Auto-Correct

[MimeticMouton]

Going back to the original post, there's no option to set the auto-correct to ask you on the first instance but not on future ones. You can however add a word to your personal word list, which will prevent it being auto-corrected into something else. You can do this either by right-clicking a word marked as misspelled and choosing "Learn Spelling" (or choosing the same if you're running the spell check tool from Tools > Spelling) or by editing your word list manually by going to Tools > Options..., clicking the "Auto-Corrections" tab, and then clicking "View Personal Word List". Here you can both add and remove words from your custom list. You can also access and edit this file directly by going to “C:\Documents and Settings\YOURUSERNAME\Local Settings\Application Data\Scrivener\Scrivener” and opening the wordlists.ini file in a plain-text editor, so you could copy in a comma separated list of items if you wish (instead of needing to add them individually via the interface). Users on Vista and Win7 will find this file in “C:\Users\YOURUSERNAME\AppData\Local\Scrivener\Scrivener”.

If you have auto-correct turned on and it corrects a word you don't want changed, you can use Edit > Undo (Ctrl+Z) to undo the auto-correct, and at that point you can right-click the original word and add it to your custom list if you wish; the spell-check will no longer mark it as misspelled and the auto-correct won't try to change it.

You can also use the substitutions list, as pigfender suggested. If "Enable additional substitutions" is checked in the Auto-Correction tab and the specific substitution is checked to be enabled in the substitution table, this should be working when typing in the editor. (I did just test and am able to successfully replace Bjorn with Björn in the editor using this method. The word is still marked as misspelled but the substitution itself happens, which is as it should do.) This is limited to the editor--could that be why it didn't seem to work for you? If it's not working there, could you let me know the specific settings you've got in the Auto-Correction tab so I can try to reproduce the issue?

Regarding the export/import of Word’s autocorrect list, 2002 (XP) or otherwise, this isn’t currently possible to the best of my knowledge, as the auto-correction is set up differently. I’ll check with Lee and Keith on this, as it would be a neat idea if it’s doable in the future.

As for the dictionary tools in general, we are trying to better those. Scrivener uses Aspell and its dictionaries for this, and Lee is working to be able to implement an updated version for Windows and thus for Scrivener. We’re aware that the available dictionary lists leave a lot to be desired, and I’m throwing together a knowledge base article with instructions for updating the dictionary; I’ll put a link here once I’ve got that up.

If some features behave differently, or lack functions that we are used to from other software, it is probably intended this way.

This is sometimes the case, as Scrivener is a distinct program from traditional word processors and as such it does have features that are designed based on a different philosophy and with a potentially different goal in mind—to focus on the actual writing, with less simultaneous attention to formatting. Scrivener also isn’t intended to be all things to all people and so some features common to Word or OpenOffice Writer or the like are intentionally not present in Scrivener as they’re not pertinent to the focus and would just be bloat.

There are however plenty of features that aren’t present because they just haven’t made it in yet. You’re probably aware that Scrivener for Windows is following in the footsteps of the Mac version with the aim of feature parity; the Mac version has just been around a lot longer than the Windows version and has had time for these extra bits to get implemented. We’re also of course open to knew ideas—that’s what the wishlist section of the forum is for. Some things just aren’t feasible, given that we’re a tiny team—one programmer per platform—and don’t have the resources of, say, Microsoft. So some features that you’ll see in Word just really can’t be done at the moment in Scrivener. It doesn’t always mean we wouldn’t like to, or that we won’t be looking for alternative ways of achieving the same end, but just that it’s a bit more pie-in-the-sky than it might appear from the user standpoint.

[Marilynx]

Going back to the original post, there's no option to set the auto-correct to ask you on the first instance but not on future ones.

Okay, I can deal with this. Since I've been tinkering with Scrivener for a few days more than two months (with some major breaks, due to holidays and travel), I just wanted to be sure I hadn't missed something obvious.

You can however add a word to your personal word list, which will prevent it being auto-corrected into something else. You can do this either by right-clicking a word marked as misspelled and choosing "Learn Spelling" (or choosing the same if you're running the spell check tool from Tools > Spelling) or by editing your word list manually by going to Tools > Options..., clicking the "Auto-Corrections" tab, and then clicking "View Personal Word List". Here you can both add and remove words from your custom list. You can also access and edit this file directly by going to “C:\Documents and Settings\YOURUSERNAME\Local Settings\Application Data\Scrivener\Scrivener” and opening the wordlists.ini file in a plain-text editor, so you could copy in a comma separated list of items if you wish (instead of needing to add them individually via the interface). Users on Vista and Win7 will find this file in “C:\Users\YOURUSERNAME\AppData\Local\Scrivener\Scrivener”.

I may look at this tomorrow when I am a little more awake. I have been adding words as I go along. That right-click and "Learn" is a pretty nice feature, and much faster that Word for adding things to the dictionaries.

I need to figure out where my machine has stowed the Word dictionaries, and tinker with a copy of the file to see if I can extract my words. I've got about eight of them because I use a bunch of weird words.

If you have auto-correct turned on and it corrects a word you don't want changed, you can use Edit > Undo (Ctrl+Z) to undo the auto-correct, and at that point you can right-click the original word and add it to your custom list if you wish; the spell-check will no longer mark it as misspelled and the auto-correct won't try to change it.

Unfortunately, I don't always catch that it has changed something until it's too late to use Ctrl+Z. So I go back, correct it, and then right-click and add it. I do double-takes when I see some of the things I consider ordinary words which Scrivener considers odd and changeable. Like montane gets changed to mountain. And brekkie to Trekkie.

You can also use the substitutions list, as pigfender suggested. If "Enable additional substitutions" is checked in the Auto-Correction tab and the specific substitution is checked to be enabled in the substitution table, this should be working when typing in the editor. (I did just test and am able to successfully replace Bjorn with Björn in the editor using this method. The word is still marked as misspelled but the substitution itself happens, which is as it should do.) This is limited to the editor--could that be why it didn't seem to work for you? If it's not working there, could you let me know the specific settings you've got in the Auto-Correction tab so I can try to reproduce the issue?

Well, all I can say on this is that when I first tried the Bjorn/Björn substitution, I went to the substitutions, and it didn't work. So I assumed it was something I had done wrong, and added it to the auto-correct, without removing it from the substitutions. Then it worked. I was doing this in the editor. I can't remember if I tried it in the notes or the cards, as opposed to the main editing window.

If you like, I will attempt to get some screen shots of my set up (and this time do a better job of cropping the blasted pix)

I do have additional substitutions enabled, and had it so enabled when I was trying to get it to work.

Regarding the export/import of Word’s autocorrect list, 2002 (XP) or otherwise, this isn’t currently possible to the best of my knowledge, as the auto-correction is set up differently. I’ll check with Lee and Keith on this, as it would be a neat idea if it’s doable in the future.

It would be... I just checked to see if I could do a copy-and-paste to a text file from either the auto-correct or one of my dictionaries, and the answer is, no, I can't. Not from within Word, anyway. Should have guessed it wouldn't be so simple.

As for the dictionary tools in general, we are trying to better those. Scrivener uses Aspell and its dictionaries for this, and Lee is working to be able to implement an updated version for Windows and thus for Scrivener. We’re aware that the available dictionary lists leave a lot to be desired, and I’m throwing together a knowledge base article with instructions for updating the dictionary; I’ll put a link here once I’ve got that up.

That'd be great. I have been browsing the Forum here, and trying to read all the notes and things BEFORE asking questions which may have been asked a gazillion times. "Space... the final frontier.... it's in between my ears...!"

[StefanG]

Some thoughts and work-arounds from other users you may find helpful:
viewtopic.php?f=32&t=16590&p=115692

[Marilynx]

Some thoughts and work-arounds from other users you may find helpful:
viewtopic.php?f=32&t=16590&p=115692

Thank you -- and I also read the linked thread from your link.

Well, at least (so far) Scrivener has not been quite THAT vehement in what it does, but I'm very glad to know that it's going to be on the list to be looked at.

[StefanG]

Marilynx,

did you read the work-arounds? Some of them seem to be helpful:

... try modifying your substitution of "ta" to "at" to become " ta " replaced by " at ". It should recognize the space then and not substitute "at" for "ta" when "ta" falls inside another word.

So, to be clear, adding " ot " to be replaced with " to " does work for me as well ...

etc..

[Marilynx]

did you read the work-arounds? Some of them seem to be helpful:

Yes, I did. Ironically, I'm not having trouble with any of those. Just names and slang terminology. That's what I get, I guess, for being a USian, trying to type Aussie and British slang!

[dbc183c7]

... a few years later ...

Using Win7, Word etc. 2010, Win/Scriv 1.9.0

Scrivener's Substitution list appears to be in the Windows registry:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Scrivener\Scrivener\Options\AutoCorrection

As MM said,

Users on Vista and Win7 will find [the Personal word list] file in “C:\Users\YOURUSERNAME\AppData\Local\Scrivener\Scrivener”.

(My Scriv Scratchpad folder is "C:\Users\MYUSERNAME\Scrivener ScratchPad".)

Office's own autocorrections appear to be repeated in about three "MsSp7en.acl" files across the PC (same file each, text-like).
Office's user's substitution list ... at "C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Office", in file MSO1033.acl (a DB-like format; for American English).

In my ongoing transition to Scrivener,
I sussed how InfoSelect (Info Select (IS)), my current software, how its DB stored both my added words and my substitutions: Both are in the same file. (Being American, I could have sussed it out, but I think that would have been redundant.)

I parsed each of my ~ 1,500 added words, pasted each of them into a Scriv document, then spell-checked them into my Scriv Personal list. (With the help of Info Select, I could have formatted the text for pasting into S's "wordlists.ini", but I took the opportunity to cull my word list ... and add a few new ones.)

Because S's substitution registry content is not text, I will have to do that input manually from a second-pass parsing of the IS DB. (Since this will be a manual task, it's mostly for another time: So far, I found about 300 substitution candidates.)

When the time comes to move my Scrivener to a new Win10 PC, I will likely export/import S's substitution list from the old to the new registry.
Since MsSp7en.acl (whichever) contains MS's idea of usual suggestions, I'll leave that 'transfer' to my reinstallation of Office 2010.
and I'll merely copy my Office substitutions file to the new PC.

[dbc183c7]

Hey!

The 'live' Spelling auto-correct does a great job -- though I'm still not used to it, not trusting enough of it to not go back over the text once in a while with a non-grammar/style -checking spelling scan!
And ironically, I sometimes rely on its 'wisdom' too much -- intentionally letting an observed/known misspelling be with the expectation/hope that the checker will correct it to its proper form!

However, when it corrects the first word in a sentence (or after a line break), it doesn't always get around to capitalizing the correction. And when it does seem to get around to it, it is mostly because its 'correction' is a proper noun -- which capitalization of course has nothing to do with the word’s being the first of the sentence etc..

While I do learn the spellchecker that my routine mistypings are 'acceptable' (in order to have Substitutions correct them appropriately), the failed First-Word capitalization of its first-of-line/sentence change can be a tedious manual correction, particularly when chance seems to put several of them into one day. (I've not yet noticed a proclivity for this with particular words -- I will attend.)

And then sometimes it thinks the correction of a non-noun misspelling ought to be a capitalized proper noun.

It would be nice were it smart enough to always know on its own about an accepted word’s plural and possessive forms as well as its singular.

[konssam]

You are referring to a feature that is not available in Scrivener and in fact it is the no1 feature in my wish list. For example Write! app for Windows has this built-in and it works wonders (just google for wri.tt) What it does is when you type in the 2 or 3 first letters of a word (you define how many letters you want it to check) and it suggests words beginning with these letters, so you can choose the right word. This is done fairly quickly, in just a few milliseconds, in fact you don't notice any delay. This would be a killer feature for Scrivener, as for the time being I often type my chapters in Write! and then paste them to Scrivener.