Got the installer working. Fixed a few bugs including a nasty-to-debug issue where the lang_id was being hardcoded during installation, resulting in strings being inserted with the wrong lang_id causing an infinfinite loop with fetch() throwing a "no strings" error and using template (which calls fetch()) to complain

.mceItemHiddenSpellWord {background:url(../img/wline.gif) repeat-x bottom left; cursor:default;}