Hey guys, I made a little tool for Windows machines that helps you deal with your failed kanji here on koohii.com, and thought I'd share it with you all.

It has two modes, one is a windowed review system and the other is a tray icon that will quiz you on a kanji at semi-random intervals that you set.

I'm very bad at math so the review system is somewhat dumb. It has two stacks: 1 for kanji you haven't tested or got wrong, and one for kanji that you got right. It considers your review complete when you have all the kanji in the second stack, but it will keep reviewing indefinitely.

I've only spent so much time actually using it so far...so there are probably a few bugs to capture and free in to the wild. But, here it is, hope it helps! Oh yea, it needs the .NET 2.0 Framework. You should have it already though.

~ These were screenshots...apparently IMGBolt is not a very reliable host. ~

Code:

Changes:
2007
12/21: Change the timer for the balloons (Alt + ~)
12/22: Chose your own font (Alt + F). Fixed the progress bar math.
12/23: Fixed some hotkey issues, sure there are more. Will fix as I spot them.

2008
02/16: -Changed the way you log in due to site changes.
       -Getting the story is more usable.
       -Doesn't use files anymore, so it won't touch your HD now.
       -Doesn't run in 32-bit mode on 64-bit systems.

That looks awesome. If there was a version for mac I would definitely use it.

ありがとう！ Wish I knew how to make it run on a Mac.

BTW, I updated it so you can choose how often the balloons pop up: new version

Out of curiosity, how does this interface with the site? I'm on a mac so I can't check it out.

Mmm...it doesn't really interface with the site at all (besides being able to update your story).

If you don't update your story it will only talk to the site twice: once when you log in and once to ask it for the kanji in your failed stack. It saves the kanji into memory and will work offline from there.

It wasn't really meant to be an interface. Originally I wanted a way to rapidly review the kanji in my failed stack (the windowed mode). But the windowed mode still required my full attention. So if I were reviewing kanji, that would be all I could be doing.

So, I decided it would be best if I could just be quizzed on the failed kanji throughout the day, while still being able to work on other things (the minimized tray icon mode).

In short, it's not really meant to interface with the site, and it doesn't tell RevTK if you got a review right or wrong.

I see. Well, I guess you at least have to have it load the failed list page and then parse the html?

Haha, sorry you meant the technical side? Yes, it parses: http://kanji.koohii.com/study/failedkanjilist.php

That page doesn't have the kanji character, but there are some Heisig files out there that you can use.

When you click on a kanji it goes to: http://kanji.koohii.com/study/?mode=failed&framenum=[frame number]

This little program has been very helpful to me! Thank you!

I have only one concern about it: it seems to skip the very first kanji on my failed list. It has done this numerous times, and I'm not sure why. The program itself will say that there are 6 kanji in my failed list, but it always shows only the other five.

Hi shadowlite, thanks for the feedback! I hate to say this, but that was the very first bug I noticed. I picked my brain for a few of hour long sessions trying to debug it, and obviously failed. I reasoned that since the purpose was really for people with like 100+ failed kanji, they wouldn't notice...lol. Busted.

I'll take another look though. Maybe I just need to come back with an open mind about it.

If there's anything else you want to add to it let me know. After using it on 361 failed kanji (omg that took serious effort!) I realized people should be able to tweak the number of reviews per kanji. The 361 kanji too over 1000 reviews and serious hand-cramps to get all the way through. So, if you want to be able to tweak that let me know, I think it should be a quick fix.

Jaa, mata ne ~

That would be a helpful option in the future. I'm not too far along right now, and I try to keep my failed kanji list down on the numbers, so I haven't had any troubles in that respect so far.

I got a surprise today. The first kanji on my failed list actually showed up! Maybe it's just really random. The limiting number of reviews per kanji might fix that problem, but I wouldn't know since I can't write software XD

I find GhostFace helps me relax during a study session too!

ruisu Wrote:ありがとう！ Wish I knew how to make it run on a Mac.

Being written in .NET, it's not possible without basically rewriting the app. If you were to rewrite it as a Java app, it would be cross platform without having to actually know anything about Mac (or linux or whatever) development.

Jarvik7 Wrote:Being written in .NET, it's not possible without basically rewriting the app. If you were to rewrite it as a Java app, it would be cross platform without having to actually know anything about Mac (or linux or whatever) development.

you could try mono. they're not completely up to 2.0 yet, but it might work depending on what the program actually uses... http://www.mono-project.com/Main_Page

Did you die? T_T The program stopped working for me. I think it has something to do with the new updates to the site, but I'm not sure. Anyway, here's a screenshot of the message:

Also, when I get the error message, two text files show up. The first one is dump.txt, and contains the following text:

admin: (edited out) Please email debugging output that are anything more than a few lines long to the concerned person directly (you can reach most people through the forum email). This kind of output clogs up the forum needlessly and although it was inconsequential in this case, it could contain sensitive information which would be better sent directly to the developer, thanks.

The second one is Failed.txt, and it is completely empty. Sorry for the length, but I wasn't sure what to do with it...

Yeah, that's the same error message that I get when I try to start the app. I've never used it before, so this isn't just a problem limited to people who had it running at one point.

Oh no, sorry! No, I didn't die, but my kanji spirit did at 1500 or so. Sorry for not keeping up with this...someone actually emailed me about it.

I didn't know anyone was using it still...I will work on it today to see if I can fix it.

Edit: Actually, somethings wrong in XP...back to the drawing board.

I really like the changes to the site, it was funny looking through my stories. It's really odd what people reported and gave stars to. Almost the opposite of what I expected. Anyway, maybe I will try to get through the last 500 now.

Good luck to all the rest of you...I admire your perseverance.

Working version.

Thank you so much! <3

Does anyone still have this, and does it still work? The last post from Ruisu has a link that I'm sure *used* to work, but now when I try to unzip it I get errors saying that the archive is corrupt...