Squeak SpellingServices

A simple API for spell-checking and -correction in Squeak/Smalltalk. Includes support for Windows, Linux and macOS.

Installation

Get Squeak 5.3 or newer

Open a workspace and do the following:

Metacello new
baseline: 'SpellingServices';
repository: 'github://hpi-swa-lab/squeak-spelling-services:main';
load.

Depending on your platform:
- Linux/macOS: Install ispell.
  
  Make sure that ispell is in your $PATH, or alternatively, change the binary path as described right below.
- Windows: Install aspell.
  
  Open the Preference Browser from the main docking bar. In the SpellingInterface preference (I/A/Spell binary path), store the path to your aspell.exe.

Usage

Find spelling issues

spelling := SpellingInterface new.

spelling checkSpellingOf: 'Hello Wrld!'. "~~> #(7 4)"

spelling checkSpellingOf: 'Hello frm Sqeuak!' startingAt: 1. "~~> #(7 3)"
spelling checkSpellingOf: 'Hello frm Sqeuak!' startingAt: 10. "~~> #(11 6)"
spelling checkSpellingOf: 'Hello frm Sqeuak!' startingAt: 17. "~~> #(0 0)"
spelling checkSpellingOf: 'Hello from Squeak!' startingAt: 1. "~~> #(0 0)"

Suggest corrections

(spelling getGuesses: 'frm') first: 5. "~~> an OrderedCollection('from' 'farm' 'fem' 'firm' 'form')"
(spelling getGuesses: 'Sqeuak') first: 3. "~~> an OrderedCollection('Squeak' 'Squeaky' 'Squawk')"

Define ignored words

spelling := SpellingInterface new.
spelling setIgnoredWord: 'SpellingServices'.
spelling checkSpellingOf: 'Hello from SpellingServices!' startingAt: 1. "~~> #(0 0)"

How does it work?

Historically, this package was built around the SpellingPlugin in the OpenSmalltalk VM which provides access to NSSpellChecker interface on macOS. However, at a later point in time, some smart people went about making this package usable for non-applish systems as well, and eventually, they came up with an adapter for the GNU command-line tool ispell that is fit into the same protocol. ispell only runs on Unix systems, but there is a fork of it, aspell, that also includes a port for Windows which is offically unsupported and unmaintained, but still working as of today on Windows 10 20H1. Access to ispell and aspell is realized through OSProcess, or FFI, if the former is not available.

Remarkably, there appear to be issues with the SpellingPlugin in the present which will cause SpellingServices to fall back on ispell even on macOS. If you have a mac and feel like contributing to this repository, your help on investigating and debugging this issue will be appreciated!

This repository is a port of the older SpellingServices which were previously hosted in SwaSource. You can also read up the original announcement on squeak-dev here: Announcement: Spelling services

hpi-swa-lab / squeak-spelling-services

readme