12 replies to this topic

[smith77]

I really like using the shorthand expansion feature of Spell Catcher, but I notice that, if I misspell a word and then type characters associated with a shorthand selection, the options to change the misspelled word are not longer available. For example, I have a shorthand set up for "Thespesius." If I misspell a wrod, and then type "the," the shorthand popup replaces the spelling popup. Is there anyway to integrate these?

On a somewhat related note (I should probably post this as a new topic), is it possible to set some shorthands to autocomplete? I know there is a way to make all shorthands autocomplete, but I don't want that. (A good example is "Theseus" above. I don't want it to auto expand every time I type "the"). I want words like "i" to auto expand.

Thanks.

[Evan Gross]

smith77, on 26 September 2011 - 08:51 PM, said:

I really like using the shorthand expansion feature of Spell Catcher, but I notice that, if I misspell a word and then type characters associated with a shorthand selection, the options to change the misspelled word are not longer available. For example, I have a shorthand set up for "Thespesius." If I misspell a wrod, and then type "the," the shorthand popup replaces the spelling popup. Is there anyway to integrate these?

On a somewhat related note (I should probably post this as a new topic), is it possible to set some shorthands to autocomplete? I know there is a way to make all shorthands autocomplete, but I don't want that. (A good example is "Theseus" above. I don't want it to auto expand every time I type "the"). I want words like "i" to auto expand.

Thanks.

I'm not sure I totally "get" you here. When you say the "shorthand pop-up", do you actually mean the Completions popup? So you have "Auto-Show Completions" selected in the Input menu? It sounds like you have Auto-Show Suggestions (using the pop-up list) also selected? Is the sequence of events:

• You make a typo, the suggestions pop-up appears.
  
• You keep typing without choosing a replacement.
  
• The word you start to type causes the completions pop-up to appear.]

If that's not accurate, tell me what is.

Now you want to know if there's a way to "integrate them." Can you elaborate on what you're truly looking for? Or at least explain the trouble you're having and/or the problem that needs to be solved?

As far as selectively choosing what shorthands should be offered as completions, you can't do that within a Shorthand Glossary document (on a per-shorthand basis). You can selectively specify whether the contents of a Shorthand Glossary document should be offered as completions. Just open the Shorthand Glossary document and deselect the Completions checkbox. So maybe the solution for you would be to create multiple Shorthand Glossaries with different "Completion" settings. Put (copy/paste or drag/drop) the appropriate shorthands in the appropriate Shorthand Glossary document.

[smith77]

With the first issue, yes, you've understood correctly. (Sorry for the confusion with terminology.) The problem that occurs is that if I misspell a word and the following word I type is associated with a shorthand, the auto-show suggestions (for the misspelled word) is replaced by the auto-show completions popup. This, of course, means that the options for changing the misspelled word are no longer available. I know I can select the misspelled word and replace it manually, but it would be nice if the auto-suggestion popup would not be replaced by the auto-completion popup. Perhaps they could both remain on the screen rather than be replaced by one another.

With the second issue, that's not exactly what I'm looking for. Another example is the misspelling teh. I always want that to auto correct to "the." It would be nice to have an option with each shorthand to automatically complete a shorthand, if desired. (I have no idea if that would bog down the program since I have no clue about programming.)

thanks for the help.

[Evan Gross]

smith77, on 27 September 2011 - 08:19 AM, said:

With the first issue, yes, you've understood correctly. (Sorry for the confusion with terminology.) The problem that occurs is that if I misspell a word and the following word I type is associated with a shorthand, the auto-show suggestions (for the misspelled word) is replaced by the auto-show completions popup. This, of course, means that the options for changing the misspelled word are no longer available. I know I can select the misspelled word and replace it manually, but it would be nice if the auto-suggestion popup would not be replaced by the auto-completion popup. Perhaps they could both remain on the screen rather than be replaced by one another.

With the second issue, that's not exactly what I'm looking for. Another example is the misspelling teh. I always want that to auto correct to "the." It would be nice to have an option with each shorthand to automatically complete a shorthand, if desired. (I have no idea if that would bog down the program since I have no clue about programming.)

thanks for the help.

You try using the Suggest Spelling Window, as it will stay open while there are "pending" spelling errors. If you prefer the Pop-Up Suggestions List, you can open the Suggest Spelling Window even after you choose a completion - even though the Pop-Up Suggestions List has closed - as long as the spelling error remains pending. Give that a try to see if it works for you.

I'll think about your suggestion - not sure what would be involved. If you deselect "Auto-Show Completions", then shorthands will simply be expanded when typed. You would need to set the preference for how many words the Pop-Up Suggestions List stays open for, though. May not be effective for longer shorthands, though.

[smith77]

Evan Gross, on 28 September 2011 - 02:16 PM, said:

You try using the Suggest Spelling Window, as it will stay open while there are "pending" spelling errors. If you prefer the Pop-Up Suggestions List, you can open the Suggest Spelling Window even after you choose a completion - even though the Pop-Up Suggestions List has closed - as long as the spelling error remains pending. Give that a try to see if it works for you.

I'll think about your suggestion - not sure what would be involved. If you deselect "Auto-Show Completions", then shorthands will simply be expanded when typed. You would need to set the preference for how many words the Pop-Up Suggestions List stays open for, though. May not be effective for longer shorthands, though.

The suggest spell window works well and is a good solution to the issue. I do notice, however, that the keyboard shortcuts for "Learn Spelling," "Ignore," etc. are missing from the options. It would be great if those options were available so I don't have to move the cursor into the spelling window.

Another issue I've noticed, and this may be better for its own post, is Spell Catcher does not seem to recognize navigating through a document via mouse clicks. That is, if I type a word, then move the cursor with a mouse click to another section of text, Spell Catcher retains the previous word typed and appends it to the new word. For example, if I type this sentence, and then right here move the cursor with the mouse immediately before the word “and” and then type the word “move” the Suggest Spelling box shows a misspelling for “heremove”. What seems to be happening is that Spell Catcher does not reset itself to recognize that a new word is being typed on a mouse click. It seems to need a space, tab, or return. If I move the cursor (in the same sentence but immediately after “sentence,” and then press the spacebar, Spell Catcher resets and works fine. This is really annoying, especially when working with tables and clicking between the tables rather than pressing the TAB key.

Thanks for your help with all of this. I really like Spell Catcher and want it to work, but I find little annoyances now that I am using it all the time.

[Evan Gross]

smith77, on 28 September 2011 - 07:50 PM, said:

The suggest spell window works well and is a good solution to the issue. I do notice, however, that the keyboard shortcuts for "Learn Spelling," "Ignore," etc. are missing from the options. It would be great if those options were available so I don't have to move the cursor into the spelling window.

They're certainly in the Input menu for me. Can you post a screenshot? You may need to "reset" them for the app you're using. Open Spell Catcher Preferences to the Shortcuts pane, select (your app) in the Applications drawer, see what shortcuts are set for it. If none, select the command and click "Item Default". Or maybe even select Universal in the drawer and click "Reset".

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Another issue I've noticed, and this may be better for its own post, is Spell Catcher does not seem to recognize navigating through a document via mouse clicks. That is, if I type a word, then move the cursor with a mouse click to another section of text, Spell Catcher retains the previous word typed and appends it to the new word. For example, if I type this sentence, and then right here move the cursor with the mouse immediately before the word “and” and then type the word “move” the Suggest Spelling box shows a misspelling for “heremove”. What seems to be happening is that Spell Catcher does not reset itself to recognize that a new word is being typed on a mouse click. It seems to need a space, tab, or return. If I move the cursor (in the same sentence but immediately after “sentence,” and then press the spacebar, Spell Catcher resets and works fine. This is really annoying, especially when working with tables and clicking between the tables rather than pressing the TAB key.

Spell Catcher should reset interactive checking entirely whenever you click in a document's text area. HOWEVER, in some apps, this may require that "Enable access for assistive devices" is selected in System Preferences, Universal Access. Let me know if you have it selected or not, and what app you're using where you see this behavior for mouse clicks.

Anyway, that's one reason that DirectCorrect exists. If you're using Safari, you should give DirectCorrect a try.

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Thanks for your help with all of this. I really like Spell Catcher and want it to work, but I find little annoyances now that I am using it all the time.

[smith77]

Evan Gross, on 28 September 2011 - 08:08 PM, said:

They're certainly in the Input menu for me. Can you post a screenshot? You may need to "reset" them for the app you're using. Open Spell Catcher Preferences to the Shortcuts pane, select (your app) in the Applications drawer, see what shortcuts are set for it. If none, select the command and click "Item Default". Or maybe even select Universal in the drawer and click "Reset".



Spell Catcher should reset interactive checking entirely whenever you click in a document's text area. HOWEVER, in some apps, this may require that "Enable access for assistive devices" is selected in System Preferences, Universal Access. Let me know if you have it selected or not, and what app you're using where you see this behavior for mouse clicks.

Anyway, that's one reason that DirectCorrect exists. If you're using Safari, you should give DirectCorrect a try.

Thanks for the help. You're correct, the shortcuts work, they're just different from what I had seen in the popup menu. My fault for not seeing them.

On the other note, the issue is with Mellel, my word processing app. People have been asking the Mellel developers for better Spell Catcher integration for three years, to no avail. Obviously, not your fault at all. Thanks for your patience with my learning the app.

[smith77]

smith77, on 28 September 2011 - 08:39 PM, said:

Thanks for the help. You're correct, the shortcuts work, they're just different from what I had seen in the popup menu. My fault for not seeing them.

On the other note, the issue is with Mellel, my word processing app. People have been asking the Mellel developers for better Spell Catcher integration for three years, to no avail. Obviously, not your fault at all. Thanks for your patience with my learning the app.

Regarding the ability to select some shorthand items to automatically expand: This is essentially the autocorrect feature in Word. It is very helpful for commonly misspelled words. For example, I consistently misspell "the" as "hte." While this could be a misspelling for "hate," it would be very helpful for me if Spell Catcher would automatically correct (or expand), "hte" to spell "the." (Another example is the word "Gospel," which I consistently misspell "Gsopel" when tying quickly.)

I also would like the ability to choose to not capitalize after certain words. The most frustrating for me are ellipses. I don't want the word after this . . . to be capitalized, but I want Spell Catcher to auto capitalize after a normal sentence.

These features may already be available and my ignorance of Spell Catcher is the reason I'm raising the issues, but I thought I'd ask.

Thanks.

[Evan Gross]

smith77, on 30 September 2011 - 04:56 PM, said:

Regarding the ability to select some shorthand items to automatically expand: This is essentially the autocorrect feature in Word. It is very helpful for commonly misspelled words. For example, I consistently misspell "the" as "hte." While this could be a misspelling for "hate," it would be very helpful for me if Spell Catcher would automatically correct (or expand), "hte" to spell "the." (Another example is the word "Gospel," which I consistently misspell "Gsopel" when tying quickly.)

Spell Catcher certainly does this. The U.S. English Word to Correct Shorthand Glossary contains an entry for "teh" -> "the", as well as over 3,800 other common typos/corrections. It may not contain "Gsopel" = "Gospel", but you can easily add it to your own Shorthand Glossary file. In fact, you can create and use as many Shorthand Glossary documents as you'd like.

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I also would like the ability to choose to not capitalize after certain words. The most frustrating for me are ellipses. I don't want the word after this . . . to be capitalized, but I want Spell Catcher to auto capitalize after a normal sentence.

These features may already be available and my ignorance of Spell Catcher is the reason I'm raising the issues, but I thought I'd ask.

Thanks.

Spell Catcher (or at least the linguistic engine it uses) is aware of (the generally accepted) use of the ellipsis (three consecutive periods), and will not consider the word that follows one to begin a sentence (and won't automatically capitalize it). The construct you use (period space period space period space) is not as widely used in grammar rules, and causes the result you see. Whether that's right or wrong, I can't say for certain as I'm not an authority. What's probably truly correct is to use the ellipsis character (option-semicolon on most Mac English keyboard layouts). It won't be considered a sentence terminator, either. Anyway, point taken, although I can't say how you should work around or otherwise deal with your way of doing things.

[smith77]

I think the problem with not autocorrecting was that I had turned off the "Make Shorthand Expansions as you Type" option. I've modified my personal shorthands so that all is well. With the ellipses points, The Chicago Manual of Style says to include a space before, between, and after the ellipses. The CMS, or some form of it, is used widely in the Humanities. (Biblical Studies, for example, uses the Society of Biblical Literature Handbook of Style as a standard, but it is based on the CMS.) Some uses of ellipses points are also of a nature that a find and replace change of "..." with " . . . " doesn't work.

Thanks again for your patience as I learn to use Spell Catcher.

[smith77]

Sorry to bring up one more thing this morning again, but I've noticed a few strange expansions this morning that do not seem to be part of the shorthand glossaries. Here they are: ce --> CE; dod --> DOD; jan --> Jan. (The period is part of the expansion for Jan [or jan]).

When I deselect Spell Catcher in the language input menu, these letters do not expand; when I quit Spell Catcher, they do not expand. When I disable automatic expansion of shorthands, they still expand. I know what the abbreviations stand for (with the exception of jan [or, Jan] --> Jan.), but want control over whether or not they expand. (For example, I would rather use small caps than regular caps.) These expansions must be a part of Spell Catcher (they appear in all applications the I have set up with Spell Catcher), but they don't seem to be a part of the regular shorthand glossaries. Any idea where to look for these to remove them?

Thanks again for the help. (This time I've truly looked everywhere I can think of to try and answer my own question!)

[Evan Gross]

smith77, on 01 October 2011 - 10:37 AM, said:

Sorry to bring up one more thing this morning again, but I've noticed a few strange expansions this morning that do not seem to be part of the shorthand glossaries. Here they are: ce --> CE; dod --> DOD; jan --> Jan. (The period is part of the expansion for Jan [or jan]).

When I deselect Spell Catcher in the language input menu, these letters do not expand; when I quit Spell Catcher, they do not expand. When I disable automatic expansion of shorthands, they still expand. I know what the abbreviations stand for (with the exception of jan [or, Jan] --> Jan.), but want control over whether or not they expand. (For example, I would rather use small caps than regular caps.) These expansions must be a part of Spell Catcher (they appear in all applications the I have set up with Spell Catcher), but they don't seem to be a part of the regular shorthand glossaries. Any idea where to look for these to remove them?

Thanks again for the help. (This time I've truly looked everywhere I can think of to try and answer my own question!)

I think you need to deselect the preference to "Capitalize proper names and actronyms" (Spell Catcher Preferences, Interactive pane, Automatic tab). By default, all Automatic changes are off to avoid this sort of confusion

[smith77]

That fixed it!

I think I'm FINALLY done bothering you with questions for a while. Thanks for all of the help.