible	with the GPL --	please see the
       copyright notices and license information that come with	the  libraries
       for  more  information, and consult with	your attorney to resolve these
       issues.

BUGS
       If a dict: URL is given on the command line,  only  the	first  one  is
       used.  The rest are ignored.

       If  a dict: URL contains	a specifier for	the nth	definition or match of
       a word, it will be ignored and all the definitions or matches  will  be
       provided.  This violates	the RFC, and will be corrected in a future re-
       lease.

       If  a  dict:  URL  contains a shared secret, it will not	be parsed cor-
       rectly.

       When OPTION MIME	command	is sent	to the server (-M option)  ,  server's
       capabilities are	not checked.

FILES
       ~/.dictrc
	      User's dict configuration	file

       /usr/local/etc/dict.conf
	      System dict configuration	file

SEE ALSO
       dictd(8), dictzip(1), http://www.dict.org, RFC 2229

			       15 February 1998			       DICT(1)

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