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\language english
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\layout Title
GNU Aspell 0.50.3
\layout Author
Copyright (c) 2000-2002
\newline
Kevin Atkinson
\newline
kevina@gnu.org
\layout Standard
\begin_inset LatexCommand \tableofcontents{}
\end_inset
\layout Chapter
Introduction
\layout Standard
GNU Aspell is a spell checker designed to eventually replace Ispell.
It can either be used as a library or as an independent spell checker.
Its main feature is that it does a much better job of coming up with possible
suggestions than just about any other spell checker out there for the English
language, including Ispell and Microsoft Word.
It also has many other technical enhancements over Ispell such as using
shared memory for dictionaries and intelligently handling personal dictionaries
when more than one Aspell process is open at once.
\layout Section
Comparison to other spell checker engines
\layout Standard
\added_space_top 0.3cm \added_space_bottom 0.3cm \align center
\begin_inset Tabular
|
\begin_inset Text
\layout Standard
\end_inset
|
\begin_inset Text
\layout Standard
Aspell
\end_inset
|
\begin_inset Text
\layout Standard
Ispell
\end_inset
|
\begin_inset Text
\layout Standard
Netscape 4.0
\end_inset
|
\begin_inset Text
\layout Standard
Microsoft Word 97
\end_inset
|
|
\begin_inset Text
\layout Standard
Open Source
\end_inset
|
\begin_inset Text
\layout Standard
x
\end_inset
|
\begin_inset Text
\layout Standard
x
\end_inset
|
\begin_inset Text
\layout Standard
\end_inset
|
\begin_inset Text
\layout Standard
\end_inset
|
|
\begin_inset Text
\layout Standard
Suggestion Intelligence
\end_inset
|
\begin_inset Text
\layout Standard
88-98
\end_inset
|
\begin_inset Text
\layout Standard
54
\end_inset
|
\begin_inset Text
\layout Standard
55-70?
\end_inset
|
\begin_inset Text
\layout Standard
71
\end_inset
|
|
\begin_inset Text
\layout Standard
Personal part of Suggestions
\end_inset
|
\begin_inset Text
\layout Standard
x
\end_inset
|
\begin_inset Text
\layout Standard
x
\end_inset
|
\begin_inset Text
\layout Standard
x
\end_inset
|
\begin_inset Text
\layout Standard
\end_inset
|
|
\begin_inset Text
\layout Standard
Alternate Dictionaries
\end_inset
|
\begin_inset Text
\layout Standard
x
\end_inset
|
\begin_inset Text
\layout Standard
x
\end_inset
|
\begin_inset Text
\layout Standard
?
\end_inset
|
\begin_inset Text
\layout Standard
?
\end_inset
|
|
\begin_inset Text
\layout Standard
International Support
\end_inset
|
\begin_inset Text
\layout Standard
x
\end_inset
|
\begin_inset Text
\layout Standard
x
\end_inset
|
\begin_inset Text
\layout Standard
?
\end_inset
|
\begin_inset Text
\layout Standard
?
\end_inset
|
\end_inset
\layout Standard
The suggestion Intelligence is based on a small test kernel of misspelled/correc
t word pairs.
Go to
\begin_inset LatexCommand \url{http://aspell.net/test}
\end_inset
for more info and how you can help contribute to the test kernel.
The current scores for Aspell are 88 in
\series bold
fast
\series default
mode, 93 in
\series bold
normal
\series default
mode, and 98 in
\series bold
bad spellers
\series default
mode see section
\begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{suggestion}
\end_inset
for more information about the various suggestion modes.
\layout Standard
If you have any other information you would like to add to this chart please
contact me at kevina@gnu.org.
\layout Subsection
Comparison to Ispell
\layout Subsubsection
Features that only Aspell has
\layout Itemize
Does a much better job with coming up with suggestions than Ispell does
or for that matter any other spell checker I have seen.
If you know a spell checker that does a better job please let me know.
\layout Itemize
Can learn from users misspellings.
\layout Itemize
Is an actual library that others programs can link to instead of having
to use it through a pipe.
\layout Itemize
Is multiprocess intelligent.
When a personal dictionary (or replacement list) is saved it will now first
update the list against the dictionary on disk in case another process
modified it.
\layout Itemize
Can share the memory used in the main word list between processes.
\layout Itemize
Support for detachable dictionaries
\series bold
\series default
so that more than one aspell class can use the same dictionary.
\layout Itemize
Support for multiple personal dictionaries as well as support for special
auxiliary dictionaries.
\layout Itemize
Better support for run-together words.
\layout Itemize
Ability to use multiple dictionaries by simply specifying it on the command
line or in the configuration files.
\layout Itemize
A better, more complete word list for the English language.
Word lists are provided for American, British, and Canadian spelling.
Special care has been taken to only include one spelling for each word
in any particular word list.
The word list included in Ispell by contrast only included support for
American and British and also tends to included multiple spellings for
a word which can mask some spelling errors.
\layout Subsubsection
Things that, currently, only Ispell have
\layout Itemize
Support for affix compression (However this should change soon once Kevin
Hendricks is integrated)
\layout Itemize
Lower memory footprint
\layout Itemize
Perhaps better support for spell checking (La)TeX files.
\layout Itemize
Support for spell checking Nroff files.
\layout Chapter
Getting Started
\layout Section
Requirements
\begin_inset LatexCommand \label{reqs}
\end_inset
\layout Standard
Aspell requires gcc 2.95 (or better) as the C++ compiler.
Other C++ compilers should work with some effort.
Other C++ compilers for mostly POSIX compliant (Unix, Linux, BeOS, CygWin)
systems should work with out any major problems provided that the compile
can handle all of the advanced C++ features Aspell uses.
C++ compilers for non-Unix systems might work but it will take some work.
Aspell at very least requires a Unix-like environment (sh, grep, sed, tr,
etc...) in order to build.
Aspell also uses a few POSIX functions when necessary.
\layout Section
Obtaining
\layout Standard
The latest version can always be found at GNU Aspell's home page at
\begin_inset LatexCommand \url{http://aspell.net}
\end_inset
.
\layout Section
Support
\layout Standard
Support for Aspell can be found on the Aspell mailing lists.
Instructions for joining the various mailing lists (and an archive of them)
can be found off the Aspell home page at
\begin_inset LatexCommand \url{http://aspell.net}
\end_inset
.
\layout Section
Helping Out
\layout Standard
I have very little time to work on Aspell so I desperately need other people
to help with the development of Aspell.
There are a lot of things that need to be done before I consider Aspell
complete.
See section
\begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{todo}
\end_inset
for a list of them.
I would really appreciate some help with doing them.
If you are interested in helping with one of them please let me know.
\layout Standard
I am also looking for someone to eventually take over the maintenance and
development of Aspell.
If you are interested please contact me directly.
\layout Section
Compiling & Installing
\layout Subsection
Generic Install Instructions
\layout Quote
./configure && make
\layout Standard
For additional configure options type ./configure --help.
You can control what C++ compiler is used by setting the environmental
variable CXX before running configure and you can control what flags are
passed to the C++ compile via the environmental variable CXXFLAGS.
Static libraries are disabled by default since static libraries will not
work right due to the mixing of C and C++.
When a C program links with the static libraries in Aspell it is likely
to crash because Aspell's C++ objects are not getting initialized correctly.
However, if for some reason you want them, you can enable them via --enable-sta
tic.
\layout Standard
Aspell should then compile with out any additional user intervention.
If you run into problems please first check the sections below as that
might solve your problem.
\layout Standard
To install the program simply type
\layout Quote
make install
\layout Standard
After Aspell is installed at least one dictionary needs to be installed.
You can find them at
\begin_inset LatexCommand \url{http://aspell.net/}
\end_inset
.
The "aspell" program must be in your path in order for the dictionaries
to install correctly.
\layout Standard
If you do not have Ispell or the traditional Unix
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
spell
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
utility installed on your system than you should also copy the compatibly
scripts
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
ispell
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
and
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
spell
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
located in the scripts/ directory into your binary directory which is usually
/usr/local/bin so that programs that expect ispell or spell command will
work correctly.
\layout Subsection
General Problems
\layout Standard
Aspell does not use a released version of GNU Libtool.
If you have a need to modify configure.ac or any of the Makefile.am's you
should install the CVS version of libtool.
\layout Subsection
Curses Notes
\layout Standard
If you are having problems compiling termios.cc than the most likely reason
is due to incompatibilities with the curses implementation on your system.
If this is the case than you can explicitly disable the curses library
with --disable-curses.
By doing this you will lose the nice full screen interface but hopefully
you will be able to at least get Aspell to compile correctly.
\layout Standard
If the curses library is installed in a non-standard location than you can
specify the library and include directory with --enable-curses=<>
and --enable-curses-include=<>.
\series bold
Lib
\series default
can either be the complete path of the library (for example
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
/usr/local/curses/libcurses.a
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
), the name of the library (for example
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
ncurses
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
) or a combined location and library in the form
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
-L<> -l<>
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
(for example
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
-L/usr/local/ncurses/lib -lncurses
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
).
\series bold
Dir
\series default
is the location of the curses header files (for example
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
/usr/local/ncurses/include
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
).
\layout Subsection
Upgrading from Aspell .33/Pspell .12
\layout Standard
Aspell has undergone an extremely large number of changes since the previous
Aspell/Pspell release.
For one thing Pspell has been merged with Aspell so there in no longer
two separate libraries you have to worry about.
\layout Standard
Because of the massive changes between Aspell/Pspell and Aspell 0.50 you
may want to clean out the old files before installing the the new Aspell.
To do so do a
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
make uninstall
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
in the original Aspell and Pspell source directories.
\layout Standard
The way dictionaries are handled has also changed.
This includes a change in the naming conventions of both language names
and dictionaries.
Due to the language name change, your old personal dictionaries will not
be recognized.
However, you can import the old dictionaries by running the
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
aspell-import
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
script.
This also means that dictionaries designed to work with older versions
of Aspell are not likely to function correctly.
Fortunately new dictionary packages are available for most languages.
You can find them off of the Aspell home page at
\begin_inset LatexCommand \url{http://aspell.net}
\end_inset
.
\layout Standard
The Pspell ABI is now part of Aspell except that the name of everything
has changed due to the renaming of Pspell to Aspell.
In particular please note the following name changes:
\layout Quote
pspell -> aspell
\newline
manager -> speller
\newline
emulation -> enumeration
\newline
master_word_list -> main_word_list
\layout Standard
Please also note that the name of the
\series bold
language-tag
\series default
option has changed to
\series bold
lang
\series default
.
However, for backward compatible the language-tag option will still work.
\layout Standard
However, you should also be able to build applications that require Pspell
with the new Aspell as a backward compatibility header file is provided.
\layout Standard
Due to a change in the way dictionaries are handled, scanning for .pwli files
in order to get find out which dictionaries are available will no longer
work.
This means that programs that relied on this technique may have problems
finding dictionaries.
Fortunately, GNU Aspell now provided a uniform way to list all installed
dictionaries via the C API.
See the file
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
list-dicts.c
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
in the examples/ directory for an example of how to due this.
Unfortunately there is isn't any simply way to find out which dictionaries
are installed which will work with both the old Aspell/Pspell and the new
GNU Aspell.
\layout Subsection
Upgrading from a pre-release snapshot
\layout Standard
At the last minute I decided to merge the
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
speller-util
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
program into the main
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
aspell
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
program.
You may right to remove that speller-util program to avoid confusion.
This also means that dictionaries designed to work with the snapshot will
no longer work with the official release.
\layout Subsection
Win32 Notes
\layout Standard
Due to limited time and my general dislike for Microsoft Windows, Win32
is not an officially supported platform for Aspell.
However, it is possible for someone with experience with the Cgiwin development
environment to create an Aspell binary and library (dll) using gcc as others
have done so.
The library, in theory, should be able to be used by any Win32 compiler
if it is compiled right, but this theory has never been tested.
\layout Standard
Aspell requires Gcc 2.95 (or better) and the Cgiwin development environment
in order to compile on Win32.
Both the Cgiwin or the Mingw version of Gcc should work.
The Mingw version of Aspell will have slightly less functionality, but
none of which is noticeable to the end user.
Microsoft Visual C++, however, will not work with the released version
of Aspell as the compiler is far to buggy as far as C++ compliance goes.
However, there is a patch available which should allow Aspell to compile
using Microsoft Visual C++ which you can find at
\begin_inset LatexCommand \url{ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/aspell}
\end_inset
.
\layout Standard
In order to get the nice full screen interface with Mingw when spell checking
files a curses implementation that does not require Cygwin is required.
The PDCurses (
\begin_inset LatexCommand \url{http://www.lightlink.com/hessling/PDCurses/}
\end_inset
) implementation is known to work, other implementations may work however
they have not been tested.
See the previous section for information on specifying the location of
the curses library and include file.
\layout Standard
If Aspell is compiled with --enable-win32-relocatable and the
\series bold
bindir
\series default
is set to the same value as
\series bold
prefix
\series default
(ie not <>/bin) then the Aspell directory (what prefix is set to)
can be relocated anywhere provided that none of the data files are moved
around within the Aspell directory.
Please not that this feature has not been tested with GNU Aspell 0.50 so
it may or may not work.
\layout Standard
The default paths for Aspell are designed for a Unix system and not a Win32
system so you might want to specify different ones when compiling Aspell.
Also if the HOME environmental variable is not set Aspell will assume it
is the current working directly.
This may lead to your personal word lists being saved in unpredictable
locations.
To solve this either compile with --enable-win32-relocatable (see above)
or specify the complete path of the personal and replacement word lists
in aspell.conf.
If Aspell is compiled with --enable-win32-relocatable than the personal
word lists are saved in the
\series bold
prefix
\series default
directory and the name is changed from
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
\family typewriter
.aspell..*
\family default
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
to
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
\family typewriter
.*
\family default
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
.
\layout Standard
If you have experience with using Cgiwin or a Unix like environment and
are willing to maintain an Aspell binary and/or library I would be willing
to work with you to get Aspell to compile.
If you are seriously interested please post to aspell-devel@gnu.org after
you have given it an initial try.
However, if, after reading this section, you do not know how to start then
you most likely do not have the necessary experience to be able to get
Aspell to compile.
Please do not bother me with questions such as
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
I would like to use Aspell on Win32 but I have no idea what to do.
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
, as I am not willing to teach you the basics of working with a Unix like
environment.
\layout Section
Using aspell-import
\layout Standard
The aspell-import Perl script will look for old personal dictionaries and
will import them into GNU Aspell.
It will look for both Ispell and Aspell ones.
To use it just run it from the command prompt.
If you get an error about /usr/bin/perl not being found than instead try
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
perl <>/aspell-import
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
.
When running the script if you get a message like:
\layout LyX-Code
Error: No word lists can be found for the language "de".
\layout Standard
This means that you have not installed support for the given language, in
this case
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
de
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
for German.
To rectify the situation download and install a dictionary designed to
work with GNU Aspell 0.50 or better.
\layout Chapter
Basic Usage
\layout Standard
For a quick reference on the Aspell utility use the command
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
aspell --help
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
.
\layout Section
Spellchecking Individual Files
\begin_inset LatexCommand \label{check}
\end_inset
\layout Standard
To use Aspell to spellcheck a file use:
\layout Quote
aspell check [<>] <>
\layout Standard
at the command line where <> is the file you want to check and
<> is any number of optional options.
Some of the more useful ones include:
\layout Description
--mode=<> the mode to use when checking files.
The available modes are none, url, email, sgml, or tex.
See section
\begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{filter}
\end_inset
for more informations on the various modes.
\layout Description
--dont-backup don't create a backup file.
\layout Description
--sug-mode=<> the suggestion mode to use where mode is one of ultra,
fast, normal, or bad-spellers.
See section
\begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{suggestion}
\end_inset
for more information on these modes.
\layout Description
--master=<> the main dictionary to use.
\layout Description
--keymapping=<> the keymapping to use.
Either
\series bold
aspell
\series default
for the default mapping or
\series bold
ispell
\series default
to use the same mapping that the ispell utility uses.
\layout Standard
Please see Chapter
\begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{customizing}
\end_inset
for more information on the available options.
\layout Standard
For example to check the file foo.txt:
\layout Quote
aspell check foo.txt
\layout Standard
and to check the file foo.txt using the bad-spellers suggestion mode and
the large American English dictionary:
\layout Quote
aspell check --sug-mode=bad-spellers --master=american-lrg foo.txt
\layout Standard
If the
\series bold
mode
\series default
option is not given then aspell will use the extension of the file to determine
the current mode.
If the extension is .tex, then TeX mode will be uses, if the extension is
.html, .htm, .php, or .sgml it will check the file in sgml mode, otherwise
it will use url mode.
These extensions can be changed via the
\series bold
tex-extension
\series default
and
\series bold
sgml-extension
\series default
options respectfully.
See chapter
\begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{filter}
\end_inset
for more information on the various modes that can be used.
\layout Standard
If Aspell was compiled with curses support and the TERM environmental variable
is set to a capable terminal type than Aspell will use a nice full screen
interface.
Otherwise it will use a simpler
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
dumb
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
terminal interface where the misspelled word is surrounded by two '*'.
In either case the interface should be self explanatory.
\layout Section
Using Aspell with other Applications
\layout Subsection
With Applications that Expect Ispell
\layout Standard
Aspell can be used as a drop in replacement for Ispell for programs that
use Ispell through a pipe such as Emacs and LyX.
It can also be used with programs that use simple call the ispell command
and expect the original file to be overwritten with the corrected version.
It support the basic features of Ispell, however it does not currently
have a Nroff mode so there may be situations in which you still wish to
use Ispell.
Nevertheless, I have been using Aspell for Xemacs and LyX since the middle
of September of 1998 with out any problems.
\layout Standard
If you do not have Ispell installed on your system and have installed the
Ispell compatibly script than you should not need to do anything as most
applications will that expect Ispell will work as expected with Aspell
via the Ispell compatibility script.
\layout Standard
Otherwise, the recommended way to use Aspell as a replacement for ispell
is to change the Ispell command from within the program being used.
If the program uses ispell in pipe mode simple change ispell to aspell.
If the program calls the
\series bold
\series default
ispell command to check the file change
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
ispell
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
\series bold
\series default
with
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
aspell check
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
.
\layout Standard
If that is impossible and the program uses ispell through a pipe than the
run-with-aspell script can be used for programs using ispell in pipe mode.
The format of the script is:
\layout Quote
run-with-aspell <>
\layout Standard
where <> is the name of the program with any optional arguments.
\layout Standard
The old method of mapping Ispell to Aspell is discouraged because it can
create compatibility problems with programs that actually require Ispell
such as Ispell's own scripts.
\layout Subsection
With Emacs and Xemacs
\layout Standard
The easiest way to use Aspell with Emacs or Xemacs is to add this line:
\layout LyX-Code
(setq-default ispell-program-name "aspell")
\layout Standard
to the end of your .emacs file.
\layout Standard
For some reason version 3.0 of ispell.el (the lisp program that (x)emacs uses)
want to reverse the suggestion list.
To fix this add this line:
\layout LyX-Code
(setq-default ispell-extra-args '("--reverse"))
\layout Standard
after the previous line in your .emacs file and it should solve the problem.
\layout Standard
Ispell.el, version 3.1 (December 1, 1998) and better, has the list reversing
problem fixed.
You can find it at
\begin_inset LatexCommand \url{http://www.kdstevens.com/~stevens/ispell-page.html}
\end_inset
.
\layout Subsection
With LyX
\layout Standard
Version 1.0 of LyX provides support for Aspell learning for users mistake
feature.
\layout Standard
To use aspell with LyX 1.0 either change the
\series bold
spell_command
\series default
option in the lyxrc file or use the run-with-aspell utility.
\layout Subsection
With VIM
\layout Standard
\shape italic
(The following section was written by "R.
Marc", rmarc at copacetic net.)
\layout Standard
To use aspell in vim you simply need to add the following line to your .vimrc
file:
\layout LyX-Code
map ^T :w!:!aspell check %:e! %
\layout Standard
I use since that's the way you spell check in pico.
In order to add a control character to your .vimrc you must type
first.
In this case .
\layout Standard
A more useful way to use Aspell, IMHO, is in combination with newsbody (
\begin_inset LatexCommand \url{http://www.image.dk/~byrial/newsbody/}
\end_inset
) which is how I use it since vim is my editor for my mailer and my news
reader.
\layout LyX-Code
map ^T
\backslash
1
\backslash
2:e! %
\layout LyX-Code
map
\backslash
1 :w!
\layout LyX-Code
map
\backslash
2 :!newsbody -qs -n % -p aspell check
\backslash
%f
\layout Subsection
With Pine
\layout Standard
To use aspell in pine simply change the option
\series bold
speller
\series default
to
\layout Quote
aspell --mode=email check
\layout Standard
To change the speller option go to the main menu.
Type
\series bold
S
\series default
for
\emph on
setup
\emph default
,
\series bold
C
\series default
for
\emph on
config
\emph default
, then W for
\emph on
where is
\emph default
.
Type in
\series bold
speller
\series default
as the word to find.
The speller option should be highlighted now.
Hit enter, type in the above line, and hit enter again.
Then type
\series bold
E
\series default
for
\emph on
exit setup
\emph default
and
\series bold
Y
\series default
to save the change.
\layout Standard
If you have a strong desire to check other peoples comments change
\series bold
speller
\series default
to
\layout Quote
aspell check
\layout Standard
instead which will avoid switching aspell into email mode.
\layout Chapter
Customizing Aspell
\begin_inset LatexCommand \label{customizing}
\end_inset
\layout Standard
The behavior of Aspell can be changed by any number of options which can
be specified at either the command line, the environmental variable ASPELL_CONF
, a personal configuration file, or a global configuration file.
Options specified on the command line override options specified by the
environmental variable.
Options specified by the environmental variable override options specified
by either of the configurations files.
Finally options specified by the personal configuration file override options
specified in the global configuration file.
Options specified in the environmental variable ASPELL_CONF, a personal
configuration file, or a global configuration file will take effect no
matter how Aspell is used which includes being used by other applications.
\layout Standard
Aspell has three basic type of options:
\series bold
boolean
\series default
,
\series bold
value
\series default
, and
\series bold
list
\series default
.
\series bold
Boolean
\series default
options are either enabled or disabled,
\series bold
value
\series default
options take a specific value, and
\series bold
list
\series default
options can either have entries added or removed from the list.
\layout Section
Specifying Options
\layout Subsection
At the Command Line
\layout Standard
All options specified at the command line have the following basic format:
\layout Quote
--<>[=<>]
\layout Standard
where the '=' can be replaced by whitespace.
\layout Standard
However some options also have single letter abbreviations of the form:
\layout Quote
-<>[<><>]
\layout Subsubsection
Boolean
\layout Standard
To enable a boolean option simply special the option with out any corresponding
value.
For example to ignore accents when checking words use
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
--ignore-accents
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
.
To disable a boolean option prefix the option name with a
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
dont-
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
.
For example to not ignore accents when checking words use
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
--dont-ignore-accents
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
.
\layout Standard
If a boolean option has a single letter abbreviation simply give the letter
corresponding to either enabling or disabling the option with out any correspon
ding value.
For example to consider run-together words legal use
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
-C
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
or to consider them illegal use
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
-B
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
\layout Subsubsection
Value
\layout Standard
To specify a value option simply specify the option with its corresponding
value.
For example to set the filter mode to Tex use
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
--mode=tex
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
.
\layout Standard
If a value option has a single letter shortcut simply specify the single
letter short cut with its corresponding value.
For example to use a large american dictionary use
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
-d american-lrg
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
.
\layout Subsubsection
List
\layout Standard
To add a value to the list prefix the option name with a
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
add-
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
and then specify the value to add.
For example to add the URL filter use
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
--add-filter url
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
.
To remove a value from a list option prefix the option name with a
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
rem-
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
and then specify the value to remove.
For example to remove the URL filter use
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
--rem-filter url
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
.
To remove all items from a list prefix the option name with a
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
rem-all
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
without specify any value.
For example to remove all filters use
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
--rem-all-filter
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
.
\layout Subsection
Via a Configuration File
\layout Standard
Aspell can also accept options via a personal or global configuration file.
The exact files to used are specified by the options
\series bold
per-conf
\series default
and
\series bold
conf
\series default
respectfully but the personal configuration file is normally
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
.aspell.conf
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
located in the HOME directory and the global one is normally
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
aspell.conf
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
which is located in the etc directory which is normally
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
/usr/etc
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
or
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
/usr/local/etc
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
.
To find out the particular values for your particular system use
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
aspell dump config
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
.
\layout Standard
Each line of the configuration file has the format:
\layout LyX-Code
<> [<>]
\layout Standard
There may any number of spaces between the option and the value however
it can only be spaces, ie there is no '=' between the option name and the
value.
\layout Standard
Comments may also be included by preceding them with a '#' as anything from
a
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
#
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
to a newline is ignored.
Blank lines are also allowed.
\layout Standard
Values set in the personal configuration file override those in the global
file.
Options specified at either the command line or via an environmental variable
override those specified by either configuration file.
\layout Subsubsection
Boolean
\layout Standard
To specify a boolean option simply include the option followed by a
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
true
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
to enable it or a
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
false
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
to disable it.
For example to allow run-together words use
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
run-together true
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
.
\layout Subsubsection
Value
\layout Standard
To specify a value option simply include the option followed by the correspondin
g option.
For example to set the default language to german use
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
lang german
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
.
\layout Subsubsection
List
\layout Standard
To add a value to the list prefix the option name with a
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
add-
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
and then specify the value to add.
For example to add the URL filter use
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
add-filter url
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
.
To remove a value from a list option prefix the option name with a
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
rem-
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
and then specify the value to remove.
For example to remove the URL filter use
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
rem-filter url
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
.
To remove all items from a list prefix the option name with a
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
rem-all
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
without specify any value.
For example to remove all filters use
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
rem-all-filter
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
.
\layout Subsection
Via an Environmental Variable
\layout Standard
The environmental variable ASPELL_CONF may also be used and it overrides
any options set in the configuration file.
The format of the string is exactly the same as the configuration file
except that semicolons ( ; ) are used instead of newlines.
\layout Section
The Options
\begin_inset LatexCommand \label{options}
\end_inset
\layout Standard
The following is a list of available options broken down by category.
Each entry has the following format:
\layout Standard
\begin_inset ERT
status Collapsed
\layout Standard
\backslash
begin{quote}
\backslash
begin{description}
\newline
\backslash
item [<>[,<>]] (<>) <>
\newline
\backslash
end{description}
\backslash
end{quote}
\end_inset
\layout Standard
Where single letter options are specified as they would appear at the command
line, ie with the preceding dash.
Boolean single letter options are specified in the following format:
\layout Quote
-<>|-<>
\layout Standard
<> is one of the following:
\series bold
boolean
\series default
,
\series bold
string
\series default
,
\series bold
file
\series default
,
\series bold
dir
\series default
,
\series bold
integer
\series default
, or
\series bold
list
\series default
.
\series bold
String
\series default
,
\series bold
file
\series default
,
\series bold
dir
\series default
, and
\series bold
integer
\series default
types are all value options which can only take a specific type of value.
\layout Subsection
Dictionary Options
\layout Standard
The following options may be used to control which dictionaries to use and
how they behave (see section
\begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{dict-opts}
\end_inset
for more information):
\layout Description
master,-d
\shape italic
(string)
\shape default
base name of the dictionary to use.
If this option is specifed than Aspell with either use this dictionary
or die.
\layout Description
dict-dir
\shape italic
(dir)
\shape default
location of the main word list
\layout Description
lang
\shape italic
(string)
\shape default
language to use, it follows the same format of the LANG environmental variable
on most systems.
It consists of the two letter ISO 639 language code and an optional two
letter ISO 3166 country code after a dash or underscore.
The default value is based on the value of the LC_MESSAGES locale.
\layout Description
size
\shape italic
(string)
\shape default
the preferred size of the word list
\layout Description
jargon
\shape italic
(string)
\shape default
an extra information to distinguish two different words lists that have
the same lang and size.
\layout Description
word-list-path
\shape italic
(list)
\shape default
search path for word list information files
\layout Description
module-search-order
\shape italic
(list)
\shape default
list of available modules, modules that come first on this list have a
higher priority.
Currently there is only one speller module.
\layout Description
personal,-p
\shape italic
(file)
\shape default
personal word list file name
\layout Description
repl
\shape italic
(file)
\shape default
replacements list file name
\layout Description
extra-dicts
\shape italic
(list)
\shape default
extra dictionaries to use.
\layout Description
strip-accents
\shape italic
(boolean)
\shape default
strip accents from all words in the dictionary
\layout Subsection
Checker Options
\layout Standard
These options control the beahvior of Aspell when checking documents.
\layout Description
ignore,-W (
\shape italic
integer
\shape default
) ignore words <= n chars
\layout Description
ignore-case
\shape italic
(boolean)
\shape default
ignore case when checking words
\layout Description
ignore-accents
\shape italic
(boolean)
\shape default
ignore accents when checking words
\layout Description
ignore-repl
\shape italic
(boolean)
\shape default
ignore commands to store replacement pairs
\layout Description
save-repl
\shape italic
(boolean)
\shape default
save the replacement word list on save allkeyboard
\shape italic
(file)
\shape default
the base name of the keyboard definition file to use (see section
\begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{typo}
\end_inset
)
\layout Description
sug-mode
\shape italic
(mode)
\shape default
suggestion mode = ultra | fast | normal | bad-spellers (see section
\begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{suggestion}
\end_inset
)
\layout Subsection
Filter Options
\layout Standard
These options modify the behavior of the various filters (see section
\begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{filter}
\end_inset
for more information):
\layout Description
filter
\shape italic
(list)
\shape default
add or removes a filter
\layout Description
mode
\shape italic
(string)
\shape default
sets the filter mode.
Mode is one if none, url, email, sgml, or tex.
(The short cut options '-e' may be used for email, '-H' for Html/Sgml,
or '-t' for Tex)
\layout Description
encoding
\shape italic
(string)
\shape default
The encoding the input text is in.
Valid values are
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
utf-8
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
,
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
iso8859-*
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
,
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
koi8-r
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
,
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
viscii
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
,
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
cp1252
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
,
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
machine unsigned 16
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
,
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
machine unsigned 32
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
.
However, the aspell utility will currently only function correctly with
8-bit encodings.
I hope to provide utf-8 support in the future.
The two
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
machine unsigned
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
encodings are entended to be used by other programs using the Aspell librarary
and it is unlikly the Aspell utility will ever support these encodings.
\layout Description
add|rem-email-quote
\shape italic
(list)
\shape default
email quote characters
\layout Description
email-margin
\shape italic
(integer)
\shape default
num chars that can appear before the quote char
\layout Description
sgml-check
\shape italic
(list)
\shape default
sgml attributes to always check.
\layout Description
sgml-extension
\shape italic
(list)
\shape default
sgml file extensions.
\layout Description
tex-command
\shape italic
(list)
\shape default
TeX commands
\layout Description
tex-check-comments
\shape italic
(boolean)
\shape default
check TeX comments
\layout Subsection
Run-together Word Options
\layout Standard
These may be used to control the behavior of run-together words (see section
\begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{run-together}
\end_inset
for more information):
\layout Description
run-together,-C|-B
\shape italic
(boolean)
\shape default
consider run-together words legal
\layout Description
run-together-limit
\shape italic
(integer)
\shape default
maximum numbers that can be strung together
\layout Description
run-together-min
\shape italic
(integer)
\shape default
minimal length of interior words
\layout Subsection
Misc Options
\layout Standard
Misc.
other options that don't fall under any other catagory
\layout Description
conf
\shape italic
(file)
\shape default
main configuration file
\layout Description
conf-dir
\shape italic
(dir)
\shape default
location of main configuration file
\layout Description
data-dir
\shape italic
(dir
\shape default
) location of language data files
\layout Description
local-data-dir
\shape italic
(dir)
\shape default
alternative location of language data files.
This directory is searched before
\series bold
data-dir
\series default
.
It defaults to the same directory the actual main word list is in (which
is not necessarily dict-dir).
\layout Description
home-dir (
\shape italic
dir
\shape default
) location for personal files
\layout Description
per-conf
\shape italic
(file)
\shape default
personal configuration file
\layout Description
prefix
\shape italic
(dir)
\shape default
prefix directory
\layout Description
set-prefix
\shape italic
(boolean)
\shape default
set the prefix based on executable location (only works on Win32 and when
compiled with --enable-win32-relocatable)
\layout Subsection
Aspell Utility Options
\layout Description
backup,-b|-x
\shape italic
(boolean)
\shape default
create a backup file by appending
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
.bak
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
to the file name.
(Only applies when the command is
\series bold
check
\series default
)
\layout Description
time
\shape italic
(boolean)
\shape default
time load time and suggest time in pipe mode.
\layout Description
reverse
\shape italic
(boolean)
\shape default
reverse the order of the suggestions list.
\layout Description
keymapping
\shape italic
(string)
\shape default
the keymapping to use.
Either
\series bold
aspell
\series default
for the default mapping or
\series bold
ispell
\series default
to use the same mapping that the ispell utility uses.
\layout Section
Dumping Configuration Values
\layout Standard
To find out the current value of all the options use the command
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
aspell dump config
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
.
This will dump the current configuration to standard output.
The format of the contents dumped is such that it can be used as either
the global or personal configuration file.
\layout Standard
To find out the current value of a particular option use
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
aspell config < >
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
.
This will print out the value of < > to stdout and nothing else.
\layout Section
Notes on various Options
\layout Subsection
Notes on Various Filters and Filter Modes
\begin_inset LatexCommand \label{filter}
\end_inset
\layout Standard
Aspell now has rudimentary filter support.
You can either select from individual filters or chose a filter mode.
To select a filter mode use the
\series bold
mode
\series default
option.
You may chose from
\series bold
none
\series default
,
\series bold
url
\series default
,
\series bold
email
\series default
,
\series bold
sgml
\series default
, and
\series bold
tex
\series default
.
The default mode is
\series bold
url
\series default
.
Individual filters can be added with the option
\series bold
add-filter
\series default
and remove with the
\series bold
rem-filter
\series default
option.
The currently available filters are
\series bold
url
\series default
,
\series bold
email
\series default
,
\series bold
sgml
\series default
,
\series bold
tex
\series default
as well as a bunch of filters which translate the text from one format
to another.
\layout Subsubsection
None Mode
\layout Standard
This mode is exactly what it says.
It turns off all filters.
\layout Subsubsection
Url Filter/Mode
\layout Standard
The
\series bold
url
\series default
filter/mode skips over URL's, host names, and email addresses.
Because this filter is almost always useful and rarely does any harm it
is enabled in all modes except
\series bold
none
\series default
.
To turn it off either select the
\series bold
none
\series default
mode or use
\series bold
rem-filter
\series default
option
\emph on
after
\emph default
the desired mode is selected.
\layout Subsubsection
Email Filter/Mode
\layout Standard
The
\series bold
email
\series default
filter/mode skips over quoted text.
It currently does not support skipping over headers however a future version
should.
In the mean time I suggest you use Aspell with Newsbody which can be found
at
\begin_inset LatexCommand \url{http://home.worldonline.dk/~byrial/newsbody/}
\end_inset
.
The option
\series bold
email-skip
\series default
controls the number of characters that can appear before the email quote
char, the default is 10.
The option
\series bold
add|rem-email-quote
\series default
controls the characters that are considered quote characters, the default
is
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
>' and '|'.
\layout Subsubsection
SGML Filter/Mode
\begin_inset LatexCommand \label{sgml}
\end_inset
\layout Standard
The
\series bold
sgml
\series default
filter/mode will skip over sgml commands.
It currently does not handle nested < > unless they are in quotes.
It also does it handle the null end tag (net) minimization feature of sgml
such as
\layout Quote
>\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
<>
\layout Standard
The first item is simple the command name.
The second item controls which parameters to skip over.
A 'p' skips over a parameter while a 'P' won't.
Similar an 'o' will skip over an optional parameter while a 'O' won't.
The first letter on the list will apply to the first parameter, the second
letter will apply to the second parameter etc.
If there are more parameters than letters Aspell will simply check them
as normal.
For example the option
\layout Quote
add-tex-command rule pp
\layout Standard
will skip over the first two parameters of the
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
rule
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
command while the option
\layout Quote
add-tex-command foo Pop
\layout Standard
will
\emph on
check
\emph default
the first parameter of the
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
foo
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
command, skip over the next optional parameter, if it is present, and will
skip over the second parameter --- even if the optional parameter is not
present --- and will check any additional parameters.
\layout Standard
A'*' at the end of the command is simply ignored.
For example the option
\layout Quote
enlargethispage p
\layout Standard
will ignore the first parameter in both enlargethispage and enlargethispage*.
\layout Standard
To remove a command simple use the
\series bold
rem-tex-command
\series default
option.
For example
\layout Quote
rem-tex-command foo
\layout Standard
will remove the command foo, if present, from the list of TeX commands.
\layout Subsection
Notes on the Prefix Option
\layout Standard
The
\series bold
prefix
\series default
option is there to allow Aspell to easily be relocated.
Changing
\series bold
prefix
\series default
will change all directory names relative to the new prefix that are not
explicitly set.
For example if
\series bold
prefix
\series default
was
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
/usr/local/aspell
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
and
\series bold
dict-dir
\series default
has a default value of
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
/usr/local/aspell/dict
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
than changing
\series bold
prefix
\series default
to
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
/opt/aspell
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
will also change the default value of
\series bold
dict-dir
\series default
to
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
/opt/aspell/dict
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
.
Note that modifying prefix will only effect the default compiled in values
of directories.
If a directory option is explicitly given a value than changing the value
of
\series bold
prefix
\series default
has no effect on that directory option.
\layout Subsection
Notes on Typo-Analysis and the Keyboard Definition File
\begin_inset LatexCommand \label{typo}
\end_inset
\layout Standard
Aspell .33 and better will, in general, give a higher priority to certain
misspelling which are likely to be due to typos such as
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
teh
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
instead of
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
the
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
or
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
hapoy
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
instead of
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
happy
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
.
However in order to do this well Aspell needs to know the layout of the
keyboard.
The keyboard definition file simply identifies keys that are right next
to each other.
The file has an extension of .kbd and each line consists of two letters
corresponding to two keys that are right next to each other.
For example the line
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
as
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
will indicate that '
\family typewriter
\series bold
a
\family default
\series default
' and '
\family typewriter
\series bold
s
\family default
\series default
' are right next to each other.
If
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
as
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
is listed as a entry it is not necessary to list
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
sa
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
as an entry as that will be done automatically.
Also by
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
right next to each other
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
I mean to keys that are close enough together that it is easy to type one
instead of the other.
On most keyboards this means keys that are to the left or to the right
of each other and not
\emph on
keys
\emph default
that are below or above it.
\layout Standard
The default for this option is normally
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
standard
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
.
However the default can be changed via the language data file.
The normal default,
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
standard
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
, should work well for most QWERTY like keyboard layouts.
It may need minor adjusting for foreign keyboards.
The
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
dvorak
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
option can for a Dvorak layout.
When creating a keyboard definition file for a foreign language please
keep in mind that Aspell completely ignores accents when scoring words
so that the key '
\family typewriter
\series bold
o
\family default
\series default
' and '
\family typewriter
\series bold
ö
\family default
\series default
' will appear to be the same key to aspell even if they are in fact separate
keys on your keyboard.
\layout Subsection
Notes on the Different Suggestion Modes
\begin_inset LatexCommand \label{suggestion}
\end_inset
\layout Standard
In order to understand what these suggestion modes do, a basic understanding
of how aspell works is required.
See section
\begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{works}
\end_inset
for that.
The suggestion modes are as follows.
\layout Description
ultra This method will use the fastest method available to come up with
decent suggestions.
This currently means that it will look for soundslikes within one edit
distance apart without doing any typo analysis.
It is slower than Ispell by a factor of 1.5 to 2 when a single word list
is used.
It speed is only minor affected by the size of the word list, if at all,
but it is strongly effected by the number of word lists use.
In this mode Aspell gets about 87% of the words from my small test kernel
of misspelled words.
(Go to
\begin_inset LatexCommand \url{http://aspell.net/test}
\end_inset
for more info on the test kernel as well as comparisons of this version
of Aspell with previous versions and other spell checkers.)
\layout Description
fast This method is like ultra except that it also performs typo analysis
unless it is turned off by setting the keyboard to none.
The typo analysis brings words which are likely to be due to typos to the
beginning of the list but slows things down by a factor of about two.
This mode should get around the same number of words that the ultra method
does.
\layout Description
normal This method looks for soundslikes within two edit distance apart
and perform typo-analysis unless it is turned off.
Is is around 10 times slower than fast mode with the english word list
but returns better suggestions.
Its speed is directly proportional to the size of the word list.
This mode gets 93% of the words.
\layout Description
bad-spellers This method also looks for soundslikes within two edit distances
apart but is more tailored for the bad speller where as fast or normal
are more tailed to strike a good balance between typos and true misspellings.
This mode never performs typo-analysis and returns a
\emph on
huge
\emph default
number of words for the really bad spellers who can't seam to get the spelling
anything close to what it should be.
If the misspelled word looks anything like the correct spelling it is bound
to be found
\emph on
somewhere
\emph default
on the list of 100 or more suggestions.
This mode gets 98% of the words.
\layout Chapter
Working With Dictionaries
\begin_inset LatexCommand \label{manage}
\end_inset
\begin_inset LatexCommand \label{dict-opts}
\end_inset
\layout Section
How Aspell Selects an Appropriate Dictionary
\layout Standard
If the
\series bold
master
\series default
options is set in any fashion (via the command line, the ASPELL_CONF environmen
tal variable, or a configuration file) Aspell will look for a dictionary
of that name.
If one could not be found complain.
\layout Standard
Otherwise it will use the value of the
\series bold
lang
\series default
option to search for an appropriate dictionary.
If more than one dictionary is found for the given language string than
it will look for a dictionary with a matching jargon if the
\series bold
jargon
\series default
option is set.
If it is not set it will look for a dictionary with no jargon.
If after matching the lang and jargon there is still more than one dictionary
available it will find one with the size closest to the value of the
\series bold
size
\series default
option.
The default size is 60.
If Aspell can not find a dictionary based on the
\series bold
lang
\series default
option than it will give up and complain.
\layout Standard
If the
\series bold
lang
\series default
option is not explicitly set its value will be based on the LC_MESSAGES
locale.
This locale is generally taken from the LC_MESSAGES environmental variable
or the LANG environmental variable if LC_MESSAGES is not set.
However, if Aspell is being used as a library from within another program
which already explicitly set the locale then it will use the locale of
the library rather than the environmental variables.
If Aspell can not determine the language from the LC_MESSAGES locale than
it will default to
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
en_US
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
.
\layout Section
Listing Available Dictionaries
\layout Standard
For a list of available dictionaries use the command
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
aspell dump dicts
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
.
This will form a list of dictionaries that aspell will search when a dictionary
is not specifically given.
\layout Section
Dumping the contents of the word list
\layout Standard
The dump command in
\series bold
aspell
\series default
will simply dump the contents of a word list to stdout in a format than
can be read back in with
\series bold
aspell create
\series default
.
\layout Standard
If no word list is specified the command will act on the default one.
For example the command
\layout Quote
aspell dump personal
\layout Standard
will simply dump the contents of the current personal word list to stdout.
\layout Section
Creating an Individual Word List
\layout Standard
To create an individual main word list from a list of words use the command
\layout Quote
aspell --lang=<> create master ./<>
\layout Standard
where <> is the list
of words separated by white space.
The name of the word list will automatically be converted to all lowercase.
The
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
./
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
is important because without it aspell will create the word list in the
normal word list directory.
If you are trying to create a word list in a language other than english
check the aspell data-dir (usually /usr/share/aspell, use
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
aspell dump config
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
to find out what it is on your system) to see if a language data file exists
for your language.
If not you will need to create one.
See chapter
\begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{inter}
\end_inset
for more information on using Aspell with other languages.
\layout Standard
This will create the file <> <>
\layout Section
Using Multi Dictionaries
\layout Standard
As with precious versions of aspell you can specify the main dictionary
to use via the -d or --master option.
However as of Aspell .32 you can now also:
\layout Enumerate
Specify more than word list to use with the
\series bold
extra-dicts
\series default
option.
\layout Enumerate
Optionally have all accents striped form the word lists using
\series bold
strip-accents
\series default
option.
This is
\emph on
not
\emph default
the same thing as the
\series bold
ignore-accents
\series default
option.
As enabling the
\series bold
ignore-accents
\series default
would accept both cafe and café (notice the accent on the e), but only
enabling strip-accents would only accent cafe, even if café is in the original
dictionary.
Specify
\series bold
strip-accents
\series default
is just like using a word list with out the accents.
\layout Enumerate
Specify special
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
multi
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
dictionaries.
\layout Standard
A
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
multi
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
dictionary is a special file which basically a list of dictionary files
to use.
A multi dictionary must end is
\series bold
.multi
\series default
and has roughly the same format of a configuration file where the two valid
keys are
\series bold
add
\series default
and
\series bold
strip-accents
\series default
.
The
\series bold
add
\series default
key is used for adding individual word lists, or other
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
multi
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
files.
The
\series bold
strip-accents
\series default
key is used to control if accents are striped from the dictionaries.
Unlike the global strip-accent option this option only effects word lists
that came after the option.
For example:
\layout Quote
strip-accents yes
\newline
add english
\newline
strip-accents no
\newline
add must-accent
\layout Standard
will strip accents from the english word list but not the must-accent word
list.
If the global strip-accents option is specified the local strip-accents
options are ignored
\layout LyX-Code
\layout Section
Dictionary Naming
\begin_inset LatexCommand \label{dictname}
\end_inset
\layout Standard
In order for Aspell to be able to correctly recognize a dictionary based
on the setting of the LANG environmental variable the dictionaries need
to be located some where Aspell can find it and they need to be a
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
multi
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
dictionary.
Where aspell looks for dictionaries depends on the value of the
\series bold
dict-dir
\series default
and
\series bold
word-list-path
\series default
option.
\series bold
Dict-dir
\series default
is generally <>/lib/aspell, and
\series bold
word-list-path
\series default
is generally empty.
\layout Standard
Each dictionary that you expect aspell to be able to find needs to have
the following name:
\layout Quote
<>[_<][-<>][-<>].multi
\layout Standard
Where <> is the two letter language code, <> is the two
letter region code, <> is any extra informations to distinguish
the word list from other ones with the same language and spelling, and
<> is the size of the dictionary.
If no size is specified that the default size of 60 will be assumed.
\layout Standard
For example:
\layout Quote
en.multi
\newline
en_US.multi
\newline
en-medical.multi
\newline
en-medical-85.multi
\newline
en-85.multi
\newline
de.multi
\layout Section
AWLI files
\layout Standard
In order for Aspell to find dictionaries that are located in odd places
or not named according to section
\begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{dictname}
\end_inset
a AWLI file needs to be created for the dictionary and located in some
place where Aspell can find it.
\layout Standard
Each AWLI has the the following name:
\layout Quote
<>[_<][-<>][-<>]-<>.awli
\layout Standard
Where the names have the same meaning as in section
\begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{dictname}
\end_inset
and <> is the speller module to use, which should be set to
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
default
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
for now since there is only one speller module.
\layout Standard
Each AWLI file for an Aspell word list should then contain exactly one line
which contains the full path of the main word list.
\layout Chapter
Writing programs to use Aspell
\layout Standard
There are two main ways to use aspell from within your application.
Through the external C API or though a pipe.
The internal Aspell API can be used directly but that is not recommended
as the actual Aspell API is constantly changing.
\layout Section
Though the C API
\layout Standard
The Aspell library contains two main classes and several helper classes.
The two main classes are AspellConfig and AspellMaster.
The AspellConfig class is used to set initial defaults and to change spell
checker specific options.
The AspellManager class does most of the real work.
It is responsible for managing the dictionaries, checking if a word is
in the dictionary, and coming up with suggestions among other things.
There are many helper classes the important ones are AspellWordList, AspellMuta
bleWordList, Aspell*Enumeration.
The AspellWordList classes is used for accessing the suggestion list, as
well as the personal and suggestion word list currently in use.
The AspellMutableWordList is used to manage the personal, and perhaps other,
word lists.
The Aspell*Enumeration classes are used for iterating through a list.
\layout Subsection
Usage
\layout Standard
To use Aspell your application should include
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
aspell.h
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
.
In order to insure that all the necessary libraries are linked in libtool
should be used to perform the linking.
When using libtool simply linking with
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
-laspell
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
should be all that is necessary.
When using shared libraries you might be able to simply link
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
-laspell
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
, but this is not recommended.
This version of Aspell uses the CVS version of libtool however released
versions of libtool should also work.
\layout Standard
When your application first starts you should get a new configuration class
with the command:
\layout LyX-Code
AspellConfig * spell_config = new_aspell_config();
\layout Standard
which will create a new AspellConfig class.
It is allocated with new and it is your responsibility to delete it with
delete_aspell_config.
Once you have the config class you should set some variables.
The most important one is the language variable.
To do so use the command:
\layout LyX-Code
aspell_config_replace(spell_config, "lang", "en_US");
\layout Standard
which will set the default language to use to American English.
The language is expected to be the standard two letter ISO 639 language
code, with an optional two letter ISO 3166 country code after an underscore.
You can set the preferred size via the
\series bold
size
\series default
option, any extra info via the
\series bold
jargon
\series default
option, and the encoding via the
\series bold
encoding
\series default
option.
Other things you might want to set is the preferred spell checker to use,
the search path for dictionary's, and the like see section
\begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{options}
\end_inset
for a list of all available options.
\layout Standard
When ever a new document is created a new AspellManager class should also
be created.
There should be one speller class per document.
To create a new speller class use the new_aspell_speller and then cast
it up using to_aspell_speller like so.
\layout LyX-Code
AspellCanHaveError * possible_err = new_aspell_speller(spell_config);
\layout LyX-Code
AspellManager * spell_checker = 0;
\layout LyX-Code
if (aspell_error_number(possible_err) != 0)
\layout LyX-Code
puts(aspell_error_message(possible_err));
\layout LyX-Code
else
\layout LyX-Code
spell_checker = to_aspell_speller(possible_err);
\layout Standard
which will create a new AspellManager class using the defaults found in
spell_config.
To find out which dictionary is selected the
\series bold
lang
\series default
,
\series bold
size
\series default
, and
\series bold
jargon
\series default
options may be examinded.
To find out the exact name of the dictionary the
\series bold
master
\series default
option way be examned as well as the
\series bold
master-flags
\series default
opntions to see if any special flags that were passed on to the module.
The
\series bold
module
\series default
option way also be examed to figure out which speller module was selected,
but since there is only one this option will always be the same.
\layout Standard
If for some reason you want to use different defaults simply clone spell_config
and change the setting like so:
\layout LyX-Code
AspellConfig * spell_config2 = aspell_config_clone(spell_config);
\layout LyX-Code
aspell_config_replace(spell_config2, "lang","nl");
\layout LyX-Code
possible_err = new_aspell_speller(spell_config2);
\layout LyX-Code
delete_aspell_config(spell_config2);
\layout Standard
Once the speller class is created you can use the check method to see if
a word in the document is correct like so:
\layout LyX-Code
int correct = aspell_speller_check(spell_checker, , );
\layout Standard
can is expected to a const char * character string.
If the encoding is set to be
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
machine unsigned 16
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
or
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
machine unsigned 32
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
.
is expected to be a cast from either const u16int * or const u32int*
respectfully.
U16int and u32int are generally unsigned short and unsigned int respectfully.
is the length of the string or -1 if the sting is null terminated.
If the string is a cast from const u16int * or const u32int * then size
is the amount of space in bytes the string takes up after being casted
to const char * and not the true size of the string.
Aspell_speller_check will return 0 is it is not found and non-zero otherwise.
\layout Standard
If the word is not correct than the suggest method can be used to come up
with likely replacements.
\layout LyX-Code
AspellWordList * suggestions = aspell_speller_suggest(spell_checker, ,
);
\layout LyX-Code
AspellStringEnumeration * elements = aspell_word_list_elements(suggestions);
\layout LyX-Code
const char * word;
\layout LyX-Code
while ( (word = aspell_string_enumeration_next(aspell_elements) != NULL
) {
\layout LyX-Code
// add to suggestion list
\layout LyX-Code
}
\layout LyX-Code
delete_aspell_string_manag(elements);
\layout Standard
Notice how
\family typewriter
elements
\family default
is deleted but
\family typewriter
suggestions
\family default
is not.
The value returned by suggestions is only valid to the next call to suggest.
Once a replacement is made the store_repl method should be used to communicate
the replacement pair back to the spell checker (see section
\begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{replpair}
\end_inset
for why).
It usage is as follows:
\layout LyX-Code
aspell_speller_store_repl(spell_checker,
\layout LyX-Code
, ,
\layout LyX-Code
, );
\layout Standard
If the user decided to add the word to the session or personal dictionary
the the word can be be added using the add_to_session or add_to_personal
methods respectfully like so:
\layout LyX-Code
aspell_speller_add_to_session|personal(spell_checker, , );
\layout Standard
It is better to let the spell checker manage these words rather than doing
it your self so that the words have a change of appearing in the suggestion
list.
\layout Standard
Finally, when the document is closed the AspellManager class should be deleted
like so.
\layout LyX-Code
delete_aspell_speller(spell_checker);
\layout Subsection
API Reference
\layout Standard
Methods that return a boolean result generally return false on error and
true other wise.
To find out what went wrong use the error_number and error_message methods.
Unless otherwise stated methods that return a
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
const char *
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
will return null on error.
In general, the charter string returned is only valid until the next method
which returns a
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
const char *
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
is called.
\layout Standard
For the details of the various classes please see the header files.
In the future I will generate class references using some automated tool.
\layout Subsection
Examples
\layout Standard
Two simple examples are included in the examples directory.
The
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
example-c
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
program demenstracts most of the Aspell library functionary and the
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
list-dicts
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
lists the available dictionaries.
\layout Subsection
Notes About Thread Safety
\layout Standard
Read-only Aspell methods and functions should be thread safe as long as
exceptions, new, delete, delete[], and STL allocators are thread safe.
To the best of my knowledge gcc and egcs meet these requirements.
It is up to the programmer to make sure multiple threads do not do thing
such as change the dictionaries and add or delete items from the personal
or session dictionaries.
\layout Section
Through A Pipe
\begin_inset LatexCommand \label{pipe}
\end_inset
\layout Standard
When given the
\series bold
pipe
\series default
or
\series bold
-a
\series default
command aspell goes into a pipe mode that is compatible with
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
ispell -a
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
.
Aspell also defines its own set of extensions to ispell pipe mode.
\layout Subsection
Format of the Data Stream
\begin_inset LatexCommand \label{data_stream}
\end_inset
\layout Standard
In this mode, Aspell prints a one-line version identification message, and
then begins reading lines of input.
For each input line, a single line is written to the standard output for
each word checked for spelling on the line.
If the word was found in the main dictionary, or your personal dictionary,
then the line contains only a '*'.
\layout Standard
If the word is not in the dictionary, but there are suggestions, then the
line contains an '&', a space, the misspelled word, a space, the number
of near misses, the number of characters between the beginning of the line
and the beginning of the misspelled word, a colon, another space, and a
list of the suggestions separated by commas and spaces.
\layout Standard
Finally, if the word does not appear in the dictionary, and there are no
suggestions, then the line contains a '#', a space, the misspelled word,
a space, and the character offset from the beginning of the line.
Each sentence of text input is terminated with an additional blank line,
indicating that ispell has completed processing the input line.
\layout Standard
These output lines can be summarized as follows:
\layout Description
OK: *
\layout Description
Suggestions: & <> <> <>: <>, <>, ...
\layout Description
None: # <> <>
\layout Standard
When in the -a mode, Aspell will also accept lines of single words prefixed
with any of '*', '&', '@', '+', '-', '~', '#', '!', '%', or '^'.
A line starting with '*' tells ispell to insert the word into the user's
dictionary.
A line starting with '&' tells ispell to insert an all-lowercase version
of the word into the user's dictionary.
A line starting with '@' causes ispell to accept this word in the future.
A line starting with '+', followed immediately by a valid mode will cause
aspell to parse future input according the syntax of that formatter.
A line consisting solely of a '+' will place ispell in TeX/LaTeX mode (similar
to the -t option) and '-' returns aspell to its default mode (but these
commands are obsolete).
A line '~', is ignored for ispell compatibility.
A line prefixed with '#' will cause the personal dictionaries to be saved.
A line prefixed with '!' will turn on terse mode (see below), and a line
prefixed with '%' will return ispell to normal (non-terse) mode.
Any input following the prefix characters '+', '-', '#', '!', '~', or '%'
is ignored, as is any input following.
To allow spell-checking of lines beginning with these characters, a line
starting with '^' has that character removed before it is passed to the
spell-checking code.
It is recommended that programmatic interfaces prefix every data line with
an uparrow to protect themselves against future changes in Aspell.
\layout Standard
To summarize these:
\layout Description
*<> Add a word to the personal dictionary
\layout Description
&<> Insert the all-lowercase version of the word in the personal dictionar
y
\layout Description
@<> Accept the word, but leave it out of the dictionary
\layout Description
# Save the current personal dictionary
\layout Description
~ Ignored for ispell compatibility.
\layout Description
+ Enter TeX mode.
\layout Description
+<> Enter the mode specified by <>.
\layout Description
- Enter the default mode.
\layout Description
! Enter terse mode
\layout Description
% Exit terse mode
\layout Description
^ Spell-check the rest of the line
\layout Standard
In terse mode, Aspell will not print lines beginning with '*', which indicate
correct words.
This significantly improves running speed when the driving program is going
to ignore correct words anyway.
\layout Standard
In addition to the above commands which are designed for Ispell compatibility
Aspell also supports its own extension.
All Aspell extensions follow the following format.
\layout Quote
$$<> [data]
\layout Standard
Where data may or may not be required depending on the particular command.
Aspell currently supports the following command.
\layout Description
cs\SpecialChar ~
<>,<> Change a configuration option.
\layout Description
cr\SpecialChar ~
<> Prints the value of a configuration option.
\layout Description
pp Returns a list of all words in the current personal wordlist.
\layout Description
ps Returns a list of all words in the current session dictionary.
\layout Description
l Returns the current language name.
\layout Description
ra\SpecialChar ~
<>,<> Add the word pair to the replacement dictionary for latter
use.
Returns nothing.
\layout Standard
Anything returned is returned on its own line line.
All lists returned have the following format
\layout Quote
<>: <>, <>, <>
\layout Standard
\emph on
(Part of the preceding section was directly copied out of the Ispell manual)
\layout Section
Notes of Storing Replacement Pairs
\begin_inset LatexCommand \label{replpair}
\end_inset
\layout Standard
The store_repl method and the $$ra should be used because Aspell is able
to learn from users misspellings.
For example on the first pass a user misspells beginning as beging so aspell
suggests:
\layout Quote
begging, begin, being, Beijing, bagging, ....
\layout Standard
However the user then tries "begning" and aspell suggests
\layout Quote
beginning, beaning, begging, ...
\layout Standard
so the user selects beginning.
However than, latter on in the document the user misspelles it as begng
(NOT beging).
Normally aspell will suggest.
\layout Quote
began, begging, begin, begun, ....
\layout Standard
However becuase it knows the user mispelled beginning as beging it will
instead suggest:
\layout Quote
beginning, began, begging, begin, begun ...
\layout Standard
I myself often misspelled beginning (and still do) as something close to
begging and two many times wind up writing sentences such as "begging with
....".
\layout Standard
Please also note that replacements commands has a memory.
Which means if you first store the replacement pair:
\layout Quote
sicolagest -> psycolagest
\layout Standard
then store the replacement pair
\layout Quote
psycolagest -> psychologist
\layout Standard
The replacement pair
\layout Quote
sicolagest -> psychologist
\layout Standard
will also get stored so that you don't have to worry about it.
\layout Chapter
Adding Support For Other Languages
\begin_inset LatexCommand \label{inter}
\end_inset
\layout Standard
Before you consider adding support for Aspell first make sure that someone
else has not already done it.
A good number of dictionaries off the Aspell home page at
\begin_inset LatexCommand \url{http://aspell.net}
\end_inset
.
If your language is not listed above please send me a note and I will work
with you on adding support.
\layout Standard
This chapter describes the old manual way of adding support for a new language
in Aspell.
The recommended way to add support is through the aspell-dicts package.
The scripts used, as well as some documentation on what to do, is available
in the aspell-gen package which is available in the same location the dictionar
y packages are at.
\layout Standard
Adding a language to aspell is fairly straightforward.
You need to create the language data file, and compile a new word list.
\layout Section
The Language Data File
\layout Standard
The basic format of the language data data is the same as it for aspell
configuration file.
It is named <>.dat and is located in the architecture independent
data dir for aspell (option
\series bold
data-dir
\series default
) which is usually <>/share/aspell.
Use
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
aspell config
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
to find out where it is in your installation.
By convention the language name should be the two letter ISO 639 language
code.
\layout Standard
The language data file has several mandatory fields, and several optional
ones.
All fields are case sensitive and should be in all lower case.
\layout Standard
The two mandatory fields are
\series bold
name
\series default
and
\series bold
charset
\series default
.
\series bold
Name
\series default
is the name of the language and should be the same as the file name (without
the .dat).
\series bold
Charset
\series default
is the charset aspell will expect the word lists to be formatted in.
You may chose from any of the iso-8859-* character sets as well as, koi8-f,
koi8-r, and viscii.
If your language can fit in the plain old ASCII character set use iso8859-1.
If you use some other character set for your language other than the ones
listed here drop me a note and I will look into adding support for it.
\layout Standard
The optional fields are
\series bold
special, soundslike
\series default
,
\series bold
keyboard
\series default
and a bunch of options to specify how run-together words are handles.
\series bold
Special
\series default
is for non letter characters that can appear in your language such as the
\series bold
'
\series default
and
\series bold
-
\series default
.
The format for the value is a list separated by spaces.
Each item of the list has the following format
\layout Quote
<>\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
<><><>
\layout Standard
<> is the non letter character in question.
<>,<>,<> are either a '-' or a '*'.
A star for <> means that the character at the beginning of the word,
a '-' means it can't.
The same is true for <> and <>.
For example the entry for the
\series bold
'
\series default
in english is:
\layout LyX-Code
' -*-
\layout Standard
To include more than one middle character just list them one after another
on the same line.
for example to make both the ' and the - a middle character use the following
line in the language data file:
\layout LyX-Code
special ' -*- - -*-
\layout Standard
The
\series bold
soundslike
\series default
option,
\series bold
\series default
if present, should be the name of the soundslike data for the language.
The data is expected to be in the file <>_phonetic.dat.
\layout Standard
If the name is
\series bold
generic
\series default
a really generic soundslike algorithm will be used which consists of striping
all the vowels and removing all accents.
I recommend first using the generic algorithm and then, after aspell is
working with the new language, work on the transformation array.
\layout Standard
If the soundslike name is
\series bold
none
\series default
then no soundslike lookup table will be used.
This will reduce the size of the compiled word list by around 50% but at
the sacrifice of suggestion quality.
If the soundslike is none than the soundslike for the word will simply
be the word itself in lowercase, will all accents stripped.
For languages with phonetic spelling the difference will not be very noticeable.
However, for languages with non-phonetic spelling there will be a noticeable
difference.
The difference you notice will depend on the quality of the soundslike
data file.
If you do not notice much of a difference for a language with non-phonetic
spelling that is a good indication that the soundslike data is not rough
enough---or the words you are trying are not that badly misspelled.
\layout Standard
The keyboard option specifies the base name of the keyboard definition file
to use.
See section
\begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{typo}
\end_inset
for more information.
\layout Standard
The options to control how run-together words are handled are the same as
the are in the normal configurations files.
Please see section
\begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{run-together}
\end_inset
for more information.
\layout Section
Compiling the Word List
\layout Standard
Once you have a working language data file installed in the right place
you are ready to compile the main word list.
See section
\begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{manage}
\end_inset
to find out what to do.
This section also includes instructions for creating the awli file.
\layout Section
Phonetic Code
\layout Standard
\shape italic
(The following section was written by Björn Jacke, bjoern.jacke at gmx de)
\layout Standard
Aspell is in fact the spell checker that comes up with the best suggestions
if it finds an unknown word.
One reason is that it does not just compare the word with other words in
the dictionary (like Ispell does) but also uses phonetic comparisons with
other words.
\layout Standard
The new table driven phonetic code is very flexible and setting up phonetic
transformation rules for other languages is not difficult but there can
be a number of stumbling stones --- that's why I wrote this section.
\layout Standard
The main phonetic code is free of any language specific code and should
be powerful enough to allow setting up rules for any language.
Anything which is language specific is kept in a plain text file and can
easily be edited.
So it's even possible to write phonetic transformation rules if you don't
have any programming skills.
All you need to know is how words of the language are written and how they
are pronounced.
\layout Subsection
Syntax of the transformation array
\layout Standard
In the translation array there are two strings on each line; the first one
is the search string (or switch name) and the second one is the replacement
string (or switch parameter).
The line
\layout LyX-Code
version <>
\layout Standard
is also required to appear somewhere in the translation array.
The version string can be anything but it should be changed when ever the
a new version of the translation array is released.
This is important because it will keep Aspell from using a compiled dictionary
with the wrong set of rules.
For example if when coming up with suggestion for
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
hallo
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
aspell will use the new rules to come up with the soundslike say
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
H*L*
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
but if hello is stored in the dictionary using the old rules as
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
HL
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
instead of
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
H*L*
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
aspell will never be able to come up with hello.
So to solve this problem Aspell checks if the version strings match and
abort with an error if they don't.
Thus it is important to update it when ever a new version of the translation
array is releases.
This is only a problem with the main word list as the personal word lists
are now stored as simple word lists with a single header line (ie, no soundslik
e data).
\layout Standard
Each non switch line represents one replacement (transformation) rule.
Words beginning with the same letter must be grouped together; the order
inside this group does not depend on alphabetical issues but it gives prioritie
s; the higher the rule the higher the priority.
That's why the first rule that matches is applied.
In the following example:
\layout LyX-Code
\layout LyX-Code
GH _
\newline
G K
\newline
\layout Standard
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
GH
\begin_inset ERT
status Collapsed
\layout Standard
\backslash
nach
\end_inset
_
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
has higher priority than
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
G
\begin_inset ERT
status Collapsed
\layout Standard
\backslash
nach
\end_inset
K
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
.
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
_
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
represents the empty string
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
.
If
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
GH
\begin_inset ERT
status Collapsed
\layout Standard
\backslash
nach
\end_inset
_
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
would stand after
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
G
\begin_inset ERT
status Collapsed
\layout Standard
\backslash
nach
\end_inset
K
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
, the second rule would never match because the algorithm would stop searching
for more rules after the first match.
The above rules transform any
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
GH
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
to an empty string (delete them) and transform any other
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
G
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
to
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
K
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
.
\layout Standard
At the end of the first string of a line (the search string) there may optionall
y stand a number of characters in brackets.
One (only one!) of these characters must fit.
It's comparable with the [ ] brackets in regular expressions.
The rule
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
DG(EIY)
\begin_inset ERT
status Collapsed
\layout Standard
\backslash
nach
\end_inset
J
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
for example would match any
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
DGE
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
,
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
DGI
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
and
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
DGY
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
and replace them with
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
J
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
.
This way you can reduce several rules to one.
\layout Standard
Behind the search string there can stand one or more dashes (-).
Those search strings will be matched totally but only the beginning of
the string will be replaced.
Furthermore for these rules no follow-up rule will be searched (what this
is will be explained later).
The rule
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
TCH--
\begin_inset ERT
status Collapsed
\layout Standard
\backslash
nach
\end_inset
_
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
will match any word containing
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
TCH
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
(like
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
match
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
) but will only replace the first character
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
T
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
with an empty string.
The number of dashes determines how many characters from the end will not
be replaced.
After the replacement the search for transformation rules continues with
the not replaced
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
CH
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
!
\layout Standard
If a
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
<
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
is appended to the search string, the search for replacement rules will
continue with the replacement string and not with the next character of
the word.
The rule
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
PH<
\begin_inset ERT
status Collapsed
\layout Standard
\backslash
nach
\end_inset
F
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
for example would replace
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
PH
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
with
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
F
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
and then again start to search for a replacement rule for
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
F\SpecialChar \ldots{}
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
.
If there would also be rules like
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
FO
\begin_inset ERT
status Collapsed
\layout Standard
\backslash
nach
\end_inset
O
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
and
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
F
\begin_inset ERT
status Collapsed
\layout Standard
\backslash
nach
\end_inset
_
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
then words like
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
PHOXYZ
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
would be transformed to
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
OXYZ
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
and any occurrences of
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
PH
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
that are not followed by an
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
O
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
will be deleted like
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
PHIXYZ
\begin_inset ERT
status Collapsed
\layout Standard
\backslash
nach
\end_inset
IXYZ
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
.
The second replacement however is not applied if the priority of this rule
is lower than the priority of the first rule.
\layout Standard
Priorities are added to a rule by putting a number between 0 and 9 at the
end of the search string, for example
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
ING6
\begin_inset ERT
status Collapsed
\layout Standard
\backslash
nach
\end_inset
N
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
.
The higher the number the higher is the priority.
\layout Standard
Priorities are especially important for the previously mentioned follow-up
rules.
Follow-up rules are searched beginning from the last string of the first
search string.
This is a bit complicated but I hope this example will make it more clear:
\layout LyX-Code
\layout LyX-Code
CHS X
\newline
CH G
\newline
\newline
HAU--1 H
\newline
\newline
SCH SH
\newline
\layout Standard
In this example
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
CHS' in the word
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
FUCHS
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
would be transformed to
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
X
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
.
If we take the word
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
DURCHSCHNITT
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
the things look a bit different.
Here
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
CH
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
belongs together and
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
SCH
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
belongs together and both are spoken separately.
The algorithm however first finds the string
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
CHS
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
which may not be transformed like in the previous word
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
FUCHS
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
.
At this point the algorithm can find a follow up rule.
It takes the last character of the first matching rule (
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
CHS
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
) which is
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
S
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
and looks for the next match, beginning from this character.
What it finds is clear: It finds
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
SCH
\begin_inset ERT
status Collapsed
\layout Standard
\backslash
nach
\end_inset
SH
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
, which has the same priority (no priority means standard priority, which
is 5).
If the priority is the same or higher the follow-up rule will be applied.
Let's take a look at the word
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
SCHAUKEL
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
.
In this word
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
SCH
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
belongs together and may not be torn apart.
After the algorithm has found "SCH
\begin_inset ERT
status Collapsed
\layout Standard
\backslash
nach
\end_inset
SH" it searches for a follow-up rule for "H"+"AUKEL".
It finds "HAU--1
\begin_inset ERT
status Collapsed
\layout Standard
\backslash
nach
\end_inset
H", but does not apply it because its priority is lower than the one of
the first rule.
You see that this is a very powerful feature but it also can easily lead
to mistakes.
If you really don't need this feature you can turn it off by putting the
line
\layout LyX-Code
followup 0
\layout Standard
at the beginning of the phonetic table file.
As mentioned, for rules containing a `-' no follow-up rules are searched
but giving such rules a priority is not totally senseless because they
self can be follow-up rules and in that case the priority makes sense again.
Follow-up rules of follow-up rules are not searched because this is in
fact not needed very often.
\layout Standard
The control character "
\begin_inset ERT
status Collapsed
\layout Standard
\backslash
hoch
\end_inset
" says that the search string only matches at the beginning of words so
that the rule "RH
\begin_inset ERT
status Collapsed
\layout Standard
\backslash
hoch
\backslash
nach
\end_inset
R" will only apply to words like "RHESUS" but not "PERHAPS".
You can append another "
\begin_inset ERT
status Collapsed
\layout Standard
\backslash
hoch
\end_inset
" to the search string.
In that case the algorithm treats the rest of the word totally separately
from first matched string in at beginning.
This is useful for prefixes whose pronunciation does not depend on the
rest of the word and vice versa like "OVER
\begin_inset ERT
status Collapsed
\layout Standard
\backslash
hoch
\backslash
hoch
\end_inset
" in English for example.
\layout Standard
The same way as "
\begin_inset ERT
status Collapsed
\layout Standard
\backslash
hoch
\end_inset
" works does "$" only apply on words that end with the search string.
"GN$
\begin_inset ERT
status Collapsed
\layout Standard
\backslash
nach
\end_inset
N" only matches on words like "SIGN" but not "SIGNUM".
If you use "
\begin_inset ERT
status Collapsed
\layout Standard
\backslash
hoch
\end_inset
" and "$" together, both of them must fit "ENOUGH
\begin_inset ERT
status Collapsed
\layout Standard
\backslash
hoch
\end_inset
$
\begin_inset ERT
status Collapsed
\layout Standard
\backslash
nach
\end_inset
NF" will only match the word "ENOUGH" and nothing else.
\layout Standard
Of course you can combine all of the mentioned control characters but they
must occur in this order:
\family typewriter
< - priority \i \^{}
$
\family default
.
All characters must be written in CAPITAL letters.
\layout Standard
If absolutely no rule can be found --- might happen if you use strange character
s for which you don't have any replacement rule --- the next character will
simply be skipped and the search for replacement rules will continue with
the rest of the word.
\layout Standard
If you want double letters to be reduced to one you must set up a rule like
"LL-
\begin_inset ERT
status Collapsed
\layout Standard
\backslash
nach
\end_inset
L".
If double letters in the resulting phonetic word should be allowed, you
must place the line
\layout LyX-Code
collapse_result 0
\layout Standard
at the beginning of your transformation table file; otherwise set the value
to `1'.
The English rules for example strip all vowels from words and so the word
"GOGO" would be transformed to "K" and not to "KK" (as desired) if
\family typewriter
collapse_result
\family default
is set to 1.
That's why the English rules have
\family typewriter
collapse_result
\family default
set to
\family typewriter
0
\family default
.
\layout Subsection
How do I start finally?
\layout Standard
Before you start to write an array of transformation rules, you should be
aware that you have to do some work to make sure that things you do will
result in correct transformation rules.
\layout Subsubsection
Things that come in handy
\layout Standard
First of all you need to have a large word list of the language you want
to make phonetics for.
It should contain about as many words as the dictionary of the spell checker.
If you don't have such a list, you will probably find an Ispell dictionary
at
\begin_inset LatexCommand \url{http://fmg-www.cs.ucla.edu/geoff/ispell-dictionaries.html}
\end_inset
which will help you.
You can then make affix expansion via
\family typewriter
ispell -e
\family default
and then pipe it trough
\family typewriter
\backslash
tr " " "
\backslash
n"
\family default
to put one word on each line.
After that you eventually have to convert special characters like `é' from
Ispell's internal representation to latin1 encoding.
\family typewriter
sed s/e'/é/g
\family default
for example would replace all e' with é.
\layout Standard
The second is that you know how to use regular expressions and know how
to use
\family typewriter
grep
\family default
.
You should for example know that
\layout LyX-Code
grep \i \^{}
[\i \^{}
aeiou]qu[io] wordlist | less
\layout Standard
will show you all words that begin with any character but a, e, i, o or
u and then continue with `qui' or `quo'.
This stuff is important for example to find out if a phonetic replacement
rule you want to set up is valid for all words which match the expression
you want to replace.
Taking a look at the regex(7) man page is a good idea.
\layout Subsubsection
What the phonetic code should do
\layout Standard
Normal text comparison works well as long as the typer misspells a word
because he pressed one key he didn't really want to press.
In this cases mostly one character differs from the original word.
\layout Standard
In cases where the writer didn't know about the correct spelling of the
word however the word may have several characters that differ from the
original word but usually the word would still sound like the original
word.
Someone might think for example that `tough' is spelled `taff'.
No spell checker without phonetic code will come to the idea that this
might be `tough' but a spell checker who knows that `taff' would be pronounced
like `tough' will make good suggestions to the user.
Another example could be `funetik' and `phonetic'.
\layout Standard
From this examples you can see that the phonetic transformation should not
be too fussy and too precise.
If you implement a whole phonetic dictionary as you can find it in books
this will not be very useful because then there could still be many characters
differing from the misspelled and the desired word.
What you should do if you implement the phonetic transformation table is
to reduce the number of used letters to the only really necessary ones.
\layout Standard
Characters that sound similar should be reduced to one.
In English language for example `Z' sounds like `S' and that's why the
transformation rule
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
Z
\begin_inset ERT
status Collapsed
\layout Standard
\backslash
nach
\end_inset
S
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
is present in the replacement table.
`PH' is spoken like `F' and so we have a
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
PH
\begin_inset ERT
status Collapsed
\layout Standard
\backslash
nach
\end_inset
F
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
rule.
\layout Standard
If you take a closer look you will even see that vowels sound very similar
in English language: `contradiction', `cuntradiction', `cantradiction'
or `centradiction' in fact sound nearly the same, don't they? Therefore
the English phonetic replacement rules not only reduce all vowels to one
but even remove them all (removing is done by just setting up no rule for
those letters).
The phonetic code of `contradiction' is `KNTRTKXN' and if you try to read
this letter-monster loud you will hear that it still sound a bit like `contradi
ction'.
You also see that `D' is transformed to `T' because they nearly sound the
same.
\layout Standard
If you think you have found a regularity you should
\emph on
always
\emph default
take your word list and grep for the corresponding regular expression you
want to make a transformation rule for.
An example: If you come to the idea that all English words ending on `ough'
sound like `AF' at the end because you think of `enough' and `tough'.
If you then grep for the corresponding regular expression by
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
grep -i ough$ wordlist
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
you will see that the rule you wanted to set up is not correct because
the rule doesn't fit to words like `although' or `bough'.
So you have to define your rule more precisely or you have to set up exceptions
if the number of words that differ from the desired rule is not so big.
\layout Standard
Don't forget about follow-up rules which can help in many cases but which
also can lead to many confusions and side effects.
It's also important to write exceptions in front of the more general rules
("GH" before "G" etc.).
\layout Standard
If you think you have set up a number of rules that may produce some good
results try them out! If you run Aspell as
\family typewriter
\family default
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
aspell --lang=<> pipe
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
you get a prompt at which you can type in words.
If you just type words Aspell checks them and eventually makes suggestions
if they are misspelled.
If you type in
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
$$Sw <>
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
you will see the phonetic transformation and you can test out if your work
does what you want.
\layout Standard
Another good way to control if changes you apply to your rules don't have
any evil side effects is to create another list from your word list which
contains not only the word of the word list but also the corresponding
phonetic version of this word on the same line.
If you do this one time before the change and one time after the change
you can make a diff (see
\family typewriter
man diff
\family default
) to see what
\emph on
really
\emph default
changed.
To do this use the command
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
aspell --lang=<> soundslike
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
.
In this mode aspell will output the the original word and then its soundslike
separated by a tab character for each word you give it.
If you are interested in seeing how the algorithm works you can download
a set of useful programs from
\begin_inset LatexCommand \url{http://members.xoom.com/maccy/spell/phonet-utils.tar.gz}
\end_inset
.
This includes a program that produces a list as mentioned above and another
program which illustrates how the algorithm works.
It uses the same transformation table as Aspell and so it helps a lot during
the process of creating a phonetic transformation table for Aspell.
\layout Standard
During your work you should write down your basic ideas so that other people
are able to understand what you did (and you still know about it after
a few weeks).
The English table has a huge documentation appended for example.
\layout Standard
Now you can start experimenting with all the things you just read and perhaps
set up a nice phonetic transformation table for your language to help Aspell
to come up with the best correction suggestions ever seen also for your
language.
Take a look at the Aspell homepage to see if there is already a transformation
table for your language.
If there is one you might also take a look at it to see if it could be
improved.
\layout Standard
If you think that this section helped you or if you think that this is just
a waste of time you can send any feedback to
\emph on
\shape italic
bjoern.jacke@gmx.de
\shape default
.
\layout Section
Controlling the Behavior of Run-together Words
\begin_inset LatexCommand \label{run-together}
\end_inset
\layout Standard
Aspell has support for either unconditionally accepting run-together words
or only accepting certain words in compound formation.
\layout Standard
Support for unconditionally accepting run-together words can either be turned
on in the language data file or as a normal option via the
\series bold
run-together
\series default
option.
The
\series bold
run-together-limit
\series default
options controls the maximum number of words that can be strung together,
the default is normally 255.
The
\series bold
run-together-min
\series default
options controls the minimal length the individual components of the run
together word can be, the default is normally 3.
Both the run-together-limit and run-together-min option may be specified
in both the language data file or as a normal.
The
\series bold
run-together-mid
\series default
option, which may only be specified in the language data file, may be used
to specify up to three optional characters that may appear between individual
words.
\layout Standard
In order for aspell to conditionally only accept certain words in compounds
those words must be flagged when the compiled word list is being created.
The format for each entry is
\layout Quote
<>:C[1][2][3]<>
\layout Standard
The 1, 2, and 3 control if the word is allowed to appear in the begging,
middle, or end of the compound, respectfully.
More than one position flag may be specified.
If none of them are specified it as assumed that the word may appear anywhere.
The C is optional if 1, 2, or 3 is specified.
The <> represents an optional character that may appear after
the word in the formation of the compound if the word is not at the end
of the compound.
If the letter is lowercase than the character may appear after the word,
if it is in uppercase then that letter must appear after the compound.
Only one letter may be specified and it must also be in the list of middle
letters specified via the
\series bold
run-together-mid
\series default
option.
\series bold
\series default
The
\series bold
run-together-limit
\series default
option may also be used to specify the maximum number of words to string
together.
\layout Standard
For example the word list:
\layout Quote
beg:1
\newline
mid:2
\newline
end:3
\newline
any:C
\newline
never
\newline
must:CM
\newline
maybe:Cm
\layout Standard
Means that the word
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
beg
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
may only appear at the begging of a word, the word
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
mid
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
at the middle, the word
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
end
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
at the end, and the word
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
any
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
any place.
The word
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
never
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
is never accepted in a compound unless the
\series bold
run-together
\series default
option is set.
The word
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
must
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
may appear anywhere however it must be followed by an
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
m
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
, while the word maybe may be followed by an
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
m
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
.
Given the above word list the following compounds or legal:
\layout Quote
begmidend
\newline
begany
\newline
mustmend
\newline
maybeend
\newline
maybemend
\layout Standard
are all legal, but the following are not:
\layout Quote
begmid
\newline
mustend
\newline
neverany
\layout Standard
Individual words such as
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
beg
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
are always accepted.
\layout Standard
When the
\series bold
run-together
\series default
option is not set Aspell will only accept words that have been flagged
in a run-together word.
When the
\series bold
run-together
\series default
option is set aspell will accept words which are as least as long as the
value specified in the
\series bold
run-together-min
\series default
option.
If the words length is less than
\series bold
run-together-min
\series default
then it will only accept the word if it has been flagged.
When the
\series bold
run-together
\series default
option is not set the
\series bold
run-together-min
\series default
option is ignored all together.
\layout Standard
Currently Aspell only supports run-together words when checking if a word
is in the dictionary.
When coming up with suggestions Aspell treats the word as a normal word
and does not do anything special.
This means that the suggestions will be virtually meaningless when the
actual word is a run-together.
I plan on more intelligently supporting run-together words when coming
up with suggestions in a future version of Aspell.
\layout Chapter
How Aspell Works
\begin_inset LatexCommand \label{works}
\end_inset
\layout Standard
The magic behind my spell checker comes from merging Lawrence Philips excellent
metaphone algorithm and Ispell's near miss strategy which is inserting
a space or hyphen, interchanging two adjacent letters, changing one letter,
deleting a letter, or adding a letter.
\layout Standard
The process goes something like this.
\layout Enumerate
Convert the misspelled word to its soundslike equivalent (its metaphone
for English words).
\layout Enumerate
Find all words that have a soundslike within one or two edit distances from
the original words soundslike.
The edit distance is the total number of deletions, insertions, exchanges,
or adjacent swaps needed to make one string equivalent to the other.
When set to only look for soundslikes within one edit distance it tries
all possible soundslike combinations and check if each one is in the dictionary.
When set to find all soundslike within two edit distance it scans through
the entire dictionary and quickly scores each soundslike.
The scoring is quick because it will give up if the two soundslikes are
more than two edit distances apart.
\layout Enumerate
Find misspelled words that have a correctly spelled replacement by the same
criteria of step number 2 and 3.
That is the misspelled word in the word pair (such as teh -> the) would
appear in the suggestions list as if it was a correct spelling.
\layout Enumerate
Score the result list and return the words with the lowest score.
The score is roughly the weighed average of the weighed edit distance of
the word to the misspelled word and the soundslike equivalent of the two
words.
The weighted edit distance is like the edit distance except that the various
edits have weights attached to them.
\layout Enumerate
Replace the misspelled words that have correctly spelled replacements with
their replacements and remove any duplicates that might arise because of
this.
\layout Standard
Please note that the soundslike equivalent is a rough approximation of how
the words sounds.
It is not the phoneme of the word by any means.
For more details about exactly how each step is performed please see the
file
\series bold
suggest.cc
\series default
.
For more information on the metaphone algorithm please see the data file
\series bold
english_phonet.dat
\series default
.
\layout Standard
\begin_inset ERT
status Collapsed
\layout Standard
\backslash
appendix
\end_inset
\layout Chapter
Changelog
\layout Section*
Changes from 0.50.2 to 0.50.3 (Nov 23, 2002)
\layout Itemize
Hopefully fixed the ispell alignment error problem when Aspell is used with
ispell.el.
\layout Itemize
Fixed a problem with personal dictionaries on NFS mounted home directories.
\layout Itemize
Compiled libaspell-common directory into libaspell for now to avoid forcing
applications to relink when ever a new Aspell version is out which was
due to the use of the libtool '-release' flag.
\layout Itemize
Fixed Makefiles so that aspell can be built outside the source tree (i.e.
with VPATH).
\layout Itemize
Updated the section on compiling with Win32.
\layout Itemize
Updated to Autoconf 2.56.
\layout Section*
Changes from 0.50.1 to 0.50.2 (Sep 28, 2002)
\layout Itemize
Fixed a number of bugs in ispell compatibility mode
\layout Itemize
Fixed a number of bugs with the handling of replacement pairs
\layout Itemize
Other miscellaneous bug fixes
\layout Itemize
Additional Win32 portability fixes
\layout Itemize
Added the Ukrainian KOI8-U charset.
\layout Section*
Changes from 0.50 to 0.50.1 (Aug 28, 2002)
\layout Itemize
A rather large number of portability fixes for non GNU/Linux platforms.
\layout Itemize
Fixed pkglibdir and pkgdatadir in configure.
\layout Itemize
Reintroduced some configure options from Aspell .33.7 included dict-dir, data-dir,
curses, curses-include, win32-relocatable.
\layout Itemize
Fixed Aspell so it will now compile with -O3 when using gcc.
\layout Itemize
Updated note on Win32 support.
\layout Itemize
Other minor manual improvements.
\layout Itemize
Portability fixes in dictionary files
\layout Itemize
Official dictionary package for the Slovak language.
\layout Section*
Changes from .33.7.1 to 0.50 (Aug 23, 2002)
\layout Itemize
A complete overhaul of the source code which included merging Pspell into
Aspell.
\layout Itemize
Changed the way dictionaries and languages are handled.
\layout Itemize
Added Dvorak keymap.
\layout Itemize
Added the ability to list the available dictionaries
\layout Itemize
Improved the spell checking interface a bit.
\layout Itemize
Added support for using the Ispell keymapping when checking files.
\layout Itemize
Complete rewrite of the filter interface.
It should now be fairly easy to add new filters to Aspell.
\layout Itemize
Added some preliminary developer documentation.
\layout Itemize
Lots of other changes due to the massive overhaul of the source code.
\layout Section*
Changes from .33.7 to .33.7.1 (Aug 20, 2001)
\layout Itemize
Minor manual fixes.
\layout Itemize
Compile fix for Gcc 3.0 and Solaris.
\layout Section*
Changes from .33.6.3 to .33.7 (Aug 2, 2001)
\layout Itemize
Updates to Autoconf 2.50 and switched to the HEAD branch of libtools.
\layout Itemize
Fixed a bug which caused Aspell to crash when typo-analysis is not used
such as when sug-mode is
\series bold
fast
\series default
or
\series bold
bad spellers
\series default
.
\layout Itemize
Added support for typo-analysis even when a soundslike is not used.
\layout Itemize
Fixed a bug which causes extended charters to display incorrectly on some
platforms
\layout Itemize
Compile fixes so that it will compile with Gcc 3.0.
\layout Itemize
Compile fixed which should allow Aspell to compile with Egcs 1.1.
I have not been able to actually test it though.
Please let me know at kevina@users.sourceforge.net if you have have tried
with Egcs 1.1.
\layout Itemize
Compile and configuration script fixes so that USE_FILE_INO will properly
be defined and Aspell will compile correctly when it is defined.
\layout Itemize
More ANSI C++ compliance fixes.
\layout Section*
Changes from .33.6.2 to .33.6.3 (June 3, 2001)
\layout Itemize
Fixed a build problem in the manual/ directory by including manual-text
and manual-html in the distribution.
\layout Section*
Changes from .33.6.1 to .33.6.2 (June 3, 2001)
\layout Itemize
Compile fix so that Aspell will work correctly when not installed in /usr/local.
\layout Itemize
Avoided regenerating the manual unless configured with enable-maintainer-mode.
\layout Itemize
Added the missing documentation files in the scowl directory.
\layout Section*
Changes from .33.6 to .33.6.1 (May 29, 2001)
\layout Itemize
Fixed a formating problem with the manual involving <<.
\layout Itemize
Added a note about creating pwli files.
\layout Itemize
Removed the space after between the -L and the directory name in the pspell-modu
le/ Makefile which caused problems on some platforms.
\layout Itemize
Added the configure option AM_MAINTAINER_MODE to avoid enabling rules which
often causes generated build files to be rebuild with the wrong version
of Libtool by default.
I don't know why I didn't think to do this a long time ago.
\layout Section*
Changes from .33.5 to .33.6 (May 18, 2001)
\layout Itemize
Fixed a minor bug where some words would have random compound tags attached
to them.
\layout Itemize
Fixed a compile problem on many platforms where fileno is defined as a macro.
\layout Itemize
Updated the description for a few of Aspell's options.
\layout Itemize
Removed the note of Aspell not being able to run when compiled with the
upcoming Gcc 3.0 compiler as things seam to work now.
\layout Itemize
Added a note about Aspell not being able to compile with Egcs 1.1.
\layout Itemize
Added hack to deal with Libtool's interdependencies problem.
See bug #416981 for Pspell for more info.
\layout Section*
Changes from .33 to .33.5 (April 5, 2001)
\layout Itemize
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
dump master
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
correctly detects which dictionary and language to use based on the LANG
environmental variable.
\layout Itemize
Fixed a problem on Win32 which involves path names that begin with <>:.
\layout Itemize
Bug fixes and enhancements so that Aspell can once again run under MinGW.
You can even use the new full screen interface if Aspell is compiled with
PDCurses.
\layout Itemize
Some major modifications to make Aspell more C++ compliant in order to get
Aspell to compile under the upcoming Gcc 3.0 compiler.
This included only using STL features found in the standard version of
C++.
(Which means Aspell will no longer require using the SGI version of the
STL) This should also make compiling C++ under non-gcc compilers a lot
simpler.
Please not that Aspell still has some problems with the upcoming Gcc 3.0
compiler (see section
\begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{gcc3.0}
\end_inset
for more info).
\layout Itemize
Minor changes to remove some -Wall warnings.
\layout Itemize
Added a hack to that Aspell will properly compile as a shared library under
Solaris.
\layout Itemize
Added a few import missing words to the English word list.
\layout Section*
Changes from .32.6 to .33 (January 28, 2001)
\layout Itemize
Added a new new curses based interface to replace the dumb terminal interface
everyone has been bitching about.
\layout Itemize
Added the ability to give higher priority to words such as "the" instead
of "teh" which are likely to be due to typos.
\layout Itemize
Reorganized the manual so that it is hopefully easier to follow.
\layout Itemize
Ability to automatically select the best dictionary to used based on the
setting of the LANG environmental variable.
\layout Itemize
Expanded the medium dictionary size to include more words which included
the original words found in ispell and eliminated the large size for now.
\layout Itemize
Added three special variant add-on dictionaries.
\layout Itemize
Switched to the multi-language branch of the CVS version of libtool.
\layout Section*
Changes from .32.5 to .32.6 (Nov 8, 2000)
\layout Itemize
Fixed a bug that where Aspell will crash when reading in accented characters
on some platforms.
This fixes bug # 112435.
\layout Itemize
Fixed some other bugs so that it will run under Win32 under CygWin.
Unfortunately it still won't run properly under Mingw.
\layout Itemize
Fixed the mmap test in configure so that it won't fail on some platforms
that use munmap(char *, int) instead of munmap(void *, int).
\layout Itemize
Upgraded to the latest CVS version of libtool which fixed the problem with
using GNU Make under Solaris.
\layout Itemize
Added an option to copy files instead of using symbolic links for the special
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
multi
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
dictionary files.
\layout Section*
Changes from .32.1 to .32.5 (August 18, 2000)
\layout Itemize
Changed my email from kevinatk at home com to kevina at users sourceforge
net please make a note of the new email address.
\layout Itemize
Added an option to control if the personal replacement dictionary is saved
when the save_all_wls method is called.
\layout Itemize
Brought back the ability to dump the master word list even in the case of
the special
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
multi
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
lists.
\layout Itemize
Added a large number of hacker related words and some other slang terms
to the medium size word list.
\layout Itemize
Added an
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
ispell
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
and
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
spell
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
compatibility script for systems which don't have ispell installed.
They are located in the scripts/ directory and are not installed by default.
\layout Itemize
Manual fixes.
\layout Itemize
Added a note on not using GNU Make on Solaris.
\layout Section*
Changes from .32 to .32.1 (August 5, 2000)
\layout Itemize
Minor compile fixes for recent gcc snapshot.
\layout Itemize
Fixed naming of pwli files.
\layout Itemize
Fixed a bug when aspell will crash when used with certain single letter
flags.
This bug was most noticeable when used with Emacs.
\layout Itemize
Word list changes, see SCOWL Readme.
\layout Itemize
Other miscellaneous changes.
\layout Section*
Changes from .31.1 to .32 (July 23, 2000)
\layout Itemize
Added support for optionally doing without the soundslike data.
\layout Itemize
Greatly reduced the amount of memory used when creating word lists.
\layout Itemize
Added support for ignoring accents when coming up with suggestions.
\layout Itemize
Added support for local-data-dir which is searched before data-dir.
\layout Itemize
Added support for specifying which words may be used in compounds and where
they may be used.
\layout Itemize
Added support for having more than one main word list as well as a special
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
multi
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
word list files which will allow multiple word lists to be treated as one.
\layout Itemize
Aspell now uses a completely new word list.
\layout Itemize
The apostrophe (') is no longer considered part of the word when it as at
the end of the word such as in
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
dogs'
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
.
\layout Section*
Changes from .31 to .31.1 (June 18, 2000)
\layout Itemize
Fixed a bug where Aspell would not create a complete dictionary file on
some platforms when the data is 8-bit.
\layout Itemize
Added a workaround so Aspell will work with ispell.el 3.3.
\layout Itemize
Minor compile fixes so it would compile better with the very latest gcc
(CVS Version).
\layout Itemize
Removed note about compiling in Win32 as I was now able to get it to work.
\layout Section*
Changes from .30.1 to .31 (June 11, 2000)
\layout Itemize
Added support for spell checking run together words.
\layout Itemize
Added an option to produce a list of misspelled words from standard input.
\layout Itemize
More robust error reporting when reading in language data files.
\layout Itemize
Fixed a bug when that will cause Aspell to crash if the
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
special
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
line was not defined in the language data file.
\layout Itemize
Update Pspell Module.
\layout Itemize
Minor bug fixes.
\layout Itemize
Added cross references in
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
The Aspell utility Chapter
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
for easier use.
\layout Section*
Changes from .30 to .30.1 (April 29, 2000)
\layout Itemize
Ported Aspell to Win32 platforms.
\layout Itemize
Portability fixes which may help aspell compile on other platforms.
\layout Itemize
Aspell will no longer fail if for some reason the mmap fails, instead it
will just read the file in as normal and free the memory when done.
\layout Itemize
Minor changes in the format of the main word list as a result of the changes,
the old format should still work in most cases.
\layout Itemize
Fixed a bug when aspell was ignoring the extension of file names such as
.html or .tex when checking files.
\layout Itemize
Fixed a bug when aspell will go into an infinite loop when creating the
main word list from a word list which has duplicates in it.
\layout Itemize
Minor changes to the manual for better clarity.
\layout Section*
Changes from .29.1 to .30 (April 2, 2000)
\layout Itemize
Fixed many of the capitalization bugs found in previous versions of Aspell.
\layout Itemize
Changed the format of the main word list yet again.
\layout Itemize
Fixed a bug so that
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
aspell check
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
will work on the PowerPC.
\layout Itemize
Added ability to change configuration options in the middle of a session.
\layout Itemize
Added words from /usr/dict/words found on most Linux systems as well as
a bunch of commonly used abbreviation to the word list.
\layout Itemize
Fixed a bug when aspell will dump core after reporting certain errors when
compiled with gcc 2.95 or higher.
This involved reworked the Exception heritage to get around a bug in gcc
2.95.
\layout Itemize
Added a few more commands to the list of default commands the TeX filter
knows about.
\layout Itemize
Aspell will now check if a word only contains valid characters before adding
it to any dictionaries.
This might mean that you have to manually delete a few words from your
personal word list.
\layout Itemize
Added option to ignore case when checking a document.
\layout Itemize
Adjusted the parameters of the
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
normal
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
suggest mode to so that significantly less far fetched results are returned
in cases such as tomatoe, which went from 100 suggestions down to 32, at
the expense of getting slightly lower results (less than 1%),
\layout Itemize
Improved the edit distance algorithm for slightly faster results.
\layout Itemize
Removed the $$m command in pipe mode, you should now use
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
$$cs mode,<>
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
to set the mode and
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
$$cr mode
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
to find out the current mode.
\layout Itemize
Reworked parts of Aspell to use Pspell services to avoid duplicating code.
\layout Itemize
Added a module for the newly released Pspell.
It will get installed with the rest of aspell.
\layout Itemize
Miscellaneous other bug fixes.
\layout Section*
Changes from .29 to .29.1 (Feb 18, 2000)
\layout Itemize
Improved the TeX filter so that it will accept '@' at the begging of a command
name and ignore trailing '*'s.
It also now has better defaults for which parameters to skip.
\layout Itemize
Reworked the main dictionary so that it can be memory mapped in.
This decreases startup time and allows multiple aspell processes to use
the same memory for the main word list.
This also also made Aspell 64 bit clean so that it should work on an alpha
now.
\layout Itemize
Fix so that aspell can compile on platforms that gnu as is not available
for.
\layout Itemize
Fixed issue with flock so it would compile on FreeBSD.
\layout Itemize
Minor changes in the code to make it more C++ compliant although I am sure
there will still be problems when using some other compiler other than
gcc or egcs.
\layout Itemize
Added some comments to the header files to better document a few of the
classes.
\layout Section*
Changes from .28.3 to .29 (Feb 6, 2000)
\layout Itemize
Fixed a bug in the pipe mode with lines that start with
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
^$$
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
.
\layout Itemize
Added support for ignoring all words less than or equal to a specified length
\layout Itemize
New soundslike code based thanks to the contribution of Björn Jacke.
It now gets all of its data from a table making it easier for other people
to add soundslike code for their native language.
He also converted the metaphone algorithm to table form, eliminating the
need for the old metaphone code.
\layout Itemize
Major redesign of the suggestion code for better results.
\layout Itemize
Changed the format of the personal word lists.
In most cases it should be converted automatically.
\layout Itemize
Changed the format of the main word list.
\layout Itemize
Name space cleanup for more consistent naming.
I now use name spaces which means that gcc 2.8.* and egcs 1.0.* will no longer
cut it.
\layout Itemize
Used file locks when reading and saving the personal dictionaries so that
it truly multiprocess safe.
\layout Itemize
Added rudimentary filter support.
\layout Itemize
Reworked the configuration system once again.
However, the changes to the end user who does not directly use my library
should be minimal.
\layout Itemize
Rewrote my code that handles parsing command line parameters so that it
no longer uses popt as it was causing to many problems and didn't integrate
well with my new configuration system.
\layout Itemize
Fixed pipe mode so that it will properly ignore lines starting with '~'
for better ispell compatibility.
\layout Itemize
Aspell now has a new home page at
\begin_inset LatexCommand \url{http://aspell.sourceforge.net/}
\end_inset
.
Please make note of the new URL.
\layout Itemize
Miscellaneous manual fixes and clarifications.
\layout Section*
Changes from .28.2.1 to .28.3 (Nov 20, 1999)
\layout Itemize
Fixed a bug that caused aspell to crash when spell checking words over 60
characters long.
\layout Itemize
Reworked
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
aspell check
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
so that
\begin_deeper
\layout Enumerate
You no longer have to hit enter when making a choice.
\layout Enumerate
It will now overwrite the original file instead of creating a new file.
An optional backup can be made by using the -b option.
\end_deeper
\layout Itemize
Fixed a few bugs in data.cc.
\layout Section*
Changes from .28.2 to .28.2.1 (Aug 25, 1999)
\layout Itemize
Fixed the version number for the shared library.
\layout Itemize
Fixed a problem with undefined references when linking to the shared library.
\layout Section*
Changes from .28.1 to .28.2 (Aug 25, 1999)
\layout Itemize
Fixed a bunch of bugs in the language and configuration classes.
\layout Itemize
Minor changed in the code so that it could compile with the new gcc 2.95(.1).
\layout Itemize
Changed the output of
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
dump config
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
so that default values are given the value "".
This means that the output can be used to created a configuration file.
\layout Itemize
Added notes on using aspell with VIM.
\layout Section*
Changes from .28 to .28.1 (July 27, 1999)
\layout Itemize
Removed some debug output
\layout Itemize
Changed notes on compiling with gcc 2.8.* as I managed to get it to compile
on my school account
\layout Itemize
Avoided included
\series bold
stdexcept
\series default
in
\series bold
const_string.hh
\series default
so that I could get to compile on my schools account with gcc 2.8.1.
\layout Section*
Changes from .27.2 to .28 (July 25, 1999)
\layout Itemize
Provided an iterator for the replacement classes.
\layout Itemize
Added support for dumping and creating and merging the personal and replacement
word lists.
\layout Itemize
Changed the aspell utility command line a bit, it now used popt.
\layout Itemize
Totally reworked aspell configuration system.
Now aspell can get configuration from any of 5 sources: the command line,
the environmental variable ASPELL_CONF, the personal configuration file,
the global configuration file, and finally the compiled in defaults.
\layout Itemize
Totally reworked the language class in preparation for my new language code.
See
\begin_inset LatexCommand \url{http://aspell.sourceforge.net/international/}
\end_inset
for more information of what I have in store.
\layout Itemize
Added some options to the configure script: --enable-dict-dir=DIR, --enable-doc-
dir=DIR, --enable-debug, and --enable-opt
\layout Itemize
Removed some old header files.
\layout Itemize
Reorganized the directory structure a bit
\layout Itemize
Made the text version of the manual pages slightly easier to read
\layout Itemize
Used the
\backslash
url command for urls for better formating of the printed version.
\layout Section*
Changes from .27.1 to .27.2 (Mar 1, 1999)
\layout Itemize
Fixed a major bug that caused aspell to dump core when used without any
arguments
\layout Itemize
Fixed another major bug that caused aspell to do nothing when used in interactiv
e mode.
\layout Itemize
Added an option to exit in Aspell's interactive mode.
\layout Itemize
Removed some old documentation files from the distribution.
\layout Itemize
Minor changes on to the section on using Aspell with egcs.
\layout Itemize
Minor changes to remove -Wall warnings.
\layout Section*
Changes from .27 to .27.1 (Feb 24, 1999)
\layout Itemize
Fixed a minor compile problem.
\layout Itemize
Updated the section on using Aspell with egcs to it it more clear why the
patch is necessary.
\layout Section*
Changes from .26.2 to .27 (Feb 22, 1999)
\layout Itemize
\series bold
Totally reworked the C++ library which means you may need to change some
things in your code.
\layout Itemize
Added support for detachable and multiple personal dictionaries in the C++
class library.
\layout Itemize
The C++ class library now throws exceptions.
\layout Itemize
Reworked aspell ability to learn from users misspellings a bit so that it
now has a memory.
See section
\begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{replpair}
\end_inset
for more information.
\layout Itemize
Upgraded autoconf to version 2.13 and automake to version 1.4 for better portabili
ty.
\layout Itemize
Fixed the configuration so the
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
make dist
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
will work.
For now on aspell will be distributed with
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
make dist
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
.
\layout Itemize
Added support to skip over URL's, email addresses and host names.
\layout Itemize
Added support for dumping the master and personal word list.
You can now also merge a personal word list.
Type aspell -help for help on using this feature.
\layout Itemize
Reorganized the source code.
\layout Itemize
Started using proper version numbers for the shared library.
\layout Itemize
Fixed a bug that caused a spell to crash when adding certain replacement
pairs.
\layout Itemize
Fixed the problem with duplicate lines when exiting pipe mode for good.
\layout Section*
Changed from .26.1 to .26.2 (Jan 3, 1998)
\layout Itemize
Fixed another compile problem.
Hopefully this time it will really compile OK on other peoples machines.
\layout Section*
Changed from .26 to .26.1 (Jan 3, 1998)
\layout Itemize
Fixed a small compile problem in
\series bold
as_data.cc
\series default
.
\layout Section*
Changed from .25.1 to .26 (Jan 3, 1999)
\layout Itemize
Fixed a bug that causes duplicates items to be displayed in the suggestion
list for good.
(If it still does it please send be email.)
\layout Itemize
Added the ability for aspell to learn form the users misspellings.
\layout Itemize
Library Interface changes.
Still more to come....
\layout Itemize
Is now multiprocess safe.
When a personal dictionary (or replacement list) is saved it will now first
update he list against the dictionary on disk in case another process modified
it.
\layout Itemize
Fixed the bug that caused duplicate output when used non interactively in
pipe mode.
\layout Itemize
Dropped support for gcc 2.7.2 as the C++ compiler.
\layout Itemize
Updated the How Aspell Works (
\begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{works}
\end_inset
) Chapter.
\layout Itemize
Added support for the ASPELL_DATA_DIR environmental variable.
\layout Section*
Changes from .25 to .25.1 (Dec 10, 1998)
\layout Itemize
Fixed the version number so that Aspell reports the correct version number.
\layout Itemize
Changed the note on gcc 2.7.2 compilers to make it clear that only the C++
compiler can not be gcc 2.7.2, it is ok if the C compiler is gcc 2.7.2.
\layout Itemize
Updated the TODO list and reorganized it a bit.
\layout Itemize
Fixed the directory so that all the documentation will get installed in
${prefix}/doc/aspell instead of half of it in ${prefix}/doc/aspell and
half of it in ${prefix}/doc/kspell.
\layout Section*
Changes from .24 to .25 (Nov 23, 1998)
\layout Itemize
Total rework of how the main word list is stored.
Start up time decreased to about 1/3 of what it was in .24 and memory usage
decreased to about 2/3.
(When used with the provided word list on a Linux system).
\series bold
\series default
Also the
\series bold
format and default locations of the main word list data files changed
\series default
in the process and the data
\series bold
is now machine dependent
\series default
.
The personal word list format, however, stayed the same.
\layout Itemize
Changed the scoring method to produce slightly better results with words
like the vs.
teh.
And other simpler misspellings where two letters are swapped.
\layout Itemize
Fixed the very unpredictable behavior of the '*', '&', '@' commands in the
pipe mode.
\layout Itemize
Added documentations for Aspell pipe mode (also known as ispell -a compatibility
mode)
\layout Itemize
Added a bunch of Aspell specific extensions to the pipe mode and documented
them.
\layout Itemize
Documented the
\series bold
to_soundslike
\series default
and
\series bold
soundslike
\series default
methods for the
\series bold
aspell
\series default
class.
\layout Itemize
Changed the scoring method to produce better results for words like
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
fone
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
vs
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
phone
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
and other words that have a spelling that doesn't directly relate to how
the word sounds by using the phoneme equivalent of the word in the scoring
of it.
\layout Itemize
Added the
\series bold
to_phoneme
\series default
and
\series bold
have_phoneme
\series default
methods to the
\series bold
SC_Language
\series default
class.
\layout Itemize
Added the
\series bold
to_phoneme
\series default
method to the
\series bold
aspell
\series default
class.
\layout Itemize
Added the framework for being able to learn from the users misspelling.
Right now it just keep a log of replacements.
\layout Itemize
Re did
\series bold
stl_rope-30.diff
\series default
.
\series bold
\series default
For some reason the version of patch on my system refused it.
\layout Itemize
Rewrite of the
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
Using as a replacement for Ispell
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
section and added the
\series bold
run-with-aspell
\series default
utility as a replacement of the old method of mapping Ispell to Aspell.
\layout Itemize
Fixed a bug that caused duplicate words to appear in the suggestion list.
\layout Section*
Changes from .23 to .24 (Nov 8, 1998)
\layout Itemize
Fixed my code so that it can once again compile with g++ 2.7.2.
\layout Itemize
Rewrote the How It Works chapter.
\layout Itemize
Rewrote the Requirement section and added noted on compiling with g++ 2.7.2.
\layout Itemize
Added a To Do chapter.
\layout Itemize
Added a Glossary and References chapter.
\layout Itemize
Other minor documentation improvements.
\layout Itemize
Internal code documentation improvements.
\layout Section*
Changes from .22.1 to .23 (Oct 31, 1998)
\layout Itemize
Minor documentation fixes.
\layout Itemize
Changed the scoring strategy for words with 3 or less letters.
This cut the number of words returned for these roughly in half.
\layout Itemize
Expanded the word list to also include
\series bold
american.0
\series default
and
\series bold
american.1
\series default
from the Ispell distribution.
It now includes
\series bold
english.0
\series default
,
\series bold
english.1
\series default
,
\series bold
american.0
\series default
and
\series bold
american.1
\series default
from the directory
\series bold
languages/english
\series default
provided with Ispell 3.1.20.
\layout Itemize
Added a link to the location of the latest Ispell.el in the documentation.
\layout Itemize
Started a C interface and added some rough documentation for it.
\layout Section*
Changes from .22 to .22.1 (Oct 27, 1998)
\layout Itemize
Minor bug fixes.
I was deleting arrays with delete rather than delete[].
I was suppressed that this had not created a problem.
\layout Itemize
Added a simple test program to test for a memory leak present on some systems.
(Only debian slink at the moment.) See the file memleak-test.cc for more
info.
\layout Section*
Changes from .21 to .22 (Oct 26, 1998)
\layout Itemize
Major redesign or the scoring method.
It now uses absolute distances rather than relative scores for more consistent
results.
See suggest.cc for more info.
\layout Itemize
Suggest code rewritten is several places however the core process stayed
the same.
\layout Itemize
The suggest_ultra method temporally does nothing.
It should be working again by the next release.
\layout Section*
Changes from .20 to .21 (Oct 13, 1998)
\layout Itemize
Added documentation for aspell::Error
\layout Itemize
\series bold
Changed the library name from libspell to libaspell.
\series default
It should never have been libspell in the first place.
Sorry for the incompatibility.
\layout Itemize
Added
\series bold
as_error.hh
\series default
to the list of files copied to the include directory so that you can actually
use the library outside of the source dir.
\layout Itemize
Fixed bug that caused a segmentation fault with words where the only suggestions
was inserting a space or hyphen such as in
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset
ledgerline
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset
.
\layout Itemize
Added the
\series bold
score
\series default
method to
\series bold
aspell
\series default
.
\layout Itemize
Changed the scoring method to deal with word when the user uses "f" in place
of "ph" a lot better.
\layout Section*
Changes from .11 to .20 (Oct 10, 1998)
\layout Itemize
\series bold
Name change.
\emph on
\emph default
Everything that was Kspell is now Aspell.
\series default
Sorry, the name Kspell was already used by KDE and I didn't want to cause
any confusion.
\layout Itemize
Fixed a bug that causes a segmentation fault when the HOME environmental
variable doesn't exist.
\layout Section*
Changes from .10 to .11 (Sep 12, 1998)
\layout Itemize
Overhaul of the SC_Language class
\layout Itemize
Added documentation for international support
\layout Itemize
Added documentation for the C++ library
\layout Itemize
Other minor bug fixes.
\layout Chapter
To Do
\layout Standard
Words in bold indicate how you should refer to the item when discussing
it with me or others.
\layout Section
Things that need to be done
\begin_inset LatexCommand \label{todo}
\end_inset
\layout Standard
These items need to be done before I consider Aspell finished.
Unfortunately, I do not have the time to do all so if you are interested
in helping me with one of these tasks please email me.
Good C++ skills are needed for most of these tasks involving coding.
\layout Itemize
Convert manual from LyX/LaTeX to Texinfo.
\layout Itemize
Clean up copyright notices and bring the Aspell package up to GNU Standards.
\layout Itemize
Add gettext support to Aspell.
\layout Itemize
Allow Aspell to check documents which are in UTF-8.
The main thing to be done is to get Aspell to display UTF-8 correctly.
This will involve being able to get the length of UTF-8 strings and display
UTF-8 using the curses library.
\layout Itemize
Make Aspell Thread safe.
Even though Aspell itself is not multi-threaded I would like it to be thread
safe so that it can be used by multi-threaded programs.
There are several areas of Aspell that that are potently thread unsafe
(such as accessing a global pool) and several several classes which have
the potential of being used by more than one thread (such as the personal
dictionary).
\layout Itemize
Allow filters to be loaded at run-time.
At the moment all filters must be complied in.
\layout Itemize
Integrate Kevin Hendricks affix compression code into Aspell.
His code is already in use in OpenOffice as part of the lingucomponent
component.
More information can be found at
\begin_inset LatexCommand \url{http://whiteboard.openoffice.org/lingucomponent/dictionary.html}
\end_inset
.
The latest version of his code is also available there.
\layout Itemize
Create a C++ interface for Aspell, possibly on top of the C one.
\layout Itemize
Enhance ispell.el so that it will work better with the new Aspell.
\layout Section
Good ideas that are worth implementing
\layout Standard
These items all sound like good ideas however I am not sure when I will
get to implementing then if ever.
\layout Itemize
Use Lawrence Philips' new Double Metaphone algorithm.
See
\begin_inset LatexCommand \url{http://aspell.sourceforge.net/metaphone/}
\end_inset
.
\layout Itemize
Come up with a plug-in for
\series bold
gEdit
\series default
the gnome text editor.
\layout Itemize
Change languages (and thus dictionaries) based on the information in the
actual document.
\layout Itemize
Come up with a
\series bold
nroff mode
\series default
for spell checking.
\layout Itemize
Come up with a mode that will skip words based on the symbols that (almost)
always surround the word.
(
\series bold
Word skipping by context
\series default
)
\layout Itemize
Create two
\series bold
server modes
\series default
for Aspell.
One that uses the
\series bold
DICT
\series default
protocol and one that uses
\series bold
ispell -a
\series default
method of communication of some arbitrary port.
\layout Itemize
Come up with
\series bold
thread safe personal dictionaries
\series default
.
\layout Itemize
Use the
\series bold
Hidden Markov Model
\series default
to base the suggestions on not only the word itself but on the context around
the word.
\layout Itemize
Having a way to
\series bold
email
\series default
\series bold
the personal dictionary
\series default
and/or replacement list to a particular address either periodical or when
it grows to a certain size.
\layout Itemize
Be able to
\series bold
\series default
accept
\series bold
words with spaces in them
\series default
as many languages have words such as as a word in a foreign phrases which
only make sense when followed by other words.
\layout Standard
The following good ideas where found in the ispell WISHES file so I thought
I would pass them on.
\layout Itemize
Ispell should be smart enough to ignore hyphenation signs, such as the TeX
\backslash
- hyphenation indicator.
\layout Itemize
(Jeff Edmonds) The personal dictionary should be able to remove certain
words from the master dictionary, so that obscure words like "wether" wouldn't
mask favorite typos.
\layout Itemize
(Jeff Edmonds) It would be wonderful if ispell could correct inserted spaces
such as "th e" for "the" or even "can not" for "cannot".
\layout Itemize
Since ispell has dictionaries available to it, it is conceivable that it
could automatically determine the language of a particular file by choosing
the dictionary that produced the fewest spelling errors on the first few
lines.
\layout Section
Notes and Status of various items
\layout Subsection
G
\series bold
eneral region skipping
\layout Standard
I want to implement this give other people an idea of how it should be done
and because I am really sick of having to spell check through url and email
address.
\layout Subsection
Word skipping by context
\layout Standard
This was posted on the Aspell mailing list on January 1, 1999:
\layout Standard
I had an idea on a great general way to determine if a word should be skipped.
Determine the words to skip based on the symbols that (almost) always surround
the word.
\layout Standard
For example when asked to check the following C++ code:
\layout LyX-Code
cout <
\begin_inset ERT
status Collapsed
\layout Standard
\backslash
/
\end_inset
< "My age is: " <
\begin_inset ERT
status Collapsed
\layout Standard
\backslash
/
\end_inset
< num <
\begin_inset ERT
status Collapsed
\layout Standard
\backslash
/
\end_inset
< endl;
\newline
cout <
\begin_inset ERT
status Collapsed
\layout Standard
\backslash
/
\end_inset
< "Next year I will be " <
\begin_inset ERT
status Collapsed
\layout Standard
\backslash
/
\end_inset
< num + 1 <
\begin_inset ERT
status Collapsed
\layout Standard
\backslash
/
\end_inset
< endl;
\layout Standard
cout, num, and endl will all be skipped.
"cout" will be skipped because it is always preceded by a <
\begin_inset ERT
status Collapsed
\layout Standard
\backslash
/
\end_inset
<.
"num" will be skipped because it is always preceded by a <
\begin_inset ERT
status Collapsed
\layout Standard
\backslash
/
\end_inset
<.
And "endl" will be skipped because it is always between a <
\begin_inset ERT
status Collapsed
\layout Standard
\backslash
/
\end_inset
< and a ;.
\layout Standard
Given the following html code.
\layout LyX-Code
\newline
One Two Three
\newline
1 2 3
\newline
\newline
\newline
\layout Standard
table, width cellspacing, cellpadding, tr, td will all be skipped because
they are always enclosed in "<>".
Now of course table and width would be marked as correct anyway however
there is no harm in skipping them.
\layout Standard
So I was wondering if anyone on this list has any experience in writing
this sort of context recognition code or could give me some pointers in
the right direction.
\layout Standard
This sort of word skipping will be very powerful if done right.
I imagine that it could replace specific spell checker modes for Tex, Nroff,
SGML etc because it will automatically be able to figure out where it should
skip words.
It could also probably do a very good job on programming languages code.
\layout Standard
If you are interested in helping be out with this or just have general comments
about the idea please let me know.
\layout Subsection
Hidden Markov Model
\layout Standard
Knud Haugaard Sørensen suggested this one.
From his email on the Aspell mailing list:
\layout Quote
consider this examples.
\layout Quote
a fone number.
-> a phone number.
\newline
a fone dress.
-> a fine dress.
\layout Quote
the example illustrates that the right correction might depend on the context
of the word.
So I suggest that you take a look on HMM to solve this problem.
\layout Quote
This might also provide a good base to include grammar correction in aspell.
\layout Quote
see this link
\begin_inset LatexCommand \url{http://www.cse.ogi.edu/CSLU/HLTsurvey/ch1node7.html}
\end_inset
\layout Standard
I think it is a great idea.
However unfortunately it will probably be very complicated to implement.
Perhaps in the far future.
\layout Subsection
Email the Personal Dictionary
\layout Standard
Some one suggest in a personal email:
\layout Quote
Have you thought of adding a function to aspell, that - when the personal
dictionary has grown significantly - sends the user's personal dictionary
to the maintainer of the corresponding aspell dictionary? (if the user
allows it)
\layout Quote
It would be a very useful service to the dictionary maintainers, and I think
most users can see their benefit in it too.
\layout Standard
And I replied:
\layout Quote
Yes I have considered something like that but not for the personal dictionaries
but rather the replacement word list in order to get better test data for
\begin_inset LatexCommand \url{http://aspell.sourceforge.net/test/}
\end_inset
.
The problem is I don't know of a good way to do this sense Aspell can also
be used as a library.
It also is not a real high priority, especially sense I would first need
to learn how to send email within a C++ program.
\layout Subsection
Words With Spaces in Them
\layout Standard
While this is something I would like to do it is not a simple task.
The basic problem is that when tokenizing a string there is no good way
to keep phrases together.
So the solution is to some how add special conditions to certain words
which will dictate which words can come before/after it.
Then there is also a problem of how to come up with intelligent suggestions.
What further complicates things is that many applications send words to
Aspell a word at a time.
So even if Aspell did support such a thing many applications that would
use Aspell will not.
So, in order for this to work applications will need to send text to Aspell
a document or at least a sentence at a time.
Unfortunately the framework for doing this is not there yet.
It will be once I finish the filter interface.
Another possible is to provide call back functions in which Aspell will
be able to request the previous or next word on request.
Yet again the framework for doing this is not there.
Perhaps sometime in the near future.
\layout Chapter
Credits
\layout Itemize
To the FSF for adopting the project.
\layout Itemize
To the many authors of Ispell (including R.
E.
Gorin, Pace Willisson, and Geoff Kuenning) for providing me with a good
word list as well as giving me a few good ideas.
\layout Itemize
Alan Beale for going well beyond the call of duty with helping me create
a better word list.
\layout Itemize
Lawrence Philips for coming up with the original metaphone algorithm and
Michael Kuhn for writing C code for the algorithm.
\layout Itemize
Björn Jacke for coming up with a generic soundslike algorithm which gets
all of its data from a file, thus eliminating almost all need for language
specific code from aspell.
\layout Itemize
To the authors of SGI STL version 3.0 and up for proving a great set of generic
container classes with cut the development time of this program in half
at least.
\layout Itemize
To the LyX development team for giving me a great tool for the development
of this manual.
\layout Chapter
Glossary and References
\layout Description
affix in grammar, a word element that, when added to a word, modifies its
meaning or function; prefix, infix, or suffix.
\layout Description
Debian A 100% Open Source Linux distribution
\begin_inset LatexCommand \url{http://www.debian.org}
\end_inset
\layout Description
DICT\SpecialChar ~
protocol A TCP transaction based query/response protocol that allows
a client to access dictionary definitions from a set of natural language
dictionary databases.
\begin_inset LatexCommand \url{http://www.dict.org/}
\end_inset
\layout Description
Gnome A project to build a complete, user-friendly desktop based entirely
on free software.
\begin_inset LatexCommand \url{http://www.gnome.org/}
\end_inset
\layout Description
GTK+ A library for creating graphical user interfaces for the X Window System.
It is designed to be small, efficient, and flexible.
\begin_inset LatexCommand \url{http://www.gtk.org/}
\end_inset
\layout Description
GUI Graphics User Interface
\layout Description
Ispell.el Emacs interface for ispell.
\begin_inset LatexCommand \url{http://www.kdstevens.com/~stevens/ispell-page.html}
\end_inset
\layout Description
Ispell An international spell checker which is just about the only decent
Open Source spell checker out there.
(except Aspell of course).
\begin_inset LatexCommand \url{http://fmg-www.cs.ucla.edu/geoff/ispell.html}
\end_inset
\layout Description
Ispell\SpecialChar ~
-a An Ispell mode that is designed to be used by other applications
though a pipe.
\layout Description
KDE A powerful graphical desktop environment for Unix workstations.
\begin_inset LatexCommand \url{http://www.kde.org}
\end_inset
\layout Description
Linux A Open Source version of Unix which runs on many platforms.
\begin_inset LatexCommand \url{http://www.linux.org/}
\end_inset
\layout Description
LyX An What You See is What You Mean document editor for the X environment,
\begin_inset LatexCommand \url{http://www.lyx.org}
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Open\SpecialChar ~
Source Software where the source code is available for anyone to extend
or modify.
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Red\SpecialChar ~
Hat A commercial Linux distribution.
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\layout Description
RPM Red Hat's packing format also used by other Linux distributions.
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STL Standard Temple Library.
A C++ library of container classes, algorithms, and iterators.
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SGI\SpecialChar ~
STL Silicon Graphics implantation of the STL.
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STLPort A port of SGI STL designed to run on compilers that don't support
all the latest features of C++.
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Copyright
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This manual is Copyright (c) 2002 Kevin Atkinson.
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under
the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or any later
version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections,
no Front-Cover Texts.
and no Back-Cover Texts.
A copy of the license is included in the section .
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The library and utility program is Copyrighted (c) 2000-2002 by Kevin Atkinson.
You can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser
General Public License as (LGPL) published by the Free Software Foundation;
either version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
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Certain parts of the library, as indicated at the top of the source file,
are under a weaker license.
However, all parts of the library or LGPL Compatible.
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The two licenses follow:
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((FDL))
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GNU Lesser Public License
\layout Standard
((LGPL))
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