If you regularly type words which are not in PipeDream's dictionary, you can create a user dictionary, into which you can put extra words that you want PipeDream to check and accept.
User dictionaries enable you to add to the list of words that PipeDream recognises. You can have up to five user dictionaries open at any time, although of course you can have as many dictionaries as you like on the disc.
When a word is to be looked up, PipeDream first searches the master dictionary, and then any user dictionaries which are open. So if the word exists in any of the dictionaries which are open, PipeDream will recognise the word.
You may choose to have several user dictionaries for different types of document that you might write - you can impose a style or a set of permissible words by creating a dictionary for a specific purpose - but most people use just one user dictionary into which they put all the words which they commonly use that are not in the master dictionary.
When a dictionary is in use by PipeDream, and available for checking and browsing, it is said to be 'open'. Before you can open a user dictionary, though, you must create it.
Give the Create User Dictionary command:
Menu | Command | Ctrl-sequence | Key |
---|---|---|---|
Spell | Create user dictionary | SN |
A dialogue box will appear with the filename UserDict already in it. You can change the name of the user dictionary if you want to.
PipeDream can use dictionaries which use alphabets other than the English
alphabet. It does this by having definition files specifying the language to be
used. These files are inside the directory
!PipeDream.Resources.Dictdefn
. You can access the alphabets
available in the Create User Dictionary
dialogue box by clicking on the arrow icons. Note that once a dictionary has
been created, its alphabet cannot be changed. If you wanted to change the
alphabet of a dictionary you had already created, you would have to dump the
dictionary out to a text file, create a new dictionary with the desired
alphabet and merge the text file into it.
When you are happy with the dictionary name, click the Enter. PipeDream will create the dictionary and return to the document.
button or pressNote: If the current document has a pathname, PipeDream puts the user
dictionary in that directory. If there is no pathname, the dictionary is
created in <Choices$Write>.PipeDream
. It is usually better to create the
dictionary in such a location, accessible via PipeDream's path, so that it is
available to all documents, so create the user dictionary in an untitled
window.
Once you have created a user dictionary, you can open it so that it is searched for words when you check.
To open a user dictionary, give the Open User Dictionary command:
Menu | Command | Ctrl-sequence | Key |
---|---|---|---|
Spell | Open user dictionary | SO |
A dialogue box will appear into which you should type the name of the user dictionary you have just created.
When you click the Enter, PipeDream will open the dictionary, and it is then ready for a check.
button or pressYou won't often need to use the Open User Dictionary command itself, since commands which give the option of accessing a user dictionary, for example to add a word, will automatically open the dictionary that you specify.
You can check which dictionaries are currently open with the Display Dictionaries command:
Menu | Command | Ctrl-sequence | Key |
---|---|---|---|
Choices | Dictionaries | SE |
PipeDream always remembers the user dictionary that you used last. Where there is an option of a user dictionary in a dialogue box, PipeDream supplies the name of the last used dictionary as a suggestion so that you don't have to re-type the dictionary name each time. If you want to use a different dictionary, re-type or edit the dictionary name. PipeDream will present the new name next time.
Two commands, Delete Word from Dictionary and Insert Word in Dictionary enable you to remove or to add any word to a user dictionary. When you give either of these commands, a dialogue box will appear asking you for the word to be deleted or inserted, and the name of the dictionary on which to operate.
Menu | Command | Ctrl-sequence | Key |
---|---|---|---|
Spell | Delete word from user dictionary | SD | |
Insert word in user dictionary | SI |
If the caret is on a word in the text when you give either of these
commands, PipeDream will offer the word as a suggestion in the dialogue box.
You can accept or edit this word as you wish. If you want to put in a different
word, the simplest way is probably to delete the existing word with
Backspace
and then re-type the word. If you try to delete a word
which is not in the dictionary that you specify, PipeDream will give you the
Word not found
error message.
When you have entered the word and the name of the dictionary, click the Enter, and the word will be deleted or inserted.
button or pressThe words which are acceptable to the spelling checker depend on the alphabet of the master dictionary you are using. The dictionary defines the following items:
Closing a user dictionary has two effects:
You will rarely want to close a dictionary explicitly, but if you are working with many dictionaries, you may find it useful.
To close a dictionary give the Close User Dictionary command:
Menu | Command | Ctrl-sequence | Key |
---|---|---|---|
Spell | Close user dictionary | SZ |
PipeDream will ask you for the name of the dictionary to close; enter the name and then click the Enter.
button or pressYou can check which user dictionaries are open with the Dictionaries command on the sub-menu.
Note that it is essential that user dictionaries are closed properly before PipeDream is exited. If you exit PipeDream using Quit, PipeDream will automatically close any user dictionaries which are open. But if you crash out of PipeDream by switching off the computer while any user dictionaries are open, it is possible, but unlikely, that they might become corrupt.
If you want to ensure that all the words are written to the user dictionaries, but you do not want to close them, give the Flush Dictionaries command.
Note that some disc operations, such as *BACKUP in RISC OS 2.00, erroneously close the dictionaries. This results in any unsaved words being lost and an error message being displayed next time you try to access the dictionaries. Before using commands such as *BACKUP, it is best to flush the dictionaries or quit PipeDream.
As described in the section on checking a document, you can add unrecognised words to a user dictionary as PipeDream checks through the document.
You can also lock a user dictionary into memory with the Lock Dictionary command. This means that PipeDream will not access the disc whilst referring to that dictionary, which may speed up checking. Remember, though, that locking a dictionary in memory uses up some main memory. You can make changes to a user dictionary whilst it is locked in memory; when you close the dictionary or exit PipeDream,PipeDream will need to access the disc to save the changes that you have made.
In addition, you can flush user dictionaries, using the Flush Dictionaries command:
Menu | Command | Ctrl-sequence | Key |
---|---|---|---|
Spell | Flush dictionaries | SF |
This ensures that words are written out to the dictionary and also destroys the cache of words in memory thereby making more memory available for other purposes.
Your user dictionaries may grow large over a period of time. You may be able to reduce the amount of disc space that each dictionary needs by packing. Packing a dictionary does not save any memory space when the dictionary is loaded by PipeDream; it reduces only the size of the dictionary file on the disc.
To pack a dictionary, give the Pack User Dictionary command:
Menu | Command | Ctrl-sequence | Key |
---|---|---|---|
Spell | Pack user dictionary | SP |
You will be asked for the name of the dictionary that you wish to pack (Old user dictionary), and the new name that will be given to the packed dictionary (New user dictionary). Type in the two names, and PipeDream will pack the dictionary, putting the words into a new dictionary with the name you have given.
If you want to keep the same name for the packed dictionary, you should delete the old dictionary when the packing is complete, and then rename the packed dictionary with the old name.
PipeDream gives you two commands, Dump Dictionary and Merge File with Dictionary which enable you to extract and to add large blocks of words from and to dictionaries.
To dump a set of words from a dictionary, give the Dump Dictionary command:
Menu | Command | Ctrl-sequence | Key |
---|---|---|---|
Spell | Dump dictionary | SU |
A dialogue box will appear. Complete the fields as follows:
Word template
Type in here the pattern of the words that you wish to dump, using wildcards as described in the section on browsing.
For example:
^#ing
matches all words ending in 'ing'.
If you leave this field blank, PipeDream will dump all the words in the dictionary.
File name
Enter the name of the file in which you wish PipeDream to place the words which match the pattern that you have given. If there is a file which exists with the same name, make sure that you don't mind if it is overwritten.
User dictionary?
If you wish to dump a user dictionary, click Select on this option to turn it on, then type in the name of the user dictionary which you wish to dump. If you do not turn this option on, you will dump out the Master Dictionary.
When you have filled in the dialogue box, click the Enter and PipeDream will start dumping the words. The Dump window appears, and PipeDream lists the words in the window as they are extracted from the dictionary. You can stop the dump temporarily to examine the window by clicking the button. To stop the dump completely, before it has finished, either click the button or press the Esc key.
button or pressThe extracted words are put in the file in alphabetical order, separated one from the other by the line separator you specify in the Save dialogue box. When the dump is complete, PipeDream will return to the document.
You can merge a file into a user dictionary with the Merge File with Dictionary command:
Menu | Command | Ctrl-sequence | Key |
---|---|---|---|
Spell | Merge file with user dictionary | SM |
This displays a dialogue box which asks for the name of the file which contains the words that you want to merge, and the name of the dictionary into which you wish to put the words. Fill in both fields, and click the Enter to start merging.
button or pressThe Merge window will appear as the words are merged into the dictionary. You can stop the Merge window display temporarily by clicking the Esc key to terminate the merge.
button. Either click the button or press theThe words in the file can be in any order, and separated by any characters. Invalid words will not be merged, and any words which are already in the dictionary are ignored.
You can instruct PipeDream to remember the user dictionaries which are open by saving a Choices file. When you restart PipeDream, the user dictionaries which you were using will be available.
For information on | See |
---|---|
Saving your user dictionary set-up | Saving Choices |