Spelling Sentry Contents

Procedures:

How to check a disk file

How to check the clipboard

How to check a single word

How to respond to spelling errors

How to edit a lexicon

How to set preferences

How to exit Spelling Sentry

Commands:

File menu commands

Check menu commands

Options menu commands

Lexicon menu commands

Help Menu commands

Main window:

Buttons and controls


How to check a file

Spelling Sentry can check the spelling of ASCII text files and Microsoft Write files.

You can check files using two methods: by invoking a menu command, or by dragging a file from the File Manager.

To check a file using the menu:

1.	From the Check menu, select File.

2.	Spelling Sentry displays an Open File dialog. Locate and select the file you wish to check, then select the OK button.

3.	Spelling Sentry checks the words in the file.

4.	Spelling Sentry pauses when it detects a misspelled word so you can correct it.

5.	When checking is complete, Spelling Sentry saves any replacements made to disk. It also displays some statistics.

To check a file from the File Manager:

1.	Locate the file you wish to check in File Manager's window.

2.	Drag the file from File Manager's window onto Spelling Sentry's window or icon ("drag" means click and hold the left mouse button, move the mouse, then release the button). Note: You can drag a file to Spelling Sentry's icon only if Spelling Sentry is "minimized" at the bottom of the screen.

3.	Spelling Sentry checks the words in the file.

4.	Spelling Sentry pauses when it detects a misspelled word so you can correct it.

5.	When checking is complete, Spelling Sentry saves any replacements made to disk. It also displays some statistics. Note: Spelling Sentry doesn't save any changes made to the file until the entire file is checked. If you select the Stop button to terminate checking, any changes made up to that point are lost.

Notes:

You can cancel a spell-checking session by selecting the Stop button. Spelling Sentry doesn't save any changes made to the file until the entire file is checked. If you select the Stop button to terminate checking of a file, Spelling Sentry will display a dialog asking if you want to save any changes made up to that point.

Spelling Sentry can check files produced by the Windows Write program and ASCII text files. If the file you select doesn't appear to be of either type, Spelling Sentry will display a warning message asking if you want to check the file anyway. Spelling Sentry will attempt to identify words in the file, but bear in mind that it may become confused by formatting codes, etc. Replacing misspelled words in these files is not recommended.

See also

How to check the clipboard

How to set preferences

How to respond to spelling errors

Statistics


How to check the clipboard

You can check the spelling of words in the Windows clipboard.

1.	In another application, select the text you want to check, then copy it to the clipboard. You can do this in most applications by selecting the Copy item from the Edit menu.

2.	In Spelling Sentry, select the Clipboard item from the Check menu.

3.	Spelling Sentry checks the words in the clipboard.

4.	When Spelling Sentry detects a misspelled word, it pauses so you can correct the word.

5.	When Spelling Sentry is finished checking, it copies any replacements made to the clipboard. You can paste the corrected text back into your other application's document. You can do this in most applications by selecting the Paste item from the Edit menu. Spelling Sentry also displays some statistics when it has finished checking the clipboard contents. Note: Spelling Sentry doesn't save any changes made to the clipboard until the entire clipboard is checked. If you select the Stop button to terminate checking, any changes made up to that point are lost.

Note:

You can also tell Spelling Sentry to check the clipboard by selecting the Check Clipboard item in Spelling Sentry's System menu. If Spelling Sentry's window is visible, you can open the System menu by clicking on the box at the upper-left corner. If the window is minimized, you can open the System menu by clicking on Spelling Sentry's icon.

You can cancel a spell-checking session by selecting the Stop button. Spelling Sentry doesn't save any changes made to the clipboard until the entire clipboard is checked. If you select the Stop button to terminate checking, Spelling Sentry will display a dialog asking if you want to save any changes made up to that point.

See also

How to check a file

How to set preferences

How to respond to spelling errors

Statistics


How to check a single word

1.	Select the Word item from the Check menu.

2.	Spelling Sentry displays a form which prompts you to enter a word. Type in the word you want to check, then select the OK button.

3.	Spelling Sentry displays a message which tells you whether the word is correctly spelled or not.

See also

How to check a file

How to check the clipboard


How to respond to spelling errors

When Spelling Sentry detects a misspelled word while checking a file or the clipboard, it pauses to give you a chance to respond.

The word which Spelling Sentry considers to be incorrect appears in a field in the main window. The field is indicated with one of the following labels, depending on the nature of the problem detected by Spelling Sentry:

Misspelled Word: The word was not found in any of Spelling Sentry's lexicons, and so is considered misspelled.

Doubled Word: The same word appeared twice in a row.

Mixed-Case Word: The word used an unusual combination of upper- and lower-case letters.

Consider Replacing: The word was found in the Suggest-Type lexicon. The word in the Correction field is a suggested replacement.

The words surrounding the misspelled word (usually the sentence in which the word appears) are shown in the context area near the top of Spelling Sentry's window. The erroneous word is highlighted in the context area.

If you have selected the Always Suggest option, Spelling Sentry searches for alternative spellings for the misspelled word, and displays any suggested words in the list box. If you have not selected Always Suggest, you can press the Suggest button. This will cause Spelling Sentry to search for alternative words. If the correct spelling doesn't appear in the list, try selecting the Suggest button again. Each time you select the Suggest button, Spelling Sentry searches its lexicons a little deeper.

Select one of the following actions:

If the word reported by Spelling Sentry is correctly spelled and probably doesn't occur again in the file or clipboard, select the Ignore button.

If the word is correctly spelled and probably occurs again in the file or clipboard, select the Ignore All button. If the word appears again, Spelling Sentry will ignore it.

If the word is correctly spelled and is a word you use often (for example, your family name), select the Add to Lex button. Spelling Sentry will remember the word in the Ignore-Type lexicon.

If the word is misspelled and the correct spelling appears in the list box, select the correct spelling from the list box.

In some rare cases, Spelling Sentry cannot locate the correct spelling for a misspelled word. If this happens, you can edit the word in the Correction field manually. To verify that the word in the Correction field is correctly spelled, select the Recheck button. Spelling Sentry will display a message telling you if the word is correctly spelled or not.

You can replace the misspelled word in the file or clipboard with the word in the Correction field by selecting one of the following actions:

If the misspelled word doesn't occur again in the document, select the Replace button.

If the word occurs again in the document, select the Replace All button. Spelling Sentry will replace this occurrence and each subsequent occurrence of the misspelled word with the word in the Correction field.

If you want Spelling Sentry to "permanently" remember to replace the misspelled word, hold down the Shift key when you select the Replace All button. Spelling Sentry will add the word and its replacement to the Change-Type lexicon.

Note: By selecting the Undo Last button, you can undo the last single replacement made to the document.

See also

Buttons and Controls


How to edit a lexicon

You can edit the words in the Change-Type, Ignore-Type, or Suggest-Type lexicons. However, you cannot edit the words in Spelling Sentry's main lexicon.

1.	Select the item in the Lexicon menu for the lexicon you wish to edit (Change-Type, Ignore-Type, or Suggest-Type).

2.	The lexicon-editor dialog appears. Select one of the following topics for more information:

How to add a word to a lexicon

How to delete a word from a lexicon

How to merge two lexicons

How to clear a lexicon

3.	To close the lexicon-editor dialog, select the Close button.

See also

Lexicon menu


How to add a word to a lexicon

1.	Select the Add button from the lexicon-editor dialog.

2.	A dialog appears, prompting you to enter a word. Enter the word you wish to add. The Change-Type and Suggest-Type lexicons contain words and their replacements, which must be entered like this: word:replacement. For example, to enter "the" as a replacement for "teh", enter the following: teh:the.

3.	Select the OK button. Spelling Sentry adds the word to the lexicon.

See also

How to edit a lexicon


How to delete a word from a lexicon

1.	In the list box in the lexicon-editor dialog, select the word you wish to delete.

2.	Select the Delete button. Spelling Sentry removes the selected word from the lexicon.

See also

How to edit a lexicon


How to merge two lexicons

You can merge any set of words into a lexicon, provided the words are stored in a disk file. You can use this feature to merge the user lexicon from another application (sometimes called the "user dictionary," "personal dictionary," "custom dictionary," etc.) into one of Spelling Sentry's lexicons. However, when merging into a Change-Type or Suggest-Type lexicon, the words being merged must be in the word:replacement form (e.g., teh:the).

1.	Select the Merge button in the lexicon-editor dialog.

2.	A file-open dialog appears. Locate and select the file containing the words you wish to merge into the current lexicon, then select the OK button.

3.	The words in the disk file are merged into the current lexicon.

See also

How to edit a lexicon


How to clear a lexicon

1.	Select the Clear button from the lexicon-editor dialog. Spelling Sentry displays a dialog asking for confirmation. Select the Yes button to proceed..

2.	All the words in the current lexicon will be deleted.

See also

How to edit a lexicon


How to set preferences

You can change the way Spelling Sentry operates to suit your personal preference.

1.	Select the Preferences item in the Options menu.

2.	The Preferences dialog appears. Select the check boxes in the dialog to enable or disable preferences.

Ignore capitalized words: Spelling Sentry will skip any words which start with a capital letter, unless the word is the first word in a sentence. This option is useful if your document contains many proper names.

Ignore words with numbers/symbols: Spelling Sentry will skip any words which contain embedded numbers or other non-alphabetic symbols Examples: K2J, X11, DOS6.

Ignore words with mixed case: Spelling Sentry will skip any words which have an unusual case combination. Examples: YearToDate, CoLA, WordProc, etc.

Report words with mixed case: Spelling Sentry will report words which contain unusual combinations of upper- and lower-case letters, even if the words are otherwise spelled correctly. Examples: PrintScreen, hAppy, CodeHead.

Report doubled words: Spelling Sentry will report any word which appears twice in a row, unless the first word appears at the end of a sentence. Example: the the.

Always suggest: Spelling Sentry will always suggest alternative words when a misspelled word is detected. If this option is disabled, you can obtain suggested words by selecting the Suggest button. Disabling this option will make Spelling Sentry run faster.

Make backup copy of changed files: Spelling Sentry will make a backup copy of any disk files changed using the Replace or Replace All buttons. The backup copy will have the same name as the original file, but it will end in .BAK. For example, if you replace words in a file called CHAP1.WRI, Spelling Sentry will leave the original contents in a file called CHAP1.BAK.

Spelling Rules: If you prefer spelling words in the American style (e.g., color, defense, traveled), select the American button. If you prefer the British style (e.g., colour, defence, travelled) select the British button. Note: You must restart Spelling Sentry after you change the spelling rules for the new selection to take effect.

3.	Once you have made your option selections, select the OK button.

See also

Options menu

Suggest button

Replace button

Replace All button


How to exit Spelling Sentry

To exit Spelling Sentry, select the Exit item from the File menu.

See also

File menu


Misspelled Word

Spelling Sentry considers a misspelled word to be any word which can't be found in a lexicon.


Always Suggest Option

The Always Suggest option determines whether Spelling Sentry automatically attempts to locate suggested alternative replacements for a misspelled word. Turning this option off may save time while checking.


Ignore-Type Lexicon

Words in the Ignore-Type lexicon are considered correctly spelled. The Ignore-Type Lexicon is intended to contain words which are personal to you. Spelling Sentry's main lexicon contains many words, but it may not contain words you use every day such as your family name, the name of the street you live on, etc. You can add these words to the Ignore-Type Lexicon so Spelling Sentry can check that they are spelled correctly when you use them in your writing.


Change-Type Lexicon

Words in the Change-Type lexicon are considered misspelled, and should be replaced with another word. The Change-Type lexicon contains word pairs: the misspelled word and its replacement. When Spelling Sentry encounters a word which is defined in the Change-Type lexicon, it automatically substitutes the replacement word.


Suggest-Type Lexicon

Words in the Suggest-Type lexicon may be misspelled, or may need to be brought to your attention for other reasons. The Suggest-Type lexicon contains word pairs: the misspelled word and its replacement. When Spelling Sentry encounters a word which is defined in the Suggest-Type lexicon, it displays the word and its replacement. You can then select the Ignore button to skip the word, or select the Replace button to substitute the replacement word.


Main Lexicon

Spelling Sentry's main lexicon is a large body of common English-language words. The main lexicon contains about 100,000 words.


Lexicon

A lexicon is a collection of words. The word "dictionary" is interchangeable with "lexicon."


Non-alphabetic Symbols

Non-alphabetic symbols are characters which cannot form part of a word. Spelling Sentry considers words to be collections of alphabetic characters and apostrophes; anything else is a non-alphabetic symbol.


File Menu

The File menu contains file-related commands.

See also:

Check item

Exit item


Check item (File menu)

The Check item causes Spelling Sentry to check the spelling of words in an ASCII text file or Windows Write file.

See also

File menu

How to check a disk file

How to check the clipboard


Exit item (File menu)

The Exit item causes Spelling Sentry to terminate.


Check menu

The Check menu contains entries which cause Spelling Sentry to check the spelling of files, the clipboard, or individual words.

See also

Check File item

Check Clipboard item

Check Word item


Check File (Check menu)

The Check File item causes Spelling Sentry to check the spelling of words in an ASCII text file or Windows Write file.

See also

Check menu

How to check a disk file

How to check the clipboard


Check Clipboard (Check Menu)

The Check Clipboard item causes Spelling Sentry to check the spelling of words contained in the Windows clipboard.

See also

Check menu

How to check a disk file

How to check the clipboard


Check Word (Check Menu)

The Check Word menu item causes Spelling Sentry to check the spelling of a single word.

See also

Check menu

How to check a single word


Options menu

The Options menu contains a single item, Preferences, which you can use to display a dialog to edit Spelling Sentry options.

See also

How to set preferences


Lexicon Menu

The Lexicon menu contains items you can select to edit the Change-Type, Ignore-Type, or Suggest-Type lexicon.

See also

Change-Type Lexicon item

Ignore-Type Lexicon item

Suggest-Type Lexicon item


Supplemental Lexicon (Lexicon Menu)
Change-Type Lexicon (Lexicon Menu)

The Change-Type Lexicon item displays a dialog you can use to edit the Change-Type lexicon.

See also:

Lexicon menu

How to edit a lexicon


Ignore-Type Lexicon (Lexicon Menu)

The Ignore-Type Lexicon item displays a dialog you can use to edit the Ignore-Type lexicon

See also

Lexicon menu

How to edit a lexicon


Suggest-Type Lexicon (Lexicon Menu)

The Suggest-Type Lexicon item displays a dialog you can use to edit the Suggest-Type lexicon.

See also

Lexicon menu

How to edit a lexicon


Help Menu

Use the Help menu commands to get information about Spelling Sentry:

Index: Use this command to display the opening screen of Help. From the opening screen, you can jump to step-by-step instructions for using Spelling Sentry and various types of reference information.

Search for help on: Use this command to search for a specific topic.

About: Use this command to determine the Spelling Sentry version number, the Sentry Spelling-Checker Engine DLL version number, and copyright information.


Buttons and Controls

Select one of the following topics for more information:

Context area

Problem Word field

Correction field

Suggestions list box

Add to Lex button

Recheck button

Suggest button

Ignore button

Replace button

Ignore All button

Replace All button

Delete button

Stop button


Context Area

The Context Area shows the context in which a misspelled word is found. Usually, the context is the sentence containing the word. The word is shown highlighted in the Context area. You can use the scroll bars at the right side of the Context Area to bring more of the context into view.

Note that Spelling Sentry doesn't apply any corrections made to a file or clipboard until the entire document is checked, so replacements will not appear in the Context area.


Problem Word Field

The Problem Word field shows the word which requires your attention. This field will be labeled as follows, depending on the specific problem detected:

Misspelled Word: The word was not found in any of Spelling Sentry's lexicons, and so is considered misspelled.

Doubled Word: The same word appeared twice in a row.

Mixed-Case Word: The word contained embedded digits or other symbols, or used an unusual combination of upper- and lower-case letters.

Consider Replacing: The word was found in a Suggest-Type lexicon. The word in the Correction field is a suggested replacement.


Correction Field

The Correction field contains a replacement for the misspelled word. You can enter a correction word by typing it through the keyboard, pasting it from the clipboard (press Ctrl+V), or by selecting one of the suggested words in the Suggestions list box.

See also

Suggestion list box


Suggestion List Box

The Suggestions list box contains suggested alternative words which Spelling Sentry recommends as replacements for the misspelled word. When you select a word in the list box, it is automatically copied to the Correction field.

See also:

Correction field


Words Checked Field

The Words-Checked field displays the total number of words checked in a file or clipboard. The number to the right of this field shows what portion of the file or clipboard has been checked, expressed as a percentage.


Add to Lex Button

The Add to Lex button adds the word in the Problem Word field to the Ignore-Type lexicon. Use this button if the word which Spelling Sentry flagged as misspelled is actually correctly spelled, and is a word you use frequently.

See also

Problem Word field

How to edit a lexicon


Recheck Button

The Recheck button causes Spelling Sentry to check the spelling of the word in the Correction field. Spelling Sentry displays a message indicating whether the word is correctly spelled or not. Use this button if you type in a word to replace the misspelled one, and want to double-check the spelling.

See also

Correction field

How to respond to spelling errors


Suggest Button

The Suggest button causes Spelling Sentry to search for replacements for the word in the Problem Word field. Use the Suggest button if you want Spelling Sentry to look up the correct spelling for a misspelled word. Any suggested replacements found will be displayed in the Suggestions list box. Pressing the Suggest button again may yield better suggested words. When the Suggestion button is disabled (grayed), no further suggestions can be located.

See also

Problem Word field

Suggestions list box

How to respond to spelling errors


Ignore Button

The Ignore button causes Spelling Sentry to skip the current word in the Problem Word field. Use the Ignore button if the word is actually correct.

See also

Problem Word field

Ignore All button

How to respond to spelling errors


Replace Button

The Replace button causes Spelling Sentry to replace the misspelled word with the word in the Correction field. Only this occurrence of the word is replaced. Use the Replace button if the misspelled word isn't likely to appear again in the current file or clipboard.

See also

Correction field

Replace All button

How to respond to spelling errors


Ignore All Button

The Ignore All button causes Spelling Sentry to ignore this and all further occurrences of the misspelled word in the current file or clipboard. Use the Ignore All button if the word in the Problem Word field is actually correctly spelled and probably occurs again in the file or clipboard.

Selecting the Ignore All button will the Shift key held down adds the word in the Problem Word field to the Ignore-Type lexicon.

See also

Problem Word field

Ignore button

Replace All button

Add to Lex button

How to respond to spelling errors


Replace All Button

The Replace All button causes Spelling Sentry to replace this and all further occurrences of the misspelled word with the word in the Correction field. Use the Replace All button when the misspelled word is likely to occur again in the same file or document.

Selecting the Replace All button with the Shift key held down adds the word in the Problem Word field and the word in the Correction Field to the Change-Type lexicon.

See also

Problem Word field

Correction field

Replace button

Ignore All button

How to respond to spelling errors


Delete Button

The Delete button causes Spelling Sentry to delete the second occurrence of the doubled word. The Delete button is enabled only when a doubled word has been detected.

See Also:

How to respond to spelling errors


Undo Last Button

The Undo Last button causes Spelling Sentry to restore the last single replacement made to a misspelled word. The Undo Last button is enabled only if the last replacement can be undone. Note that replacements made via the Replace All button cannot be undone.

See Also:

Replace button

Replace All button


Stop Checking Button
Stop Button

The Stop button causes Spelling Sentry to cancel a file check or clipboard check in progress.  If the file or clipboard has been changed, Spelling Sentry displays a dialog asking if you want to save any changes made up to that point.


Statistics

When Spelling Sentry has completed checking a file or the clipboard, it displays some statistics.

Words Checked: The total number of words in the file or clipboard.

Sentences: The approximate number of sentences in the file or clipboard. Spelling Sentry counts sentences by recognizing sentence-terminating punctuation (i.e., periods, question marks, and exclamation marks).

Flesch-Kincaid Readability Grade: A score indicating the readability of your writing, expressed as the approximate number of years of schooling needed to understand it.

Fog Index: Another readability score.