[Verba] Ad Fontes Verba project

[Stuart D. Gathman]

This mailing list is for the Ad Fontes computing club project.  At
present, the project goal is to create an online Latin dictionary with the
ability to fully decline/conjugate any word it knows.  A PalmOS version is
also envisioned.

We will approach the project like an open-source project.  I will serve as 
the project leader.  The main responsibility of the project leader is to 
divide the project into tasks.  Each member then selects tasks to work on 
appropriate to their interest and ability.

Here are some tasks for the Verba project:

1. propose syntax for word data in source form
2. enter or otherwise obtain word data for the dictionary in source form
3. propose binary data structures for the dictionary.
4. utility to read word data in source form and create dictionary in
   binary form
5. user interface to provide display and search of the word data
  5a PalmOS C applet
  5b Java web Applet

I have thought of two data structures for the dictionary:

1. master: stem,type
   types: type,part,suffix
   This requires special types for irregular words.

2. After more thought, I propose a simpler scheme: 
   master: id,part,word  -  with key by word,part.  The dictionary will
   use leading duplicate compression.  This will highly compress regular
   words, but still handle irregular words in the same way.
   We can take advantage of regular declensions in the source data format.

I have created a CVS repository on my home system accessible to team members
via SSH.  When we have 1 or more files ready to check in, I will give team
members their SSH password and show them how to checkout/checkin the project
code directory tree. 

Until then, include initial submissions as an attachment in email to this list.
Please attach the source files directly, not in a ZIP or other archive.

-- 
	      Stuart D. Gathman <stuart at bmsi.com>
Business Management Systems Inc.  Phone: 703 591-0911 Fax: 703 591-6154
"Confutatis maledictis, flamis acribus addictis" - background song for
a Microsoft sponsored "Where do you want to go from here?" commercial.