> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.abbyy.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# DictionaryDescription Object (IDictionaryDescription Interface)

This object is a dictionary description which may be typecast to one of its child objects: [StandardDictionaryDescription](/fine-reader/engine/api-reference/language-related-objects/standarddictionarydescription), [UserDictionaryDescription](/fine-reader/engine/api-reference/language-related-objects/userdictionarydescription), [RegExpDictionaryDescription](/fine-reader/engine/api-reference/language-related-objects/regexpdictionarydescription), or [ExternalDictionaryDescription](/fine-reader/engine/api-reference/language-related-objects/externaldictionarydescription). These objects provide access to descriptions of four different [dictionary types](/fine-reader/engine/guided-tour/advanced-techniques/working-with-dictionaries) and inherit all the properties of the DictionaryDescription object. They are also elements of the [DictionaryDescriptions](/fine-reader/engine/api-reference/language-related-objects/dictionarydescriptions) collection.

## Properties

| Name        | Type                                                                                                                                                                                                          | Description                                                                                                                                                                                                           |
| ----------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Application | [Engine](/fine-reader/engine/api-reference/engine-object-iengine-interface), [read-only](/fine-reader/engine/guided-tour/advanced-techniques/programming-aspects/working-with-properties#readonly_properties) | Returns the Engine object.                                                                                                                                                                                            |
| Type        | [DictionaryTypeEnum](/fine-reader/engine/api-reference/enumerations/dictionarytypeenum), read-only                                                                                                            | Returns the type of the dictionary.                                                                                                                                                                                   |
| Weight      | [int](/fine-reader/engine/guided-tour/advanced-techniques/programming-aspects/working-with-properties)                                                                                                        | Stores the dictionary [weight](/fine-reader/engine/guided-tour/advanced-techniques/working-with-dictionaries#weight) in percentage points. This value must be non-negative. By default, this property is set to 100%. |

## Methods

| Name                                                                                                                                                             | Description                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       |
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| [GetAsExternalDictionaryDescription](/fine-reader/engine/api-reference/language-related-objects/dictionarydescription/getasexternaldictionarydescription-method) | Returns the dictionary description as the [ExternalDictionaryDescription](/fine-reader/engine/api-reference/language-related-objects/externaldictionarydescription) object. If the dictionary description is not an external dictionary description, NULL is returned.            |
| [GetAsRegExpDictionaryDescription](/fine-reader/engine/api-reference/language-related-objects/dictionarydescription/getasregexpdictionarydescription-method)     | Returns the dictionary description as the [RegExpDictionaryDescription](/fine-reader/engine/api-reference/language-related-objects/regexpdictionarydescription) object. If the dictionary description is not a regular-expression-based dictionary description, NULL is returned. |
| [GetAsStandardDictionaryDescription](/fine-reader/engine/api-reference/language-related-objects/dictionarydescription/getasstandarddictionarydescription-method) | Returns the dictionary description as the [StandardDictionaryDescription](/fine-reader/engine/api-reference/language-related-objects/standarddictionarydescription) object. If the dictionary description is not a standard dictionary description, NULL is returned.             |
| [GetAsUserDictionaryDescription](/fine-reader/engine/api-reference/language-related-objects/dictionarydescription/getasuserdictionarydescription-method)         | Returns the dictionary description as the [UserDictionaryDescription](/fine-reader/engine/api-reference/language-related-objects/userdictionarydescription) object. If the dictionary description is not a user dictionary description, NULL is returned.                         |

## Related objects

<img src="https://mintcdn.com/abbyy/6udH-pkk8zkVafYH/images/fine-reader/engine/dictionarydescription.gif?s=eb64342b15b3a095c66452179d794092" alt="DictionaryDescription" width="352" height="164" data-path="images/fine-reader/engine/dictionarydescription.gif" />[](/fine-reader/engine/api-reference/language-related-objects/externaldictionarydescription)[](/fine-reader/engine/api-reference/language-related-objects/regexpdictionarydescription)[](/fine-reader/engine/api-reference/language-related-objects/userdictionarydescription)[](/fine-reader/engine/api-reference/language-related-objects/standarddictionarydescription)[](/fine-reader/engine/visual-components-reference/supplementary-objects/spellwordcollection/element-property)[](/fine-reader/engine/api-reference/language-related-objects/dictionarydescriptions)[](/fine-reader/engine/api-reference/language-related-objects/baselanguage)[](/fine-reader/engine/api-reference/language-related-objects/textlanguage)

[Object Diagram](/fine-reader/engine/api-reference/object-diagram)

## Output parameter

This object is the output parameter of the [Item](/fine-reader/engine/visual-components-reference/supplementary-objects/spellwordcollection/item-method) method of the [DictionaryDescriptions](/fine-reader/engine/api-reference/language-related-objects/dictionarydescriptions) object.

## Samples

<Accordion title="C# code">
  ```csharp theme={null}
  // The sample code assigns a user dictionary to a base language
  FREngine.IEngine engine;
  string dictionaryFileName = "D:\\Sample.amd";
  FREngine.IBaseLanguage baseLanguage;
  // Get collection of dictionary descriptions of a base language and remove all items
  IDictionaryDescriptions dictionaryDescriptions = baseLanguage.DictionaryDescriptions;
  dictionaryDescriptions.DeleteAll();
  // Create user dictionary description and add it to the collection
  IDictionaryDescription dictionaryDescription = dictionaryDescriptions.AddNew( DictionaryTypeEnum.DT_UserDictionary );
  IUserDictionaryDescription userDictionaryDescription = dictionaryDescription.GetAsUserDictionaryDescription();
  userDictionaryDescription.FileName = dictionaryFileName;
  ```
</Accordion>

The object is used in the following code samples in Linux and Windows: [CustomLanguage](/fine-reader/engine/guided-tour/samples#customlanguage).

## See also

[Working with Dictionaries](/fine-reader/engine/guided-tour/advanced-techniques/working-with-dictionaries)

[DictionaryDescriptions](/fine-reader/engine/api-reference/language-related-objects/dictionarydescriptions)

[StandardDictionaryDescription](/fine-reader/engine/api-reference/language-related-objects/standarddictionarydescription)

[UserDictionaryDescription](/fine-reader/engine/api-reference/language-related-objects/userdictionarydescription)

[RegExpDictionaryDescription](/fine-reader/engine/api-reference/language-related-objects/regexpdictionarydescription)

[ExternalDictionaryDescription](/fine-reader/engine/api-reference/language-related-objects/externaldictionarydescription)

[Working with Properties](/fine-reader/engine/guided-tour/advanced-techniques/programming-aspects/working-with-properties)