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ZKanji Changelog

What's new in ZKanji 0.731

Jun 20, 2014
  • Updated the word study group creation window.
  • Added a kanji handwriting input box for typing kanji in the word study group test.
  • Fields are shown for all meanings of a word in the dictionary. Previously the field was only indicated for the meanings if they differed from the field of the previous meaning.
  • Fixed: critical bug caused data corruption and program crash after updating to v0.73 from an older version, when the long-term study contained words previously not found in the updated dictionary.
  • Fixed: the "back" button on the kanji information window always cleared the displayed kanji, instead of showing the previous kanji or element.
  • Fixed: deleting the last meaning in the word editor dialog caused an exception which prevented the window and the program to close.
  • Fixed: in the dictionary update conflict manager dialog, the window wasn't painted correctly when removing words not found in the new dictionary and showing the text for the removal.
  • Fixed: in the popup dictionary the non-Japanese search text was not selected when the dictionary was shown.
  • Fixed: data corruption when answering in the long-term study list, if only a single element of the word was added to the list.
  • Fixed: allowing to check the minus checkbox for each item in the word review window after a round of gradual inclusion. This caused the test to never finish in the next round, asking the same item endlessly. Now at least 3 items must not be skipped from the next round.

New in ZKanji 0.73 Beta (Jun 19, 2013)

  • Drop-shadow under the list of past kanji/kana searches window.
  • Forwarding mouse wheel scroll action to the window currently under the mouse.
  • Scrolling results with the mouse wheel in the handwriting recognizer and the similar kanji/part of kanji/kanji parts in the kanji information window.
  • Adding "http://" in front of dictionary web site URLs if missing to ensure that a browser opens the specified address.
  • The dictionary search history can keep many more searches. The exact number can be changed in the settings.
  • If not changing the search field text of the dictionary for a few seconds, the entered text is added to the search history. This behavior can be tuned in the settings.
  • Redesigned the "new word" dialog window and made the destination dictionary selectable.
  • Pressing keys after drawing on the handwriting recognizer window work like they were pressed in the kanji edit box.
  • Fixed: kanji/kana searches window didn't react to the mouse. (Error introduced in v0.719)
  • Fixed: pressing SPACE in the long-term study test window showed the answer even while typing the answer for "meaning".
  • Fixed: pressing ENTER in the long-term study test window while typing the answer for "meaning" made an error sound.
  • Fixed: not returning longer results when searching for inflected word endings in the dictionary.
  • Fixed: incorrect number of studied words in the long-term study list statistics window.
  • Fixed: pressing ESC while in a kanji/kana edit box didn't hide the information windows.
  • Fixed: the ESC key didn't clear the filters on the group list panel.
  • Fixed: not restoring size of the kanji list on startup if not starting the program in tray.
  • Fixed: invalid size of kanji list filter controls if starting program on screen, minimizing, showing the kanji list and then restoring the main window.

New in ZKanji 0.719 Test (May 22, 2013)

  • Checking dictionary changes on startup, showing dialog if word changes affect the user data and there is need for user interaction.
  • Brand new dictionary export and import:
  • Entries can be exported from selected groups, or from the whole dictionary.
  • Both word and kanji group export/import.
  • Expanding dictionary from exported word entries, adding missing entries and resolving meaning differences.
  • Creating new dictionary from exported file, or completely replacing an existing dictionary.
  • Importing kanji definitions to a user dictionary.
  • Aborting the import leaves the dictionaries untouched. (Actually they will be reloaded.)
  • Wakan word groups no longer supported. Import with a previous version of the program before update.
  • There will be dictionary updates beside rare program updates. Automatically downloading new dictionaries.
  • New example sentences data format independent from the dictionary version making it unnecessary to update it when the dictonary changes.
  • Possibility to change words in the main dictionary:
  • Add word not currently in the dictionary.
  • Edit existing words.
  • Revert edits to match the original dictionary, or delete added words.
  • Dictionary updates don't corrupt edits.
  • Updated backup:
  • User data backup at selectable intervals.
  • Backups don't overwrite each other.
  • Old backup files are deleted after a number of days, which can be configured.
  • The kanji, group or dictionary areas in the main window can be hidden by dragging the corresponding sizing bar near the edge of the window.
  • Added katakana input to the kana edit box. Any syllable which contains an upper-case character will be converted to katakana.
  • Added kana input for ??,??,??,??,?? and ??,??,??,??,??. tha, thi, the, thu, tho and dha, dhi, dhe, dhu, dho.
  • Tool windows, like the kanji information window, paint their border in different color when they are active.
  • When changing the word filters window's size, the controls area grows to fill the space.
  • Scrollbar thumb size reflects size of word list/kanji list windows.
  • Only real changes cause the user files to be saved to disk, instead of always saving everything when something changed or even after a dialog was shown.
  • Capitalized first letter of words in menu items.
  • Limited possible meaning count of words to 100.
  • Word meanings can be reordered in the word editor dialog.
  • It is not allowed anymore for a word to contain the same meaning twice. The word editor shows a message box when this happens.
  • Updated the settings window. Moved text (number) input boxes from the middle of text to the end of lines for better compatibility with planned internationalization.
  • Preventing changes to the data files while the settings window is open.
  • Example sentences file import from the Tanaka Corpus, if user can access data folder. (Requires admin privileges if program installed in Program Files.)
  • Switched from handling virtual key codes to characters where possible. Hopefully this will work for people not on QWERTY keyboards.
  • Custom textual data can be stored for dictionaries to be used for licensing information or list of authors. This information can be entered when creating a new dictionary or in the dictionary rename dialog.
  • The "dictionary stats" dialog has been renamed to "dictionary information". Besides statistics, it also displays the custom information stored for each dictionary.
  • Changed most exclamation marks to full stop/period characters in message boxes for a friendlier interface.
  • Random selection in word groups' word list control.
  • Added "Translate Kanji" menu item to the kanji information window popup menu.
  • Fixed: inserting invalid character for some roomaji combinations in the kana edit box. Namely any vowel version of vy, fy, wy and cy.
  • Fixed: minimizing and restoring the program while the handwriting recognizer window was active caused the recognizer window to appear without being connected to an edit box.
  • Fixed: the small pause button on the kanji information window stayed down indefinitely once it was pressed, even though the play or stop button was pressed too.
  • Fixed: access violation when multiple kanji are selected at the top and one is deselected at the middle with ctrl+left mouse button.
  • Fixed: pressing Ctrl+D in a kanji list with multiple kanji selected makes the list deselect all kanji, without leaving at least one selected.
  • Fixed: when trying to add new words to user dictionary, the add button stayed disabled even after filling in the meaning field. It only became enabled when changing something else.
  • Fixed: for some kanji where the KUN readings hanged over the bottom gradient in the kanji information window (i.e. ?), the readings hid the gradient with white background.
  • Fixed: labels for some word group options had the up/down resize cursor, and undefined behavior when clicking on them.
  • Fixed: typo in long-term study test window ("coldn't").
  • Fixed: memory leak when reading ini files.
  • Fixed: changing a font in the settings did not update the example sentences panel.
  • Fixed: not initialized an object which was holding points of strokes in the handwriting recognizer.
  • Fixed: access violation when trying to filter a word group's word list in the groups window.
  • Fixed: Used == instead of = when finding the reading of kanji (furigana) in words. The position of kanji within a reading block was not set in many cases. The algorithm still worked but less reliably.
  • Fixed: accessing the group of a dictionary being deleted, which caused an index out of bounds error.
  • Fixed: not repainting the kanji list background when it was resized.
  • Fixed: if a tool window (kanji info or clipboard viewer) was on screen when the main window was minimized, restoring the window caused the tool window to reappear with an unresponsive close button.
  • Fixed: not hiding the kanji hint tooltip when the control it is shown for becomes hidden.
  • Fixed: access violation when the example sentences panel listed sentences from a dictionary being deleted and the mouse moved over it.
  • Fixed: not hiding the "Selected Text" row in the popup menu for a word's selected part, when no items were available for it.

New in ZKanji 0.717 Beta (Jan 18, 2012)

  • Changes on the groups list interface. The panel with the groups' list was made wider and the list fills the available space when the group list part is resized. Maximized group name length to 255 characters and dictionary name length to 128 characters in every edit box.
  • Fixed: access violation when trying to disable or enable the handwriting recognizer of a kanji edit box. Appears as a message box during long-term study testing even when not using the handwriting recognizer.
  • Fixed: access violation when setting a new dictionary name in the "Add word to dictionary or group" dialog but selecting "No" in the query box shown.
  • Fixed: invalid access in memory when connecting to the update server, and reading the header that was sent back.
  • Fixed: incorrectly loading dictionary panel size on the main window.
  • Fixed: when showing a message box or query window and switching away from the program and back, the window was hidden behind the program.

New in ZKanji 0.715 Beta (Jan 16, 2012)

  • Better Windows 7 integration:
  • The program can minimize normally and not to the tray.
  • Taskbar tasks list filled with commands. Popup dictionary and popup kanji list.
  • When minimizing to tray by default, move zkanji to tray even for [windowskey+down] combination instead of the default minimize behavior.
  • Updates are downloaded and installed automatically if requested by the user, though still requires admin privileges.
  • Created installer.
  • Replaced old hiragana/katakana test with a new one.
  • Added kana writing test, where the user has to write the shown syllable with the mouse.
  • The popup dictionary can be moved freely.
  • Saving everything first when the program closes to prevent data loss on system shutdown.
  • Computing unique words for the dictionary statistics now gives exact number fast.
  • Kanji hint tooltip looks more modern with rounded corners and gradient background.
  • Fade-in and out animation for kanji hint tooltip window if allowed by the system-wide settings.
  • In the long-term study list window, the written word column can be selected for sorting.
  • Added character combinations to type ??, ??, ??, ??, ??, ??, ?? in kanji/kana edit boxes.
  • Not excluding example sentences just because one or two words were not found in the dictionary.
  • Showing sites list in dictionary popup menu for selected text.
  • Not showing hint in long-term study test when the word is written fully in kana and there is no kanji in it.
  • Ordering kanji "part of" list on kanji information window by kanji frequency. Staying at the same example sentence when changing dictionary.
  • Looking up word in the dictionary when clicking on the kun reading in the kanji information window.
  • Instead of the . in the KUN readings of the kanji information view, the okurigana is written with a light blue color.
  • No beep when the kanji information window is selected and a key combination with the alt key is pressed. (To avoid beeps when the user merely selects a different dictionary.)
  • Changed the timeout higher in the update checker so the program won't start that often with connection timed out errors.
  • Starting syllable with 'l' character in a Japanese input box has same affect as 'x'. The next kana will be a small one.
  • Pausing long-term study test when a site lookup is started from the options menu.
  • Showing number of unique words that can be added to long-term study test when selecting new items to include.
  • Added menu item to Files menu to open user data folder in an explorer window.
  • The add new word dialog for user dictionaries allows editing a new word's kanji with the handwriting recognizer.
  • Fixed: zkanji didn't find main dictionary data when started in Vista/Win7 from program files as simple user Fixed: for some kanji the kanji hint window wasn't tall enough for multiple lines of kanji readings.
  • Fixed: In the import words to long-term study window, the button to uncheck written items for words normally written in kana unchecked disabled checkboxes, which mark items that were already added to the long-term study.
  • Fixed: written form of items normally written with kana, having those unchecked by default in the import words to long-term study window, were also added to the long-term study unless checking/unchecking manually. Fixed: incorrectly deinflecting adjectives, when a small tsu was inserted between the stem and the inflection. (i.e. ?? returned same result as ???) Fixed: not saving window position and size changes when closing program from taskbar menu in single window layout.
  • Fixed: not allowing zkanji main window to act as an always-on-top window when it is restored from the tray.
  • Fixed: problem finding items in JLPT N and example sentences lists as they are organized by hiragana instead of romanized words.
  • Fixed: background showing through in the kanji radicals selection window. Fixed: minimizing then restoring zkanji sometimes caused index out of bounds (-1) error and couldn't restore the program.
  • Fixed: border drawing of the kanji information/clipboard viewer/popup dictionary windows that either left trail on screen or left marks on the controls themselves.
  • Fixed: access violation in the popup dictionary when "Paste from clipboard when activated" is turned on and the text in the clipboard is longer than 1023 characters. This resulted in the popup dictionary to stop searching. Fixed: access violation when first opening the stats window or choosing "generate word group" right at startup.
  • Fixed: changing a kanji definition from the dictionary caused a stack overflow and an error message. * Fixed: disabling readings click on kanji information window when window was shown from a dialog, to avoid errors. Fixed: only showing kanji tooltip in kanji information window when it is allowed by the settings.
  • Fixed: didn't delete object after closing the site manager settings window, causing random access violation each time the program activated.
  • Fixed: when the readings/meaning view in the kanji information window is scrolled, the text readings are incorrectly updated to indicate mouse hover. Fixed: in the kanji information window, for kanji with no ON or KUN readings, the space left out for the readings depended on some previously selected kanji, though there was nothing to write there.
  • Fixed: quitting a long-term study test before finishing all new items resulted in loss of data. The next time the test was started on the same day, no new items were included.
  • Fixed: Additional fixes for large screen font sizes. Kanji info window appears in a usable size. Correctly resizing columns of word list boxes. Normal size for the text in the word study group's review list.
  • Fixed: Access violation in some cases when trying to review words of word study groups.

New in ZKanji 0.71 Beta (Nov 14, 2011)

  • This is a bugfix release that fixes many critical bugs!

New in ZKanji 0.7 (Nov 11, 2011)

  • JLPT N levels for kanji and words.
  • Added JLPT level to the Kanji Information window. (The old kyuu system is still kept, but called "JLPT (old)".)
  • Indicating JLPT level for words in the dictionary (depends on setting. default: on)
  • Changed settings window to include new kanji JLPT N level as selectable default data.
  • Changed filter in kanji list to use kanji JLPT N level instead of old Kyuu level. Example sentences work for all dictionaries (always gives the English examples).
  • Including words in dictionary search results even if a given inflection is only applicable to the second or third etc. meaning, but not the first one. (This was implemented in v0.591 but only when no kanji was in the search string.) Completely reworked how word filtering works:
  • Filter editor dialog shows filters in a tree view. Selecting/deselecting specific groups (i.e. verbs) possible with single click.
  • Any number of user defined filters can be added. (Limited by memory and the number of possible combinations.)
  • Popup menu shown for filter button on right-click. User defined filters have "include" and "exclude" options, and more filters can be turned on at the same time to narrow searches.
  • Added "To long-term" option to the dictionary's popup menu for adding words to the long-term study list directly from there.
  • Added shortcuts to "Add word to dictionary or group" window controls.
  • Added ~sareru inflection as alternative to ~serareru for -u verbs (except -su) Added chimau inflection to deinflection table.
  • Added tenasai inflection to deinflection table.
  • Added teoku/toku inflection to deinflection table.
  • Added rya inflection to deinflection table. (reba contraction.)
  • Instead of "potential / passive", only one type is shown when the inflection can't be the other.
  • Dictionary statistics showing more precise "unique word" count in dictionaries. Added speed/display control panel to the kanji information window's normal (smaller) view.
  • Changed "N" mark for Jouyou name kanji to a kanji symbol, not to confuse it with new JLPT N levels.
  • Allow non-kanji elements in the kanji information window to be selected from "kanji parts" when the appropriate box is checked in the settings. Hide these elements otherwise.
  • Multi check/uncheck items in the long term study-list word importer if clicked inside selection of several rows.
  • Added status bar to the "Import words to long-term study list" dialog, to help navigation.
  • Button to uncheck written form of words that are usually written with kana only in the import to long-term study dialog.
  • Popup menu for the example sentences panel to copy whole sentence or get kanji information, collect words for kanji etc.
  • New style popup menu in the dictionary and kanji list. Old one still available through an option in the settings.
  • Fixed: Kuten wasn't selectable as main reference for kanji (which is painted red in the kanji information window).
  • Fixed: When mouse wasn't moved away from kanji area in the long-term study test, the stroke order window didn't show up.
  • Fixed: saving stroke order file accessed invalid memory (9th byte for version string when only 8 bytes were present.)
  • Fixed: invalidating negative column index in custom word list controls didn't give error and accessed invalid memory. (It couldn't occur in practice but without fix it would have cause a bug later.)
  • Fixed: in the classical 2 tab of the radicals window, the tooltip was partially hidden by the mouse cursor.
  • Fixed: in the classical 2 tab of the radicals window, the tool buttons' panel was placed at the bottom of the window for the first time it appeared.
  • Fixed: in the groups window's words tab, when no word was in a group, the "word down" button became enabled.
  • Fixed: in the groups window's words tab, the enabled state of the button for adding words to the long-term study list was inconsistent.
  • Fixed: not allowing double "potential" inflection. Also "dekiru" no longer shows potential form which is grammatically incorrect.
  • Fixed: when in the kanji list the "oku." checkbox was checked and a kun reading was given in the filter, the returned list of kanji didn't contain those kanji, that had the given kun reading, but only without okurigana.
  • Fixed: deinflection of kuru verbs behaved inconsistently depending on kana usage.
  • Fixed: not updating view when searching in the long-term study list window, when number of items were the same even though the words in the list changed.
  • Fixed: vocabulary adding form was incorrectly sized when switching between dictionaries.
  • Fixed: resetting kanji reference order in the settings window caused changes even if window was closed with cancel button.
  • Fixed: showing same word twice in dictionary when it was an adjective and an auxiliary adjective as well.
  • Fixed: not updating word groups when moving several words up in the list. Fixed: written form of words that have no kanji were added to the long-term study list.
  • Fixed: popup dictionary window became hidden when setting filter that took long to populate in the browsing dictionary mode (or generally when something took long and a message was shown to warn about that).
  • Fixed: incorrectly placed bold text in update window

New in ZKanji 0.593 (Aug 11, 2011)

  • Small change in long-term study list test question spacing. Decreased probability of items that were shown only a little while ago.
  • Added Kuten code for the kanji list filter and the kanji information window's reference number list.
  • Fixed: Reverted socket handling to old non-Unicode version to be compatible with older OSs and Wine. The Unicode version made Wine freeze.
  • Fixed: accessing invalid memory at startup in single window mode, that sometimes caused an error message.
  • Fixed: couldn't load suspend word tests, resulting in an ugly error message and freezing of zkanji at the end of a test round.

New in ZKanji 0.591 (Aug 9, 2011)

  • Made it slightly easier to recognize the ? kana.
  • The update window is resizable.
  • Better placement of the kanji radical character in the kanji information window, when it's visible.
  • Disabled autorun checkbox in the settings window instead of showing an error message when the program couldn't read the registry. This is mainly an improvement for Wine.
  • Changed Japanese font handling to make Japanese characters show for systems that don't have the default Windows fonts.
  • Disabled IME in kanji input boxes, so text can be entered normally even when the input language is Japanese.
  • The popup dictionary no longer shrinks when double clicking on its border.
  • In the long-term study list, students can select the "main hint" for each item separately, with a default value that can still be changed in the settings.
  • Small icons show the question and main hint for every item in the long-term study list windows.
  • Including words in dictionary search results even if a given inflection is only applicable to the second or third etc. meaning, but not the first one.
  • Fixing items total and items learned in the statistics of the last day in the long-term study list on every startup if the values differ from the real count.
  • Fixed: ON readings in the kanji information window were drawn at an incorrect position when the radical was turned on or off.
  • Fixed: Systems with decimal symbol different from English . couldn't import exported dictionary files.
  • Fixed: Hiding some windows, including the kanji information window and the popup dictionary under some systems (eg. Wine) caused an exception and further problems.
  • Fixed: When no Japanese fonts were present in the system, the program caused error messages.
  • Fixed: Changing last answer in the long-term study list to "Retry" incorrectly modified indicated item numbers.
  • Fixed: Only loaded settings after dictionary and user data was loaded, even though there are parts of the dictionary loading that depend on the current settings.
  • Fixed: Didn't hide zkanji windows when only the readings test was started in the long-term study.
  • Fixed: Shortcut conflict in the long-term study list window. Pressing numbers switched between tabs but also changed priority in the word list of untested words.
  • Fixed: error in clipboard handling when clipboard has an unexpected error in the system and we are trying to paste from it.

New in ZKanji 0.59 (Aug 9, 2011)

  • Unicode support.
  • Mixed language characters possible in the dictionary definitions.
  • Japanese or other characters in group names.
  • Works in dictionaries with name containing unicode characters.
  • UTF-8 ini file format.
  • Removed compatibility with ancient word study group formats. If a message is shown about this on startup, try loading the data with the previous version (v0.577) to convert old user datafile to new format.
  • Items answered with "Try again" will now appear with red border in the long-term study list's test, just like mistakes.
  • Abort during print preview generation.
  • Disabling ClearType for print preview and printing.
  • Including Jouyou grade and Frequency in selectable single kanji information in the settings.
  • Highlighting selected kanji information in the kanji information window.
  • Added settings to limit item deck in the long-term study list after giving a specific answer in the test.
  • Changed algorithm for computing new interval for repetition in the long-term study.
  • Transparency for the popup dictionary. Its level can be changed in the settings.
  • Added new items in the dictionary statistics window.
  • Rearranged "Generate word group from kanji" window.
  • Recounting intervals for words in the long-term study list when older user group file version detected.
  • Updated looks of kanji radicals window.
  • Saving and restoring kanji readings test window size in the long-term study.
  • Rearranged the kanji readings test window.
  • When giving correct answer in the kanji readings test of the long-term study, the answer is displayed with green letters.
  • Changed the About window.
  • Showing words in readings test with green/red background, if the words were new/incorrect.
  • Reseting kanji example words search filter in the group window when switching to a different kanji.
  • The recognizer window, when moved during a long-term study test, remembers its position till the end of the test, and then restores it to its original place.
  • Ctrl+arrow in the dictionary search field for Japanese brings up previous searches like a real combo-box would.
  • Showing tested word's types in the long-term study test window after an answer was given.
  • Fixed: Removing words corrupted word study groups.
  • Fixed: Changes were not saved in the long-term study list, when quitting the program right after changing something.
  • Fixed: Moved radical ? to the start of 6 stroke radicals list in the multi-radical search window.
  • Fixed: Holding down a mouse button while moving the cursor to the left out of the dictionary list cased an error message.
  • Fixed: Memory corruption after answering the first question in the long-term study list. This could cause random errors.
  • Fixed: When the settings for the long-term study test's tested readings was set to "None", the items to test in the readings test window was -1.
  • Fixed: Selecting "Try again" in tests increased the value of "tested items" in the statistics even several times for the same item.
  • Fixed: While organizing words in new word study list, removing duplicates could cause endless error messages, making zkanji unusable.
  • Fixed: Several memory bugs that didn't seem to cause any problems, but turned out to be extremely dangerous in some cases.
  • Fixed: Only the first letter of the inflection was shown in the dictionary when entering inflected words with inflection indication enabled in the settings.
  • Fixed: Disabling printing buttons of the print preview window while generating preview.
  • Fixed: When the first word ever added to a user dictionary was in a word group, double clicking on it didn't do anything.
  • Fixed: Unnecessary recounting filtered words in browse mode when the filter wasn't changed.
  • Fixed: The information in the dictionary statusbar was not always updated.
  • Fixed: Renaming a dictionary didn't rename all user files.
  • Fixed: Didn't rename menu item for switching to user dictionary on the group list window when renaming dictionary.
  • Fixed: Couldn't add more than 10 example words for each reading of a kanji to the long-term study list.
  • Fixed: In the long-term study list the numbers 1 to 3 acted as shortcuts even when in an edit box. From now on, only ctrl+number works in that case.
  • Fixed: Names in the kanji radical selector's classical2 list were often half hidden when they were long.
  • Fixed: Long-term study list window column sizes were reset to default after changing settings, even if font sizes remained the same.
  • Fixed: Filtering the example words for kanji removed their red/yellow color from the list.
  • Fixed: Changing previous answer during long-term study test to "incorrect" could modify that item's deck and score, like it haven't been answered at all.
  • Fixed: Up and down arrow keys didn't move focus to dictionary's word list in browse mode, when the search edit box was selected.

New in ZKanji 0.59 (Aug 9, 2011)

  • Unicode support.
  • Mixed language characters possible in the dictionary definitions.
  • Japanese or other characters in group names.
  • Works in dictionaries with name containing unicode characters.
  • UTF-8 ini file format.
  • Removed compatibility with ancient word study group formats. If a message is shown about this on startup, try loading the data with the previous version (v0.577) to convert old user datafile to new format.
  • Items answered with "Try again" will now appear with red border in the long-term study list's test, just like mistakes.
  • Abort during print preview generation.
  • Disabling ClearType for print preview and printing.
  • Including Jouyou grade and Frequency in selectable single kanji information in the settings.
  • Highlighting selected kanji information in the kanji information window.
  • Added settings to limit item deck in the long-term study list after giving a specific answer in the test.
  • Changed algorithm for computing new interval for repetition in the long-term study.
  • Transparency for the popup dictionary. Its level can be changed in the settings.
  • Added new items in the dictionary statistics window.
  • Rearranged "Generate word group from kanji" window.
  • Recounting intervals for words in the long-term study list when older user group file version detected.
  • Updated looks of kanji radicals window.
  • Saving and restoring kanji readings test window size in the long-term study.
  • Rearranged the kanji readings test window.
  • When giving correct answer in the kanji readings test of the long-term study, the answer is displayed with green letters.
  • Changed the About window.
  • Showing words in readings test with green/red background, if the words were new/incorrect.
  • Reseting kanji example words search filter in the group window when switching to a different kanji.
  • The recognizer window, when moved during a long-term study test, remembers its position till the end of the test, and then restores it to its original place.
  • Ctrl+arrow in the dictionary search field for Japanese brings up previous searches like a real combo-box would.
  • Showing tested word's types in the long-term study test window after an answer was given.
  • Fixed: Removing words corrupted word study groups.
  • Fixed: Changes were not saved in the long-term study list, when quitting the program right after changing something.
  • Fixed: Moved radical ? to the start of 6 stroke radicals list in the multi-radical search window.
  • Fixed: Holding down a mouse button while moving the cursor to the left out of the dictionary list cased an error message.
  • Fixed: Memory corruption after answering the first question in the long-term study list. This could cause random errors.
  • Fixed: When the settings for the long-term study test's tested readings was set to "None", the items to test in the readings test window was -1.
  • Fixed: Selecting "Try again" in tests increased the value of "tested items" in the statistics even several times for the same item.
  • Fixed: While organizing words in new word study list, removing duplicates could cause endless error messages, making zkanji unusable.
  • Fixed: Several memory bugs that didn't seem to cause any problems, but turned out to be extremely dangerous in some cases.
  • Fixed: Only the first letter of the inflection was shown in the dictionary when entering inflected words with inflection indication enabled in the settings.
  • Fixed: Disabling printing buttons of the print preview window while generating preview.
  • Fixed: When the first word ever added to a user dictionary was in a word group, double clicking on it didn't do anything.
  • Fixed: Unnecessary recounting filtered words in browse mode when the filter wasn't changed.
  • Fixed: The information in the dictionary statusbar was not always updated.
  • Fixed: Renaming a dictionary didn't rename all user files.
  • Fixed: Didn't rename menu item for switching to user dictionary on the group list window when renaming dictionary.
  • Fixed: Couldn't add more than 10 example words for each reading of a kanji to the long-term study list.
  • Fixed: In the long-term study list the numbers 1 to 3 acted as shortcuts even when in an edit box. From now on, only ctrl+number works in that case.
  • Fixed: Names in the kanji radical selector's classical2 list were often half hidden when they were long.
  • Fixed: Long-term study list window column sizes were reset to default after changing settings, even if font sizes remained the same.
  • Fixed: Filtering the example words for kanji removed their red/yellow color from the list.
  • Fixed: Changing previous answer during long-term study test to "incorrect" could modify that item's deck and score, like it haven't been answered at all.
  • Fixed: Up and down arrow keys didn't move focus to dictionary's word list in browse mode, when the search edit box was selected.

New in ZKanji 0.577 (Aug 9, 2011)

  • Option to change the answer given for the previous word in the long-term study list during testing, to fix user errors. Works similar to Undo+Answering-something-else.
  • In the long-term study list changed the time estimate and time-spent-on-item measuring method. Time estimate now works with the last 100/255 (repeats/time spent) number of test items. Anything older gets discarded so the time stats is updated.
  • Disabled popup menu in the long-term study test for the recognizer.
  • Right-click menu on dictionary search direction buttons for switching between dictionaries. (when user dictionaries are present)
  • "Pause" button on the long-term study test window.
  • Words added to search history dropdown list when navigating between them in the example sentences.
  • Fixed: showing the kanji recognizer window even after quitting the long-term study test.
  • Fixed: Several memory access overrun errors.
  • Fixed: incorrect sizing of the long-term study test window when showing it for the second time.
  • Fixed: in the long-term study test the indicated interval and the real interval were different when the item wasn't answered correctly the previous day even once.
  • Fixed: when a word was tested twice with different questions, it wasn't always included in readings tests, depending on the settings and the given answers.
  • Fixed: word tested twice was sometimes shown twice in the readings test.
  • Fixed: in the long-term study list, items with incorrect answer and no correct one (when exiting the test early) had their interval and due values shown incorrectly in the list.
  • Fixed: the daily long-term study statistics incorrectly handled the count of learned items. (Only the most recent test's statistics data is updated though.)
  • Fixed: in the long-term study list moving tested item back to queue didn't update the readings test to reflect the changes, and could possibly corrupt data.
  • Fixed: in the long-term study list making change to an item's priority without other action caused the change to be lost if quitting zkanji.
  • Fixed: word list had no scrollbars on the "Generate word group from kanji" dialog window.
  • Fixed: after changing to a different dictionary while in continuous browsing mode with a filter on, the listed words were not matching the set filter.
  • Fixed: changing alphabetic ordering in the settings didn't sort the word list in continuous browsing mode with a filter on.
  • Fixed: access violation when creating a fresh word study group, that could result in full user data loss.
  • Fixed: error when deleting last added word to user dictionary, when the word was visible in the dictionary result list.

New in ZKanji 0.575 (Aug 9, 2011)

  • Kanji readings study after long-term study test, depending on the current settings.
  • Changed the item order when ordering by added date in the long-term study list window. The later date will appear first by default.
  • Changing item data in the long-term study list window won't scroll the selected item to the center of the list anymore.
  • Kanji stroke order diagram in the long-term study test replaces the kanji information window that would give too much information during testing.
  • In the long-term study list for items below deck 4, even if the time passed since the last test is more than the original interval*1.6, the deck won't decrease.
  • Clicking on the ON reading of a kanji in the kanji information window fills in the "readings" input field of the kanji list and filters the list.
  • Changed the handwriting recognizer to make it easier to recognize kanji with only little differences to the handwritten form.
  • New menu item in the kanji recognition window's popup menu to show kanji information.
  • Fixed: removing didn't work for items in the long-term study list, when they were not included in the test.
  • Fixed: the close button on the kanji information window is now painted correctly even when themes are not enabled.
  • Fixed: didn't show full update information when updates were found on automatic check. In some cases the program crashed.
  • Fixed: some window controls (buttons etc.) didn't work on secondary displays left or above the main monitor (in desktop coordinates).
  • Fixed: attempting to copy kana from the kanji recognition window caused an error message.

New in ZKanji 0.573_20110227 (Aug 9, 2011)

  • Fixed: resizing of word list columns were disabled for all lists.

New in ZKanji 0.573_20110226 (Aug 9, 2011)

  • Fixed: not showing full written form of the word in the long-term study list's test.

New in ZKanji 0.573 (Aug 9, 2011)

  • Smoothed (anti-aliased) strokes in the kanji stroke order display and animation. (Might not work in emulated environments.)
  • The different kind of strokes in the kanji stroke order dialog were made visually different.
  • Hitting enter in the example selector input box (the one for finding example words in the dictionary) acts like pressing the jump button.
  • Disabling the find button on the kanji information window when more kanji are selected.
  • Added setting to test new items before any other in the long-term study test.
  • New list in the long-term study list window for displaying items tested the last day.
  • New setting to automatically go to the last tested items' list after a test.
  • Keyboard shortcuts for the long-term study list window.
  • Restored frequency number to the kanji information window's reference list.
  • Cloned menu items between popup menus of the kanji information window.
  • Changed program icon.
  • Possibility to set a custom flag for the user dictionaries, by placing a bitmap with the same name in the data folder. The bitmap must be 32x16, and the color at the bottom left pixel is set as transparent.
  • Wakan vocabulary category import to given dictionary. Skipping words that do not exist and adding all meanings to groups for those that do.
  • Small change in the handwriting recognizer's weights. Mainly less importance for stroke position, as it was overweighted.
  • Fixed: visual glitch of the kanji information window. By double clicking a kanji the visible info window flickered for a moment and its borders were not rounded anymore.
  • Fixed: Correct sizing of the add word dialog window, when there is no point in displaying a meaning list for custom dictionaries.
  • Fixed: the add word dialog window was resized when the custom meaning was changed.
  • Fixed: removing a stroke when drawing in the recognizer window gave different results compared to the first time the last stroke was drawn.
  • Fixed: replaced kanji drawing in the kanji definition window, to not use clear-type when it is not wanted.
  • Fixed: error when the similar kanji list was displayed for some kanji.

New in ZKanji 0.571 (Aug 9, 2011)

  • New pop-up menu item in the long-term study list for increasing and decreasing the deck of each item, changing the interval when the item will be tested next.
  • New pop-up menu item in the long-term study list to reset selected items, removing their study statistics and putting them back to deck 0.
  • New pop-up menu item in the long-term study list for adding words to a word group.
  • Fixed: the kanji information window didn't show the hint for kanji in panels, before switching to a different dictionary.
  • Fixed: The update checker window didn't work correctly when trying to open it while update checking was in progress.
  • Fixed: incorrectly saving user dictionaries, when the last kanji has a user defined meaning.
  • Fixed: Update from v0.55 to v0.57 corrupted user dictionary kanji data. This version also fixes corrupted data after the fact.
  • Fixed: Checking for updates when version number is similar showed update when there was none.

New in ZKanji 0.57_20110203 (Aug 9, 2011)

  • Fixed: Painting the background of the answer box white in the long-term study test, if themes are disabled.

New in ZKanji 0.57 (Aug 9, 2011)

  • WARNING: Changed dictionary file format! Data will be converted automatically, but this is not guaranteed for future versions when they load old data! - if you always update to the latest version in time, there will be no problems.
  • The handwriting recognizer window can recognize hiragana / katakana characters and the kurikaeshi symbol. Because of this some deeper changes had to be made in the recognizing algorithm which might require fine-tuning.
  • Handwriting recognizer now recognizes some kanji better.
  • Updated the dictionary format. It now accepts words with non Japanese characters in the written form, if those are double byte unicode characters from the Japanese character set (double byte romaji, numbers, brackets etc.).
  • Searching for Japanese symbols (eg. the kurikaeshi symbol), wide characers allowed in the dictionary search.
  • Updated example sentences import, so now many sentences that were left out are included.
  • Updated kanji data from the latest KANJIDIC. Two more kanji are now on the list.
  • Changed algorithm for ordering words in the browse dictionary mode. The words will be correctly ordered in alphabetical order. Prioritizing hiragana if the reading of two words can be romanized the same way.
  • In the group list window's kanji reading list, the okurigana part is now indicated with a light blue text, when kun readings are not grouped.
  • Added filter for the kanji example words on the group list window's kanji groups panel.
  • Ctrl-F shortcut for filters in the popup dictionary.
  • Ctrl-L shortcut for the long-term study list.
  • Reorganized main menu in the docked and separate window interfaces, so the docked menu can be used without having to browse several sub-menus to reach some functions.
  • Generating word groups shortcut works for both the kanji list and group list on the docked interface, depending on which part of the interface is currently active.
  • Dictionary menu visible in the group lists window to have a near standard menu interface in all windows.
  • The filter dictionary results button will be unpressed when all filters are turned off for the dictionary.
  • Added an optional helper grid to the recognizer window.
  • Changed grid in the kanji information window to be more helpful.
  • Warning window for too many due items in the long-term study list. Its showing interval can be controled from the settings.
  • Changes to the settings window, mainly for the changed long-term study list.
  • Added several message boxes to display if user files loading goes wrong.
  • The long-term study test is automatically suspended after a given time if no button was pressed.
  • The automatic update notification window's text format changed to present version information in a better way.
  • Fixed: Removed duplicate shortcut text for dictionaries from dictionary menu.
  • Fixed: The start practice button in the kana practice window didn't become enabled for too few checked boxes.
  • Fixed: Checking for app folder when zkanji is started from the Program Files to be able to save ini files even when the users are not admins themselves.
  • Fixed: Error message appeared and the position in the word list wasn't set when the text entered in the dictionary search box was not in the dictionary, and the user tried to switch to browsing mode.
  • Fixed: Removed resize grip from the dictionary window, which was present even when the window was maximized.
  • Fixed: Adding words as the example for a kanji with the space key, added the word to the currently selected kanji reading, and not the correct reading when it was not selected.
  • Fixed: removed maximize and minimuze button from the dictionary stats window.

New in ZKanji 0.57b (Aug 9, 2011)

  • Reworked the long-term study list:
  • Words are added, not kanji.
  • Test can be closed before all words are tested without losing data.
  • 4 buttons instead of the 2 used previously. One button for half forgotten items, another for too easy ones.
  • Meaning can be studied, not just the written word form or the kana reading.
  • The student can choose the parts of words to study when adding them to the list. The other parts can be added later.
  • In the previous version kana reading could be typed in as the answer. Now the written part can be typed too, using the kanji recognition.
  • If the student couldn't answer a question, that item is asked much later into the test than before mesured in minutes and not just randomly added somewhere.
  • The test can inform the student after a given time was spent on testing. Same for number of tested items.
  • Better control of what is tested and when, with a priority based system.
  • Filtering (hiding words that do not match a set filter) now works when browsing full dictionary (f4).
  • Added filter button to the popup dictionary.
  • Dictionary remembers word that was highlighted when switching between dictionaries or changing filters.
  • A plus sign indicates that a word's meaning is in a word group, when this option is set.
  • Saving and restoring the size of the Add word to vocabulary window.
  • Reorganized the Generate word group from kanji window.
  • Reorganized the kanji information window. Changed position of the Stroke Order Diagram buttons and and the look of the whole window. Added a new option in the settings to change which information is visible, and to reorder how they are shown.
  • Added a right-click menu to copy the visible kanji and all kanji reference numbers to the clipboard.
  • Added a status bar in the clipboard window to show the number of characters copied.
  • A unified look and feel for most windows when themeing is enabled. Also if no themeing is used, the windows won't be shaded.
  • When the kanji list is focused it stands out more compared to when it is not, because the unfocused list's highlight color is lighter or darker, depending on the background.
  • Kanji now updates in the kanji information window when the user changed some filters in the kanji list.
  • Single click restores zkanji from the tray.
  • The shortcuts for changing to a dictionary won't show up in the system tray menu.
  • Added Shift-JIS and EUC-JP encoding value to the kanji information window and also to the kanji hint window. The Kanji list can be filtered with these too.
  • Dictionary word list won't flicker when switching to browsing mode from J-E / E-J modes.
  • Changed how the topmost windows are handled (once again). This might cause unexpected behavior, eg. the kanji info window stays on top of other windows, or other strange things.
  • The search field of the dictionary now accepts full-width romaji and numbers, Japanese brackets etc. THIS IS EXPERIMENTAL UNTIL THE DICTIONARY IS UPDATED WITH WORDS THAT CONTAIN SUCH CHARACTERS.
  • Fixed: button images in the long-term study review window no longer have bright edges when the background is dark. The icons are drawn with alpha blending. (This window was removed from the
  • latest version, but might be restored later.)
  • Fixed: when adding/changing/deleting words the dictionaries didn't appear updated. This was rarely apparent though.
  • Fixed: sometimes the text color wasn't visible enough when the color scheme was changed.
  • Fixed: column sizing problem when the meaning column was made too small.
  • Fixed: Some items were added twice to the old version of the long-term study. The extra versions are dropped in the conversion to the new long-term study.

New in ZKanji 0.391 (Nov 16, 2009)

  • New feature:
  • Many improvements of the custom dictionary import functionality:
  • Separate word groups for new and modified meanings.
  • Word group creation can be selected for every import mode.
  • Matching meanings skipped when importing words to dictionary. Every meaning of the modified words were imported before, even those that matched.
  • Double-click selects whole text in kana edit boxes (eg. dictionary search bar).
  • Added new setting to automatically start zkanji on system startup.
  • In the stroke order editor deleting, adding new strokes and changing an element's standalone status updates the value of the centrepoint edit box and also enables or disables it as needed.
  • Saving the long-term study list edit window dimensions when the "Restore last window positions" is checked in the settings.
  • Made stroke width of stroke order diagram animation thinner in the kanji info window.
  • New option in the kanji info window to indicate starting position of strokes by a red dot.
  • New lines no longer hide stroke numbers during stroke order diagram animation when the line would overlap with the number.
  • Tweeked stroke order diagram drawing speed and shadow position.
  • Added first user word and kanji group export to csv file to the study groups window menu. The different types of data might be exported into separate files later.
  • Bugfixes:
  • Fixed/Hacked: Minimizing then restoring a maximized main window caused the window to lose its saved size. Thus restoring such window caused it to take up all screen like it was still maximized.
  • Moving selected kanji to group created duplicate group when case of string was different.
  • group rename and creation now doesn't care for the differences in the case of letters in the group names.
  • Some windows revealed a scroll bar after minimizing and restoring zkanji when the bars should have been hidden.
  • Saving the popup dictionary size and position even when it wasn't hidden before the program exits.
  • The grid showing a list of kanji was not updated correctly when eg. the sort order changed in the Kanji List window.
  • Some GUI elements didn't reflect font settings changes immediately.
  • An error occured when deleting the last variant of an element.
  • Deleting an element variant in the stroke order diagram editor didn't work in some cases.
  • Won't set shown kanji background in the stroke order diagram editor when clicked outside the parents list.
  • In the kanji stroke order diagram editor, changing element to standalone didn't use centrepoint of elements inside it and the stroke order was rendered wrong in such cases.
  • Zkanji wasn't hidden in tray at startap when the "Always start in system tray" option was checked, unless the "Remember tray position" was also checked.
  • Long-term study edit window statistics didn't correctly scroll to end at some form sizes.
  • When the kanji info window was visible it covered the hint messages and the kanji back history.
  • Height of kanji info window incorrectly set when an option is enabled and the info window is resized to its small size.
  • adding definition to a kanji in a user dictionary didn't remove the small 'x' symbol from kanji lists.
  • Kanji hint didn't hide when a modal window opened, hiding part of it.
  • Dictionary export file name extension was incorrectly set to .txt.

New in ZKanji 0.39 (Nov 16, 2009)

  • New feature:
  • Added a stroke order diagram editor that can modify existing elements, and also create new ones and assign them to kanji.
  • Some minor enhancements of the long-term study dialog, especially for the list of words.
  • Bugfixes:
  • Kanji information popup comes up in front of the popup dictionary even for the first time
  • When deleting kanji from the long-term study list it was possible to also remove words from the list that were linked to other kanji as well.
  • Sometimes there was an error when the user quit the program with no message box or any other sign only the system beep. It didn't cause any harm but it was annoying.
  • Stroke order diagram didn't play for one kanji.
  • Saving empty string for meaning in the Redefine Word window should have been forbidden.

New in ZKanji 0.37 (Nov 16, 2009)

  • New feature:
  • Importing dictionary previously exported from WAKAN.
  • Bugfixes:
  • Menu shortcuts for dictionaries (Alt+Number) in the main menus are updated when a user dictionary is deleted.
  • word usage was shown as "obscene" when it should have been "obscure".
  • word usage was shown as "male slang" when it should have been "manga slang".
  • The Japanese characters didn't show up correctly everywhere.