I’m beginning to add a spell checking feature to my Search and Replace plug-in. If you want to say what would be important for your needs, please add comments to this post and I’ll see if I can implement the features you request.
There are two ways I may go. One, which I have tested on Windows, is to automate Word’s spelling feature. That’s messier on Mac so for that platform I would probably automate the OS-level spellchecker. This two-track approach would allow me to exploit corrections that the user has already made in Word, Outlook, Mac Mail etc. But it does involve platform-specific coding and would be much more work. The other alternative is to use a cross-platform library and Aspell has been recommended. I’d never heard of it, and I’ve no idea how good it is, but it may permit a simpler implementation. So that’s the route I plan to try first.
I’m probably going to initiate spell checking from a menu item (rather than intercepting the Export command) and will allow the user to specify which fields to target. Changes will be automatically written back to the metadata fields.
No guarantees on when it’ll be done or what features I can include. But what would be most helpful?
Hi John,
GNU Aspell is used under the covers by the Pidgin.im Instant Messenger (cross protocol) product I use which is why I recommended it. The Word/Mac OS spell checker approach would be more convenient for the end user (except for those Windows users using Open Office or Google Docs instead of Word) but creates a much more difficult job for you. Instead of spending your time tracking down bugs in the platform specific spell checker integration this should be easier for you, and I’m sure most users would be thankful to have the feature and be willing to spend some time transferring or reentering the spelling corrections.
Matt
My underlying prejudices are coming out here! I’m somewhat surprised that IM users care about their messages’ spelling, as if people eating in McDonalds give a thought about nourishment. And I must admit I do take Word as a measure of whether the user is professional – I’m even worse when someone advocates anything other than Excel for professional spreadsheet applications. Mac Numbers?
I will try Aspell first and see if it does make sense to use it. It would certainly mean I could spend more time on the Lightroom aspects, and I’ve never been very convinced that people really expect to have MSOffice/MacOS spelling corrections available in other apps. Some do expect such integration, but the rest merely think it’s a nice touch – on the few occasions they notice it.
John,
I like this idea. If I can help at all with testing or ideas, let me know.
Would there be a way to tap into the spell checking engine used by Mozilla Thunderbird (free, ubiquitous, well-done), as alternative to Word (not free, ubiquitous, well-done). I do not know the answer myself.
Dan
In a way, that’s why the Aspell route make sense. I don’t really want the user to be forced to install something they don’t have, which I think would be be necessary with Thunderbird, while I could bundle Aspell inside the plug-in. I’m hoping there will be a way to import and existing set of corrections.
I’m not sure about Word these days.
Do most people (professional photographers even) still have it? I do, but only really because I still do a fair bit of spreadsheet work for which anything other than Excel would, as you infer, be silly and Word comes with Excel.
I’ve never heard of Aspell either (and like your take on it apparently being the spell-checker for IMing). It would be nice if all of my programs used the same dictionary but it’s not that much of an issue that they don’t. I must have at least three different ones already so one more wouldn’t bother me at all.