Today Microsoft released an app I wrote, Dictionary Tool for Tablet PC.
You can get it from the Tablet
PC PowerToys website.
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/tabletpc/downloads/powertoys.asp
Background
I wrote this app because I was frustrated that the Tablet Recognizer (which is actually
the speech recognizer), did a poor job with many words that I write. Working at Microsoft
involves lots of jargon, TLAs and so on that the Tablet doesn't get right all the
time. I was also frustrated at how difficult it was to add words to the recognizer.
I was also frustrated that you couldn't import the Microsoft Office dictionary into
the Tablet Recognizer. Finally, I added the ability to import an arbitrary text file
via the GUI or a command line allowing you to batch import words. This app also supports
adding and removing words in your native OS Language. If you select a word in the
listbox it will display a tooltip showing you the language of said word.
So, I wrote a little app in Visual Basic.NET. I had never written a VB.NET app before
and had a great time writing this program. I think that it demonstrated the power
that the Microsoft .NET programming environment actually offers. Later on I learned
C# and ported the app over (the shipping version still uses VB.NET).
This app also makes use of the Tablet PC SDK 1.5. If you click in the Edit Text
box with the Pen on your tablet you will get a little Pen Input Panel letting you
easily add words when in Pen mode.
Troubleshooting
Having said all this, some people have been reporting problems using the app. Much
of this is covered in this thread on Tablet
PC Buzz.
Many of the problems are likely related to the Dictionary file. I'm not sure what
the cause of these problems are, and it's pretty hard for me to troubleshoot some
of them.
So if you are having problems, one thing to try is moving your tablet dictionary file.
it is located here:
%USERPROFILE%\Application Data\Microsoft\Speech\Files\UserLexicons
If you got to Start->Run and enter the path above you will be
in a folder that should have one file. Move that file to the desktop, and then re-launch
the Dictionary Tool and add a word to the dictionary.