WordWeb and Atlantis in the same dir (portable)

[Dave_C]

It seems the path to the WordWeb data file (wweb.ww3) is hard coded into Atlantis.

I wanted to put both Atlantis and the wweb.ww3 file in the same directory on my USB pen drive but, I couldn’t find a reference to the wweb.ww3 in the .ini file.

The ability for the user to specify the location of the WordWeb data file would make Atlantis even more useful and convenient as a portable app.

[admin]

Atlantis does not use the data files of WordWeb directly. Atlantis needs a single thing - the WordWeb's wweb32.dll library. Atlantis searches for this library in the following sequence:

- the directory from which Atlantis loaded,
- the Windows system directory ("C:\Windows", or "C:\Windows\System", or "C:\Windows\System32"),
- the directories that are listed in the PATH environment variable.

You might need to put all the files of WordWeb (including wweb32.dll) to the home folder of Atlantis. You most probably could find the wweb32.dll library under the Windows folder "C:\Windows".

[Dave_C]

Thanks for the info. I put wweb32.dll and wweb.ww3 in the Atlantis directory on my usb drive and temporarily renamed the original in my system32 directory. Atlantis could see the dll and the thesaurus button in the tool bar wasn't grayed out but, when trying to look up a word it still complains that it can't find "C:\Program Files\WordWeb\wweb32.ww3".

So if the wweb32.dll could be modified to look for wweb32.ww3 in the same dir that it was called from it should work.

[Robert]

I wanted to put both Atlantis and the wweb.ww3 file in the same directory on my USB pen drive but, I couldn’t find a reference to the wweb.ww3 in the .ini file.

The ability for the user to specify the location of the WordWeb data file would make Atlantis even more useful and convenient as a portable app.

Hi,
I don't know if this is valid for the free version but WordWeb Pro has a setup option to install as a portable application on a USB drive (see screen capture below).

Let's suppose that you used that WordWeb option and installed WordWeb on a USB drive in the ...\WordWeb folder. Let's also assume that you installed Atlantis on the same USB drive in the ...\Atlantis folder.

In this case, Atlantis will not offer the WordWeb-linked "Thesaurus" command. But the WordWeb inbuilt search methods should still work from Atlantis (provided WordWeb is running concurrently with Atlantis):

Ctrl+right-click.

Ctrl+Alt+W ((WordWeb original hot key)

Now you might want Atlantis to display the usual WordWeb-linked "Thesaurus" command. Here is how to proceed:

Create a ".cmd" file in the Windows Notepad or in any other pure text editor. Name it "Atlantis.cmd" or any other suitable name. "Atlantis.cmd" should contain the following entries:

@echo off
PATH %~dp0\Atlantis;%~dp0\WordWeb;%PATH%
CD /d %~dp0
CD WordWeb
START wweb32.exe
CD /d %~dp0
CD Atlantis
START Atlantis.exe

Save this "Atlantis.cmd" file to the root folder of your USB stick.

Run this "Atlantis.cmd" file from the USB drive to launch both Atlantis and WordWeb at one go. With the added bonus that Atlantis will automatically find the WordWeb files that it needs to offer its "Thesaurus" feature.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,
Robert

[admin]

Any next release of Atlantis will scan all the folders of the memory flash drive in order to find the wweb32.dll. So there will be no need to use any command files.

[Dave_C]

I managed to put all the WordWeb files I need into the Atlantis directory.

All it takes is to edit the path to the wweb.ww3 file in the registry.

Code: Select all

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\WordWeb\3]
"Database File"="C:\Program Files\Atlantis\wweb.ww3”

Unfortunately WordWeb still depends on the registry to find the wweb.ww3 file, so the key to ultimate portability is with WordWeb.


Only 2 files are needed for WordWeb to function in Atlantis:

wweb32.dll
wweb.ww3

[admin]

If you want to have a portable copy of Atlantis+WordWeb on your memory flash drive, please do the following:

1. Install Atlantis on your memory flash drive, if you have not done so yet.

2. Launch the setup of WordWeb (either the free version of WordWeb, or the Pro version).

3. Click the "Advanced options..." button:



4. Check the "Install as portable app (e.g. on USB drive)" box:



and click OK.

5. In the "Folder" box, type the letter of your USB drive plus the desired folder name for WordWeb:



6. Complete the setup.

7. Download the following ZIP file:

{This file is not available on the server anymore.
The functionality mentioned above is available in the standard version of Atlantis.}

and unpack the contained Atlantis.exe to the home folder of Atlantis on your memory flash drive.

Now if you launch Atlantis on your USB drive, the Thesaurus feature of Atlantis will be functional.