Pegasus mail needs that a properly created control file be placed in its \DICTS folder so it can locate the related dictionary. This file also informs Pegasus Mail how the dictionary will appear to the user, that is, how it is named. Dictionary denomination is somewhat "tricky". Names that contain diacritics must be written properly in UTF-8 format or it may appear weird inside Pegasus Mail. While handling this sort of things may sound trivial to geeks it is not for the layman. And there's still more to do. The character set format used in the dictionary comes inside one of its files. While most of them have this information on the first line of the affix file, some may have it deep down inside.
Thinking of how installing a new dictionary to Pegasus Mail could become troublesome was the main reason to create this small application. All you will need is to find where in your computer or LAN (no UNC, only mapped drives) you have Hunspell dictionaries. As known by many, they are the same dictionary files used by Firefox, Google Chrome, LibreOffice, OpenOffice, or any other application with the same Hunspell engine. In other words, you may have several of them already available on your computer.
Hunspell dictionaries come in pairs, usually in the form xx_YY.dic, and xx_YY.aff, where “xx” is the two-letter code for the language, and “YY” is the two-letter code for the country where it is spoken. You may find dictionary file names that do not follow this rule but this notation is the most common used. The prior file carries the dictionary words and the latter their affix, that is, the element added to a word to produce an inflected (or derived) form such as its plural, genre, etc. A good starting is to search your hard drive after affix files, that is, after "*.aff" (no quotes). This is better than search after "*.dic" as other dictionary engines you might use may also have the DIC extension.
Anyways, you can always search the Net where there are plenty of Hunspell dictionaries for download. Use a search engine like Google and you will find them. But remember, the easiest way is to obtain them from the applications referenced above that will even keep them up to date.
Once found where they are on your disk (i.e. their full path), run InsPMDic.exe from anywhere on your computer. A tiny window will show with three input fields, two check boxes, and five buttons. The use is pretty straightforward: on "Descriptive name" field inform how the dictionary you are about to "install" (I'll explain why the quoting later) should be known; maybe you want to name it e.g. "US-English Dictionary", or enter a description on another language, maybe you need to differentiate two dictionaries of the same language, one bigger/newer than the other. Well, you name it! ;-)
Next, inform InsPMDic.exe where are the files. Here you can choose either xx_YY.dic or xx_YY.aff files, and most important, you must point to (pick) a file. You may type a partial path into "Source file path" to speed up browsing, or just click the browse button at right to find and select it. After that, repeat this process to "Target path", the place where the dictionary shall be installed. No need to point files here, just the destination folder. InsPMDic looks at Windows Registry where is Pegasus mail root folder so it most likely already knows where the \DICTS folder is. If this information is missing or wrongly informed, then the application can be fooled. Make use of that "..." button to both search and verify. When all information is provided, the "Make It So" button unlocks and you may proceed to installation.
Data provided is resilient until you flush it with "New" button click. That means you can copy more than one dictionary from the same source, and to the same destination with just a few adjustments. The "..." browse buttons shall start from the last used location.
Now, explaining the quoting:
Pegasus Mail doesn't need that you copy both xx_YY.dic and xx_YY.aff files to the \DICTS folder. It only needs that you inform their full path inside the xx_YY.v5dict control file (InsPMDic will do it for you). Well, you can copy them if you want, like if your Pegasus Mail is installed on a removable drive (USB Key). Just set the "Copy files" checkbox ON.
And there's more. The "Auto-rename" button informs the application to not overwrite the control file, and/or the dictionary files (if "Copy files" selected) if they have the same (xx_YY) name. It may sound strange why one would have two or more dictionaries for the same language. Well, mostly they are just from different versions but some are from before and after a language reform. This is usually informed inside the dictionary files (as comments) while externally they are just xx_YY. If you want to have more than one version, or reference that one used in Firefox and the other used in LibreOffice, select the "Auto-rename" checkbox ON to make unique file names. If let OFF (default), files of the same name will be overwritten, not without a warning and your consent.
Unfortunately, if auto rename function is used you may notice a lack of uniformity in file names (e.g. xx_YY4.v5dict, xx_YY2.dic, and xx_YY2.aff) created/copied. This happens because InsPMDic.exe looks for the first available name from those already there, file by file (dictionary files are always handled in pairs).
No matter the choices made, the xx_YY.v5dict control file will be properly built and set, so Pegasus Mail can find your new dictionaries right on next boot. InsPMDic does not handle dictionary removal (yet). If you have plans to, look inside the xx_YY.v5dict control file to see to which files it points. If it is to a remote set (e.g. a Firefox dictionary), just delete the control file. If not, take note of the names listed to delete no other.
A small Help is available from About button, and all fields, buttons, and checkboxes contain hints on mouse hover. I think you won't have any difficulty to use it but if you do please send me a message or contact me via PM-WIN List.
WARNING:
Some very few antivirus and/or anti-malware programs may wrongly spot InsPMDic.exe as a Possibly Unwanted Application (PUA). There is no malware, adware, spyware, nagware of any kind of its code or in its installation package. Most, if not all vendors listed on VirusTotal report InsPMDic.exe as a clean safe application.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS:
The author wants to thank Jerry Wise (in memoriam) and Martin Ireland for their invaluable contribution with suggestions to the code and continuing testing. This application won't exist without their help.
Thanks also to Han van den Bogaerde for publishing "A guide to the Pegasus Mail Dicts subdirectory" on his Pegasus Mail information page the original How-To directions to assign dictionaries to Pegasus Mail, the primary seed to this application.
Enjoy,
-- Euler German
brainstorm DOT inspmdic AT mailnull DOT com