Electric Corrections Help

Name:	Elec Corrections
Version:	1.2
Last update:	2019-11-27 14:12:51

This package helps check for and correct spelling mistakes or typos as you type. Select Alpha ↣ Global Setup ↣ Features to turn it on (click here to display the Features Preferences dialog).

Introduction

This is not a spell-checking extension -- instead it is more of a misspell-checker: you must teach Alpha the common misspellings or typos to correct using the menu items described below.
Whenever you press the return or space key, Alpha will then compare the previous word to the list of all typos, and correct it if necessary. This package also includes a Smart i preference, if this has been turned on then Alpha will automatically change "i" to "I" as you type.
Activating the extension will create four new preferences and insert a new Alpha ↣ Preferences ↣ Electric Corrections submenu described below.

Electric Corrections Preferences

Select Alpha ↣ Preferences ↣ Electric Corrections ↣ Corrections Prefs to change the values of these preferences.

Smart i: Automatically convert " i " to " I ".
Smart i Modes: Allows you to specify the modes that use the Smart i feature, initially including only Text TeX Bib HTML. If this list is empty, automatic correction applies to all modes.
Turn Corrections On/Off: Turns automatic corrections of typos on or off. This does not affect the Smart i preference.
Correcting Modes: Allows you to specify the modes that check for misspellings. If this list is empty (the default value), automatic correction applies to all modes.

Electric Corrections Menu

View Corrections: Open a window with all current typos. The package only supplies one typo to initially correct, changing "hte" to "the"
Add Corrections: Open a dialog to create new typos. Only lower-case typos need to be entered -- both lower-case and capitalized typos will be corrected automatically.
Edit Corrections: Open a list-pick dialog to edit all typos.
Remove Corrections: Open a list-pick dialog to remove all user-defined typos.
Smart i: Automatically convert " i " to " I ". (This is a toggleable menu item, turning the preference on and off.)
Smart i Modes: Allows you to specify the modes that use the Smart i preference, initially including only Text TeX Bib HTML. If this list is empty, automatic correction applies to all modes.
Turn Corrections On/Off: Turns automatic corrections of misspellings or typos on or off. This does not affect the Smart i preference.
Correcting Prefs: Allows you to specify the modes that check for typos. You can select any subset of the modes currently available, or choose the option for "All" or "None".
Corrections Help: Open this file.

Usage

Following every Space or Return keystroke, the desired whitespace is inserted into the window, and then the preceding word is checked against the list of defined typos -- if the word matches, it is deleted and the correction is inserted. If the Smart i preference is set, then any lone i will be converted to I. Preceding words are checked even if followed by an intermediate character such as , . ; etc. -- the correction is inserted without disturbing the following characters. So

Where was i?
i decided to ask hte, well, obviously oblivious inn-keeper, ...

corrects to

Where was I?
I decided to ask the, well, obviously oblivious inn-keeper, ...

All user-defined misspellings/typos are automatically converted to both lower case and capitalized words -- both hte → the and Hte → The work, but only the first must be defined. Note that if you have multiple misspellings for the same word, you must define each one separately, such as teh → the. All typos will be corrected in any mode listed in the "Correcting Modes" preference. It is not possible to define mode-specific typos.
Here's one way to exploit this feature: I have defined the following typos, which I generally will not accidentally type:

"sgy  → sociology"
"scal → sociological"
"slly → sociologically"
"sc   → social capital"

Now whenever I type "sgy" or "Sgy", the correction is automatically inserted if I follow it with a Space or Return. Suppose that I have the terms "screaming" and "somethingCruddy" in my file, and I have just typed "sc". Note the following electric options:

Space or Return:	correct to	"social capital"
Completion Key:	complete to	"screaming"
Expansion Key:	expand to	"somethingCruddy"

If you would like to define Electric Corrections Over-Ride keys, open a prefs.tcl file and add these lines:

binding create {sv space} {text insert "\ "}
binding create {sv return} {bind::CarriageReturn}

Pressing the Shift (⇧) key in combination with Space or Return will then over-ride corrections and simply enter a space or a carriage return.

Possible future directions

Include a pre-defined set of typos that has something more than simply "hte". I would just as soon leave it up to the user to create them, but if somebody has a list that they would like to send along (with common typos and the corrections, please) I'll include it in future versions. One concern that I have is that for such a list to be truly useful, it should be comprehensive, and that will both make it much more difficult for the user to know what's in there and potentially slow down the correcting process.
Procedures have already been written to unset/restore the default list. It would be possible to come up with several different lists to accommodate different editing settings, or languages ...
Allow the creation of mode-specific corrections, similarly to mode-specific completions. I don't have any objections, but I'm not sure about the best way to accomplish this.

Acknowledgments

This package was inspired by Electric Completions / Expansions, and based upon the proc [SQL::electUpper] found in sqlMode.tcl (Joel D. Elkins.) Many thanks to Vince Darley and Bernard Desgraupes for several bug fixes and suggestions.
Source code can be found in elecCorrections.tcl -- contributions are certainly welcome.

Known problems

Please report any problem or bug you encounter to Alpha's Bug Tracker.

License and Disclaimer

Copyright (c) 2000-2019, Craig Barton Upright.
All rights reserved.
The elecCorrections package is free software and distributed under the terms of the new BSD license:
Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:

Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
Neither the name of Craig Barton Upright nor the names of its contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software without specific prior written permission.

THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL CRAIG BARTON UPRIGHT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.