Fora Dictionary Pro is a dictionary viewer.

Features

• Fast and fully offline operation
• Compatibility with StarDict, DSL, XDXF, Dictd, and TSV/Plain dictionaries
• Typing friendly search with case, diacritics, and punctuation tolerance
• Fuzzy search
• Full-text search
• In-page popup translator
• History and bookmarks

Downloads

Fora Dictionary Pro is not currently available to new users.
Latest version available to existing users is 27.1 and binary checksums are available here and here.

Compatibility

Fora Dictionary Pro is compatible with the following dictionary/file types:

• StarDict dictionaries (*.idx)
• DSL dictionaries (*.dsl)
• XDXF dictionaries (*.xdxf)
• Dictd dictionaries (*.index)
• TSV/Plain dictionaries (*.txt, *.dic)

Setting up dictionaries

• Connect your mobile device to your computer.
• Copy dictionary files to the app's documents/files folder on the device. See Android or iOS help for details.
• Select the dictionary index file as listed in the compatibility section above (or an archive of it) using the "Import Dictionary" option of the "Manage" menu.
• Attach resource ZIP files (if any) using the "Attach ZIP" option of the dictionary menu. (optional)
• Edit properties of the dictionary such as visible name using the "Edit Properties" option of the dictionary menu. (optional)
• Create a full-text search index of the dictionary using the "Upgrade" option of the dictionary menu. (optional)
• Create profiles to group and organize dictionaries. (optional)

Resource files

Resource files of a dictionary can be put into multiple ZIP files with the following properties:

i) Classic (non-ZIP64) ZIP file type
ii) Flat (no sub-directories) file structure
iii) Maximum 65,535 files per ZIP file

Use "Attach ZIP" from the dictionary menu to copy and attach ZIP files to a dictionary.

Troubleshooting: If your device fails to play some audio files in resource ZIP files, you can use a batch converter utility like this app to convert the files to a canonical codec/format your device supports. Note that you must keep the filenames and extensions of audio files unchanged after the conversion since they are hardcoded in article texts.

Full-text search

The app supports searching full-text of all dictionaries for exact matches. The feature requires one-time upgrading of a dictionary which can take a very long time to complete, since every single word anywhere on the dictionary is made searchable during the process.

Synchronizing between devices

Copying/moving dictionaries between devices is done using one of the two available methods:

• "Export Dictionary" to a *.zip file on the first device and then "Import Dictionary" that *.zip file on the second
• Copy/move whole ".fora" or ".foradictionary" folder or individual dictionary folders using a file manager

Import from URL

Automated importing of dictionaries from URL is no longer available. Follow the following steps to import dictionaries from URL:

i) On your computer, enter the URL on your web browser and download the file.
ii) Connect your mobile device to your computer and copy the downloaded file to the app's documents/files folder on device. See Android or iOS help for details.
iii) Open the app, select "Import Dictionary" from the "Manage" menu, select the file, and proceed.

Search types

There are five kinds of searches you can perform on dictionaries.

• Regular search: Shows results exactly matching the query.
• Extended matching search: Shows results matching the query with case, diacritics, and punctuations ignored. Suggestions include in-phrase and phonetic matches.
• Full-text search: Shows list of articles containing exact matches of the query. The scope of search is not limited to headwords and includes all text in all articles (definitions, synonyms, examples, etc).
• Fuzzy search: Shows list of articles most similar to the query. The search works like a spell checker for words you're not sure how it's written/spelled.
• Wildcard search: Shows list of articles that match the criteria set with a wildcard query.

Troubleshooting and FAQ

Q: I bought an offline dictionary, can I use it in Fora Dictionary Pro?
A: Probably, no. Most standalone dictionaries have it's own proprietary data format incompatible with general-purpose dictionaries. You need dictionary data in one of the supported formats.

Q: Suggestions are slow when a lot of dictionaries are installed.
A: Unlike traditional search auto-completion, the app performs a complete search and matching of the query (e.g. occurrences in multi-word phrases) on all dictionaries in profile when suggestions are activated. Grouping dictionaries into smaller sets based on usage context using profiles may be helpful.

Q: I can't find the dictionary I need or the dictionary isn't displayed properly when searching.
A: Importing the dictionary using the latest version of the app or using alternate formats may be helpful.

Q: I can’t find the ".fora" folder.
A: Probably it is considered hidden. Please use a third-party file manager such as: muCommander

Q: How do I uninstall Fora Dictionary Pro from my Android device completely?
A: The application stores settings and dictionary data on the external storage, hence, you will need to manually delete the ".fora" folder there to clean up after uninstallation.

Q: How do I uninstall Fora Dictionary Pro from my computer completely?
A: The application stores dictionary data and settings separate from it’s app folder. After deleting the app, you must also delete the folder named “.foradictionary” and the file named “.fdconfig” in current user’s home folder (for example, C:\Users\<username>\.foradictionary on Windows or /Users/<username>/.foradictionary on Mac). If you can’t see the folder or file, you can use a file manager, e.g. muCommander.

Q: Why is Fora Dictionary Pro cheaper on Android than iOS/iPadOS?
A: Cost of both developing for the platform and maintaining an app in the marketplace is different on the two platforms and hence we reflect the difference in pricing the app.

Android 10+

Shared/external storage mechanism known as the SD-card has been retired starting with Android 10. The operating system now enforces all apps to use it's sandboxed folder for all it's app data. If you upgrade your device to Android 10+, you may need to copy/move and replace ".fora" folder from your device's shared storage to the app's sandboxed folder (typically Android/data/com.ngc.fora.android/files) using a file manager.

Fora Dictionary

Fora Dictionary Pro is fully data-compatible with Fora Dictionary.

Known limitations

• Slow importing: The app converts every dictionary to it's own cross-platform format and sometimes this conversion takes a very long time. Some big dictionaries require this conversion to be done on a powerful desktop computer, and some bigger dictionaries take a long time even on a powerful desktop computer.
• Limited on-device upgrades: The optimization of full-text search upgrade is not available on mobile devices due to cross-platform memory management implementation and greedy nature of the operation. This setup-only limitation doesn't affect any usage features on any device.
• No embedded player: The app doesn't play resource files itself, but uses the device's default media player. The default player determines which kinds of files can be played.

For developers

Integration with other apps or the operating system is briefly described here.