What is GDS-A?
Genggoro Dictionary Server Advanced (GDS-A) is a version of GDS which has, in addition to the basic functionalities shared with Genggoro Dictionary Server Basic (GDS-B), the ability to customize the look and feel of the popup. It also has the search tool by which you can look up text typed into the built-in search box. GDS-A is given to people supporting the GDF project financially via Patreon in thanks for their support.
How to install GDS-A
Create a new folder where you want to install GDS-A. As an example, we will use C:\gdsa here.
Download the latest version of GDS-A (
gdsa-X.Y.Z.zip
("X.Y.Z
" part indicates the version number)) from this page and save it in the folder created in the previous step (C:\gdsa\gdsa-X.Y.Z.zip).Unzip (extract) the downloaded file to the same folder. Perhaps if you right-click on the downloaded file, you can find a command to do that. If not, you need to install a unzipping software like 7-Zip. After unzipping, the installation folder should look like this:
gdsa
gdsa-X.Y.Z.zip
manifest.json
README.md
- etc.
Check "Developer mode" at the top right of the extensions management page (chrome://extensions).
Click "Load unpacked extension..." and select the installation folder.
If you use Genggoro Dictionary Client for Google Chrome™ (GDC-CR), open its options page and copy the app ID of GDS-A to the "App ID of GDS" field.
Scroll down to the "Send font list" field and click the "Send font list" button to send a list of fonts available on your system to GDS-A so that you can use a font selector later. This step is optional but highly recommended.
Font selectorMake sure that GDS-A works properly (you can use Tutorial 1 and 2 for that). After that, you may uninstall GDS-B if you want. The zip file used to install GDS-A can be removed as well.
How to update GDS-A
Unfortunately, updating GDS-A isn't as straightforward as GDS-B since GDS-A isn't hosted on the Chrome Web Store like GDS-B.
Before updating GDS-A, make sure that:
No GDCs or GDDs are connected to GDS-A.
No tools belonging to GDS-A (the search tool, the style editor, the settings window, etc.) are open.
No local server (started by GDS-A) is running.
Delete all files in the installation folder. All your customizations are preserved as long as you use the same folder.
Download a new version of GDS-A and save it in the installation folder.
Unzip the downloaded file as you did when installing GDS-A for the first time.
Click "Reload".
Known issues and future plan
Although GDS-A has more functionalities than GDS-B, it has some issues (inconveniences) not present in GDS-B like the following.
Installing GDS-A isn't as easy as GDS-B because GDS-A isn't hosted on the CWS.
Updating GDS-A isn't as easy as GDS-B because GDS-A isn't hosted on the CWS.
If you use the stable (or beta) channel of Chrome browser for Windows, you need to click through a "security" warning dialog asking you whether to disable unpacked extensions/apps everytime (!) you launch Chrome (that's Google's decision, don't blame me for that).
Just click "Cancel".
I know this situation isn't desirable for both the user and the developer (even more so given the fact that these issues can be solved easily just by uploading GDS-A to the CWS). However, I learned from my experience of releasing and maintaing couple of Chrome extensions in the past that giving away a product for free and setting up a donation link doesn't work at all and the development relying on such a model stalls sooner or later. That said, if, in the future, I can get enough supporters to keep the project running, I'll think about unifying GDS-A and GDS-B and releasing it from the CWS.
Next: Search Tool Reference
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