Technical details

JiShop 8.2 for Windows is developed in Delphi 10.2 Tokyo by Embarcadero Technologies, using FireMonkey framework and SQLite database. JiShop is available as a package of the following files:

jishop.exe  —  main executable file;
jishop.db  —  database;
sqlite3.dll  —  database library file;
help/  —  folder containing help file;s
samples.kdg  —  flashcard group file with kanji in 16 topic groups;
JLPT.kdg  —  flashcard group file with kanji by JLPT levels;
kotoba.kdg  —  flashcard group file with about 1500 Japanese words.

Besides, the package contains five Japanese fonts (AC Kaisyo, AC Gyosyo, KouzanBrushFontSousyo, beautiful font, KanjiStrokeOrders), installed into the system during the installation. The deinstallation of JiShop does not remove these fonts from the system.

N.B. — When JiShop is downloaded from Microsoft Store, these five fonts are installed not during the installation but at each launch of the application, not staying in the system.

All the other files are generated by the program and saved in the default folder created by Windows (to open this folder, go to "Option" tab, open "General settings" section and click on the button "Open the data folder"). The automatically generated files are:

1. JiShopSettings.txt file is created after JiShop's first run, saving the settings made by the user during each session. If this file is absent or broken, default parameters are automatically set.
2. NewNames.txt file stores customized names of kanji and/or radicals. It is created only when you rename a kanji or radical.
3. KanaDEMarks.txt file stores marks about difficult/easy characters of hiragana and katakana made in the kana drill. If you don't put these marks, this file is not created.
4. Samples.kdg and any other files of drill groups you may create, are stored by default in the Groups folder.
5. SOD folder is created when you download the archive of stroke-order diagrams. It contains 10897 files.

By default, every time you run the program, it checks the JiShop website for a version upgrade. This feature requires an active Internet connection. You can switch off the default automatic check and do it manually via the command in "Options" tab.

After updating the dictionary data, open Fresh data section on "Options" tab to view the unfolded list of newly edited kanji.

The fonts JiShop uses for kanji and kana can be either true type (vector, outline) or bitmapped (16x16, 24x24 or 48x48 pixels). You cannot change the size of a bitmapped font, but only its color. Under Windows 10, true type fonts are used everywhere by default. Under earlier versions of Windows, bitmapped 24x24 fonts are used for search results, kanji for compound word search and kanji in drill groups. To customize this settings, go to the section "TT or bitmap" in "Options" tab.

The dictionary data is shown in the format of bitmap images. This improves the visual appearance, but, on the other hand, makes it difficult to provide some useful functions. Therefore, JiShop supports plain text mode which allows you to select and copy text from dictionary entries and other windows. To switch to plain text mode, click on .