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Check Spelling: The Spellchecker Menu Option
What the Spellchecker Is
The spellchecker is a program that searches through an EZ document for misspelled words, comparing all the words in the document to the words in its dictionary. When it finds a word that does not match any of the dictionary entries, it selects the word and offers you several choices for correcting the problem. If the selected word is misspelled but similar to a word in its dictionary, it offers you possible correct spellings.
Using the Spellchecker
Note: If you have footnotes in your EZ document and you want to check the spelling in the footnotes, you must choose Open Footnotes from the Page menu before beginning the Spellchecker. Spellchecker will not check the spelling in footnotes that are closed. (See the help on ez-footnotes for details about the footnotes feature in EZ.)
To begin, position the text caret where you want to begin checking the spelling, and choose Check Spelling from the Search/Spell menu card. After a moment, the message "Starting spell check." appears on the message line, and the spellcheck begins.
It is important to remember that, like the search program, a spellcheck starts at the current text caret position. It will not check above the starting position of the text caret. To improve your chances of finding all misspelled words, place the caret at the very beginning of the document before choosing Check Spelling.
When a word fails to match an entry in the spellchecker's dictionary, the checker selects it and presents a set of options on the message line for dealing with the word.
If the spellchecker finds any similar words in its dictionary, it lists them for you. For example, if you had the word "yout" in your file (a misspelling of "your"), the spellchecker would list options like this for correcting it:
0) bout 1) pout 2) rout 3) your 4) out 5) you 6) youth
[<space>][A][R][E][I][Q] ?
To replace the selected word with one of the options, type its number. (In this case, you would press 3, for "your.")
The numbered options will not appear if the spellchecker finds no similar words in its dictionary, but the following space bar and letter options are always available. They work like this:
| <spacebar> | continues the spellcheck, leaving the selected word unchanged. |
| a | accepts the selected word as correct, now and during the rest of the spellcheck. |
| r | replaces the selected word with the string you type on the message line (backspace over the wrong word on the message line to remove it first). |
| | e | enters recursive editing mode, which allows you to "leave" the spellcheck program temporarily and then return to it. This is useful if you notice another error while you are doing a spellcheck, and want to edit it right then. When you choose e, the selected word is deselected, and you can edit any part of the document you choose. When you are finished editing, press ^C (Ctrl-c) to re-enter the spellcheck program.
Warning: When you re-enter the program, the search for misspellings will begin from the current position of the text caret. If during editing you have moved the caret past some misspelled words, the program will not find them. Also, the instance that was selected when you chose e will not be fixed, so you will need to change it by hand.
Note: You must have the ez.ExpertMode preference in your preferences file set to "on" to make recursive editing possible.
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| i | accepts the selected word as correct and inserts it your permanent private dictionary. The spellchecker creates this private dictionary automatically the very first time you choose i, creating a file in your home directory called ".ispell.words" to hold it. Anytime you use the spellcheck program afterwards, it consults your private dictionary as well as its own dictionary. This is very useful if there are some uncommon or technical terms that you use often in many documents. |
| q | accepts the selected word as correct and quits the spellchecker. |
When the spellcheck is finished, the message "Spell check completed." appears on the message line. The text caret returns to where it was when the spellcheck started, but the screen does not scroll up to it.
Warnings
The spellchecker is no substitute for proofreading. It can select words that its dictionary does not recognize, but it cannot understand what words mean in context. For example, if you type ``pedal'' instead of ``peddle'' or "their" instead of "there," the spellchecker will accept the words, regardless of their meanings, because they are spelled correctly.
The spellchecker does not accept contractions; it considers them to be misspelled words.
Author
Zalman Stern
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