A spell checker is built into the Configure Report utility. A United States English dictionary (word list) is provided with the Simulation Mechanical installation. In addition, a default user dictionary is created for storing additional words.
When you type text into the report (for example, into the Report Title or Executive Summary), unrecognized or misspelled words will be marked with a squiggly red underline. When you right-click on a tagged word, the context menu will include the following spell-checker related options:
- Up to three alternative spelling suggestions are given at the top of the context menu. Clicking on a suggestion replaces the typed word with the suggested one.
- Ignore Once – removes the red underline only for this instance of the word. Other identical words within the report will remain tagged as misspelled. Do this for unrecognized words that you may not wish to add to your spelling dictionary (such as infrequently used proper names).
- Ignore All – removes the red underline from all instances of the word. This is more convenient that Ignore All when the text appears in multiple places and you don't wish to change the spelling for any instance of it.
- Add to Dictionary – adds the word to your user dictionary to prevent it from being flagged as misspelled in the future. Do this for frequently used proper names, technical terms that are valid but missing from the dictionary, and so on.
- Spelling... – accesses the Spelling dialog box.
The Spelling Dialog Box
Within the Spelling dialog box, you will see the same Ignore Once, Ignore All, and Add to Dictionary options that appear in the previously described context menu. In addition, the following features are included:
- The Not in Dictionaries: field shows the misspelled or unrecognized word (in red) within an excerpt of the adjacent report text.
- Suggestions – This is an expanded list of alternative spellings (not limited to three suggestions). Click a word in this list to select the desired alternative spelling.
- Change – updates this one instance of the flagged word per the manually-typed word in the Not in Dictionaries field or the selected word within the Suggestions list.
- Change All – updates all instances of the flagged word per the manually-typed word in the Not in Dictionaries field or the selected word within the Suggestions list.
- Default User Dictionary – From this drop-down menu box, choose the active user dictionary. Any words you choose to add to the dictionary will be added to the default user dictionary. Spelling will be checked against the words in the main (*.dic) and user (*.tdx) dictionaries.
- Options – Use this button to access the Options dialog box (see below).
Options Dialog Box
The Options dialog box consists of two tabs—General Settings and Dictionaries.
General Settings Tab:
- Ignore all words with ALL UPPERCASE letters – When this checkbox is activated, all words that consist of only uppercase letters will be ignored. They will not be flagged even if misspelled.
- Ignore words that contain numbers – This option prevents strings consisting of mixed letters and numbers from being flagged as misspelled. This is useful for excluding things like license plate numbers, passwords, and model or serial numbers.
- Ignore Internet addresses – Strings recognized as Internet URLs (http://xyz.com or www.xyz.com) will be excluded from spell checking when this checkbox is activated.
- Ignore E-Mail addresses – Strings recognized as E-Mail addresses (j.doe@xyz.com) will be excluded from spell checking when this checkbox is activated.
- Flag repeated words – When this checkbox is activated, the second instance of a repeated word will be flagged by the spell checker, even though it isn't misspelled. In most but not all cases, adjacent, repeated words are a typographical error.
Dictionaries Tab:
This tab lists available dictionaries. There are two by default, the US English dictionary and the default user dictionary. Additional dictionaries can also be added. There are two checkboxes per listed dictionary—one to enable Spell Checking and one to enable Suggestions for each dictionary. All options are activated by default. Therefore, spelling will be checked against both word lists, and alternative spelling suggestions will be compiled from both word lists.
User Dictionaries... button:
Use this button to access a dialog box with which you can manage dictionary files. You will find the following items within the User Dictionaries dialog box:
- User Dictionaries (list) – The default user dictionary, plus any others you might add, will be listed on the left side of the dialog box. An Enable checkbox appears to the right of each listed dictionary to include or exclude it from spell checking operations.
- Edit word list – This button opens the Edit Word List dialog box. Use this tool to manually add, revise, or delete the words listed within the selected user dictionary.
- New – Click this button to specify the name of a new user dictionary. The associated file will be created in the appropriate place on your system drive and the new dictionary will be added to the user dictionaries list. For Windows 7, dictionaries are place in the folder \ProgramData\.algor\UserDictionaries on the system drive. Note that newly created dictionary files will not appear on the hard drive until you exit the spell checker dialog boxes and save the current model.
- Add – Click this button to browse to an existing dictionary and add it to the list of user dictionaries. This command can be used to incorporate a manually created dictionary file (*.tdx) or to add a dictionary copied from another computer or network drive.
Note: Dictionary files are simple ASCII text files and can be created and edited using numerous applications, such as Windows Notepad. The first line of the file contains an identification string that the spell checker needs. This line should not be changed. The second and subsequent lines contain the words added to the dictionary (one word per line).
- Remove – Click this button to remove the selected user dictionary from the spell checker. Note that the dictionary file is not deleted but it will no longer be used or appear in the spell checker options dialog boxes. The file can be re-added at a later time or manually deleted using your file manager.
- OK – Click this button to close the User Dictionaries dialog box.