Description: Kanjisaver is a screensaver that displays characters from a set of those commonly found on the JLPT, the Japanese Language Proficiency Test. It can also display the on and kun readings of the kanji as well as their English meanings and romaji forms.
You should install a font with Japanese character support before using Kanjisaver. I use AR PL ZenKai Uni and its associated fonts (http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software_2fCJKUnifonts). Even with this font, some kanji may not display -- there are quite a few!
You might also be interested in Kannasaver, which is also available here on KDE-Apps.org, and upon which Kanjisaver is based.
Installation is the usual: ./configure --prefix=`kde-config --prefix` && make && sudo make installLast changelog:
0.9.10: New support for 'data overload,' allowing you to display both readings with or without romaji and translations.
0.9.9: Romaji support for readings (woo!). Reading scaling. Kanji file fixes. Print display to stdout.
Kanjisaver is now available from Debian Unstable :- ) Just 'apt-get install kanjisaver'. I am the maintainer, so the latest should always be available!
cant compile on Ubuntu dapper drake or SUSE Enterprise desktop
same error
checking for Qt... configure: error: Qt (>= Qt 3.2) (headers and libraries) not found. Please check your installation!
For more details about this problem, look at the end of config.log
any suggestions ?
The error message suggests, that you should install qt3-devel rpm package from your distribution DVDs. So, the reason you are probably asking is that you have this package installed and still have the message saying that it is missing.
If that is the case, then I had the same problem on my SuSE 10.0 on x86_64 and tried what somebody else suggested:
./configure --enable-libsuffix=64
And it suddenly worked.
Anyway, nice program.
Question for author: Is it necessary to use "--enable-libsuffix=64" on every 64bit distribution? If yes, then it might be useful to write this in INSTALL file.
dobdo: On Debian/Ubuntu the package you want to install is 'libqt3-mt-dev'; sorry for the slow response.
ltesar: I don't think it's necessary on all distros, but possibly only SuSE. I compile on Debian AMD64 without any extra flags, but I'm already planning to add a note on the next release.
Thanks :- )
I'm trying to rebuild my kanjisaver rpm package on a 64bit suse 10.1, and ./configure fails:
checking for KDE... configure: error:
in the prefix, you've chosen, are no KDE libraries installed. This will fail.
So, check this please and use another prefix!
error: Bad exit status from /var/tmp/rpm-tmp.14826 (%prep)
other kde apps that i used to build work fine, my own kanasaver included.
any hints for me?
thanks for creating this really useful screen saver. maybe now i'll finally learn those kanji symbols. i never seem to find the time to study them, but now every time i lock the screen i learn a little more.
i also have a feature request: i would like an option to get both on- and kun-reading at the same time. i was thinking of having two lines at the top of the screen. first line on-reading, second line kun-reading.
thanks a lot!
Hi Rschultz. I love kanjisaver, thank you so much for continuing to share this.
Can you provide a new version that works with kde4 or gnome-screensaver(which would be AWESOME)? Currently the new Fedora's 13 and 14, dont work with this kanjisaver because they only have kde4. I tried to fiddle with the makefiles but I was not able to get it to compile with kde4 and kdelibs installed. Any guidance you can offer would be AWESOME
That would be great, but I'm probably much too lazy to do anything like it :- )
If I ever get around to fixing kanjisaver to not use a header file for kanji info and, rather, actually parse kanjidic/edict, I'll try to set it up to be generic enough to accept other languages.
Has anyone been able to get this working on opensuse? It seemed to install fine but doesnt show up on the list of screensavers. I have tried moving the files around everywhere but it still doesn´t work. I tried setting the line in ~./kde.../kdesktoprc to point to kanjisaver.kss then ran ´dcop kdesktop kscreensaverIface save´ (i think thats it) and the screen kind of pauses but doesnt actually run kanji saver. It un-pauses when i move the mouse or keyboard. If i just run kanjisaver.kss i get the screen saver in its own window.
Installation is a chore. I finally figured out why it was not working right. I installed it on Mandriva 2006. After installation I could not find the screensaver in the list because it copied the executable into /usr/local/kde/blahblah... instead of /usr/share/applnk/Screensavers/System... I had to manually move the header and the executable into the right directories. However even now, I cannot change settings of this screensaver, need more time to figure out what needs to be coped where... I wish the developer could be more responsive, but hey, it's free, so no complaints, right? Thanks for the great applet! (in the future, it would be great to add " on" readings along with "kun" for educational purposes...)
Ack! Sorry, I try to be responsive, but I'm used to dealing with problems through email -- and I forgot to set mail notifications for KDE-Apps.
Installation instructions are in the INSTALL file included with Kanjisaver -- all you should have to do is './configure && make && make install'.
I'm not sure why it would install to /usr/local/kde/ on your system (I'm strictly a Debian guy), but you can set the prefix during the configure step like so: './configure --prefix=/usr'. That should put everything in the right place, unless your kde-config gives strange answers or something. If you can't get it working, please contact me via email and I'll see what I can do.
Only the .desktop file and the binary (kanjisaver.kss) need to be installed. The binary should go in /usr/bin and the .desktop in /usr/share/applnk/System/ScreenSavers . KDE will pick it up then and you can configure it through KControl or by running 'kanjisaver.kss -setup' from the command line.
The setup tool allows you to pick between on and kun readings -- please note that English readings aren't yet available in the release, but kanjisaver from darcs does have them, along with several other changes! There will be a new version soon with several nice new things.
Kanjisaver is also available now directly from Debian's archives.
Hope that helps!
Im my previous post I misspelled the error message I get. It should be "nothing do to for am-all" Also I was hoping to find step-by-step installation instructions on your website but could not find anything. I would greatly appreciate you help installing this screensaver.
This looks like a great screen saver, I tried installing it on my laptop running Mandriva 2006 but without success. I get a n message "nothing to do foll am-all" What does it mean? Could you post instructions on how to add Japanese fonts and what directory they should copies to? Thanks!
You and the author of Kannasaver should really co-operate and create one outstanding application with all the options.
Anyway, thanks for the Sid package, I really appreciate it :)
we HAVE been talking about putting this into one screensaver, and have decided against it, so that people can chose which one to install. Also, in my opinion kanji are too complex with all their meanings to put them into a screensaver for subconscious learning...
Yes, I originally planned to integrate kanji support into Kannasaver as an option, but, after talking with Mathias, I decided that it would be better as a separate application. Kannasaver is focused on subconscious learning by repeated viewing; Kanjisaver can't rely on that because, for example, JLPT level 1 has >1000 kanji -- it would be tricky to subconsciously learn that many :- ) Plus I need a lot of support code -- font scaling, table picking, etc, which would have cluttered up Kannasaver.
So I developed Kanjisaver separately. It focuses not on subconscious learning, but on improving character recognition, introducing new characters, and on showing some of the intricacies of the shodo (with a nice font!).
Kanjisaver will be going into Debian after the KDE transition -- I'm a maintainer and I already have a sponsor.
Thanks for commenting!
Ratings & Comments
23 Comments
For anyone building on OpenSuse, use ./configure --prefix=/opt/kde3 And everything goes to the right place. Thanks Ryan!
cant compile on Ubuntu dapper drake or SUSE Enterprise desktop same error checking for Qt... configure: error: Qt (>= Qt 3.2) (headers and libraries) not found. Please check your installation! For more details about this problem, look at the end of config.log any suggestions ?
The error message suggests, that you should install qt3-devel rpm package from your distribution DVDs. So, the reason you are probably asking is that you have this package installed and still have the message saying that it is missing. If that is the case, then I had the same problem on my SuSE 10.0 on x86_64 and tried what somebody else suggested: ./configure --enable-libsuffix=64 And it suddenly worked. Anyway, nice program. Question for author: Is it necessary to use "--enable-libsuffix=64" on every 64bit distribution? If yes, then it might be useful to write this in INSTALL file.
dobdo: On Debian/Ubuntu the package you want to install is 'libqt3-mt-dev'; sorry for the slow response. ltesar: I don't think it's necessary on all distros, but possibly only SuSE. I compile on Debian AMD64 without any extra flags, but I'm already planning to add a note on the next release. Thanks :- )
I'm trying to rebuild my kanjisaver rpm package on a 64bit suse 10.1, and ./configure fails: checking for KDE... configure: error: in the prefix, you've chosen, are no KDE libraries installed. This will fail. So, check this please and use another prefix! error: Bad exit status from /var/tmp/rpm-tmp.14826 (%prep) other kde apps that i used to build work fine, my own kanasaver included. any hints for me?
solved. configure option "--enable-libsuffix=64" did it. yay is me.
thanks for creating this really useful screen saver. maybe now i'll finally learn those kanji symbols. i never seem to find the time to study them, but now every time i lock the screen i learn a little more. i also have a feature request: i would like an option to get both on- and kun-reading at the same time. i was thinking of having two lines at the top of the screen. first line on-reading, second line kun-reading. thanks a lot!
New in 0.9.10. Thanks for reminding me :- )
wow. that was fast :) thank you ever so much!
Hi Rschultz. I love kanjisaver, thank you so much for continuing to share this. Can you provide a new version that works with kde4 or gnome-screensaver(which would be AWESOME)? Currently the new Fedora's 13 and 14, dont work with this kanjisaver because they only have kde4. I tried to fiddle with the makefiles but I was not able to get it to compile with kde4 and kdelibs installed. Any guidance you can offer would be AWESOME
I am learning Spanish and French, and this would be the perfect thing for studying vocabulary. Any plans to make it into a generic application?
That would be great, but I'm probably much too lazy to do anything like it :- ) If I ever get around to fixing kanjisaver to not use a header file for kanji info and, rather, actually parse kanjidic/edict, I'll try to set it up to be generic enough to accept other languages.
Has anyone been able to get this working on opensuse? It seemed to install fine but doesnt show up on the list of screensavers. I have tried moving the files around everywhere but it still doesn´t work. I tried setting the line in ~./kde.../kdesktoprc to point to kanjisaver.kss then ran ´dcop kdesktop kscreensaverIface save´ (i think thats it) and the screen kind of pauses but doesnt actually run kanji saver. It un-pauses when i move the mouse or keyboard. If i just run kanjisaver.kss i get the screen saver in its own window.
And for us that doesn't use debian but gentoo here's an ebuild: http://dx.homelinux.org/gentoo/portage-overlay/kde-misc/kanjisaver/
Installation is a chore. I finally figured out why it was not working right. I installed it on Mandriva 2006. After installation I could not find the screensaver in the list because it copied the executable into /usr/local/kde/blahblah... instead of /usr/share/applnk/Screensavers/System... I had to manually move the header and the executable into the right directories. However even now, I cannot change settings of this screensaver, need more time to figure out what needs to be coped where... I wish the developer could be more responsive, but hey, it's free, so no complaints, right? Thanks for the great applet! (in the future, it would be great to add " on" readings along with "kun" for educational purposes...)
strange. i installed it by just typing "configure; make; make install" and it showed up with no problems at all.
Ack! Sorry, I try to be responsive, but I'm used to dealing with problems through email -- and I forgot to set mail notifications for KDE-Apps. Installation instructions are in the INSTALL file included with Kanjisaver -- all you should have to do is './configure && make && make install'. I'm not sure why it would install to /usr/local/kde/ on your system (I'm strictly a Debian guy), but you can set the prefix during the configure step like so: './configure --prefix=/usr'. That should put everything in the right place, unless your kde-config gives strange answers or something. If you can't get it working, please contact me via email and I'll see what I can do. Only the .desktop file and the binary (kanjisaver.kss) need to be installed. The binary should go in /usr/bin and the .desktop in /usr/share/applnk/System/ScreenSavers . KDE will pick it up then and you can configure it through KControl or by running 'kanjisaver.kss -setup' from the command line. The setup tool allows you to pick between on and kun readings -- please note that English readings aren't yet available in the release, but kanjisaver from darcs does have them, along with several other changes! There will be a new version soon with several nice new things. Kanjisaver is also available now directly from Debian's archives. Hope that helps!
thanks, I needed to know the command kanjisave.kss -setup Once again great app, I am really enjoying it!
Im my previous post I misspelled the error message I get. It should be "nothing do to for am-all" Also I was hoping to find step-by-step installation instructions on your website but could not find anything. I would greatly appreciate you help installing this screensaver.
This looks like a great screen saver, I tried installing it on my laptop running Mandriva 2006 but without success. I get a n message "nothing to do foll am-all" What does it mean? Could you post instructions on how to add Japanese fonts and what directory they should copies to? Thanks!
You and the author of Kannasaver should really co-operate and create one outstanding application with all the options. Anyway, thanks for the Sid package, I really appreciate it :)
we HAVE been talking about putting this into one screensaver, and have decided against it, so that people can chose which one to install. Also, in my opinion kanji are too complex with all their meanings to put them into a screensaver for subconscious learning...
Yes, I originally planned to integrate kanji support into Kannasaver as an option, but, after talking with Mathias, I decided that it would be better as a separate application. Kannasaver is focused on subconscious learning by repeated viewing; Kanjisaver can't rely on that because, for example, JLPT level 1 has >1000 kanji -- it would be tricky to subconsciously learn that many :- ) Plus I need a lot of support code -- font scaling, table picking, etc, which would have cluttered up Kannasaver. So I developed Kanjisaver separately. It focuses not on subconscious learning, but on improving character recognition, introducing new characters, and on showing some of the intricacies of the shodo (with a nice font!). Kanjisaver will be going into Debian after the KDE transition -- I'm a maintainer and I already have a sponsor. Thanks for commenting!