Replace corrupted dictionary

[bardkin]

I have what appears to be a corrupted dictionary. When writing I can deliberately misspell words and the auto spell checker doesn't see it. When I run spell checker it sees the word as something else.

I was thinking that maybe there is a way to delete the dictionary and replace it with a new one?
If that's possible, how would I do it?
Thanks!

[Hagar Delest]

See: [Troubleshooting] Spell check in OpenOffice.

Please add [Solved] at the beginning of the title in your first post (top of the topic) with the *EDIT button if your issue has been fixed.

[John_Ha]

1. All text in Writer can and should have a language associated with it as, say, "this text is English UK".
2. If some text is marked as English UK, the English UK dictionary is used to spell check it. colour is shown as correct, color is shown as wrong.
3. If other text is marked English US the English US dictionary is used to spell check it. colour is shown as wrong, color is shown as correct.
4. If yet other text is marked as having no language (Language = None) then it is not spellchecked as the is no dictionary for None.

See Tools > Language > For selection.
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[bardkin]

Thanks, but thats not the whole issue.

Some times I have spelled it wrong and the dictionary doesnt catch it. In other instances there are some made up words for which no dictionary will have. ( I am an author) In the most frustrating instances it where I've made abbreviations and or shorthand remarks and then added them to the dictionary, and then typing a similar word will default to that spelling. in short, my dictionary is skrood with a capitol T...

Id really rather start with a whole new dictionary if possible. Otherwise the only thing I know to do is to get rid of office and reinstall it from scratch and Im hoping not to have to do that. (although it doesnt take that long...)

[John_Ha]

There are two different types of dictionaries in Writer.

The first type is the standard language dictionary for English UK or French etc. You cannot change it. Well, you can, but it is a non-supported hack.

The second type are the (more than one is possible) "Added words" dictionaries such as Towns_in_Germany, Medical_words or legalese_latin_words. Words in the enabled "Added words" dictionary are checked in all languages except None. Note that if you want to spellcheck Aqpr and apqr in an added words dictionary both spellings must be added.

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Id really rather start with a whole new dictionary if possible.

Tools > Spelling > Options ..., allows you to add, edit or delete added words dictionaries.

This search may help - it is threads about dictionaries where I have posted and explained how to manage dictionaries ... https://forum.openoffice.org/en/forum/s ... mit=Search

Alternatively, as an unsupported hack (in other words, if you mess it up you won't get much help fixing it), find C:\Users\xxxxxx\AppData\Roaming\OpenOffice\4\user\wordbook\standard.dic which is the added words "Standard" dictionary and edit it, being very careful not to mess about with the format.

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As a fairly new poster you will find much useful information in the Writer FAQ, the Writer Tutorials, the up to date AOO Writer for Students and the Writer User Guide. May I suggest you bookmark the pages.

Press F1 to access the Help screen and search for your problem

The chapter headings in the manual are:

1 - Introducing Writer
2 - Setting up Writer
3 - Working with Text
4 - Formatting Pages
5 - Printing, Exporting, Faxing and E-Mailing
6 - Introduction to Styles
7 - Working with Styles
8 - Working with Graphics
9 - Working with Tables
10 - Working with Templates
11 - Using Mail Merge
12 - Tables of Contents, Indexes and Bibliographies
13 - Working with Master Documents
14 - Working with Fields
15 - Using Forms in Writer
16 - Customizing Writer – Keyboard shortcuts.

When a pop-up window opens, click the Help button for extensive help on that function - it is often more comprehensive than the manual.

[Hagar Delest]

Try to reset the profile (see near the end of the tuto I've posted above). Keep your custom dictionary to add it to the new profile if the new profile fixes the standard spell checking issue.

[Bill]

Id really rather start with a whole new dictionary if possible.

In Writer, go to Tools > Extension Manager. Click "Get more extensions online...". This should open the Extensions Web page in your default Web browser. Search for "English dictionaries for Apache OpenOffice". Download the latest version. Make sure that the downloaded file has the .oxt file name extension, then double-click it. You should get a message in the Extension Manager asking if you want to replace the installed extension. Click OK. The new English dictionaries should be installed without affecting your custom dictionary.

[bardkin]

Hmm. So I've tried these suggestions, and it just doesn't seem to work. I have even completely uninstalled and reinstalled office, deleted and added the dictionary and I still have the same results. It's got to be a registry error or something.

I have deliberately misspelled words and the auto spell checker doesn't see it.
I have run spell checker and it can't see it either.
Language is set correctly.

I will try this- I will uninstall office then download the installer to a new directory. Then I will copy the new dictionary to this folder and try reinstalling. I will update the dictionary again. Then I will bring up a document to test. Will let you know how it goes. If it fails Im not sure what I will be able to do short of reinstalling windows..

[John_Ha]

Repeated ...

[John_Ha]

1. Go Tools > Extension manager ..., and tell us which dictionaries you have installed.
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2. Upload a small .odt file showing the problem where you identify which words cannot be spellchecked so that it can be analysed.

Press POSTREPLY and click the Upload attachment tab below where you type (128 kB max); or use a file share site such as mediafire, Dropbox or Google Drive for a larger file.

Here is a test file with the first sentence in UK English and the second sentence in US English where color/colour is correctly spellchecked in each language.
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[Hagar Delest]

Reinstalling is a waste of time.
In the tutorial linked at the beginning, are all the screenshots similar to what you see on your machine?
Have you reset your AOO profile?

[bardkin]

ok, here are all the snapshots. posting another right after this.

[Hagar Delest]

The language for the text is not set (blank field in the first screenshot).
Check the default paragraph style. And the rest of the tutorial.

[bardkin]

here is the other file

[Hagar Delest]

Same blank field. There is no language set for the text. Please check the tutorial again.

[bardkin]

So I have been doing this. There are 3 items under language. Selection, Paragraph and text. I can ONLY change the one for selection (which doesn't make a difference if I have any text selected) and it won't let me change the Paragraph or Text. The options will highlight but won't allow selection.
It won't let me select from the drop-down box in the spell checker window.

[John_Ha]

Read the third post in this thread. Highlight some text and set the language for that text.

Screen shots are practically hopeless for debugging problems. If you upload a .odt file it takes about three seconds to analyse what the problem is.

[RoryOF]

This might be a case for the brute force method of deleting the OpenOffice User Profile.

[bardkin]

Thought I had posted this response. If it is a duplicate, then my apologies.
I really have done my best to resolve this with all of your help. Thanks you for that. But at this point I I don't think I have a choice other than to move to a different product. I have a lot of work due and some reports and I cant have this interrupting me any longer.

I have followed all your advice several times over and its just not working. There is something deep in this laptop that just won't allow it to work right and I don't have a clue what it is. I do have a few other symptoms- Daily crashes and recoveries, previously written work that randomly deletes spaces between words, missing punctuation- all after writing and closing the document, then opening it up again.

I have gone through the registry and deleted all but two keys where it complained that only SOME of the data could be removed. This is probably what's screwing things up and the only way to fix this is to wipe the drive and rebuild the OS.

I just don't have the time to do this anymore. I have OpenOffice on two other computers, and they work perfectly. It just can't work on my laptop where I need it most.

So again, Thanks for all your help. We tried.. I don't know if I should mark this as closed since it isn't solved in a way that it should be. I will let someone else decide.
Happy Holidays!

[RoryOF]

With OpenOffice closed, delete your OpenOffice User Profile, restart OpenOffice, and all should be well.

To do that, open any folder and enter
%appdata%\openoffice\4
in the address bar near the top. Rename the user folder to user.old. Then restart OpenOffice. You should get the registration screen. Fill that out and then check if the program spellchecks correctly.

[Hagar Delest]

You want a quick fix?
Install LibreOffice. Almost the same UI as AOO and much less of those bugs.

[LastUnicorn]

Hagar is right, install LibreOffice and give it a try. Some details on good reasons to prefer LibreOffice over OpenOffice are given here: [Tutorial] Considering a Switch from OpenOffice to LibreOffice? Some Useful Information OpenOffice is dying a slow death, best to switch.

[RoryOF]

Commendable as installation of LibreOffice may be, it does not solve the problem of what misconfiguration of OpenOffice caused the problem, and contributes nothing to our overall knowledge.

Beside, as I outlined in another post, LibreOffice may not suit some users, either in terms of on-screen display or reconfiguration of menus.

[Hagar Delest]

Agreed. But user point of view, between spending energy trying to fix an almost broken application (or at least more and more prone to glitches of this kind) and moving to something clearly more dynamically maintained and that just work with much less hassle, the choice is quick.

I'm not even sure that AOO is more stable than LO. Couldn't say I suffer less crashes with LO but definitively not more than with AOO.

I know it's a sad conclusion. I've been very reluctant to switch to LO. But well, there is no question who has now "won" (in terms of momentum for evolution).