Provided by: dict_1.12.1+dfsg-2_amd64 bug

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  dictionary  definitions  from  a  set  of
       natural  language  dictionary databases.  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  combinations  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.  (This is a  compile-
              time  option,  ./configure  --enable-dictorg, which is disabled by default.)  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 connections.  The
              default is 2628, as specified in the DICT Protocol RFC.   Server/port  combinations
              can be specified in the configuration 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  definitions,  and  some  form  of  spelling-
              correction  strategy  for  matches  ("."  from  the  DICT protocol).  The available
              strategies are dependent 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
              /etc/dictd/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 strategies.

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

       -i dbname or --info dbname
              Request  information  on  the  specified  database (usually the server will provide
              origination, descriptive, or other information 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  postprocessing  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.

       --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 below 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  option  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 particular server.

       Servers  are  tried  in  the  order  listed  until  a  connection is made.  If none of the
       specified   servers   are   available,   and   the   compile-time   option    (./configure
       --enable-dictorg)  is enabled, then an attempt will be made to connect on localhost and on
       dict.org at the standard part (2628).  (This option is disabled by  default.)   We  expect
       that  dict.org will point to one or more DICT servers (perhaps in round-robin fashion) for
       the foreseeable future (starting in July  1997),  although  it  is  difficult  to  predict
       anything on the Internet for more than about 3-6 months.

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 under the terms of the
       GNU General Public License.  If you need to distribute under other  terms,  write  to  the
       author.

       The  main  libraries  used  by  this  programs (zlib, regex, libmaa) are distributed 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 release.

       If a dict: URL contains a shared secret, it will not be parsed correctly.

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

FILES

       ~/.dictrc
              User's dict configuration file

       /etc/dictd/dict.conf
              System dict configuration file

SEE ALSO

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

                                         15 February 1998                                 DICT(1)