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Creating Custom Dictionaries
Creating Custom Dictionaries for Ephox EditLive! for Java
Introduction
Custom dictionaries may be created for use with Ephox EditLive! for
Java. Custom dictionaries are used to add words to an existing dictionary
used by the spell checker for EditLive! for Java. This document details
how to extend the existing dictionary of a spell checker used by EditLive!
for Java. This requires some skill with unzipping files and using the Java
jar command.
Users can also add words to the dictionary which are then stored locally on
the client. Any words added to the local dictionary by users will persist
on the client even when the dictionary is updated on the server. Words are
added to the local dictionary when a user clicks the "Add Word" option
on the spell checker.
- In order to add a custom dictionary to an existing spell checker the
existing spell checker .jar file must first be unzipped. This file can
be found in the webfolder/redistributables/editlivejava directory of
your EditLive! for Java install. The name of this .jar file will vary
with the spell checker your version of EditLive! for Java is using.
Typically the name of the .jar file will be capitalized. If in doubt
as to the name of your existing dictionary please see either the document on
Using Different Spell Checkers with Ephox EditLive!
for Java or the <spellCheck> XML
element.
For the purposes of this document and the example contained herein it will
be assumed that the spell checker concerned is named en_us_2_0.jar.
Once you have found this file use a file unzipping utility to extract the
contents of the file. In order to complete the steps required to
create a custom dictionary the spell checker file should be unzipped to a
new directory which, initially, contains only the content extracted from the
.jar file.
- If the file has been extracted correctly from the zip file there should
now be two directories in the directory to which the file was
unzipped. Note that these directories should currently be the only
listings within this directory. These directories are com and META-INF.
For the creation process to proceed correctly delete the META-INF
directory from the directory.
Note: If a custom dictionary has already been created for this
spell checker there will also be a file named userdic.tlx present in
the directory to which the .jar file was extracted. If this is the
case and you wish to extend the existing custom dictionary then do not delete
this file. For more information on this please see the Modifying
the Current Custom Dictionary section of this document. If you
wish to remove the current custom dictionary then delete this file.
For more information on this please see Removing the
Current Custom Dictionary section of this document.
- With a plain text editor create a file called userdic.tlx in the
directory to which the contents of the .jar file were extracted. This
file will be where the listings for the custom dictionary are placed.
- At the top of the new file place the following line:
#LID 24941
- For each word that you wish to place into the custom dictionary list the
word in the userdic.tlx file on its own line. Then, one tab
spacing from the word, place an "i". Thus, lines in the file
should appear in the following format:
customword i
- Repeat step 5 for all the words you wish to add to the custom
dictionary. When finished save the userdic.tlx file.
- After saving the userdic.tlx file the .jar file must be
recompiled. This requires using the Java jar command at the
command line in the directory to which the contents of the original .jar
file were extracted.
For example, if the location of the directory to which the contents of the
original .jar file were extracted was C:\OriginalJar\ , the location
of the jar command was C:\java\bin\jar and you wished to name
the new .jar file customdict.jar then the command line would be as
follows:
C:\java\bin\jar cvf customdict.jar .
Note: This command is as it would appear if you were
currently browsing the directory to which the original .jar file was
extracted via the command prompt.
- Move the newly compiled .jar file, in the case of the example above the
file would be called customdict.jar to a location where it may be
accessed by the EditLive! for Java applet.
- Edit the configuration information for EditLive! for Java to reflect the
location of the new spell checker. For more information on how to do
this see the Setting the Spell Checker for EditLive! for
Java section of this document, the document on
Using Different Spell Checkers with Ephox EditLive!
for Java or the <spellCheck> XML
element.
- Perform steps 1 and 2 as above in the Specifying a
Custom Dictionary section of this document.
- Open the userdic.tlx file in a plain text editor.
- For each word that you wish to add to the custom dictionary list the
word in the userdic.tlx file on its own line. Then, one tab
spacing from the word, place an "i". Thus, lines in the file
should appear in the following format:
customword i
- Repeat step 3 for all the words you wish to add to the custom
dictionary. When finished save the userdic.tlx file.
- After saving the userdic.tlx file the .jar file must be
recompiled. This requires using the Java jar command at the
command line in the directory to which the contents of the original .jar
file were extracted. The name of the new spell checker .jar file is
specified in this step.
For example, if the location of the directory to which the contents of the
original .jar file were extracted was C:\OriginalJar\ , the location
of the jar command was C:\java\bin\jar and you wished to name
the new .jar file customdict.jar then the command line would be as
follows:
C:\java\bin\jar cvf customdict.jar .
Note: This command is as it would appear if you were
currently browsing the directory to which the original .jar file was
extracted via the command prompt.
- Move the newly compiled .jar file, in the case of the example above the
file would be called customdict.jar to a location where it may be
accessed by the EditLive! for Java applet or save it in place of the old
file.
If the name of the new custom dictionary differs from the old one then edit
the configuration information for EditLive! for Java to reflect the location
of the new spell checker. For more information on how to do this see
the Setting the Spell Checker for EditLive! for Java
section of this document, the document on
Using Different Spell Checkers with Ephox EditLive!
for Java or the <spellCheck> XML
element.
- Perform steps 1 and 2 as above in the Specifying a
Custom Dictionary section of this document.
- Delete the userdic.tlx file from the directory to which the contents of
the original .jar file were extracted.
- After deleting the userdic.tlx file the .jar file must be
recompiled. This requires using the Java jar command at the
command line in the directory to which the contents of the original .jar
file were extracted. The name of the new spell checker .jar file is
specified in this step.
For example, if the location of the directory to which the contents of the
original .jar file were extracted was C:\OriginalJar\ , the location
of the jar command was C:\java\bin\jar and you wished to name
the new .jar file customdict.jar then the command line would be as
follows:
C:\java\bin\jar cvf customdict.jar .
Note: This command is as it would appear if you were
currently browsing the directory to which the original .jar file was
extracted via the command prompt.
- Move the newly compiled .jar file, in the case of the example above the
file would be called customdict.jar to a location where it may be
accessed by the EditLive! for Java applet or save it in place of the old
file.
If the name of the new custom dictionary differs from the old one then edit
the configuration information for EditLive! for Java to reflect the location
of the new spell checker. For more information on how to do this see
the Setting the Spell Checker for EditLive! for Java
section of this document, the document on
Using Different Spell Checkers with Ephox EditLive!
for Java or the <spellCheck> XML
element.
The spell checkers for EditLive! for Java for different
languages are each packaged as separate files. In order to configure
EditLive! for Java to use a spell checker the program must be informed of the
location of the relevant spell checking package, this occurs via the EditLive!
for Java XML configuration. The <spellCheck>
element of the EditLive! for Java XML configuration provides EditLive! for Java
with the location of the spell checker package which it is to use. The
location is specified as a URL which can be either relative or absolute. For more information please see the article on Using
Different Spell Checkers with Ephox EditLive! for Java.
Example
This is an example of a full userdic.tlx file that can be used to
extend a current dictionary.
#LID 24941
customdict i
Ephox i
EditLive i
Java i
HTML i
XML i
Summary
The dictionary to be used with EditLive! for Java can be extended to include
words which are not in the standard dictionary. This is done by including
a file called userdic.tlx in the .jar file of the spell checker which is
used by EditLive! for Java. The included file should contain all the words
which are to be added to the EditLive! for Java spell checker.
See Also
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