Create a seperate Spelling Dialict for BIPM/IUPAC spelling

[kevina]

I am looking into creating add a new feature to VarCon to represent spelling dialects (for lack of a better name) the first one I will add will be for the agreed open intentional spelling of SI Unit words and chemical elements as used by the BIPM and IUPAC.

I am not sure what to call it though.

@getsnoopy are there any other international bodies that dictate spelling of scientific words you think should be in this spelling dialect. If not I am thinking about just calling it something like BIPM/IUPAC.

Will close #260 and #291.

[getsnoopy]

This sounds like a good idea, @kevina. And yes, there are other international bodies such as ISO, the WHO, and the UN in general which also dictate spelling in certain contexts. I'd recommend calling it international just to make it as general as possible.

Frankly though, most, if not all, already coincide with the en_GB-ize locale. I'd recommend just renaming that to en or en-international or the like, since that's really a more accurate description for it anyway. It's not merely all British spellings with -ise endings changed to -ize endings; there are many other differences as well.

[kevina]

@getsnoopy are you saying you are happy to use en_GB-ize locale for your writings? If that is the case then maybe it's not worth the extra complexity of introducing a dialect on top of existing spelling variants (that is the original intention was to have an American BIPM/IUPAC and British BIPM/IUPAC spelling etc.)

[getsnoopy]

Hmm...I see. I think it would be useful to have an American BIPM/IUPAC. I was just pointing out that the British BIPM/IUPAC would rarely ever be different from the en_GB-ize locale (since Oxford English is considered international, so most standards are already based on that), or even en_GB-ise one.

[kevina]

Oxford English will still have sulphur since that is still the preferred British spelling as indicated by Oxford. There may be other differences.

I want this to be useful and don't want to lump to many dialectics in one. I am combining BIPM and IUPAC since my assumption is that American's who prefer to use metre also prefer to use aluminium.

[getsnoopy]

That makes sense. And yes, I think that's a good assumption.

[kevina]

Thanks. No promises just yet. My plan is to try and push this through with the current infrastructure in SCOWL, if that fails this will have to wait until I switch to using the PostgreSQL database version of SCOWL (see #306). Unfortunately, I do not have an ETA for the switch to the PostgreSQL database version.

In any case, if you want to use a spell checker dictionary with the new dialect you will need to create it yourself using scripts provided with SCOWL or alternatively http://app.aspell.net/create. The app is a very simple CGI script which I will continue to support. In addition you can directly link to dictionaries created from the app and moving forward I will do my best to preserve compatibility in that regard.