Options and Settings

JFC has a number of options that can be used to configure the program for different individual tastes.

  • Introduction and Concepts
  • General Options
  • Controls Options
  • Cards Options
  • Font Options
  • Vocabulary Options
  • Kanji Options
  • Miscellaneous Options
  • Review Mode Options
  • Advanced Options

  • INDEX: Contents
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  • Introduction and Concepts

    The Options dialog box contains most of the settings that control how JFC works. Many of these options have been discussed elsewhere in the manual, but all of them will be touched on in this section. (Yes, there are lots of options. This means that I didn't have to force a single approach, but could rather simply put in an option, that everyone could use.)

    Normally, the options settings (actually the entire configuration settings) are saved whenever you exit JFC. This option can be disabled by clearing the Save Settings on Exit checkbox on the General page of the Options dialog box. If the auto-save of the options has been disabled, or you simply want to save the options, you can save the current settings by choosing the menu command Utilities/Save Settings command. This command will save the current settings right now. Some of the options are saved with the statistics file for each flash card file. This can be changed by changing by clearing the Keep Statistics or Use Statistics File Options check boxes on the General page of the Options dialog box.

    The entire settings for JFC can be restored to the default configuration by selecting the Utilities/Default Settings menu command, or selecting the Restore Default Values button in the Options dialog box.

    The Options dialog box can be accessed form the Utilities/Options... (Ctrl+O). The dialog box is a multi-page dialog box. This chapter will examine each page of the dialog box one at a time.


    Note: On slow machines (Windows CE), it may take a few seconds for the dialog box to open. Please be patient.


    General Options

    The General page contains options that effect the entire program.

    Startup Options

    The Startup Options section allows you to control aspects of the startup process:
  • Restore Window Position -- If this is selected, JFC will open its window to the same size and position as it was last time you closed JFC. This option only functions if the Save Settings on Exit options is selected. (On by default.)
  • Reload Previous Files -- If this is selected, next time you start JFC it will reload the file that you were working with when you closed JFC. This allows you to recover your working environment very quickly. (On by default.)
  • Display Options

    The Display Options section effects the general appearance of the program.
  • Display Status Bar -- Turns on and off the status bar at the bottom of the window. Turning off the status bar can give you some more room, but you loose the status information at the same time. (On by default.)
  • Just file name in title bar (no path) -- Particularly on Windows CE PPC systems, the width of the title bar can be very narrow. There is often not enough room to display the entire file name with the path (such as "c:\My Documents\Japanese\J101\Lession_1.jfc"). With this option selected, just the file name is displayed in the title bar ("Lession_1.jfc"). (Off by default except on Windows CE PPC versions where it is on by default.)
  • Exit Options

    The Exit Options section controls actions JFC takes when terminating:
  • Save Settings on Exit -- When selected, JFC will save all the options setting whenever you exit the program. This will keep you options settings current. The other alternative is to use the Utilities/Save Options command to save the settings by hand. (On by default.)
  • Exit with Open File Options

    The Exit with Open File Options section controls what JFC will do when you close a file that still has flash cards. Basically these options determine if a
    saved file is generated or not.
  • Ask User -- The default option is to simply ask the user what they want to do.
  • Save File -- saves your position automatically without prompting you.
  • Quiet Exit (no save) -- A saved file is never generated, and the user is not prompted.
  • Related Topics


    Controls Options

    The Controls page determines various controls used by JFC and what they do. The options allow you to customize the actions of the program to match your own desires.

    Double Click Options

    The Double Click Options section determines the action taken when you double click in a Japanese text control.

    Multi-Element Displays

    The Multi-Element Displays section determines how JFC displays Japanese text controls that have more than one line of display. For example, the vocabulary attached to an advanced kanji card.

    The two major choices are Cycle and Swap. In Cycle mode, JFC will cycle through the list of possible choices every time the control is selected. For example, a vocabulary list item may change from kanji, to kana, to meaning, to kanji, etc. In Swap mode, the display toggles between the primary text line (usually the kanji for the word) and all other parts of the display combined into one display. (Set to swap by default.)


    Cycle mode shown on the left and Swap mode shown on the right

    Cycle mode has the advantage of requiring less space, but also requires you to click more times to see all the information. The Swap mode can show all information at one shot, but when changing the display, the size of the windows must be changed which pushes all other windows down.

    The last display option is Change Mouse Up/Down. This option is only effective for Swap type displays (see above). If this options is selected the display will swap states when the mouse (or select button on a PPC) is pressed and will change back when the button is released. This allows you to tap on the display to see the readings/meaning, and release to go back to the kanji. This is particularly handy on PPCs when working with one hand. (Off by default.)

    Special Modes

    The Special Modes section controls some special control modes. These modes are designed primarily for Windows CE PPC (or PocketPC) machines. These modes are designed to provide complete control of JFC using the limited input controls on such machines. The modes will function correctly, however, on other systems.


    Cards Options

    The Cards page allows you to control options about how cards are generated shown, and how incorrect cards are treated.

    Statistics Information

    The Statistics Information section controls the handling of the statistics files:

    Fixed Number of Cards

    Enabling the Use Maximum Number of Cards control will fix the maximum number of cards that can be generated from a single flash card file at the value in the Max Number of Cards control. Less than the indicated number of cards can be generated, but never more than the selected number. (This option is disabled by default.)

    When more cards are available than the number you have set, JFC randomly selects the cards to be included in the flash card set. If you are using statistics information, the selected cards will be weighted toward the ones you miss the most. If you are not using statistics information, the selected cards will be determined using equal weighting.


    Tip: Using a limited number of cards can be very useful when generating review flash card files that include a number of other flash card files (section 5.6). Particularly combined with review mode, this will keep the number of generated cards to an acceptable level.

    Missed Card Options

    The Missed Flash Cards section determines how JFC treats flash cards that you miss. A missed flash card is generally moved to the end of the stack, where it will be presented again and again until you get it correct.

    Time Options

    The Time Options allow you to place limits on the time in witch you have to view a card before it is marked incorrect. (These options are off by default.)

    If Time Cards is enabled, the Show time indicates the amount of time (in increments of 0.1 seconds) before the card will automatically be shown. Putting a zero (0) value in the Show option will disable it. You can show the contents of the card before the time has run out by using any of the show commands. (The default value is 30.)

    The Next option indicates the about of time (in increments of 0.1 seconds) after the card is shown before the card is considered incorrect. If you do not indicate the card is right before this amount of time, the card will be considered wrong and the next card will be shown. Putting a zero (0) value in the Next option will disable it. You can indicate a card is right or wrong before the time has run out by using any of the standard commands. (The default value is 15.)


    Tip: You can use the timing system to generate a continuous display of cards. If you have missed cards placed at the end of the stack, you can have a stack of cards that goes around in circles forever, flashing the cards and moving on.

    WARNING! If you create a loop as above, but have the missed cards duplicated and inserted into the deck, you will generate a much larger set of cards as the loop continues to process.


    Font Options

    The Font page allows you to select display fonts, and control various aspects of the display.

    Fonts used by JFC are composed of a kanji font, and an ASCII font face. The kanji font is used to display Japanese kana, kanji, punctuation, and fixed width characters. The ASCII font face is sized to match the kanji font and is used to display ASCII (English) characters.

    It is true that most TrueType Japanese fonts contain ASCII characters so only one type of font may seem necessary. This division is maintained for two reasons. First, the public domain bitmapped fonts used by JFC do not contain ASCII characters. Second, most freely distributed TrueType Japanese fonts have ugly ASCII characters (in my opinion).

    Kanji Fonts

    Five different kanji fonts are used for different parts of the program:

    When a display element has multiple parts, precedence rules are used to determine which font is used (elements are not displayed using mixed fonts). This situation can only be generated when displaying kanji compounds associated with advanced kanji cards and using the Swap display option. Highest precedence is given to the Kanji Display Font, then the Kana Display Font, and finally the Meaning Display Font is last.

    When selecting fonts several controls are used.

    The Font control selects which font you are setting (see above).

    The Automatic Selection control is available for all fonts except the System Font. Selecting this control allows JFC to automatically choose the fonts for you. The font dependencies are as follows:

    The Choose Font control becomes active if the font is not being automatically selected (see above). This list contains a list of all possible fonts. Normally these fonts include bitmapped font (indicated by the extension .f00) and TrueType fonts on your system that have Japanese support.

    If you are selecting a TrueType font for any font except the Large Kanji Font, the Pixels box will become active. You can use this box to set the size of the font in display pixels. This is an unusual way to set the height of the display font, but it makes it easy to find a font size that allows you to easily see the characters.

    The Show All Fonts checkbox will show all possible TrueType fonts in the Choose Font list. This can be used to select a font that your know contains Japanese encoding, but the font header information is not correct so JFC does not recognize it as a Japanese font. If you select a font that actually does not contain Japanese glyphs, JFC to ask the system to provide the "closest" font with Japanese glyphs. If Windows is not able to find a font with Japanese glyphs (often a problem on Windows CE machines), JWPce will display boxes wherever a Japanese character is located.

    TrueType Japanese fonts are supported on Windows CE devices that support TrueType fonts (not all do). As of the time this manual was written, many Windows CE devices did not correctly recognize Japanese TrueType fonts, so to select such a font the Show All Fonts checkbox must be used.

    ASCII Font Face

    You do not choose the size of the ASCII font, JFC will match it to the size of the Japanese font you are using. Further, JFC only allows you to use TrueType ASCII fonts (except on Windows CE PPC, which do not support True Type fonts). The ASCII Font drop-list allows you to choose the ASCII font face.

    Other Controls

    The Use Kana Font for Compounds is a special control that relates only to font usage in advanced kanji cards. An advanced kanji card consists of a kanji card followed by a number of compounds (really just vocabulary cards). The compounds are normally displayed in kanji and thus would be displayed in the Kanji Display Font. If you are using a big font for the Kanji Display Font, you may want to select this option, which causes the compounds to be displayed using the Kana Display Font.

    Related Topics


    Vocabulary Options

    The Vocab page contains options used in generation of vocabulary flash cards.

    Flash Cards to Generate

    Normally from a single vocabulary entry in a flash card file JFC will generate up to three actual flash cards (show kanji, kana, or meaning, Using JFC and The Flash Card File). The options in the Flash Cards to Generate section determine what types of cards can be generated:

  • Show Kanji (known kanji) -- The kanji is shown and you try to "guess" the kana and the meaning. Note that JFC will only generate such a card if it believes you know the kanji for the vocabulary word (see below). (On by default.)
  • Show Kana -- The kana is shown and you try to "guess" the kanji and/or meaning. (Kanji may be shown along with this type of card, see below.) (On by default.)
  • Show Meaning -- The meaning is shown and you try to "guess" the kanji and kana. (On by default.)

  • Tip: Remember that you can determine exactly what type of card(s) are generated for a particular file entry by using the flags.

    Kanji Processing

    The second section of the Vocab page controls how kanji are processed during vocabulary cards:

  • Show kanji for all kana cards -- Will cause JFC to shown the kanji for all kana vocabulary cards. This can be useful if you really don't know the kanji and are just learning words based on kana but want to see the kanji to get used to it. (Off by default.)
  • Show unknown kanji -- Like the Show kanji for all kana cards option above, this option causes JFC to show the kanji for kana cards when JFC thinks that you don't know the kanji. This can be useful to become familiar with the kanji and maybe learn some kanji along the way. (On by default.)
  • Known kanji from color-kanji -- In order to know when to generate a kanji based flash cards, JFC must known what kanji you know. You can either tell it what kanji you know using the X flag, or you can tell JFC to assume that you know all the kanji on JWPce's color-kanji list.
  • Consider all kanji known -- This option causes JFC to consider all kanji known and thus allows all vocabulary cards to generate cards where the kanji is shown and you are asked to supply the kana and meaning.

  • Tip: You can actually combine the color-kanji list method, and still use flags for some of your vocabulary.

    Related Topics


    Kanji Options

    The Kanji page contains options for the generation of kanji flash cards and for processing of kanji on the display.

    Flash Cards to Generate

    The first section determines what type of kanji flash cards will be generated. JFC can generate up to three flash cards from a single flash card file entry (Using JFC and The Flash Card File). These flash cards are:

  • Show Kanji -- The kanji is shown and you must "guess" the readings and meanings. (On by default.)
  • Show Readings -- The readings are shown and you must "guess" the kanji and meanings. (On by default.)
  • Show Meaning -- The meaning is shown and you must "guess" the kanji and readings. (on by default.)

  • Tip: Remember that the flag settings for a particular entry override the general settings here.

    Advanced Kanji Cards

    The Full kanji card for advanced cards option determines how the normal kanji card part of an advanced kanji card is treated. Normally, JFC uses four Japanese text controls for a kanji card (one for kanji, on-yomi, kun-yomi, and meaning).

    For systems with limited display resource, this can take a lot of space, so one way want to disable this options. In such a case JFC will use a single line for the kanji part of the advanced kanji card. The different parts of the kanji card can be accessed using the Cycle or Swap option.

    The Auto Expand compounds and Auto Collapse Compounds settings are intended for use by people using the keyboard to control the program, or by people using PPC machines. These options only effect the kanji compounds associated with an advanced kanji card. For either of these settings to work, you must have the Swap option set on the Controls page of the options dialog. The Swap option causes the display to toggle between kanji and a combined kana and meaning display.

    Selecting the Auto Expand Compounds option will cause the compound display to automatically swap when the compound is selected. This means you can use just the up and down controls to expand the compounds. (Off by default.)

    Selecting the Auto Collapse Compounds option will cause the display to automatically return to the kanji compound when that line is not the active line. This can save a step of collapsing the display.


    Tip: Both options can be used together to allow advanced kanji cards to be manipulated with just the up/down controls. I personally, use just the Auto Collapse Compounds option on my PPC.

    Related Topics


    Miscellaneous Options

    The Miscellaneous page lets you set various options that cannot be set anywhere else. This is a rather eclectic collection of options.

    Color-Kanji

    Color-kanji is a feature that was first implemented in JWPce. This features allows JFC (and JWPce) to change the color of kanji that are on or are not on a specific list. Normally, this list contains kanji that you know, and all other kanji are displayed in a different color. JFC can use your JWPce color-kanji list to determine which kanji you know and don't know, as well as change the color of displayed kanji.

    Character Information

    The Character Information options control settings that effect how information is displayed in the Character Information dialog.

    The Show Titles option includes the titles in the list box in the Character Information dialog. Turing this option off can increase the amount of actual information displayed at the expense of reducing readability. (On by default.)

    The Compressed setting displays the reading fields (meaning, on-yomi, kun-yomi, and nanori) in a compressed format, where entries are separated by commas, instead of on separate lines. This allows much more information to be viewed, at the expense of readability.

    The Select Title Color (or click in the color box) button allows you to choose the color used to display the title information. (Red by default.)

    Related Topics


    Review Mode Options

    The Review page lets you adjust the weights that are used during review mode.

    Normally JFC keeps statistics on weather or not you correctly "guessed" a particular flash card the last eight (8) times you were presented the card. In review mode JFC uses this information to determine which cards are included in the flash card stack.

    For each of the six possible types of cards that can be generated:

    Type of CardDescription
    Vocab -- KanjiVocabulary card, show kanji and "guess" kana and meaning
    Vocab -- KanaVocabulary card, show kana and "guess" kanji and meaning
    Vocab -- MeaningVocabulary card, show meaning and "guess" kanji and kana
    Kanji -- KanjiKanji card, show kanji and "guess" readings and meaning
    Kanji -- ReadingsKanji card, show readings and "guess" kanji and meaning
    Kanji -- MeaningKanji card, show meaning and "guess" kanji and readings

    There is a table of nine numbers. These numbers indicate the percent chance of a flash card being included if you have gotten the card wrong the previous number of times.

    To see how this works, consider the default numbers shown in the figure above. The 25 by the 0, indicates that 25% of the cards you have gotten correct eight of the last eight times they were presented. The 50 by the 1, indicates that 50% of the cards you missed one of the last eight times will be included. Similarly the 75 by the 2, indicates that 75% of the cards you missed twice out of the last eight times will be included, etc.


    WARNING! If you set one of the weights to zero, cards that fall into that class will never be included in flash card stacks.

    Related Topics


    Advanced Options


    WARNING! Most of the settings on the Advanced options page are technical in nature. If you are unsure of what they do, you may not want to change them. Also remember that you can restore the default configuration by using the menu command Utilities/Default Options, but this will reset EVERYTHING!

    The Advanced options page contains a number of technical options that can be adjusted to best suit your individual tastes.

    Related Topics


    Next Chapter: Fonts and Other Topics