macOS app¶
Goal: run WuWeiDict from the Applications folder, without a terminal.
wuDict.app is the same server as the command-line build, packed into a macOS app bundle.
Unlike the CLI version, it adds a menu-bar icon, so you can see when it is running and quit via the icon.
Install¶
- Download
wudict-macos-app.zipfrom the releases page. It is universal — one file for Apple Silicon and Intel. - Unzip it. Drag wuDict.app to Applications.
- Control-click the app and choose Open. Confirm Open in the dialog.
- If you get a warning that Apple cannot verify this app, and you should move it to trash, then retry step 3 after removing the extended attribute quarantine bits:
/usr/bin/xattr -cr /Applications/wudict.app
# or if you copied the bundle to user's Application folder:
/usr/bin/xattr -cr ~/Applications/wudict.app
The app is signed with an ad-hoc certificate, so macOS treats it as software from an unidentified developer. A normal double-click is refused, and the Control-click menu is the workaround.
Verify: the menu bar gains a small dictionary icon, and your browser opens at localhost:6888.
The menu-bar icon¶
The icon is the whole interface. Click it:
| Entry | Does |
|---|---|
wuDict <version> |
nothing; it tells you the server runs, and which build |
| Open wuDict | opens the page in your browser |
| Rescan dictionaries | re-reads your dictionary folders, for files added since |
| Open dictionary folder | reveals that folder in Finder |
| Quit wuDict | stops the server |
There is no Dock icon and no window of its own. Closing the browser tab leaves the server running; Quit is what stops it.
The app prints nothing. Its log is ~/Library/Logs/wudict.log.
Opening it a second time¶
Opening the app while it already runs does not start a second server. It opens the page in your browser and exits.
App, or LaunchAgent?¶
Both keep WuWeiDict available. They differ in when it runs.
wuDict.app |
LaunchAgent | |
|---|---|---|
| Starts | when you open it | at every login |
| Visible | menu-bar icon | nothing |
| Stops | Quit | make mac-agent-stop, or logout |
Use the app if you want a visible switch. Use a LaunchAgent if you want the server to always be available even after reboot. Do not use both: the second one to start finds the port taken.
Using the same binary from a terminal¶
The real executable sits inside the bundle, so a shell can call it:
/Applications/wuDict.app/Contents/MacOS/wudict --version
/Applications/wuDict.app/Contents/MacOS/wudict lookup serendipity
Started that way it behaves as the command-line build: it prints, and it shows no menu-bar icon. The icon appears only when macOS launches the bundle.
Uninstall¶
- Quit wuDict from the menu bar.
- Move the app to the Bin.
- Optional: delete
~/.wudict(config, and the prepared library unless you moved it) and~/Library/Logs/wudict.log.