Spell checker language should be tied to the document

[MrKii]

I'm on a 30 days trial of scrivener. I write in several languages and I find annoying having to change the spell checker every time I switch language. What's worse, sometimes I want to use Scrivener side to side in order to translate from one language to another, making small changes on each side sometimes. This is impossible because the spell checker is a global setting. I think each document should have the desired spell checker language.

Other than that, great product.

[krastev]

That's really bad idea.

[theswede]

I think each document should have the desired spell checker language.

I agree. I routinely juggle projects in many different languages, and it's very annoying to manage spell checking as a global setting.

I will also mix languages in the same document on occasion, but that's rare enough and usually for small snippets, so that doesn't need a special workaround. But I will very often have two documents open in different languages, and have to turn spell checking off because it ends up too distracting.

[DavidR]

That's really bad idea.

Can you offer some reasons on this? I'm with the others, I think it could be quite helpful.

[krastev]

That's really bad idea.

Can you offer some reasons on this? I'm with the others, I think it could be quite helpful.

No. Have no time for that, but you can check here, here, or here

If that's not enough imagine how it's gonna be implemented per document

[DavidR]

That's really bad idea.

Can you offer some reasons on this? I'm with the others, I think it could be quite helpful.

No. Have no time for that, but you can check here, here, or here

If that's not enough imagine how it's gonna be implemented per document

Well, sorry to trouble you to support an abruptly expressed opinion, but ... all the links you offered are to discussions about the Mac version, and I gather that it is indeed a very difficult thing to attempt on a Mac, since the spell-checker exists and is configured on the system level there. However, we're in a Windows forum here, and in Windows there is no such system-level spell-checker. Perversely, this may turn out to be an area in which programming for Windows (not for v. 3.0, certainly, but in an update down the line) could incorporate a feature not available for the Mac. At any rate, the word processor I use, Nota Bene, does indeed allow you to set a default language per document, so that spell-checking is carried out in that language for that document. Naturally, the way they implement this might not be possible in Scrivener's programming environment. But the idea shouldn't be rejected out of hand because it doesn't work on Macs.

[devinganger]

Perversely, this may turn out to be an area in which programming for Windows (not for v. 3.0, certainly, but in an update down the line) could incorporate a feature not available for the Mac.

My understanding is that they're trying to *reduce* the number of incongruencies, not introduce new ones in some attempt to win back karma points for us poor Windows users.

[Amcmo]

Another potential issue.

If such a feature was implemented in the Win version, would that impact full compatibility for accessing and editing files Mac to Win & vice versa?

Personally I’m for getting to feature equality and keeping it.

[DavidR]

Good points, devinganger and Amcmo. Particularly, any problems in working on a file in both Mac and Windows environments ought to be avoided. My only point is that, because Windows doesn't have system-wide spell-check, it is possible for particular programs to implement spell-check in innovative ways, e.g., different default languages in different documents. For some users, this would evidently be helpful, and if it were to be implemented it would be up to such users not to make their docs unusable on a Mac, assuming they ever use a Mac.

[lunk]

I think each document should have the desired spell checker language.

imagine how it's gonna be implemented per document

Sorry for interrupting, but aren’t you misunderstanding each other? Surely MrKii means per project, mot per each document in the binder?

But even so, deliberately introducing a difficult feature on one OS that is extremely hard to implement on the other is hardly a good idea.

[MainAlice]

I agree with everybody on this topic. Gets me annoyed every time having to change the spell checker every time I switch language. Good to know I'm not alone :c

[xiamenese]

Funnily enough, even though I always have "check spelling as you write" turned off, I can see how desirable being able to mark stretches, let alone documents, as being in a specific language would be desirable. I also know it is possible even on the Mac and using the Apple Textkit on which Scrivener is based, as Nisus Writer Pro does just that.

I am also sure KB, LAP, Tiho_D and the rest of the team would see it as desirable; but the question is more one of feasibility.

NWP is. developed by a team whose sole purpose is improving the functionality of the Apple Text Engine. KB is one person who has the development and maintenance of the whole of Scrivener—let’s not forget iOS, which is also used by many Windows users—and Scapple occupying him. Complex modification or writing replacement routines of the text engine to mark languages, and there are other aspects like tables and lists which are calling for attention, can only wait for time and energy.

For the Windows version, doing what is necessary from this point of view may be easier, but LAP and Tiho_D are having to code frameworks used by Scrivener that are available out of the box on MacOS. So for them too, time and energy are at a premium.

In addition to the question of feasibility, there is the question of compatibility. I have no objection to the Windows version having a feature which the Mac version doesn’t—we have "language focus" as opposed to just "dialogue focus" … not that I use that either—but if language-marking in Windows would cause compatibility problems, and I would think it might be even more of a problem in relation to the iOS version, then it would indeed be a bad idea.

I am no programmer, just a long-term user of Scrivener. I do any spell-checking if necessary in NWP after compile, and do use more than English; however, since the second languauge I use most is Chinese, I have a macro which can do the marking for me. Any other language, I would mark in Scrivener with a specific style and use Find & Replace in NWP to add the language marking.



Mark

[Drogs26]

It remains only to wait for a new version of the program, perhaps they will add

[Anzorrr]

I doubt very much that this will be added to the program, too much work needs to be done for this. I would advise you to use a special utility for this and save the text in it for later translation.

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Moderator Note: removed URL which seemed to be deceptively placed.