Getting Started

    DECspell checks spelling and capitalization in documents created on the
    computer, and helps you correct any errors.

To Start

    Type SPELL followed by the name of the document you wish to check.

For example: $ SPELL NAME.TXT

    If you do not have a personal dictionary, DECspell asks if you would
    like one created.

    DECspell checks each word in the document and displays the text, with
    unrecognized words marked as errors.

    Where possible DECspell provides a list of corrections for each error.
    You can select one of these corrections to automatically replace the
    error.

Using The Corrections List

    When a corrections list is available for the first unrecognized word on
    the screen, it appears just below your text.  The menu option GLOBAL
    REPLACE is selected for you and the first correction in the list is
    highlighted.

    To replace the word throughout the document:

    Highlight the required correction using the left and right arrow keys
    and press RETURN.


    To replace this occurrence only of the word:

    Type R, to highlight the menu option REPLACE, then highlight the
    required correction using the arrow keys and press RETURN.


    To display further corrections:

    ( If [More...] is displayed)

    Type M  or

    Move the highlighting to [More...] using the right arrow key.

    If [no more] is displayed DECspell has no further possible corrections
    for the unrecognized word.

    To select one of the other menu options:

    Type the first letter of the required option and press RETURN.

The DECspell Command Menu

Selecting a Menu Option

    Type the initial letter of the option or highlight the required option
    using the left and right arrow keys. Press RETURN.

GLOBAL REPLACE

    Lets you replace the unrecognized word throughout the document.

REPLACE

    Lets you replace this occurrence only of the unrecognized word. (See
    Using the Corrections List, section)

EDIT

    If a corrections list is not available the menu option EDIT is
    highlighted. EDIT lets you edit the line containing the unrecognized
    word(s). (See Using the EDIT Option)

IGNORE

    Leaves the unrecognized word, and all further occurrences of it in the
    document, unchanged. Thus further occurrences will not be highlighted
    as errors.

ADD

    Adds the word highlighted as an error to the current personal
    dictionary. The name of the current personal dictionary is displayed
    below the menu. To add to an alternative dictionary, use the DICTIONARY
    option.

PASS

    Leaves this occurrence only of the unrecognized word unchanged.

DICTIONARY

    Displays the names of the personal dictionaries being used and
    highlights the name of the dictionary to which words are being added.
    Allows you to change the current personal dictionary.

FINISH

    Leaves DECspell before the whole document has been checked.  If you
    have made any changes, you will be offered the choice of saving them.

OVERVIEW

    Displays information about DECspell.


Getting Help

    Help is information about DECspell that you can read on the screen.

The HELP key

    The HELP key is either the PF2 key or the HELP key marked on your
    keyboard.

    To get help on any menu option:

    Type the initial letter of the option on which you require help (or
    move the highlighting to that option) and press the HELP key.

    To get help while editing, using the corrections list, or using the
    DICTIONARY option:

    Press the HELP key.


The Edit Option

Using The EDIT Option

    When you select EDIT from the DECspell Command Menu the cursor will
    move to the first character of the unrecognized word.

    DECspell uses a word processor style (WPS) keypad layout. Or you can
    choose to use an EDT style layout using the /KEYPAD qualifier. (See the
    Qualifiers section)

    To see the keypad layout press the HELP key while editing.

    Press RETURN to leave the editor.  DECspell rechecks the line.

The following functions are available:

--> (right arrow key)

    Moves the cursor one character to the right.

<-- (left arrow key)

    Moves the cursor one character to the left.

DELETE

    Deletes the character to the left of the cursor.

RUB WORD OUT (LINE FEED)

    Deletes the word to the left of the cursor.

ADVANCE

    Sets the direction for WORD and CHAR.  In the WPS keypad it moves the
    cursor one character to the right.

BACKUP

    Sets the direction for WORD and CHAR. In the WPS keypad it moves the
    cursor one character to the left.

    WORD Moves the cursor one word in the set direction.

CHAR (EDT keypad)

    Moves the cursor one character in the set direction.

DEL CHAR

    Deletes the character at the cursor position.

UNDEL CHAR

    Recovers the last character deleted.

DEL WORD

    Deletes the word to the right of the cursor.

UNDEL WORD

    Recovers the last word deleted.

UPPERCASE (WPS keypad)

    Capitalizes the character at the cursor position. Capitalizes the word
    if WORD is pressed after UPPERCASE.

LOWERCASE (WPS keypad)

    Puts the character at the cursor position into lowercase.  Puts the
    word into lowercase if WORD is pressed after LOWERCASE.

CHNGCASE (EDT keypad)

    Changes the case of the character at the cursor position.

SWAP

    Swaps the character at the cursor position with the character to the
    right of it.

CTRL W

    Repaints the screen.

HELP

    Displays a diagram of the keypad and describes the functions available.

RETURN or ENTER

    Leaves EDIT.

Dictionaries

    DECspell checks whether words are spelled correctly by comparing them
    with words in a master dictionary and words in personal dictionaries.

    The master dictionary is based upon American Heritage Dictionaries
    published by Houghton Mifflin.  There are two versions of it: American
    English and British English. (Both may be available in the system you
    are using: check with your system manager.)

Personal Dictionaries

    The documents you check may contain specialized words that are not in
    DECspell's master dictionary; for example, names of people, jargon or
    words specific to a profession.

    You can create personal dictionaries to contain such words, and use
    them for checking. This will prevent these words being found as errors.

To Create Personal Dictionaries

    The first time you use DECspell, you are asked whether you would like
    to create a personal dictionary. Type Y if you would like one. This
    dictionary is called your DEFAULT personal dictionary. It is stored
    under the name PERSONAL.LGP in your top level directory.

    Use your editor to create other personal dictionaries in your top level
    directory with the file type .LGP

    For example: $ EDIT STAFF.LGP

    When adding to them with your editor, you can put more than one word
    per line; separate the words with spaces. The words can be in any
    order.

Using Personal Dictionaries for Checking

    Your default personal dictionary is always used for checking, unless
    you use the /NOPERSONAL_DICTIONARY qualifier when starting DECspell.

    To use other personal dictionaries for checking use the /DICTIONARY
    qualifier when starting DECspell. For example:

    $ SPELL/DICTIONARY=STAFF.LGP  NAME.TXT

    You can use up to ten personal dictionaries including those created by
    other DECspell users. Enclose a list within brackets () and separate
    each dictionary name with a comma.

Adding Words While Checking a Document

    When you use the ADD option on the DECspell Command Menu, words are
    added to the current personal dictionary. Unless you specify otherwise,
    this will be your default personal dictionary.

    Use the DICTIONARY option on the DECspell Command Menu to select any
    other dictionary that you specified with the /DICTIONARY qualifier, to
    be the current personal dictionary.

    When you select DICTIONARY the dictionaries being used for checking are
    displayed, with the current personal dictionary highlighted.

    To change to a new current personal dictionary, move the highlighting
    to the required dictionary with the arrow keys and press RETURN.

    NOTE: If you use the /NOPERSONAL_DICTIONARY qualifier when starting
    DECspell, the current personal dictionary is the first one specified
    with the /DICTIONARY qualifier.

To Add Words While Checking a Document

    When you use the ADD option on the DECspell Command Menu, words are
    added to the current personal dictionary. Unless you changed it on the
    Dictionary Selection Form, this will be your default personal
    dictionary.

    To add to an alternative dictionary while checking a document, use the
    DICTIONARY option on the DECspell Command Menu to change the current
    personal dictionary.

    You can only add to one personal dictionary at a time.

The Dictionary Formatter

    The DECspell dictionary formatter organizes your personal dictionaries
    in the following ways:

    o sorts the entries into alphanumeric order

    o removes duplicate entries

    Enter SPELL/FORMAT, followed by the name of the dictionary. For
    example:

    $ SPELL/FORMAT  DICNAME.LGP

    Note that if you combine /FORMAT with other qualifiers, you must
    specify /FORMAT first.

    Words are arranged in columns across the page. Each new initial letter
    begins a new paragraph. If you want each word to be positioned on a new
    line, use the /NOPACKED qualifier. For example:

    $ SPELL/FORMAT/NOPACKED  DICNAME.LGP

    If you want to see a list of duplicate words that are removed, use the
    /LOG qualifier. For example:

    $ SPELL/FORMAT/LOG  DICNAME.LGP


How DECspell Defines a Word

    DECspell considers any set of alphanumeric characters, separated by
    spaces, punctuation marks or line boundaries, to be a word.  Words may
    also contain certain other special characters, such as hyphen, period,
    apostrophe, ampersand (&) or dollar ($).

    However, if the document is in RUNOFF format, DECspell does not
    consider RUNOFF commands to be words.

    Words are verified only if they contain an alphabetic character.

Hyphenation

    If a word contains a hyphen, DECspell will check each part of the word. 
    If either part is not in the dictionary, the word will be highlighted
    as an error.


Capitalization

    If you add a word to your personal dictionary that has an initial
    capital, for example David, the same word in lowercase will be
    highlighted as an error.

    If you add a word all in uppercase, for example JANE, the same word
    with only an initial capital or all in lowercase will be highlighted as
    an error.

    However, if you add a word that is all in lowercase, for example jones,
    the same word with an initial capital or all in uppercase is passed as
    correct.


DCL Command Qualifiers

    Qualifiers alter the way DECspell works.  You use them when starting
    DECspell.  You can abbreviate any qualifier and use more than one at a
    time.

/OUTPUT

    Gives the corrected document a new name. If this qualifier is not used
    the corrected document will be stored under its original name with a
    higher version number. For example:

    $ SPELL/OUTPUT=NEWNAME.TXT  NAME.TXT

/NOPERSONAL_DICTIONARY

    Prevents your default personal dictionary (PERSONAL.LGP) being used for
    checking. For example:

    $ SPELL/NOPERS  NAME.TXT

/PERSONAL_DICTIONARY

    Specifies a different current personal dictionary to that used during
    the previous spelling check (that is, the dictionary to which words
    will be added when you use the ADD option on the DECspell Command
    Menu). For example:

    $ SPELL/PERS=DICT1  NAME.TXT

/DICTIONARY

    Specifies personal dictionaries for checking, other than your default
    personal dictionary. For example:

    $ SPELL/DICT=(DICT1,DICT2)  NAME.TXT

/KEYPAD

    Specifies an alternative editor layout to the default WPS keypad
    layout. You can specify WPS or EDT. For example:

    $ SPELL/KEYPAD=EDT  NAME.TXT

/MASTER_DICTIONARY

    Specifies an alternative master dictionary to your default master
    dictionary. You can choose either AMERICAN or BRITISH. The default
    depends on your installation. (NOTE: You can only use this qualifier if
    the system you are using has both dictionaries.) For example:

    $ SPELL/MAST=BRITISH  NAME.TXT

/RUNOFF

    Indicates that the document is a RUNOFF document, if it does not
    already have a .RN% file type. DECspell then by-passes the RUNOFF
    commands when checking the document. For example:

    $ SPELL/RUNOFF  NAME.TXT


Helpful Hints

    o You are encouraged to add words to your personal dictionaries
    whenever you check a document. When you first use DECspell many of your
    specialized words will be highlighted as errors and so it will take
    longer to check documents. As you add specialized words to your
    personal dictionaries fewer words will be highlighted as errors.

    o DECspell compiles corrections lists from the master dictionary, any
    personal dictionaries being used and any words you IGNORE in the
    session.

    o Remember that GLOBAL REPLACE replaces the unrecognized word
    throughout the document. However, if you finish using DECspell before
    you have checked the whole document, GLOBAL REPLACE replaces the word
    only as far as the document has reached.

    o Be careful not to add real spelling errors to your personal
    dictionaries. (NOTE: You can edit the dictionary to remove them.)

    o Remember that if you finish using DECspell before you have checked
    the whole document, words you selected to PASS or IGNORE will be
    highlighted as errors when you return to check the document.

    o You cannot use the DICTIONARY option unless you have chosen to use
    more than one dictionary for checking.

    o Remember you cannot go back through a document while using DECspell.


    The information presented here is subject to change without notice and
    should not be construed as a commitment by Digital Equipment
    Corporation.  Digital Equipment Corporation assumes no responsibility
    for any errors that may appear in this document.

    DECspell, (c) copyright Digital Equipment Corporation 1983, 1996.

    Houghton Mifflin Spelling Verification - Correction, (c) Copyright
    1983, 1981 Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights strictly reserved.

    The spelling correction software contains unpublished materials owned
    by Houghton Mifflin Company, licensed for use solely in Digital
    software. Reproductions or disassembly of embodied computer programs or
    algorithms prohibited. Based on The American Heritage Dictionary.