pleco-to-anki

A Python script which parses XML output from Pleco and creates semicolon-separated CSV data for Anki.

Example

Input:

<?xml version="1.0" ?>
<plecoflash formatversion="2" creator="Pleco User -1" generator="Pleco 2.0 Flashcard Exporter" platform="Android" created="1605883885">
  <categories/>
  <cards>
    <card language="chinese">
      <entry>
        <headword charset="sc">感冒</headword>
        <headword charset="tc">感冒</headword>
        <pron type="hypy" tones="numbers">gan3mao4</pron>
        <defn>noun common cold
verb 1 catch cold 2 dialect be interested in; like (usu. used in the negative)</defn>
      </entry>
      <dictref dictid="PACE" entryid="21428224"/>
    </card>
    ...
  </cards>
</plecoflash>

Output:

<span><font color="blue">găn</font></span> <span><font color="purple">mào</font></span>;感冒;noun common cold verb 1 catch cold 2 dialect be interested in. like (usu. used in the negative)
...

Prerequisites

git or gh, for downloading the repo.
bazel, for building/running the script.

How to install:

Download the repo locally with gh repo clone ambuc/pleco-to-anki or git clone https://github.com/ambuc/pleco-to-anki.git.
Build the project with bazel build ....

Usage

For me, this script is the keystone of a larger pipeline.

Step 1: Export from Pleco:

On your phone, open Pleco.
Open the menu.
- Under "FLASHCARDS", select "Import / Export", then "Export Cards".
- Under "File Format", set "File format" to "XML File".
- Under "Include Data", mark "Dictionary definitions" as true.
- Select "Export now" and save the flash-<todays_date>.xml file to Google Drive, Dropbox, etc.

Step 2: Use `p2a` to generate a `.csv`.

On your computer, download the .xml file you created in the previous step.
Run bazel run :p2a -- --path=your_input.xml > your_output.csv to generate a new .csv file.
(Mac-only, optional): specify an --audio_out=~/Library/Application\ Support/Anki2/User\ 1/collection.media path to a directory in which to write audio files. (Mac-only since this uses the say utility.)

This generates a new, semicolon-separated file. The first column is the pinyin as HTML, the second column is the word, and the third column is the definition.

Step 3: Use Anki to import the `.csv`.

On your computer, open Anki and import the .csv file you created in the previous step.
Make sure the columns map to fields in your custom card layout. Save, sync, and quit.

ambuc/pleco-to-anki