ts@uwasa.fi (Timo Salmi) (03/30/91)
Sat 30-Mar-91: I have just updated my screen oriented spelling
checker /pc/ts/tspell##.arc (## = 24 at the time of writing this)
which displays a text file highlighting the mis-spelled words.
Having lately used much also a Unix spell, which instead gives an
alphabetical list of the mis-spelled words, I wanted a similar
utility for MsDos. So, as usual, I decided to write one myself.
Naturally I called it spell.exe and it is available as
/pc/ts/tschek10.arc. Its contents:
TSCHEK10.ARC Unix-like spell by Timo Salmi
Filename Comment
-------- --------------------------------
SPELL.EXE Unix-like spelling checker
SPELLED3.DNY Dictionary
SPL.BAT A simple batch to drive spell
TSCHEK.NWS News announcements about tschek
TSPROG.INF List of PD programs from T.Salmi
VAASA.INF Info: Finland, Vaasa, U of Vaasa
---- ------ ------ -----
The usage is: SPELL DictionaryFile InputFile [OutputFile]. Spell
lists in alphabetical order all the words of the input file which it
cannot find in the dictionary file. The checking is automatically
done in lower case so the system is case-independent. All words
longer than 25 characters are truncated.
If you omit the OutputFile, the output comes to the screen and
can be redirected (e.g. through more or list).
If you use your own, larger dictionary, it must be in a lower
case and in a strict alphabetical order. The ability to use your own
dictionary means that you can use spell.exe also for languages other
than English.
There is a very simple batch spl.bat to call spell. Configure it
to suit your own paths. Using a batch is convenient, since then you
don't have to type the name of the dictionary each time. If you have
several dictionaries, you might even have a batch for each one. The
list command used in the batch is refers to list75f.zip, that is
Vernon Buerg's well-known list program. If you don't have it,
replace list /s simply with MsDos more command (or whatever browser
you have at your disposal).
The maximum number of _different_ words that spell.exe can handle
is 8000. This practically means an unlimited size, since it is
extremely rare that a normal text has such a number of different
words. (Checking another dictionary with spell.exe is the only case
I can think of where the limitation would become effective in actual
practice).
The size of the dictionary for a registered version is unlimited.
For the distributed PD version the maximum dictionary size is 20000
words.
The rules of usage are: This package may be used and distributed
freely for NON-COMMERCIAL, NON-INSTITUTIONAL, PRIVATE purposes,
provided it is not changed in any way. (Repacking with another
method, such as pkzip, is ok, though.) For ANY other usage, such as
use in a business enterprise or a university, contact the author for
registration. Uploading to bulletin boards is encouraged. Please do
not distribute any part of this package separately.
The wares are available by anonymous ftp from garbo.uwasa.fi, Vaasa,
Finland, 128.214.12.37, or by using our mail server (use the latter
if, and only if you don't have anonymous ftp). If you are not
familiar with anonymous ftp or mail servers, I am prepared to send
prerecorded instructions on request. (If you don't get the
instructions from me within a few days, it will mean that your email
address cannot be reached by a simple email reply. Contact your
system manager for devicing a proper mail path for you, because
unless you do, you wouldn't be able to utilize the mail server
anyway. If you are in North America first consider using an ftp
site near you to spare the overseas load.)
...................................................................
Prof. Timo Salmi
Moderating at garbo.uwasa.fi anonymous ftp archives 128.214.12.37
School of Business Studies, University of Vaasa, SF-65101, Finland
Internet: ts@chyde.uwasa.fi Funet: gado::salmi Bitnet: salmi@finfun