JFC Support Information

This page was created specifically to support JFC. JFC is a free Japanese Flash Card program that I wrote. JFC is distributed under the GNU General Public License, which means that within certain restrictions you are free to obtain, use and pass on the program. Since I wrote the program and this is my web page, this is as close to an official support site that you are going to find.

Contents

The GNU General Public License
What does this all mean?

A description of the GNU General Public License is shown below, taken directly from the license document. Your distribution kit should contain a copy of GNU General Public License in the file: GNUGPL.TXT (straight text).

GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE

Version 2, June 1991

Copyright (C) 1989, 1991 Free Software Foundation, Inc. 59 Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA

Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this license document, but changing it is not allowed.

Preamble

The licenses for most software are designed to take away your freedom to share and change it. By contrast, the GNU General Public License is intended to guarantee your freedom to share and change free software--to make sure the software is free for all its users. This General Public License applies to most of the Free Software Foundation's software and to any other program whose authors commit to using it. (Some other Free Software Foundation software is covered by the GNU Library General Public License instead.) You can apply it to your programs, too.

When we speak of free software, we are referring to freedom, not price. Our General Public Licenses are designed to make sure that you have the freedom to distribute copies of free software (and charge for this service if you wish), that you receive source code or can get it if you want it, that you can change the software or use pieces of it in new free programs; and that you know you can do these things.

To protect your rights, we need to make restrictions that forbid anyone to deny you these rights or to ask you to surrender the rights. These restrictions translate to certain responsibilities for you if you distribute copies of the software, or if you modify it.

For example, if you distribute copies of such a program, whether gratis or for a fee, you must give the recipients all the rights that you have. You must make sure that they, too, receive or can get the source code. And you must show them these terms so they know their rights.

We protect your rights with two steps: (1) copyright the software, and (2) offer you this license which gives you legal permission to copy, distribute and/or modify the software.

Also, for each author's protection and ours, we want to make certain that everyone understands that there is no warranty for this free software. If the software is modified by someone else and passed on, we want its recipients to know that what they have is not the original, so that any problems introduced by others will not reflect on the original authors' reputations.

Finally, any free program is threatened constantly by software patents. We wish to avoid the danger that redistributors of a free program will individually obtain patent licenses, in effect making the program proprietary. To prevent this, we have made it clear that any patent must be licensed for everyone's free use or not licensed at all.

The precise terms and conditions for copying, distribution and modification follow.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR COPYING, DISTRIBUTION AND MODIFICATION

0. This License applies to any program or other work which contains a notice placed by the copyright holder saying it may be distributed under the terms of this General Public License. The "Program", below, refers to any such program or work, and a "work based on the Program" means either the Program or any derivative work under copyright law: that is to say, a work containing the Program or a portion of it, either verbatim or with modifications and/or translated into another language. (Hereinafter, translation is included without limitation in the term "modification".) Each licensee is addressed as "you".

Activities other than copying, distribution and modification are not covered by this License; they are outside its scope. The act of running the Program is not restricted, and the output from the Program is covered only if its contents constitute a work based on the Program (independent of having been made by running the Program). Whether that is true depends on what the Program does.

1. You may copy and distribute verbatim copies of the Program's source code as you receive it, in any medium, provided that you conspicuously and appropriately publish on each copy an appropriate copyright notice and disclaimer of warranty; keep intact all the notices that refer to this License and to the absence of any warranty; and give any other recipients of the Program a copy of this License along with the Program.

You may charge a fee for the physical act of transferring a copy, and you may at your option offer warranty protection in exchange for a fee.

2. You may modify your copy or copies of the Program or any portion of it, thus forming a work based on the Program, and copy and distribute such modifications or work under the terms of Section 1 above, provided that you also meet all of these conditions:

a) You must cause the modified files to carry prominent notices stating that you changed the files and the date of any change.

b) You must cause any work that you distribute or publish, that in whole or in part contains or is derived from the Program or any part thereof, to be licensed as a whole at no charge to all third parties under the terms of this License.

c) If the modified program normally reads commands interactively when run, you must cause it, when started running for such interactive use in the most ordinary way, to print or display an announcement including an appropriate copyright notice and a notice that there is no warranty (or else, saying that you provide a warranty) and that users may redistribute the program under these conditions, and telling the user how to view a copy of this License. (Exception: if the Program itself is interactive but does not normally print such an announcement, your work based on the Program is not required to print an announcement.)

These requirements apply to the modified work as a whole. If identifiable sections of that work are not derived from the Program, and can be reasonably considered independent and separate works in themselves, then this License, and its terms, do not apply to those sections when you distribute them as separate works. But when you distribute the same sections as part of a whole which is a work based on the Program, the distribution of the whole must be on the terms of this License, whose permissions for other licensees extend to the entire whole, and thus to each and every part regardless of who wrote it.

Thus, it is not the intent of this section to claim rights or contest your rights to work written entirely by you; rather, the intent is to exercise the right to control the distribution of derivative or collective works based on the Program.

In addition, mere aggregation of another work not based on the Program with the Program (or with a work based on the Program) on a volume of a storage or distribution medium does not bring the other work under the scope of this License.

3. You may copy and distribute the Program (or a work based on it, under Section 2) in object code or executable form under the terms of Sections 1 and 2 above provided that you also do one of the following:

a) Accompany it with the complete corresponding machine-readable source code, which must be distributed under the terms of Sections 1 and 2 above on a medium customarily used for software interchange; or,

b) Accompany it with a written offer, valid for at least three years, to give any third party, for a charge no more than your cost of physically performing source distribution, a complete machine-readable copy of the corresponding source code, to be distributed under the terms of Sections 1 and 2 above on a medium customarily used for software interchange; or,

c) Accompany it with the information you received as to the offer to distribute corresponding source code. (This alternative is allowed only for noncommercial distribution and only if you received the program in object code or executable form with such an offer, in accord with Subsection b above.)

The source code for a work means the preferred form of the work for making modifications to it. For an executable work, complete source code means all the source code for all modules it contains, plus any associated interface definition files, plus the scripts used to control compilation and installation of the executable. However, as a special exception, the source code distributed need not include anything that is normally distributed (in either source or binary form) with the major components (compiler, kernel, and so on) of the operating system on which the executable runs, unless that component itself accompanies the executable.

If distribution of executable or object code is made by offering access to copy from a designated place, then offering equivalent access to copy the source code from the same place counts as distribution of the source code, even though third parties are not compelled to copy the source along with the object code.

4. You may not copy, modify, sublicense, or distribute the Program except as expressly provided under this License. Any attempt otherwise to copy, modify, sublicense or distribute the Program is void, and will automatically terminate your rights under this License. However, parties who have received copies, or rights, from you under this License will not have their licenses terminated so long as such parties remain in full compliance.

5. You are not required to accept this License, since you have not signed it. However, nothing else grants you permission to modify or distribute the Program or its derivative works. These actions are prohibited by law if you do not accept this License. Therefore, by modifying or distributing the Program (or any work based on the Program), you indicate your acceptance of this License to do so, and all its terms and conditions for copying, distributing or modifying the Program or works based on it.

6. Each time you redistribute the Program (or any work based on the Program), the recipient automatically receives a license from the original licensor to copy, distribute or modify the Program subject to these terms and conditions. You may not impose any further restrictions on the recipients' exercise of the rights granted herein. You are not responsible for enforcing compliance by third parties to this License.

7. If, as a consequence of a court judgment or allegation of patent infringement or for any other reason (not limited to patent issues), conditions are imposed on you (whether by court order, agreement or otherwise) that contradict the conditions of this License, they do not excuse you from the conditions of this License. If you cannot distribute so as to satisfy simultaneously your obligations under this License and any other pertinent obligations, then as a consequence you may not distribute the Program at all. For example, if a patent license would not permit royalty-free redistribution of the Program by all those who receive copies directly or indirectly through you, then the only way you could satisfy both it and this License would be to refrain entirely from distribution of the Program.

If any portion of this section is held invalid or unenforceable under any particular circumstance, the balance of the section is intended to apply and the section as a whole is intended to apply in other circumstances.

It is not the purpose of this section to induce you to infringe any patents or other property right claims or to contest validity of any such claims; this section has the sole purpose of protecting the integrity of the free software distribution system, which is implemented by public license practices. Many people have made generous contributions to the wide range of software distributed through that system in reliance on consistent application of that system; it is up to the author/donor to decide if he or she is willing to distribute software through any other system and a licensee cannot impose that choice.

This section is intended to make thoroughly clear what is believed to be a consequence of the rest of this License.

8. If the distribution and/or use of the Program is restricted in certain countries either by patents or by copyrighted interfaces, the original copyright holder who places the Program under this License may add an explicit geographical distribution limitation excluding those countries, so that distribution is permitted only in or among countries not thus excluded. In such case, this License incorporates the limitation as if written in the body of this License.

9. The Free Software Foundation may publish revised and/or new versions of the General Public License from time to time. Such new versions will be similar in spirit to the present version, but may differ in detail to address new problems or concerns.

Each version is given a distinguishing version number. If the Program specifies a version number of this License which applies to it and "any later version", you have the option of following the terms and conditions either of that version or of any later version published by the Free Software Foundation. If the Program does not specify a version number of this License, you may choose any version ever published by the Free Software Foundation.

10. If you wish to incorporate parts of the Program into other free programs whose distribution conditions are different, write to the author to ask for permission. For software which is copyrighted by the Free Software Foundation, write to the Free Software Foundation; we sometimes make exceptions for this. Our decision will be guided by the two goals of preserving the free status of all derivatives of our free software and of promoting the sharing and reuse of software generally.

NO WARRANTY

11. BECAUSE THE PROGRAM IS LICENSED FREE OF CHARGE, THERE IS NO WARRANTY FOR THE PROGRAM, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW. EXCEPT WHEN OTHERWISE STATED IN WRITING THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND/OR OTHER PARTIES PROVIDE THE PROGRAM "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE PROGRAM IS WITH YOU. SHOULD THE PROGRAM PROVE DEFECTIVE, YOU ASSUME THE COST OF ALL NECESSARY SERVICING, REPAIR OR CORRECTION.

12. IN NO EVENT UNLESS REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE LAW OR AGREED TO IN WRITING WILL ANY COPYRIGHT HOLDER, OR ANY OTHER PARTY WHO MAY MODIFY AND/OR REDISTRIBUTE THE PROGRAM AS PERMITTED ABOVE, BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR DAMAGES, INCLUDING ANY GENERAL, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE PROGRAM (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO LOSS OF DATA OR DATA BEING RENDERED INACCURATE OR LOSSES SUSTAINED BY YOU OR THIRD PARTIES OR A FAILURE OF THE PROGRAM TO OPERATE WITH ANY OTHER PROGRAMS), EVEN IF SUCH HOLDER OR OTHER PARTY HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

All this basically mean that you are free to get a copy of the program if you want, including the full source code.

Whenever a specific copyright notice conflicts with the GNU General Public License, the specific copyright provision(s) will take precedence over the GNU General Public License.

Disclaimers
The legal stuff, or you get what you pay for.

Because this program is free software, it is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. This means that if you lose millions of dollars because you used the program, tough. So there!

If you encounter any bugs, have suggestions, want to make a comment, you should e-mail the information to me and I will attempt to fix them.

Acknowledgements
Thnaks to those who have had a hand in this project.

JFC is based on the code developed for JWPce. The creation of JWPce is directly or indirectly the result of a number of different people. I would like to take the time to thank these people for there effort, because without such effort JWPce would never have been created!

    The development team that lead to JWP and the databases used in JWPce:
    • Stephen Chung Who performed a wonderful job in Created JWP.
    • Jim Breen (jwb@rdt.monash.edu.au) of Australia supplied the Japanese-English dictionary used in JFC and JWPce. He also completed the 'Kanji Info' database by putting together the works of several people, including his own that forms the basis of JWPce's Character Information feature.
    • Mike Erickson (mikee@gr.hp.com) of HP supplied the original 'Kanji Info' database.
    • Ken Lunde (lunde@adobe.com) of Adobe supplied the routines to read and write Japanese text files in EUC, JIS, and shift-JIS formats.
    • Michael Raine and Derc Yamasaki (michael-raine@uiowa.edu) provided the original radical lookup tables that JWPce uses.
    • Wnn consortium: Kyoto University Research Institute for Mathematical Sciences, OMRON Corp. and ASTEC, Inc. provided the kana-to-kanji conversion database.
    • Izumi Ozawa (izumi@violet.berkeley.edu) of Berkeley donated the font lookup and index translation routines.
    • Kevin Ortman (ortman@unomaha.edu) programmed the Input Line Editor (not available in JWPce).
    • William Heintzelman and Harvey Turnbull Who helped with proofreading the manual.
    The professors and staff at UCLA whom I learned Japanese from:
    • Professors Masako Ogawa-Douglas, Shoichi Iwasaki, and Seiji Lippit.
    • Teaching Assistants: B. Baird, J. Essertier, Tetsuo Harada, Kyoko Ito, Masako Tamanaha, Hidemi Sugi, and Rinko Shibuya.
    • Special thanks to Dr. Masako Ogawa-Douglas, who encouraged me to release JWPce in it's early stages.

What is JFC and what can it do for me?
Please read this to get an idea of what is going on!

JFC is a basic Japanese flash card program designed to aid students learning Japanese. Much of JFC is designed to basically mimic what one would normally do with paper flash cards, except on a computer. There are a number of potential advantages to using a computer flash card program over a normal paper system:

  1. One does not need a big stack of paper cards to keep track of. The disadvantage is that one needs to have access to a computer, but since JFC runs on Windows CE systems this is not a significant limitation.
  2. JFC is integration with JWPce, allowing sharing of files and resources.
  3. Because JFC is integrated with JFC it can use your color-kanji list from JWPce to determine what kanji you know and adjust the flash cards automatically for known kianji.
  4. JFC can also use dictionary files to automatically supply kanji reading, kanji meanings and definitions of words.
  5. The computer flash card system can keep track of cards that you frequently miss and adjust the flash card list automatically to emphasize words/kanji that are often missed.

Why this Program got Written

I used flash cards heavily when I began learning Japanese. These provided a simple way to keep track of vocabulary, kanji, and grammar points to be learned, could be taken anywhere, and allowed for easy randomization (lists don't work well for me, since I tend to simply memorize the order of things in the list).

One problem with flash cards is that one tends to accumulate a large number of them, and although the actual making of the card is a good exercise for the student, storing them can be a problem. Additionally, they weight a lot, so they can be a problem to carry around. Further, if you review your old flash cards, one often finds that they need to be updated to match your current knowledge.

Out of curiosity I looked at some Japanese flash card software for computers, and found that there were a number of programs, but all of the programs were somewhat limited. Few or none of the programs support Windows CE (flash cards are really useful when standing in line at the DMV, and carrying a full Windows machine can be somewhat limiting). Further, none of the programs supported a particular philosophy for learning kanji that I have.

Having already written JWPce, and somewhat on a whim, I decided to see what I could come up with for a Japanese flash card program. The result is JFC.

Frequently Asked Questions
Questions and Answers

Here are the answers to some of the most common questions people ask.

JFC Online Manual
Everything you could possibly want to know

 The JFC manual can now be accessed online. You can review features, and checkup on how to use the features.

HTML
Acrobat PDF

JFC Features
A Brief List of Special Features

JFC has a large number of special features. This is a list of some of the highlights.

A Method for Learning Kanji/Vocabulary
Your mileage may vary considerably
WARNING! The next section contains my opinions and thoughts on learning kanji and vocabulary. These are just my opinions, you may take them or leave them.

JFC was created in part because I wanted a flash card program that would support a particular way of learning kanji (and vocabulary) that I find to be effective for me. You may find this method to be useful for you, or you may not.

I believe it is easier to learn and retain kanji (and vocabulary) when two conditions are met. First, kanji/vocabulary that you encounter often are easier to learn and easier to retain. Second, particularly with kanji, kanji that are used in many vocabulary and thus are reinforced by a larger usage base are easier to learn, and much easier to retain.

Normally, when I learn a new kanji, I would scan through much of my previous vocabulary and reintroduce words that use this new kanji into my study list. This enabled me to build both a vocabulary list and a kanji base, and retain them reasonably well.

In supporting this view, JFC allow creation of advanced kanji flash cards. This is just a fancy name for a simple kanji flash card followed by a vocabulary list of words that (ideally) would use that kanji. Normally one would take many of those words from one's vocabulary lists, but one can also get those words from any number of kanji guides.

Picking Kanji to Learn

It is certainly true that for many people (especially normal students), the kanji you choose to learn is not you own choice, but is rather chosen for you by the instructor. For the rest of us, we are faced with the task of choosing which kanji to learn and when. My suggestion is to choose your kanji based on the words and vocabulary you see in the material you are reading. If you use a program such as JWPce as a dictionary and keep a list of words that you had to lookup you can use the count-kanji feature in JWPce to determine the kanji you are encountering the most often. These are the kanji you should consider learning first. Note that these will be different for different people because each of use is reading different material.

Choosing Vocabulary to Attach to Kanji

Again, my advice is to go back to the materials you are reading and the vocabulary that you known. If you have your vocabulary list in electronic form then you can simply search for all words that contain the kanji you are dealing with and include them in the vocabulary list attached to the kanji. Generally, I find that about four to six well chosen vocabulary words is sufficient to attach to a kanji.

If all else fails use a program such as JWPce and enter the kanji into the dictionary (clear the Begin With and End With check boxes) and search. This will locate all words in the dictionary that contain the kanji you are dealing with. From this list you can select a few vocabulary words to attach to the kanji. Or use a kanji study guide to obtain a list of words that use the kanji you are learning.

WARNING! If you do a blanket search though JWPce's dictionary for a specific kanji you will get a lot of words that use that kanji, but some of them may be rather unusual, and thus may not be encountered by most people in normal reading.

Relationship between JFC and JWPce
Simular but different programs

If you already have JWPce, you can (and probably should) install JFC in the same directory, this will allow JFC to access your color-kanji files, dictionary files, kanji-information files, and fonts. JFC is specifically designed to work with JWPce and to coexist in the same directory.

JFC uses the same Japanese-English dictionary as JWPce. This dictionary is used to automatically generate entries from just a single word (JFC supplies the kana and English meaning from just a kanji word). JFC will automatically use EDICT and your user dictionary from JWPce.

JFC will also automatically use the kanji information database from JWPce. This is used to automatically supply readings (on-yomi and kun-yomi) and meanings for kanji.

Instalation Requirements
What do I need to get it running?

JFC requires a PC computer system running Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000 or XP. Windows 3.x is not supported (I suggest that you consider upgrading). The amount of memory required by the program depends primarily on the fonts and options installed. With minimum font and dictionary installation, JFC requires less than 350 kB of disk space. A full install using all of the standard bitmapped fonts, dictionaries, and the manuals, requires approximately 6 MB of disk space. If you already have JWPce, JFC requires between 150 kB and 1 MB of additional disk storage. If you install TrueType fonts, the space requirements depend on the fonts you install (TrueType fonts are not distributed with JFC, unless someone wants to donate a public-domain Japanese TrueType font).

Instalation Instructions
How to I get it working?

Instalation of JFC is very simple:
  1. Obtain the distribution .zip's One way or another obtain the distribution .zip files. Depending on where you obtained your distribution copy you may have different numbers of zip files.
  2. Generate a directory Make a directory that will be your installation directory. If you are installing over a previous version of JFC or JWPce you can simply use your existing directory.
  3. Uncompress the .zip's Decompress the .zip files into your installation directory. If you are installing over an older version of JFC or over JWPce you can safely overwrite any files. At this point you can delete the .zip files, they are no longer necessary. NOTE: JFC currently requires essentially all support files to be located in the same directory as the executable (jfc.exe).
  4. Run the Program: Run the executable program "jfc.exe". This will automatically complete the installation, and prompt you for any information needed. If you are using Explorer to run the program, generally, you will not be able to find the “jfc.exe” file. Since Explorer does not normally show the file extensions, you should look for a file named “jfc”, with the kanji JI from KANJI as an icon.

What if I already have JWP?

If you already have JWPce, you can (and probably should) install JFC in the same directory, this will allow JFC to access your color-kanji files, dictionary files, kanji-information files, and fonts. JFC is specifically designed to work with JWPce and to coexist in the same directory.

JFC uses the same Japanese-English dictionary as JWPce. This dictionary is used to automatically generate entries from just a single word (JFC supplies the kana and English meaning from just a kanji word). JFC will automatically use EDICT and your user dictionary from JWPce.

JFC will also automatically use the kanji information database from JWPce. This is used to automatically supply readings (on-yomi and kun-yomi) and meanings for kanji.

Windows CE Versions of JFC
What is different? What do I do? How do I do it?
WARNING! The next section deals with running a Windows CE version of JFC. If this does not fit your situation, or you just don't care about Windows CE simply skip this section.

JFC is able to run on Windows CE platforms. This section deals with specific issues related to running JFC in such an environment. If you are using a PPC (Palm PC) or a PocketPC, you may want to look at the following section on PPCs or PocketPCs.

Implementation Decisions

Generally Windows CE versions of JFC are almost identical to the Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP version, however, a number of decisions had to be made when implementing JFC on Windows CE platforms. The following general discussions were made:
  1. Windows CE versions JFC cannot display as many lines of text as Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP versions.
  2. Some visual changes because of types of buttons or controls supported by Windows CE.

Instalation Requirements

Windows CE versions of JFC are designed to operate on HPC's (handheld personal computers) and PPC's (palm personal computers) running Windows CE operating system. The program has been developed and tested under Window CE version 2.0. I have not specifically excluded Windows CE versions earlier than 2.0, but I have not tested the program under any of these versions, and would expect that it will NOT work correctly.

My Windows CE test machines include a Velo 500, an Everex Freestyle, a Jornada 690, and a Japanese Casio E-700. These devices use the MIPS and SH3 processors. I have extensively tested JFC using these systems without any problems. I do not have a StrongARM machine, thus cannot test JFC using such a machine, however, the compiler has generated an ARM/StrongARM version, which should run fine (test reports indicate that JFC works correctly on such devices).

The complete installation of JFC with dictionaries, and lookup tables, but no help files takes about 350 kB of storage (not counting the storage compression used by Windows CE). Various files can be deleted to save space if that is of significance (below). JFC will run on almost any Windows CE machine.

Instalation Instructions

Currently there is no installer for JFC under Windows CE. I will eventually generate one, but this is low priority. Until then the following steps can be used to install JFC on a Windows CE machine:

Installation of JFC is very simple:

  1. Obtain the distribution .zip's: One way or another obtain the distribution .zip files. Depending on where you obtained your distribution copy you may have different numbers of zip files.
  2. Make a temp directory: Create a temporary directory on your desktop machine (such as c:\temp-wince).
  3. Uncompress the .zip's: Decompress the .zip files into your temporary directory. Generally it is better to first decompress any general files and then to decompress files that are specific to your processor. At this point you can delete the .zip files, they are no longer necessary.
  4. Make an installation directory: Create a program directory on your Windows CE machine. Such as \Program Files\JFC (or \Program Files\JWPce).
  5. Copy the Files: Copy the desired files from the temp directory on your desktop machine to the installation directory on your Windows CE machine. You can now delete the temporary directory (and contents) on your desktop machine, it is no longer necessary.
  6. Run the Program: Run the executable program "jfc.exe". This program will automatically complete the installation, and prompt you for any information needed, just like the Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP version.

Installing Help

Normal Windows CE help is implemented using the Pocket Help program, and help information is stored in a reduced form of HTML format. Unfortunately using Pocket Help, requires that most of the help files reside in the Windows\System directory. One of the problems with HTML formatted files, is that all Japanese text must be stored as small images in separate files1 (there are a lot of files in the help system).

I do not like the idea of dumping a large number of files into the Windows\System directory so JFC implements it's help using Pocket Internet Explorer. This has a number of advantages: First, this allows the full range of HTML to be used in the help system**. Second, this allows me to locate the help files in any location. There are also a few disadvantages: Pocket Internet Explorer opens files slower than Pocket Help. Overall, I believe this is the best solution.

The following steps can be used to install help on a Windows CE system:

  1. Obtain the distribution zip: One way or another obtain the distribution .zip files. Depending on where you obtained your distribution copy you may have different numbers of zip files.
  2. Make a temporary directory: Create a temporary directory on your desktop machine (such as c:\temp-help).
  3. Decompress the .zip's: Decompress the .zip file(s) into your temporary directory. At this point you can delete the .zip files, they are no longer necessary.
  4. Make an installation directory: Create a help directory on your Windows CE machine. The directory must be named help, and must be a sub-directory of wherever you installed JFC. For example, if you installed JFC in \Program Files\JFC (\Program Files\JWPce) you must install help in the directory \Program Files\JFC\jfc-help (\Program Files\JWPce\jfc-help).
  5. Copy the files: Copy the desired files from the temp directory on your desktop machine to the help directory on your Windows CE machine. You can now delete the temporary directory (and contents) on your desktop machine, it is no longer necessary.

Compatability Issues

This section deals with compatibility issues between Windows CE versions of JFC and the Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP versions.

Generally all files used by JFC are directly compatible between Windows CE and Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP versions. The following files, however, cannot be directly moved from one system to the other:

All other files can be freely moved between the systems without any translation.

PocketPC Windows CE Versions of JFC
It's small, but what else is it?
WARNING! The next section deals with running a Windows CE version of JFC on a PocketPC. If this does not fit your situation or you just don't care about Windows CE simply skip this section.

There is a specific version of JFC for operation on the PocketPC platform. Do to some limitations Microsoft has placed on the PocketPC versions Windows CE, these versions have some special issues.

Note that the PocketPC version of JFC requires Windows CE version 3.0 (the PocketPC versions). If you have an older version of Windows CE (2.x), you will need to install the PPC version of JFC.

Implementation Decisions

Generally Windows CE PocketPC versions of JFC are almost identical to the Windows CE version, however, a number of decisions had to be made when implementing JFC on Windows CE PocketPC platforms.

    Specific to PocketPC's:

    1. Remember that the open dialog boxes will only look for files located in subdirectores or the \My Documents directory. This limits were supplemental files can be located.
    2. Due to screen space limitations, many labels had to be abbreviated.
    3. Because determining which programs are running, and changing the active program is difficult JFC will only allow one version of the program to run. If you attempt to start a second version, the current version will simply be brought to the foreground.
    4. I did not adhere to Microsoft's nonsense idea that PPC programs not allow the user to exit. JFC has an exit item on the menu. The close button in the upper corner of the main window, however, does not exit the program just hides it. This is strictly enforced by the PocketPC operating system.
    5. Due to coloration problems with the Character Information dialog you cannot select text and copy it to the clipboard (it was just aesthetically unpleasing the way PocketPC machines colored the background).
    6. Several dialog boxes now display in full-screen mode. Unlike the older PPC systems, this means these dialog boxes have no titles so it is up to the user to understand what is being displayed.

    General Windows CE:

    1. Some items menu items were moved to deal with the small display.
    2. Some visual changes because of types of buttons or controls supported by Windows CE.

Instalation Requirements

 Windows CE version 3.0 and higher should work with the PocketPC versions of JFC. I have not specifically excluded Windows CE versions earlier than 3.0, but I have not tested the program under any of these versions, and would expect that it will NOT work correctly.

The complete installation of JFC with dictionaries, and lookup tables, but no help files takes about 350 kB of storage (not counting the storage compression used by Windows CE). Various files can be deleted to save space if that is of significance (below). JFC will run on almost any Windows CE machine.

Instalation Instructions

Currently there is no installer for JFC under Windows CE. I will eventually generate one, but this is low priority. Until then the following steps can be used to install JFC on a Windows CE PocketPC machine.

  1. Obtain the distribution .zip's: One way or another obtain the distribution .zip files. Depending on where you obtained your distribution copy you may have different numbers of zip files.
  2. Make a temporary directory: Create a temporary directory on your desktop machine (such as c:\temp-wince).
  3. Decompress the .zip's: Decompress the .zip files into your temporary directory. Generally it is better to first decompress any general files and then to decompress files that are specific to your processor. At this point you can delete the .zip files, they are no longer necessary.
  4. Make an installation directory: Create a program directory on your Windows CE machine. To follow this example, this directory must be \Program Files\JFC (or \Program Files\JWPce).
  5. Copy the files: Copy the desired files from the temp directory on your desktop machine to the installation directory on your Windows CE machine. You can now delete the temporary directory (and contents) on your desktop machine it is no longer necessary.
  6. Run the Program: Find the executable file (jfc.exe) using File Explorer and run the program. The program will automatically complete the installation, and prompt you for any information needed, just like the Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP version.

Installing Help

Normal Windows CE help is implemented using the Pocket Help program, and help information is stored in a reduced form of HTML format. Unfortunately using Pocket Help, requires that most of the help files reside in the Windows\System directory. One of the problems with HTML formatted files, is that all Japanese text must be stored as small images in separate files1 (there are a lot of files in the help system).

I do not like the idea of dumping a large number of files into the Windows\System directory so JFC implements it's help using Pocket Internet Explorer. This has a number of advantages: First, this allows the full range of HTML to be used in the help system**. Second, this allows me to locate the help files in any location. There are also a few disadvantages: Pocket Internet Explorer opens files slower than Pocket Help. Overall, I believe this is the best solution.

The following steps can be used to install help on a Windows CE system:

  1. Obtain the distribution zip: One way or another obtain the distribution .zip files. Depending on where you obtained your distribution copy you may have different numbers of zip files.
  2. Make a temporary directory: Create a temporary directory on your desktop machine (such as c:\temp-help).
  3. Decompress the .zip's: Decompress the .zip file(s) into your temporary directory. At this point you can delete the .zip files, they are no longer necessary.
  4. Make an installation directory: Create a help directory on your Windows CE machine. The directory must be named help, and must be a sub-directory of wherever you installed JFC. For example, if you installed JFC in \Program Files\JFC (\Program Files\JWPce) you must install help in the directory \Program Files\JFC\jfc-help (\Program Files\JWPce\jfc-help).
  5. Copy the files: Copy the desired files from the temp directory on your desktop machine to the help directory on your Windows CE machine. You can now delete the temporary directory (and contents) on your desktop machine, it is no longer necessary.

Compatability Issues

 This section deals with compatibility issues between Windows CE versions of JFC and the Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP versions.

Generally all files used by JFC are directly compatible between Windows CE and Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP versions. The following files, however, cannot be directly moved from one system to the other:

All other files can be freely moved between the systems without any translation.

PPC and PocketPC Windows CE Versions of JFC
Older but still supported?
WARNING! The next section deals with running a Windows CE version of JFC on a PPC (palm personal computer). If this does not fit your situation, or you just don't care about Windows CE simply skip this section.

JFC is able to run on PPC Windows CE platforms, however, do to some sever limitations Microsoft has placed on the PPC versions Windows CE, these versions have some special issues.

If you have an older Windows CE device or simply want to run the PPC versions, which has some advantages in screen layout you can use this version. Some newer PocketPCs, however, do not support the older display options used in the PPC version. In these cases you will have to use the PocketPC version.

Implementation Decisions

Generally Windows CE PPC versions of JFC are almost identical to the Windows CE version, however, a number of decisions had to be made when implementing JFC on Windows CE PPC platforms.

    Specific to PPC's:

    1. Since there is no file management system on the PPC's, a delete command has been added. In addition, backup files are not created by default, since they are difficult to delete.
    2. Remember that the open and close dialog boxes will only look for files located in subdirectores or the \My Documents directory. This limits were supplemental dictionaries and other things can be located.
    3. Due to screen space limitations, many labels had to be abbreviated.
    4. Because determining which programs are running, and changing the active program is difficult JFC will only allow one version of the program to run. If you attempt to start a second version, the current version will simply be brought to the foreground.
    5. I did not adhere to Microsoft's nonsense idea that PPC programs not allow the user to exit. JFC has a close box and an exit item on the menu.
    6. Due to coloration problems with the Character Information dialog you cannot select text and copy it to the clipboard (it was just aesthetically unpleasing the way PocketPC machines colored the background).

    General Windows CE:

    1. Some items menu items were moved to deal with the small display.
    2. Some visual changes because of types of buttons or controls supported by Windows CE.

Instalation Requirements

 Windows CE version 2.0 and higher should work with the PPC versions of JFC. I have not specifically excluded Windows CE versions earlier than 2.0, but I have not tested the program under any of these versions, and would expect that it will NOT work correctly.

The complete installation of JFC with dictionaries, and lookup tables, but no help files takes about 350 kB of storage (not counting the storage compression used by Windows CE). Various files can be deleted to save space if that is of significance (below). JFC will run on almost any Windows CE machine.

Instalation Instructions

Currently there is no installer for JFC under Windows CE. I will eventually generate one, but this is low priority. Until then the following steps can be used to install JFC on a Windows CE PPC machine. Due to the absence of an way type of file manager on the PPC versions of Windows CE, you will have to attach menu item by hand to run the program. Do not worry, the steps are very straightforward.

  1. Obtain the distribution .zip's: One way or another obtain the distribution .zip files. Depending on where you obtained your distribution copy you may have different numbers of zip files.
  2. Make a temporary directory: Create a temporary directory on your desktop machine (such as c:\temp-wince).
  3. Decompress the .zip's: Decompress the .zip files into your temporary directory. Generally it is better to first decompress any general files and then to decompress files that are specific to your processor. At this point you can delete the .zip files, they are no longer necessary.
  4. Make an installation directory: Create a program directory on your Windows CE machine. To follow this example, this directory must be \Program Files\JFC (or \Program Files\JWPce).
  5. Copy the files: Copy the desired files from the temp directory on your desktop machine to the installation directory on your Windows CE machine. You can now delete the temporary directory (and contents) on your desktop machine it is no longer necessary.

Next you will need to generate a link so the program can be executed and finish the install. How you do this depends of the version of Windows CE you have.

For people with Windows CE 3.0 or PocketPC machines, you can:

  1. Run the Program: Find the executable file (jfc.exe) using File Explorer and run the program. The program will automatically complete the installation, and prompt you for any information needed, just like the Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP version.

For people with Windows CE machines without a file browser (Windows CE 2.x):

  1. Select the Program: Now you will need to generate a link in the start menu so you can execute the program. Find the file JFC.exe on the PPC device (since you just copied the files, I am assuming that you are exploring your PPC), and click on it once.
  2. Copy the Program: Select Copy from the Edit menu on Explorer.
  3. Change Directories: Change the Explorer directory to /Windows/Start Menu/Programs.
  4. Make the Shortcut: Choose Paste Shortcut from the Edit menu on Explorer. If you would like a more ascetic name in your start menu, you can edit the name for "shortcut to JFC.exe" to "JFC", or whatever you like
  5. Run the Program: On You PPC machine, there should now be a link to JFC in the programs menu, select this link, the program will automatically complete the installation, and prompt you for any information needed, just like the Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP version.

Installing Help

Normal Windows CE help is implemented using the Pocket Help program, and help information is stored in a reduced form of HTML format. Unfortunately using Pocket Help, requires that most of the help files reside in the Windows\System directory. One of the problems with HTML formatted files, is that all Japanese text must be stored as small images in separate files1 (there are a lot of files in the help system).

I do not like the idea of dumping a large number of files into the Windows\System directory so JFC implements it's help using Pocket Internet Explorer. This has a number of advantages: First, this allows the full range of HTML to be used in the help system**. Second, this allows me to locate the help files in any location. There are also a few disadvantages: Pocket Internet Explorer opens files slower than Pocket Help. Overall, I believe this is the best solution.

The following steps can be used to install help on a Windows CE system:

  1. Obtain the distribution zip: One way or another obtain the distribution .zip files. Depending on where you obtained your distribution copy you may have different numbers of zip files.
  2. Make a temporary directory: Create a temporary directory on your desktop machine (such as c:\temp-help).
  3. Decompress the .zip's: Decompress the .zip file(s) into your temporary directory. At this point you can delete the .zip files, they are no longer necessary.
  4. Make an installation directory: Create a help directory on your Windows CE machine. The directory must be named help, and must be a sub-directory of wherever you installed JFC. For example, if you installed JFC in \Program Files\JFC (\Program Files\JWPce) you must install help in the directory \Program Files\JFC\jfc-help (\Program Files\JWPce\jfc-help).
  5. Copy the files: Copy the desired files from the temp directory on your desktop machine to the help directory on your Windows CE machine. You can now delete the temporary directory (and contents) on your desktop machine, it is no longer necessary.

Compatability Issues

 This section deals with compatibility issues between Windows CE versions of JFC and the Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP versions.

Generally all files used by JFC are directly compatible between Windows CE and Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP versions. The following files, however, cannot be directly moved from one system to the other:

All other files can be freely moved between the systems without any translation.

International Support
Does it speak My Language?

The appearance of JFC's interface can be changed by the use of a language or localization file (JFC_LANG.DLL). These files can replace virtually all the text strings used by the program, as well as menus and dialog boxes. This system was designed to allow creation of alternative interface modules in different languages.

If a language support file is available for a language you are interested in, you can simply copy the support file to the same location as JFC.EXE. During startup JFC will detect the language file and switch interfaces. There is an internal check to make sure the language support file matches the version of JFC you are using.

Currently JFC supports only one interface language at a time. Further the language is set when JWPce starts. At a later date, support for switching interface languages on the fly may be implemented.

If you are interested in translating JFC's interface to another language please contact me or obtain the translation kit (jfctrans.zip). This kit contains instructions, notes and tools used to generate a translation file. (Please don't underestimate the amount of effort that this will take, JWPce contains around 100 message strings, 16 dialog boxes, a menu containing nearly 20 items. Most of these will require translation. This is not even considering the manual, help, or adjustments necessary for Windows CE PPCs and HPCs.) Well if I haven't managed to scare you off and you are interested in helping with translations please continue.

Translating to Another Language
DANGER! Hard work ahead!

In order to localize JFC for your language you will need to download the translation kit (jfctrans.zip). In the translation kit you will find instructions for localizing JWPce for a particular language. The translation kit supports programmers and non-programmers as well as all platforms that JFC runs under.

Double translations are a problem. If more than one person does a translation to the same language, I have no way to telling which is the better translation. This is a problem, and I don't want to get involved in arguments about languages that I don't know.

If you are intending to do a translation (for public distribution), please send me an email. Include the language you will be translating to and I will put your name on the web. This should reduce the number of double translations.

If double translations occur I will either select one or put both on the web, or let both parties figure out which is better.

Thanks for helping and all the hard work.

LanguageTranslatorPlatformVersionStatus
---------------

Future Plans for JFC
What is coming and when to expect it?

Future developments on JFC are still up in the air. I will continue to support the program and fix bugs. I have no set plans for major expansion of the capabilities, but am always open to suggestions and comments.

Things being considered for future versions:

  • Audio vocabulary cards -- Would allow for you to hear the word and have to supply meaning, kana, and/or kanji.
  • Automatic review files -- Would simplify construction of review card sets.
  • Global review mode -- Keeps statistics information in a global location. This allows the program to use the same statistics information when a card occurs in more than one flash card file.
  • Kanji scratchpad -- Drawing area for people who like to practice their kanji. Eventually I would like to tie this to the character recognition system so the computer can evaluate your kanji.

Bugs! Suggestions! Comments! Help!
What is wrong, What can be done, and What you can do?

This section is dedicated to improving the program. Here, you can find reports of known problems with the code, ways to work-around them, and even ways you can help with the code.

If you encounter a bug, or what you think is a bug, please write as detailed description as you can and send it to me by e-mail. I will try to fix bugs in the next release.

Beyond bugs, I am interested in what you think of the program, and how it may be improved. I am not promising to implement all suggestions, by I will definitely consider all suggestions. If you really like some feature, let me know. If you really hate some feature, also let me know (any why please).

Some things I am looking for

If you find spelling mistakes please report them. I am a notorious bad speller!

Bugs and Work-Arounds

Recent Changes to JFC
Okay... So what actually did change.

This section contains a short overview of changes in the most recent versions of JFC. For a full list of changes see the JFC-CHANGES.TXT file.

About TrueType Fonts
Copyright and other problems

JFC supports TrueType fonts. Using TrueType fonts has a number of advantages. First the fonts are scaleable to virtually any point size without loss of resolution (this makes the printout and the large kanji in the Character Information dialog box look very nice).

TrueType fonts, however, also have some disadvantages. Unlike the bitmapped fonts, they are not optimized for a display at a specific size and often are difficult to read if displayed in a small size. Additionally, the fonts are larger than the bitmapped fonts for the small size. A typical TrueType font is 4-5 MB, where the k16x16.f00 font is only 220 kB.

The other problem with TrueType fonts is an issue of copyright. I currently do not have access to a TrueType font of which I can freely give away. I can, however, point out where you can get several (three at this time) different TrueType fonts that will work with JFC.

Microsoft has made two TrueType fonts available with the Japanese support kit for Office (on the Office CD for Office 97, downloadable for Office 95), and the Japanese support kit for Internet Explorer. These fonts are MS Gothic, which is a serif font similar to Arial, and MS Mincho, which has a more classic look.

One other TrueType font (as well as the Microsoft fonts) can be obtained from The Monash Nihongo ftp Archive (many many thanks to Jim Breen).

Download JFC
1999-2004, 2005 glenn rosenthal

The current version of JFC is 1.30.


Help! I know nothing about computers and still want to get the program!

  1. Get all four of these .exe files! (Just click on them.)
    jfcmin.exe Part I (660 kB, same as JFC minimum install).
    jfcmax.exe Part II (5.1 MB).
    jfcman.exe Manual (450 kB).
    jfchlp.exe Help (380 kB).
  2. Download them into a directory on your machine.
  3. Double click on each file.
  4. Find the file jfc.exe (in your directory) double click on it.
  5. You are done!

Please report any bugs and suggestions back to me: e-mail.

If you choose to try JFC, check the web site periodically for new releases, there are a number of great features in the works.

Due to space limitations on my web server, I have had to distribute files in a slightly different format. Basically to conserve space I have divided what used to be larger zip archives into smaller zip archives, when the same actual file can be reused. The main consequence of this is you may have to download more than one zip file. Additionally, because the copyright notice and readme files are in every archive, you will get file duplications when you unzip the files. Do not worry about this, simply overwrite all duplicated files, as long a your archives all contain the same version of JFC. 

page maintained by glenn rosenthal
revision history

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