> ## 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.

# DictionaryDescriptions Object (IDictionaryDescriptions Interface)

This object is a collection of dictionary descriptions ([DictionaryDescription](/fine-reader/engine/api-reference/language-related-objects/dictionarydescription) objects). It provides standard collection functionality. See [Working with Collections](/fine-reader/engine/guided-tour/advanced-techniques/programming-aspects/working-with-collections) for details.

The DictionaryDescription object can be cast to any of the [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), and [ExternalDictionaryDescription](/fine-reader/engine/api-reference/language-related-objects/externaldictionarydescription) objects, which are the descriptions of different [dictionary types](/fine-reader/engine/guided-tour/advanced-techniques/working-with-dictionaries#types).

The [IBaseLanguage::DictionaryDescriptions](/fine-reader/engine/api-reference/language-related-objects/baselanguage#dictionarydescriptions) property provides access to the dictionary descriptions collection. The collection of prohibiting dictionaries is accessible via the [TextLanguage](/fine-reader/engine/api-reference/language-related-objects/textlanguage) object.

* The indexing of ABBYY FineReader Engine collections starts with 0.
* The foreach statement in C# (for each in Visual Basic .NET) can be used to manipulate the 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.                             |
| Count                                                                                                                 | [int](/fine-reader/engine/guided-tour/advanced-techniques/programming-aspects/working-with-properties), read-only                                                                                                                           | Stores the number of elements in the collection.       |
| [Element](/fine-reader/engine/visual-components-reference/supplementary-objects/spellwordcollection/element-property) | [DictionaryDescription](/fine-reader/engine/api-reference/language-related-objects/dictionarydescription), [read-only](/fine-reader/engine/guided-tour/advanced-techniques/programming-aspects/working-with-properties#readonly_properties) | Provides access to a single element of the collection. |

## Methods

| Name                                                                                                                    | Description                                                                              |
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| [AddNew](/fine-reader/engine/api-reference/language-related-objects/dictionarydescriptions/addnew-method)               | Creates a new dictionary description of the specified type and adds into the collection. |
| [DeleteAll](/fine-reader/engine/visual-components-reference/supplementary-objects/spellwordcollection/deleteall-method) | Removes all the elements from the collection.                                            |
| [DeleteAt](/fine-reader/engine/visual-components-reference/supplementary-objects/spellwordcollection/deleteat-method)   | Removes an element from the collection.                                                  |
| [Item](/fine-reader/engine/visual-components-reference/supplementary-objects/spellwordcollection/item-method)           | Provides access to a single element of the collection.                                   |

## Related objects

<img src="https://mintcdn.com/abbyy/6udH-pkk8zkVafYH/images/fine-reader/engine/dictionarydescriptions.gif?s=94926b1ddbfdfe216940b78b88eb1223" alt="DictionaryDescriptions" width="352" height="164" data-path="images/fine-reader/engine/dictionarydescriptions.gif" />[](/fine-reader/engine/api-reference/language-related-objects/textlanguage#prohibitingdictionaries)[](/fine-reader/engine/api-reference/language-related-objects/baselanguage#dictionarydescriptions)[](/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/api-reference/language-related-objects/dictionarydescription)[](/fine-reader/engine/visual-components-reference/supplementary-objects/spellwordcollection/element-property)[](/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)

## 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)

[DictionaryDescription](/fine-reader/engine/api-reference/language-related-objects/dictionarydescription)

[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 Collections](/fine-reader/engine/guided-tour/advanced-techniques/programming-aspects/working-with-collections)

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