Define action does not always open Dictionary.app to Dictionary tab.

[XedMada]

OSX 10.9.1  Alfred 2.1.1(227)

 

If Dictionary.app is left on a tab other than Dictionary, when activating Define from Alfred, the dictionary is opened to the tab it was last viewing, not the Dictionary tab.  The behavior drives me mad, as I won't recognize i'm on Thesaurus and quickly become perplexed as to why a word I know should be in the dictionary isn't showing up due to it having no notable synonyms.

[Andrew]

OSX 10.9.1  Alfred 2.1.1(227)

 

If Dictionary.app is left on a tab other than Dictionary, when activating Define from Alfred, the dictionary is opened to the tab it was last viewing, not the Dictionary tab.  The behavior drives me mad, as I won't recognize i'm on Thesaurus and quickly become perplexed as to why a word I know should be in the dictionary isn't showing up due to it having no notable synonyms.

 

Hi there,

 

Unfortunately, this is the behaviour in Dictionary.app which Alfred doesn't have control over. Alfred simply calls a dict: URL scheme which OS X passes off to your default Dictionary application.

 

Cheers,

Andrew

[XedMada]

Ah, figures. =\  Do I take that to mean you can change the destination of the URL scheme to an app other than Dictionary.app? A quick google search only turns up explanations on changing the dict file Dictionary.app uses.

[XedMada]

Spoke too soon, looks like [RCDefaultApp](http://www.rubicode.com/Software/RCDefaultApp/) lets you change the default applications for URL schemes and much more. Now to find a good Dictionary.app replacement. Would this break the Alfred live define lookup feature? 

[Andrew]

Spoke too soon, looks like [RCDefaultApp](http://www.rubicode.com/Software/RCDefaultApp/) lets you change the default applications for URL schemes and much more. Now to find a good Dictionary.app replacement. Would this break the Alfred live define lookup feature? 

 

I'm not sure - Alfred reads directly from OS X's dictionary for spell checking and definitions, not Dictionary.app... so as long as another dictionary app doesn't break that, then I can't see it being an issue.

[XedMada]

No luck reassigning dict:// to WordWeb Pro or the offline OED 2nd edition 4.0 app. They launch but do not automatically search for the word. I emailed WorldWeb Software to see if they have a solution or plan to implement one. I emailed Oxford University Press as well but given the lack of support they haven given me in the past I wouldn't expect much; they really want people to subscribe to the web version.

 

Another possibility came to mind while researching Dictionary.app's scripting capability, of which there is practically none. However, there are keyboard shortcuts for selecting which dictionary to search while the app is running. When I get some free time I'll try making my a workflow that activates the shortcut after successful dictionary.app launch. This would also allow a dedicated thesaurus lookup action. Might you have any suggestions how I could either reproduce the live lookup behavior of the built-in define action in my own workflow, or have the built in define launch a user defined workflow on activation?