Good afternoon, everyone...
Thanks to Paul, all the issues I raised over the last few days surrounding
Ispell/Aspell are now working properly when used beneath Ubuntu. I do not
know for certain if this is the appropriate way to do this or not, but
since I have a bit of disposable time this afternoon, I thought I would
document the "work-around" Paul devised for my circumstances, and how to
resolve the error some of you may have encountered that reads "Invalid
UTF-8 encoded string".
[STEP 1]
Download the latest version of Jed appropriate to your favorite Unix/Linux
operating system. While you are at it, also go to the Jed Repository and
download all the files necessary to build a working copy of Ispell,
including Ispell or Aspell, if your Unix/Linux distribution already
includes Ispell or Aspell with your distribution. These include the
following files:
Source files for Ispell to work. You must have them all, but they are
small and take very little time to download:
flyspell.sl ispell.otl ispell.sl ispell_common.sl ispell_init.sl look.sl
vispell.sl
The Flyspell function(s) in Jed also require you download:
bufutils menutils
[STEP 2]
Install the RPM or DEB files you downloaded to your operating system,
carefully noting where the installation process creates the Jed $HOME
directory, since that is where all the components of Jed reside.
STEP 3]
If you are going to use Jed as a text editor in anything remotely
resembling production work OR if you want to truly use either Ispell or
Aspell to perform spell-checking as you write, you will need to copy the
files for Ispell you downloaded over to the Jed/$HOME and install them
there.
First, go to your jed/$HOME directory and (in Unix/Linux) become the root
super-user. Using Jed, open the file named ispell_init.sl and on
approximately line 49 you will see a series of lines that read:
public variable Ispell_Letters = Assoc_Type
[String_Type,
"a-zA-ZàèìòùáéíóúäÄëËïÏöÖßüÜâêîôûÀÈÌÒÙÁÉÍÓÚÄËÏÖÜÂÊÎÔÛçÇãÃñÑõÕæøåÆØÅæøåÆØÞþðÐ"];
You can either alter the line to read as stated below OR you comment the
existing lines out using the '%' character, and insert a new line that
reads as follows:
public variable Ispell_Letters = Assoc_Type[String_Type, "a-zA-Z"];
You will need to make certain of the semicolon at the end, lest it break
glass.
[STEP 5]
Decisions, decisions. You should decide if you want to use either the
venerable but still powerful Ispell program or switch to the more-recent
and tremendously-capable Aspell to look up words as you type and create
your own personal dictionaries. Once you have made the decision, in the
jed/$HOME directory, open the file named ispell_init.sl and look on
approximately line 40 where it reads:
% Your spell program. This could be ispell or aspell.
custom_variable("Ispell_Program_Name", "ispell");
You have the option of changing the variable from "ispell" to "aspell",
thus determining which dictionary you will be using.
[STEP 4]
Then, to make all this work each time you start Jed, put the following
lines in your .jedrc file in your $HOME directory:
require ("ispell_init");
define text_mode_hook()
{
flyspell_mode;
}
You are done! Fire up Jed, and spell check your document(s) while you
write, something that none or perhaps few of the other text editors for
Unix or Linux can do. For some hardware, particularly if the processor(s)
or lack of memory make using GUI editors, such as Open Office, Abiword or
others very difficult, try Jed, as it will run on almost anything from a
80486 Pentium to the latest, so long as your operating system supports it.
Then write John E. Davis a nice note and thank him for continuing to
support and build Jed and Slang.
Dave
--
Dave Laird (Dave@xxxxxxxxxx)
The Used Kharma Lot / The Phoenix Project
An automatic & random fortune For the Minute from Unix fortunes:
Getting there is only half as far as getting there and back.
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