spell-checker isn't doing anything

Derell Licht · 07-28-2016, 07:04 PM

I've just installed Sigil 0.9.6.
OS: Windows 7 64-bit

I'm editing an .epub file. The editor itself is working fine, but the spell-checker doesn't appear to be doing anything. I'm editing a fantasy book, which needless-to-say has *many* words that are not in the standard dictionary, but nothing is highlighted at all. I also changed a normal word to be wrong (in case it was doing some wise thing to guess names that it shouldn't spell-check), but that didn't get highlighted either.

I looked under Preferences:Spellcheck Dictionaries; it has:
Dictionary: en_US
default dictionary is enabled
"Highlight misspelled words" is checked.

What is wrong??

KevinH · 07-28-2016, 09:42 PM

What is your default Language settings (See Preferences/Language) for both the User Interface and Default Language for Metadata? Is it "English" and "English - United States"?

Does your xhtml use xml:lang= or lang= attributes on the html tag and if so what are they set to?

Does clicking on the SpellCheck abc checkmark button do anything?

KevinH

Derell Licht · 07-28-2016, 10:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KevinH

What is your default Language settings (See Preferences/Language) for both the User Interface and Default Language for Metadata? Is it "English" and "English - United States"?

Does your xhtml use xml:lang= or lang= attributes on the html tag and if so what are they set to?

Does clicking on the SpellCheck abc checkmark button do anything?

KevinH

Default languages: They were both just English, but I changed the Metadata one to English-United States, though that caused no change.

my xhtml has: xml:lang="en"

SpellCheck abc button displayed a huge list of words and asked me if they were correct. Not sure what to do with that dialog??

KevinH · 07-28-2016, 11:01 PM

Try removing the xml:lang="en" on the htmlb tag and purposely altering a word to be incorrect and see if it gets underlined.

The abc/check button should provide you with a list of all misspelt words to change, ignore, or add to personal dictionary. This should all work since you set the Language for Metadata to "English - United States" which should tell the spellchecker to use the en_US dictionary when spellchecking.

KevinH

DiapDealer · 07-28-2016, 11:05 PM

Spellchecker does not work in Book View. You have to be in Code View to see misspelled words highlighted. Right-clicking on the red-underlined words will give you suggestions for replacements or the ability to ignore/add to dictionary.

Clicking the SpellCheck button will also bring up a list of misspelled words as Kevin already mentioned. Clicking on a misspelled Word in that dialog will take you to the word (and highlight it) in Code View. It will also offer you replacement suggestions and the options to ignore or add to a dictionary.

Toxaris · 07-29-2016, 02:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Spellchecker does not work in Book View. You have to be in Code View to see misspelled words highlighted. Right-clicking on the red-underlined words will give you suggestions for replacements or the ability to ignore/add to dictionary.

Indeed, that was the first thing that came up in my mind. I guess he is using BookView. Is it me or has the reports of 'issues' in BookView gone up this past weeks. I put issues in quotes because they are usually not issues but just some things that aren't meant to be used in BookView.

DiapDealer · 07-29-2016, 05:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Toxaris

Is it me or has the reports of 'issues' in BookView gone up this past weeks. I put issues in quotes because they are usually not issues but just some things that aren't meant to be used in BookView.

It seems that way. I take it as a good sign, though. It means new Sigil users who are learning the ropes. The more, the merrier!

Derell Licht · 07-29-2016, 10:13 AM

Hi all; Thanks for all the comments.
First of all, yes, I was using BookView, and I *really* want to, sadly. So why can't SpellChecker work in that mode??

Let me give a little background on what has brought me to Sigil...
I've been getting books from Amazon/Kindle, but have been *very* disappointed in the poor quality of their OCR conversions; the books are typically *loaded* with both spelling and formatting errors (I'm certainly not the only person noting this).

I've been using Calibre to convert .awb and .mobi to .epub, then using it to edit them... however, there's a problem with that - Calibre *only* allows editing in the Code View window!! This is fine for typos, but for formatting issues, I actually have to edit the html tags, which can get quite confusing. Besides which, I cannot actually *read* the Code, in the sense of reading the book, which is how I'm detecting the issues.

So I went searching for another epub editor, and found Sigil... your program is *wonderful* for the formatting errors!! I can just use the Word-style formatting buttons at the top to move things around, and I don't have to worry about goofing up the html/css code... The only problem is, I can't see the typos. I presume, if I switch to Code View (using F2), I'll have to go back to editing code tags again?? Maybe not, I'll check that.

Besides that, even when I go to Code View, the spelling errors are not highlighted in the Preview window, only in the Code View window, which just isn't readable.

ITM, the problem with the abc/check dialog, is that I'm editing fantasy novels, which typically have text such as this:

"Only th' good Lord Usires knows all answers," Haestan nodded. "Now, if y'would see y'r small friend, we'd best move on. Walk careful now - and not so close t'edge, there."

Obviously, most of the "typos" are not!! Wading through that list to look for the occasional *real* typos, isn't very practical... there were several dozen pages of entries just for the one split page that I'm currently on.

So, all in all, for this process to be practical for a real book, I need to be able to see the spelling errors in BookView... the difference that this would provide, is that I wouldn't *need* to read every line, I could scan down the text looking for typos, and ignoring the ones that are intended.

Is there any possibility of getting a revision to the program, to apply spell-checking to either BookView, or the Preview window??

DiapDealer · 07-29-2016, 10:48 AM

To be perfectly honest; other than entering text or making the occassional change to some text, I can't recommend doing much of anything (formatting-wise) in Book View.

If you don't care about the code "behind the scenes," then there's little harm in doing some bolding, italics, or alignment/spacing stuff obviously. But splitting/merging and all Find and Replace needs to happen in Code View (as does the application of saved "clips").

I honestly don't know the details of why the spellcheking feature has to be done in Code View. But suffice to say that if it was easy to make the spelllchecking feature available in Book View, it would already BE available. It's not an unreasonable (or uncommon) request by any means.

You'd do well to learn to "see the text" in Code View if you can (even if you don't want to mess with html). The more you learn about editing epubs (even for casual, personal use), the more you'll realize that doing so without digging into the html/css a bit isn't very feasible.

Derell Licht · 07-29-2016, 10:49 AM

Actually, after half an hour of working through a document, I think the current method of "Code View plus Preview" works fine for me. I read a page in the Preview, then scan the page in Code View for typos, then go to next page. Works fine!! So disregard my request for a program revision. It would still be *nice*, would make this editing/reviewing a little more convenient, but not all that important.

theducks · 07-29-2016, 11:41 AM

Derrell

If you happen to have an old Monitor laying about, connect that, as a second monitor (in portrait if it is really low res: 1024x768) . and put the preview pane on that.

Flipping to BV is for making Sigil offer to jump to the first error (Sigil won't really flip to BV until the code is error free)

Most laptops have a toggle to extend (rather than Mirror or just replace)
No vid Ports: I have good luck (windows only) with a USB Video adapter

Derell Licht · 07-29-2016, 12:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by theducks

Derell

If you happen to have an old Monitor laying about, connect that, as a second monitor (in portrait if it is really low res: 1024x768) . and put the preview pane on that.

Well, actually, I think I'm fine with the connected Preview window...
I have a desktop machine with a 30" 2560x1600 monitor, so space isn't really an issue !!

What I most dearly wish, is that I could get a Kindle which could switch to edit mode and fix these little issues, even when I'm sitting in the hills and reading...

Toxaris · 07-29-2016, 02:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Derell Licht

Well, actually, I think I'm fine with the connected Preview window...
I have a desktop machine with a 30" 2560x1600 monitor, so space isn't really an issue !!

What I most dearly wish, is that I could get a Kindle which could switch to edit mode and fix these little issues, even when I'm sitting in the hills and reading...

I am not familiar with the Kindle, but on my Sony (and most Kobo's for sure) I can mark the typo's and export them. Then I have a nice list of all the typo's I can correct fast.

Doitsu · 07-29-2016, 03:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Toxaris

I am not familiar with the Kindle, but on my Sony (and most Kobo's for sure) I can mark the typo's and export them. Then I have a nice list of all the typo's I can correct fast.

eInk Kindles automatically store hightlighted text in a plain text file (My Clippings.txt) in the documents folder of the Kindle.
However, some commercial Kindle books have a clipping limit that is set to 10%.

Turtle91 · 07-29-2016, 03:29 PM

I've tried exporting highlights but all I got was a list of mis-spelled words.... It would have been nice if they were at least links that would take me to the location of the word.

But I agree with Derrell....the IDEAL solution would be letting me correct the word as I was reading on my phone/ipad or whatever. Spell checkers don't know when it is a good word used incorrectly. ...for that matter, neither do a lot of authors...

07-28-2016, 07:04 PM	#1
Derell Licht Member Posts: 12 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2016 Location: Fremont, CA Device: Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition	spell-checker isn't doing anything I've just installed Sigil 0.9.6. OS: Windows 7 64-bit I'm editing an .epub file. The editor itself is working fine, but the spell-checker doesn't appear to be doing anything. I'm editing a fantasy book, which needless-to-say has many words that are not in the standard dictionary, but nothing is highlighted at all. I also changed a normal word to be wrong (in case it was doing some wise thing to guess names that it shouldn't spell-check), but that didn't get highlighted either. I looked under Preferences:Spellcheck Dictionaries; it has: Dictionary: en_US default dictionary is enabled "Highlight misspelled words" is checked. What is wrong??

07-29-2016, 10:48 AM	#9
DiapDealer Grand Sorcerer Posts: 28,505 Karma: 204127028 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD	To be perfectly honest; other than entering text or making the occassional change to some text, I can't recommend doing much of anything (formatting-wise) in Book View. If you don't care about the code "behind the scenes," then there's little harm in doing some bolding, italics, or alignment/spacing stuff obviously. But splitting/merging and all Find and Replace needs to happen in Code View (as does the application of saved "clips"). I honestly don't know the details of why the spellcheking feature has to be done in Code View. But suffice to say that if it was easy to make the spelllchecking feature available in Book View, it would already BE available. It's not an unreasonable (or uncommon) request by any means. You'd do well to learn to "see the text" in Code View if you can (even if you don't want to mess with html). The more you learn about editing epubs (even for casual, personal use), the more you'll realize that doing so without digging into the html/css a bit isn't very feasible. Last edited by DiapDealer; 07-29-2016 at 11:09 AM.

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07-28-2016, 09:42 PM	#2
KevinH Sigil Developer Posts: 8,593 Karma: 5703586 Join Date: Nov 2009 Device: many	What is your default Language settings (See Preferences/Language) for both the User Interface and Default Language for Metadata? Is it "English" and "English - United States"? Does your xhtml use xml:lang= or lang= attributes on the html tag and if so what are they set to? Does clicking on the SpellCheck abc checkmark button do anything? KevinH

07-28-2016, 11:01 PM	#4
KevinH Sigil Developer Posts: 8,593 Karma: 5703586 Join Date: Nov 2009 Device: many	Try removing the xml:lang="en" on the htmlb tag and purposely altering a word to be incorrect and see if it gets underlined. The abc/check button should provide you with a list of all misspelt words to change, ignore, or add to personal dictionary. This should all work since you set the Language for Metadata to "English - United States" which should tell the spellchecker to use the en_US dictionary when spellchecking. KevinH

07-28-2016, 11:05 PM	#5
DiapDealer Grand Sorcerer Posts: 28,505 Karma: 204127028 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD	Spellchecker does not work in Book View. You have to be in Code View to see misspelled words highlighted. Right-clicking on the red-underlined words will give you suggestions for replacements or the ability to ignore/add to dictionary. Clicking the SpellCheck button will also bring up a list of misspelled words as Kevin already mentioned. Clicking on a misspelled Word in that dialog will take you to the word (and highlight it) in Code View. It will also offer you replacement suggestions and the options to ignore or add to a dictionary.

07-29-2016, 10:13 AM	#8
Derell Licht Member Posts: 12 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2016 Location: Fremont, CA Device: Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition	Hi all; Thanks for all the comments. First of all, yes, I was using BookView, and I really want to, sadly. So why can't SpellChecker work in that mode?? Let me give a little background on what has brought me to Sigil... I've been getting books from Amazon/Kindle, but have been very disappointed in the poor quality of their OCR conversions; the books are typically loaded with both spelling and formatting errors (I'm certainly not the only person noting this). I've been using Calibre to convert .awb and .mobi to .epub, then using it to edit them... however, there's a problem with that - Calibre only allows editing in the Code View window!! This is fine for typos, but for formatting issues, I actually have to edit the html tags, which can get quite confusing. Besides which, I cannot actually read the Code, in the sense of reading the book, which is how I'm detecting the issues. So I went searching for another epub editor, and found Sigil... your program is wonderful for the formatting errors!! I can just use the Word-style formatting buttons at the top to move things around, and I don't have to worry about goofing up the html/css code... The only problem is, I can't see the typos. I presume, if I switch to Code View (using F2), I'll have to go back to editing code tags again?? Maybe not, I'll check that. Besides that, even when I go to Code View, the spelling errors are not highlighted in the Preview window, only in the Code View window, which just isn't readable. ITM, the problem with the abc/check dialog, is that I'm editing fantasy novels, which typically have text such as this: "Only th' good Lord Usires knows all answers," Haestan nodded. "Now, if y'would see y'r small friend, we'd best move on. Walk careful now - and not so close t'edge, there." Obviously, most of the "typos" are not!! Wading through that list to look for the occasional real typos, isn't very practical... there were several dozen pages of entries just for the one split page that I'm currently on. So, all in all, for this process to be practical for a real book, I need to be able to see the spelling errors in BookView... the difference that this would provide, is that I wouldn't need to read every line, I could scan down the text looking for typos, and ignoring the ones that are intended. Is there any possibility of getting a revision to the program, to apply spell-checking to either BookView, or the Preview window??

07-29-2016, 10:49 AM	#10
Derell Licht Member Posts: 12 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2016 Location: Fremont, CA Device: Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition	Actually, after half an hour of working through a document, I think the current method of "Code View plus Preview" works fine for me. I read a page in the Preview, then scan the page in Code View for typos, then go to next page. Works fine!! So disregard my request for a program revision. It would still be nice, would make this editing/reviewing a little more convenient, but not all that important.

07-29-2016, 11:41 AM	#11
theducks Well trained by Cats Posts: 30,939 Karma: 60358908 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: The Central Coast of California Device: Kobo Libra2,Kobo Aura2v1, K4NT(Fixed: New Bat.), Galaxy Tab A	Derrell If you happen to have an old Monitor laying about, connect that, as a second monitor (in portrait if it is really low res: 1024x768) . and put the preview pane on that. Flipping to BV is for making Sigil offer to jump to the first error (Sigil won't really flip to BV until the code is error free) Most laptops have a toggle to extend (rather than Mirror or just replace) No vid Ports: I have good luck (windows only) with a USB Video adapter

07-29-2016, 03:29 PM	#15
Turtle91 A Hairy Wizard Posts: 3,329 Karma: 20171571 Join Date: Dec 2012 Location: Charleston, SC today Device: iPhone 15/11/X/6/iPad 1,2,Air & Air Pro/Surface Pro/Kindle PW & Fire	I've tried exporting highlights but all I got was a list of mis-spelled words.... It would have been nice if they were at least links that would take me to the location of the word. But I agree with Derrell....the IDEAL solution would be letting me correct the word as I was reading on my phone/ipad or whatever. Spell checkers don't know when it is a good word used incorrectly. ...for that matter, neither do a lot of authors...

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