vsm-dictionary
Intro
VSM-sentences are built from terms (=words or phrases) that are linked to semantic identifiers (=unique IDs that represent a concept with a definition).
These terms+IDs are typically stored on various 'dictionary' servers that make them accessible through their own API.
vsm-dictionary
provides a standardized interface for communicating with
dictionary webservers, in order to support VSM-sentence-building tools.
(Tools such as vsm-autocomplete
,
or more advanced components for searching, storing, and managing terms).
vsm-dictionary
is also designed to handle multiple 'sub-dictionaries',
as well as multiple synonyms per term.
And it supports the representation of stylized terms,
e.g. with italic or superscript parts, like Ca2+, and more.
Overview
vsm-dictionary
contains only:
- a full specification for the above interface (for search, creating terms, etc);
- a '
VsmDictionary
' parent-class implementation, which provides VSM-specific and shared functionality that subclasses should use.
The real interface with a dictionary service is thus
implemented by subclasses of VsmDictionary
.
Currently there are at least two such implementations available:
vsm-dictionary-local
:
a full implementation of a local (in-memory, serverless) VsmDictionary.- This module can be used as a fully functional placeholder that does not depend on a third-party term-server, while developing new tools that depend on a VsmDictionary.
- Or it could provide mock terms+ids while running standalone demos of VSM-sentence building tools.
- The many automated tests in VsmDictionaryLocal can give inspiration for testing future, webserver-linked subclasses.
vsm-dictionary-remote-demo
:
a bare-minimum demo-implementation of a VsmDictionary that connects to a hypothetical server API.- This module only serves as inspiration for developing real interfaces to an online dictionary service.
- Still, it includes a live demo that connects to a real server API.
How to implement a VsmDictionary subclass
Specification
• Any implementation of a VsmDictionary (which communicates with
a particular dictionary-webservice) must follow the interface specified in
----> Dictionary.spec.md <----- .
• VsmDictionary
is the parent class that all implementations must
'extends
' from.
•
(Note: we simply use the name 'Dictionary' for VsmDictionary,
in the spec & source code).
Installation with NPM for Node.js:
mkdir vsm-dictionary-newwwww
cd vsm-dictionary-newwwww
npm init -y
npm install vsm-dictionary
Template for a subclass, as a Node.js module:
(See also VsmDictionaryLocal
and VsmDictionaryRemoteDemo
).
// Import the parent class.const VsmDictionary = ; // Make subclass and export as Node.js module.moduleexports = { // Must call the parent constructor first. superoptions; // ... } // Methods for Create, Read, Update, Delete of terms, subdictionary-info // objects, etc. (see spec). // ... // ... { var matches = ; // ... ; }
(If the above code is placed in a file named 'VsmDictionaryNewww.js', it can already be used in another file 'test.js':
var Dict = ;var dict = ;consoledirdict;dict;
by running: node test.js
).
Tests
Run npm test
, which runs tests with Mocha.
Run npm run testw
, which automatically reruns tests on any file change.
Demo
See vsm-dictionary-local
and vsm-dictionary-remote-demo
for interactive demos of at least the string-search functionality.
License
This project is licensed under the AGPL license - see LICENSE.md.