I just installed 10.3. Here is the result of running the WordDefinition function exactly as it appears in the docs:
In[3]:= WordDefinition["dolphin"]
During evaluation of In[3]:= CreatePaclet::badppi: The paclet C:\Users\David\AppData\Roaming\Mathematica\Paclets\Temporary\WordData_Canonicalization-10.0.254656959.paclet does not have a properly formatted PacletInfo.m or PacletInfo.wl file. You can use the VerifyPaclet function to get more detailed information about the error.
During evaluation of In[3]:= PacletInstall::instl: An error occurred installing paclet from file C:\Users\David\AppData\Roaming\Mathematica\Paclets\Temporary\WordData_Canonicalization-10.0.254656959.paclet: Not a valid paclet.
During evaluation of In[3]:= WordData::dlfail: Internet download of data for WordData failed. Use Help > Internet Connectivity... to test or reconfigure internet connectivity. >>
During evaluation of In[3]:= CreatePaclet::badppi: The paclet C:\Users\David\AppData\Roaming\Mathematica\Paclets\Temporary\WordData_Canonicalization-10.0.254656410.paclet does not have a properly formatted PacletInfo.m or PacletInfo.wl file. You can use the VerifyPaclet function to get more detailed information about the error.
During evaluation of In[3]:= PacletInstall::instl: An error occurred installing paclet from file C:\Users\David\AppData\Roaming\Mathematica\Paclets\Temporary\WordData_Canonicalization-10.0.254656410.paclet: Not a valid paclet.
During evaluation of In[3]:= WordData::dlfail: Internet download of data for WordData failed. Use Help > Internet Connectivity... to test or reconfigure internet connectivity. >>
Out[3]= Missing["NotAvailable"]
In[1]:= $Version
Out[1]= "10.3.0 for Microsoft Windows (64-bit) (October 9, 2015)"
In[2]:= WordDefinition["dolphin"]
Out[2]= {"any of various small toothed whales with a beaklike snout; \
larger than porpoises", "large slender food and game fish widely \
distributed in warm seas (especially around Hawaii)"}
I would suggest closing Mathematica and clearing the contents of your C:\Users\David\AppData\Roaming\Mathematica\Paclets directory. On next use, the correct version of the paclet (10.0.25) should be downloaded.
In[2]:= WordDefinition["dolphin"]
During evaluation of In[2]:= CreatePaclet::badppi: The paclet C:\Users\modisio\AppData\Roaming\Mathematica\Paclets\Temporary\WordData_Definitions-10.0.2515404774.paclet does not have a properly formatted PacletInfo.m or PacletInfo.wl file. You can use the VerifyPaclet function to get more detailed information about the error.
During evaluation of In[2]:= PacletInstall::instl: An error occurred installing paclet from file C:\Users\modisio\AppData\Roaming\Mathematica\Paclets\Temporary\WordData_Definitions-10.0.2515404774.paclet: Not a valid paclet.
During evaluation of In[2]:= WordData::dlfail: Internet download of data for WordData failed. Use Help > Internet Connectivity... to test or reconfigure internet connectivity.
During evaluation of In[2]:= CreatePaclet::badppi: The paclet C:\Users\modisio\AppData\Roaming\Mathematica\Paclets\Temporary\WordData_Definitions-10.0.2515404183.paclet does not have a properly formatted PacletInfo.m or PacletInfo.wl file. You can use the VerifyPaclet function to get more detailed information about the error.
During evaluation of In[2]:= PacletInstall::instl: An error occurred installing paclet from file C:\Users\modisio\AppData\Roaming\Mathematica\Paclets\Temporary\WordData_Definitions-10.0.2515404183.paclet: Not a valid paclet.
During evaluation of In[2]:= WordData::dlfail: Internet download of data for WordData failed. Use Help > Internet Connectivity... to test or reconfigure internet connectivity.
Out[2]= Missing["NotAvailable"]
In[3]:= VerifyPaclet@"C:\\Users\\modisio\\AppData\\Roaming\\\
Mathematica\\Paclets\\Temporary\\WordData_Definitions-10.0.2515404774.\
paclet"
Out[3]= True
If that doesn’t work, it might be worth downloading the paclet file with a browser, extracting it manually (change the extension to .zip and unzip) and inspecting the contents.
Do you have any antivirus programs running or anything else that might interfere with the download?
By the way, the MD5 checksum of the file should be
In[2]:= FileHash["WordData_Definitions-10.0.25.paclet", "MD5", All, "HexString"]
Out[2]= "a3cd0e5aa3c45b5519aed34f88582212"
I would suspect some peculiar network setup, like a proxy or firewall or antivirus gateway that prevents the download from working, but that would be a question for your IT department/network administrator/machine sysadmin.
Given the file contents are not really what they should be, the Mathematica behavior is somewhat expected.
The redirect to wolfram.com is happening on a variety of situations I’m trying it on (windows on/off VPN, phone…). I now feel that @Ilian Gachevski 's suggestion of “some peculiar network setup [… that] prevents the download from working” is likely not the root explanation for this issue.
Matthias, I think it’s strange that such a redirect is happening, but it’s a peculiar network issue by definition if it affects your browser too, without involvement from Mathematica.
Why don’t you send any pertinent information like your IP address and the approximate time of the requests to support?
Perhaps they can work with WRI’s network administrators and check the web server logs for any clues.
I meant that to me it is not peculiar since it happens all the time on a variety of devices and network configurations.
Thanks for trying to help me. I appreciate that a lot.
I first contacted Tech Support in December (2017) about that problem and spent quite a lot of time investigating with them. Now we are in March 2018. If there is a clear path to resolution, I’m ready to work more on that, but I don’t have any energy left for throwing stones in the dark.
@MatthiasOdisio I apologize for my confusion, but it was actually my own network setup that was peculiar and prevented me from seeing the redirect in my browser. It is in fact normal and supposed to happen if using a browser.
Based on the paclet manager developer’s advice, if you could evaluate in a notebook
