WNUTIL(3) WordNet™ Library Functions WNUTIL(3)NAME
wninit, re_wninit, cntwords, strtolower, ToLowerCase, strsubst, getptr‐
type, getpos, getsstype, StrToPos, GetSynsetForSense, GetDataOffset,
GetPolyCount, WNSnsToStr, GetValidIndexPointer, GetWNSense, GetSenseIn‐
dex, default_display_message - utility functions used by the interface
code
SYNOPSIS
#include "wn.h"
int wninit(void);
int re_wninit(void);
int cntwords(char *str, char separator);
char *strtolower(char *str);
char *ToLowerCase(char *str);
char *strsubst(char *str, char from, char to);
int getptrtype(char *ptr_symbol);
int getpos(char *ss_type);
int getsstype(char *ss_type);
int StrToPos(char **pos);
SynsetPtr GetSynsetForSense(char *sense_key);
long GetDataOffset(char *sense_key);
int GetPolyCount(char *sense_key);
char *WNSnsToStr(IndexPtr idx, int sense_num);
IndexPtr GetValidIndexPointer(char *str, int pos);
int GetWNSense(char *lemma, *lex_sense);
SnsIndexPtr GetSenseIndex(char *sense_key);
int GetTagcnt(IndexPtr idx, int sense);
int default_display_message(char *msg);
DESCRIPTION
The WordNet library contains many utility functions used by the inter‐
face code, other library functions, and various applications and tools.
Only those of importance to the WordNet search code, or which are gen‐
erally useful are described here.
wninit() opens the files necessary for using WordNet with the WordNet
library functions. The database files are opened, and morphinit() is
called to open the exception list files. Returns 0 if successful, -1
otherwise. The database and exception list files must be open before
the WordNet search and morphology functions are used. If the database
is successfully opened, the global variable OpenDB is set to 1. Note
that it is possible for the database files to be opened (OpenDB == 1),
but not the exception list files.
re_wninit() is used to close the database files and reopen them, and is
used exclusively for WordNet development. re_morphinit() is called to
close and reopen the exception list files. Return codes are as
described above.
cntwords() counts the number of underscore or space separated words in
str. A hyphen is passed in separator if is is to be considered a word
delimiter. Otherwise separator can be any other character, or an
underscore if another character is not desired.
strtolower() converts str to lower case and removes a trailing adjec‐
tive marker, if present. str is actually modified by this function,
and a pointer to the modified string is returned.
ToLowerCase() converts str to lower case as above, without removing an
adjective marker.
strsubst() replaces all occurrences of from with to in str and returns
resulting string.
getptrtype() returns the integer ptr_type corresponding to the pointer
character passed in ptr_symbol. See wnsearch(3) for a table of pointer
symbols and types.
getpos() returns the integer constant corresponding to the synset type
passed. ss_type may be one of the following: n, v, a, r, s. If s is
passed, ADJ is returned. Exits with -1 if ss_type is invalid.
getsstype() works like getpos(), but returns SATELLITE if ss_type is s.
StrToPos() returns the integer constant corresponding to the syntactic
category passed in pos. string must be one of the following: noun,
verb, adj, adv. -1 is returned if pos is invalid.
GetSynsetForSense() returns the synset that contains the word sense
sense_key and NULL in case of error.
GetDataOffset() returns the synset offset for synset that contains the
word sense sense_key, and 0 if sense_key is not in sense index file.
GetPolyCount() returns the polysemy count (number of senses in WordNet)
for lemma encoded in sense_key and 0 if word is not found.
WNSnsToStr() returns sense key encoding for sense_num entry in idx.
GetValidIndexPointer() returns the Index structure for word in pos.
Calls morphstr(3) to find a valid base form if word is inflected.
GetWNSense() returns the WordNet sense number for the sense key encod‐
ing represented by lemma and lex_sense.
GetSenseIndex() returns parsed sense index entry for sense_key and NULL
if sense_key is not in sense index.
GetTagcnt() returns the number of times the sense passed has been
tagged according to the cntlist file.
default_display_message() simply returns -1. This is the default value
for the global variable display_message, that points to a function to
call to display an error message. In general, applications (including
the WordNet interfaces) define an application specific function and set
display_message to point to it.
NOTES
include/wn.h lists all the pointer and search types and their corre‐
sponding constant values. There is no description of what each search
type is or the results returned. Using the WordNet interface is the
best way to see what types of searches are available, and the data
returned for each.
SEE ALSOwnintro(3), wnsearch(3), morph(3), wnintro(5), wnintro(7).
WARNINGS
Error checking on passed arguments is not rigorous. Passing NULL
pointers or invalid values will often cause an application to die.
WordNet 3.0 Dec 2006 WNUTIL(3)
