CDSL 2020 Year in Review
2020 was a productive year for the Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: English text corrections were completed across many dictionaries, the Python toolchain advanced toward full Python 3 compatibility, and GRA verb data received significant attention.
English corrections completed across dictionaries
A major effort to correct English word errors across all dictionaries was under way in 2020 and reached completion this year. Correction batches were applied to AP90 (Apte 1890) and CAE (Cappeller), among others — systematic proofing passes that improved the accuracy of the English definitions and abbreviation expansions throughout the corpus.
Python 3 migration and SQLite improvements
The Python generation pipeline (csl-pywork) received important work in 2020: the SQLite interface was refactored to use a pure Python implementation rather than relying on an external sqlite3 executable, improving portability across systems. The codebase continued its migration from Python 2 to Python 3, necessary as Python 2 reached end-of-life in January 2020.
Grassmann verb data work
The GRA (Grassmann Wörterbuch zum Rig-Veda) repository received new verb data, expanding the structured verb form information available for the Grassmann dictionary. This was part of a longer effort to bring GRA's rich grammatical data into the same structured format used for other dictionaries.
PDF display improvements
The web display layer was updated to improve how scan images are served: a local installation now uses local scan images if available, falling back to the Cologne server otherwise. This made local development and testing significantly more practical.
To receive future editions by email, subscribe here.