ISPELL(local)     UNKNOWN SECTION OF THE MANUAL     ISPELL(local)



NAME
     ispell - Correct spelling for a file

SYNOPSIS
     ispell [ file | -a | -l ]

DESCRIPTION
     _I_s_p_e_l_l is fashioned after the _s_p_e_l_l program from ITS (called
     _i_s_p_e_l_l on Twenex systems.)  The most common usage is "ispell
     filename".  In this case,  _i_s_p_e_l_l  will  display  each  word
     which  does  not  appear in the dictionary, and allow you to
     change it.  If there are "near  misses"  in  the  dictionary
     (words  which  differ  by only a single letter, a missing or
     extra letter, or a pair of transposed  letters),  then  they
     are  also displayed.  If you think the word is correct as it
     stands, you can type either "Space" to accept  it  this  one
     time,  or  "I"  to accept it and put it in your private dic-
     tionary.  If one of the near misses is the  word  you  want,
     type  the  corresponding  number.  Finally, if none of these
     choices is right, you can type "R" and you will be  prompted
     for a replacement word.

     When a misspelled word is found, it is printed at the top of
     the  screen.  Any near misses will be printed on the follow-
     ing lines, and finally, two lines containing  the  word  are
     printed  at  the bottom of the screen.  If your terminal can
     type in reverse video, the word itself is highlighted.

     The -l or "list" option to _i_s_p_e_l_l is used to produce a  list
     of misspelled words from the standard input.

     The -a is intended to be used from other programs through  a
     pipe.   In  this  mode, _i_s_p_e_l_l expects the standard input to
     consist of lines containing  single  words.   Each  word  is
     read,  and  a single line is written to the standard output.
     If the word was found in the main dictionary, or  your  per-
     sonal dictionary, then the line contains only a '*'.  If the
     word was found through suffix removal, then  the  line  con-
     tains a '+', a space, and the root word.  If the word is not
     in the dictionary, but there are near misses, then the  line
     contains  an  '&',  a  space,  and a list of the near misses
     separated by spaces.  Also, each near  miss  is  capitalized
     the  same  as the input words.  Finally, if the word neither
     appears in the dictionary, and there  are  no  near  misses,
     then  the line contains only a '#'.  This mode is also suit-
     able for interactive use when you want  to  figure  out  the
     spelling  of  a single word.  (These characters are the same
     as the codes that the real spell program uses.)

     When in the -a mode, _i_s_p_e_l_l will also accept lines of single
     words  prefixed with either a '*' or a '@'.  A line starting
     with '*' tells _i_s_p_e_l_l to insert the  word  into  the  user's



Sun Release 3.2         Last change: MIT                        1






ISPELL(local)     UNKNOWN SECTION OF THE MANUAL     ISPELL(local)



     dictionary (simular to the I command).  A line starting with
     '@' causes _i_s_p_e_l_l to accept this word in the future (simular
     to the A command).

FILES
     /usr/local/lib/ispell.hash
     $HOME/ispell.words

BUGS
     It takes about five seconds for _i_s_p_e_l_l to read in  the  hash
     table.

     Perhaps more than ten choices should  be  allowed  for  near
     misses.

     The hash table is stored as a quarter-megabyte array,  so  a
     PDP-11 version does not seem likely.

     _I_s_p_e_l_l should understand more _t_r_o_f_f syntax,  and  deal  more
     intelligently with contractions.

AUTHOR
     Pace Willisson (pace@mit-vax)
































Sun Release 3.2         Last change: MIT                        2