[Solved] No dictionary present in OpenOffice

Discuss setup / installation issues - Add a spell checker, Language pack?
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caerbryn
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[Solved] No dictionary present in OpenOffice

Post by caerbryn »

I am using ApacheOpenOffice 3.4.1 on Windows Vista.

It appears to have lost its Dictionary, so that all words, in all my documents, are now underlined in red, unless I have entered them in the user-defined dictionary.

In Tools/Options/Language Settings/Languages, the drop down box under “Default language for documents, Western”, is showing “English(UK). The tick-box labelled “For the current document only” is unticked.

How can I get the dictionary to function again?
Last edited by Hagar Delest on Thu Jan 24, 2013 12:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: tagged [Solved].
thomasjk
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Re: No dictionary present in OpenOffice

Post by thomasjk »

Tom K.
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caerbryn
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Re: No dictionary present in OpenOffice

Post by caerbryn »

That tutorial is too complicated for me to understand. The on-line Extensions page does not even list an English (uk) version, and even if it did, the tutorial does not explain where to download it to. My Open Office has been working properly for several years, so why did the dictionary suddenly disappear in the last few days? If I need a .oxt file, presumably that file was there until now. Where should it be?

I have done a Windows Search for all.oxt files, and it has found dict-en.oxt in folder install (C:\Program Files\OpenOffice.org3\Share\Extensions), showing it was created on 23Jul12 However, when I go to Tools/Extension Manager and try to "Add" that file, I get an error message informing me that it is not available.

I notice another user has suddenly encountered the same problem. There would appear to be a glitch in ApacheOpenOffice3.

Any chance of a simple explanation of why the dictionary has suddenly disappeared, where we can find the replacement file on the openoffice website, and simple steps to repair our software?

Or would it be simpler, for those of us who do not understand computers, to simply uninstall openoffice, download it again, and re-install it? Would this create more problems, if we have customised bits of openoffice?

Incidentally, openoffice has yet again gone into its OpenOffice.org Writer (Not responding) mode, so for the third time today, probably twentieth time this week, I shall have to restart my computer, yet again.
thomasjk
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Re: No dictionary present in OpenOffice

Post by thomasjk »

I don't know why you feel the tutorial is too complicated. Each step has to be reviewed. Any one step could be the cause of your problem. The only other suggestion I can make is to reset the user profile http://forum.openoffice.org/en/forum/vi ... 74&t=12426.

All dictionaries are supplied as extensions. I believe that English UK is included by default with V3.4.1 but some one with more knowledge may be able to help there. Did you download the English GB version?
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Hagar Delest
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Re: No dictionary present in OpenOffice

Post by Hagar Delest »

thomasjk wrote:I believe that English UK is included by default with V3.4.1
The default dictionary includes the UK flavor indeed, you can see it in the drop-down lists for language. Just make sure that it has the blue check mark.

Please add '[Solved]' at the beginning of your first post title (edit button) if your issue has been fixed.
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caerbryn
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Re: No dictionary present in OpenOffice

Post by caerbryn »

Many thanks for all your help so far.

I have been using openoffice for several years on the same computer, up to now with the "English (UK)" dictionary, I think. However the dictionary appears to have suddenly disappeared a few days ago, so now every word I type is underlined in the red wavy line. Now, in Tools/Extension Manager, no dictionary is listed.

In Tools/Options/language settings/Languages, the "Default language for documents", Western drop-down box shows "English (UK)"

In Tools/Options/Language settings/Writing Aids, under "User-defined dictionaries", the box for "standard [English (UK)]" is ticked.

In C:/Program Files/OpenOffice.org 3/share/extensions/install, there is a file dict-en.oxt, of 6,377KB, installed on 23Jul12

Trying to add this, from Tools/Extensions manager, results in the error message " C:/etc... is not available"
The link to it therefore appears to have become broken.

The reason the tutorial is difficult for me is that I cannot find an "English (UK)" dictionary, on the "Extensions" webpage, following Tom K's link. English (US), English (Australian), and several others are listed, but no "English" (UK)

How can I download an "English (UK).oxt file?
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RoryOF
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Re: No dictionary present in OpenOffice

Post by RoryOF »

I suggest that you close OpenOffice and move the dict-en.oxt to a temporary directory. Then startup OpenOffice and use /Tools/Extension Manager to reinstall that dictionary from its temporary location.
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Re: No dictionary present in OpenOffice

Post by lgusaas »

caerbryn wrote: The reason the tutorial is difficult for me is that I cannot find an "English (UK)" dictionary, on the "Extensions" webpage, following Tom K's link. English (US), English (Australian), and several others are listed, but no "English" (UK)

How can I download an "English (UK).oxt file?
The dictionary at http://extensions.services.openoffice.o ... t-en-fixed has multiple English dictionaries, including British English. The comments about lack of British English are incorrect.
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Re: No dictionary present in OpenOffice

Post by RoryOF »

An English (UK) dictionary comes by default with Apache OpenOffice 3.4.1.
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Bill
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Re: No dictionary present in OpenOffice

Post by Bill »

All words underlined is sometimes a sign of a corrupted installation. This can happen when upgrading instead of removing the old version before installing a new version. Try resetting your user profile. If that doesn't fix the problem, it's easier to start over than try to fix the corrupted installation. Uninstall AOO 3.4.1 using Revo Uninstaller, rename or delete your old user profile folder, then reinstall AOO 3.4.1. You should then have an English dictionary with a UK module.

[Tutorial] The User Profile
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caerbryn
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Re: No dictionary present in OpenOffice

Post by caerbryn »

Thanks Bill - your advice to remove my user profile worked perfectly.
I followed the tutorial about The User Profile, renamed Users\Username\AppData\Roaming\OpenOffice.org\3\User, and restarted OpenOffice. Sure enough the dictionary was back.

Now I just have to re-install the modifications I have made to my OpenOffice over the years.

Now I know I ought to close down this thread. If only I could find where to do that, without having to search for another half-hour.
caerbryn
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Re: No dictionary present in OpenOffice

Post by caerbryn »

Off topic, but I have now spent 20 minutes trying, unsuccessfully, to find out how to make a topic "Solved" I remember trying once before to do this, after a request from an Administrator to do this, again without success.

So, how do I mark my thread as "Solved". (In simple steps please - I am a simple Care Assistant, almost as mentally disadvantaged as those I help look after, not a computer wizz-kid.)

There is all sorts of complicated stuff on this page, why no hint on how to close a thread?
thomasjk
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Re: No dictionary present in OpenOffice

Post by thomasjk »

Go to the first post you made in this thread. Click the edit button and in the subject block insert [Solved] in front of the subject.
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Hagar Delest
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Re: No dictionary present in OpenOffice

Post by Hagar Delest »

caerbryn wrote:There is all sorts of complicated stuff on this page, why no hint on how to close a thread?
See the Survival Guide for the forum, especially this post.
I've done it for you BTW.
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robertandalison
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Re: [Solved] No dictionary present in OpenOffice

Post by robertandalison »

I just had this problem, and Bill's fix of renaming the user profile worked beautifully!
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Don_in_Odessa
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Re: [Solved] No dictionary present in OpenOffice

Post by Don_in_Odessa »

No...not solved. I followed instructions to the tee twice. Down loaded two separate English US dictionaries on two separate tries. Extension Manager dutifully lighted up the little green progress meter at the adding extension manager position both times. NOTHING! NADA! ZIP! Restarted the program NOTHING! NADA! ZIP! It didn't work. Renamed user profile. It didn't work. NOTHING! NADA! ZIP! I have OO writer 4.1.3 :evil:

Problem solved! with little help from this forum. I found a appdata/openoffice and an appdata/openoffice.org. in my directory tree. the appdata.org had "3" under it as a seperate directory with "user" under it. Changing the name of that user data did nothing. But low and behold, the directory plain old "openoffice" had a user and "4" under it with a "user" directory under that. renaming that user directory worked. Wherever I saw the instruction to look for user/3 needs to be updated for version 4.1.3 thank you very much. SHEESH!
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Path_IT
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Re: [Solved] No dictionary present in OpenOffice

Post by Path_IT »

The solution that is working for me, and how I found it - with references.

Similarly to the Description section of Issue 121205 at https://bz.apache.org/ooo/show_bug.cgi?id=121205#c0 by j.coolman on 2012-10-12, 11:13 UTC, "Download open office does not include english dictionary", I received the error message, :alarm:
"C:\Users\acer\AppData\Roaming\OpenOffice\4\user\uno_packages\cache\uno_packages\svawquq.tmp_\dict-en.oxt does not exist."
though no dictionary showed being installed in my version of OO. :crazy:

After upgrading from OO 3.x, 32-bit, running in Win 7 Home Premium x64, I had been using OO 4.1.2, 32-bit, in Win 10 Home x64, ver. 1607, when my spellchecking stopped working. I upgraded to 4.1.3 in hopes that the situation would be corrected. When that failed, I searched the Dictionaries section of the OO Extensions site at https://extensions.openoffice.org/en/se ... tags%3A157, but could neither find one that had been recently updated, nor one that was compatible with OO 4.x. I downloaded and chose to "Add..." the "US English Spell Checking Dictionary" at https://extensions.openoffice.org/en/pr ... dictionary through the Tools>Extension Manager menu in OO 4.1.3, even though a note on the page stated that it might not work. After restarting OO and opening my most recent document, all words were still underlined, even though the outdated dictionary was listed in the Extension Manager.

The first result in a web search at https://www.bing.com/search?q=dict-en.o ... ORM=CHROMN, took me to https://extensions.openoffice.org/en/pr ... openoffice - the most recent version of the English dictionary, and compatible with OO 4.1. In understanding why I could not find this extension before, I learned that the tags on the OO Extension page are both case-sensitive and quantity specific. When I initially searched, the "dictionaries" tag was filtering after I clicked on "Dictionaries" at the top of the page next to "Highest Rated". In order to find the correct extension I needed, I could have either clicked first, the "Windows" tag, then the "Dictionary" tag (note the capitalization and singularity difference from my initial search), or typed in "english dictionary" from the search box at https://extensions.openoffice.org/en. The logo for the correct dictionary looked like the front of a light-colored book with a dark blue line down the left side, and a large "A" above the letters "GUI" on the cover.

After downloading dict-en-20170501.oxt to my desktop, I attempted to add the extension through the Tools>Extension Manager menu and received the error message I first mentioned above (C:\Users\acer\AppData\Roaming\OpenOffice\4\user\uno_packages\cache\uno_packages\svawquq.tmp_\dict-en.oxt does not exist.). Using information posted by caerbryn on Sat Jan 19, 2013, 1:51 am, entitled "Re: No dictionary present in OpenOffice" at viewtopic.php?f=6&t=58878#p260260, I searched my computer for "dict-en.oxt" and found a folder by that name in C:\Users\acer\AppData\Roaming\OpenOffice.org\3\user\uno_packages\cache\uno_packages\svelvtf.tmp_, with files similar to ones shown in the second screenshot posted by Hagar Delest on Sun Nov 18, 2007, 5:14 pm, entitled "4. There is no dictionary for my language" at viewtopic.php?p=364#p364.

Deductively, I reasoned that if the correct folder existed on my system, but in the wrong location, I could simply move the folder to the correct location to solve the problem. Initially, the svawquq.tmp_ directory didn't exist at all, so I created a folder with that name in the location the error message referenced (C:\Users\acer\AppData\Roaming\OpenOffice\4\user\uno_packages\cache\uno_packages\), then moved the entire dict-en.oxt folder from C:\Users\acer\AppData\Roaming\OpenOffice.org\3\user\uno_packages\cache\uno_packages\svelvtf.tmp_ to the newly created C:\Users\acer\AppData\Roaming\OpenOffice\4\user\uno_packages\cache\uno_packages\svawquq.tmp_.

Once again, I went through the Tools>Extension Manager menu to add the updated dictionary. Immediately, the red lines went away in my document, except for proper names that I added in the "standard" User-defined dictionary. Just to be certain, I restarted OO, then reopened my most recent document, and checked the Tools>Extension Manager settings to see the correct, compatible, and updated dictionary as active. While viewing this, I removed the other, older, and incompatible dictionary extension by first left clicking on it, then choosing "Remove", so as to avoid any potential conflicts.

For final housekeeping, I used the information posted by RoryOF on Tue May 16, 2017, 5:08 pm, entitled "Re: A.O.O. red lining common words" at viewtopic.php?f=7&t=88754&p=417715&hili ... ry#p417715 as a guide for my OO Writer language and spelling settings. Then, I followed the steps in "[Troubleshooting] Spell check in OpenOffice" at viewtopic.php?t=16512#p76371, to make sure nothing was missed.

I hope this proves helpful to others. :super: Questions and comments are welcome, of course.
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Hagar Delest
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Re: [Solved] No dictionary present in OpenOffice

Post by Hagar Delest »

Hi and welcome to the forum!

Thanks for your detail investigation.
This is very interesting because it's the first time it points out the problem with the migration from the v.3 profile to v.4. It seems that the folders are wrongly copied from the 3 to the 4 profile. Perhaps it first try to install the dic delivered with the v.4 and then copy the former configuration files from the v.3, hence a discrepancy between both sets of data.

I also found that there was a master issue: Issue 121930 - Tracking Issue for Spell Checking Not Working. There is especially this post that tells that a more surgical action in the profile can be done instead of deleting the whole thing.
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Tatra Man
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Re: [Solved] No dictionary present in OpenOffice

Post by Tatra Man »

Upgrading from 4.1.4 to 4.1.5 gave me this problem yet no previous updates did and it appears to be down to being told to uninstall 4.1.4 - In desperation I even tried installing the American version and adding the English language pack then the English dictionaries collection but got the same message about the missing dict-en.oxt file. Then I realised that I'd recently done a clean install for my partner and hers worked fine. I looked into the \AppData\Roaming folder and found both the \OpenOffice.org\3\ and \OpenOffice\4\ folders still there. I hadn't done much in the way of personalising Open Office so I deleted both the \OpenOffice.org\ and \OpenOffice\ folders and did a fresh install of the full English version (Lord knows why it's called "British", it's proper English!) and all is now fine.

Yes - it's a brutal way to solve the problem but it's simple and it works.

It seems that the uninstallation process isn't leaving only the right files in the right places but is also leaving some in wrong places and leaving some wrong legacy files and the installation process isn't taking account of this.
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vbunch
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Re: [Solved] No dictionary present in OpenOffice

Post by vbunch »

hi, I just got my oo 4.5.1 to spellcheck again. :crazy:

I tried all above methods, downloaded and installed latest english dic., Extension Manager had error--... not found. so I created a new folder that matched the "not found error". copied new english dict-en-20180501b.oxt to it. Then Tools Extension Manager showed the new dic!!
but spell still did not work. turns out my older custom.dic was used to spellcheck, not the new dic..
the very last thing that made spellcheck work was deleting the ist installed Writing Aid Language module. this was just trial and error. :|
so Tools Options Language Settings Writing Aids deleted (it was the 1st one, can't tell you what it was, it's deleted).
exited oo, then next time, spelling was perfect!!
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Bill
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Re: [Solved] No dictionary present in OpenOffice

Post by Bill »

Did you mean that you deleted the first item listed in "User-defined dictionaries"? There is a "Delete" button for "User-defined dictionaries", but there is no Delete button for "Available Language Modules".
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vbunch
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Re: [Solved] No dictionary present in OpenOffice

Post by vbunch »

no, opposite was true. I deleted 1st "Available Language Modules". I couldn't find my custom.dic.
I was surprised that worked, because the installed aoo file names did match. I moved dict-en-20180501b.oxt to the new folder sv4ss75o.tmp_ (that I created).
seems aoo gets confused when naming folders.
i have a00 4.5.1.
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Bill
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Re: [Solved] No dictionary present in OpenOffice

Post by Bill »

There is no aOO 4.5.1. The latest is version of Apache OpenOffice is AOO 4.1.5 and the only "Available Language Modules" in AOO 4.1.5 are the Hunspell SpellChecker, Libhyphen Hyphenator and OpenOffice.org New Thesaurus. There is an "Edit" option for those modules, but no "Delete" option. The Help section about "Available Language Modules mentions the "Help" option and no other options, including "Delete". So, it's very confusing when you say you deleted the "1st installed Writing Aid Language module" when there is no way to delete a language module. Also, if it were possible to delete a language module, the first language module is the Hunspell SpellChecker. Deleting the Hunspell SpellChecker would more likely make spellchecking impossible, not make it work.
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vbunch
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Re: [Solved] No dictionary present in OpenOffice

Post by vbunch »

oops, i have 4.1.5.
you're probably right. I was rapidly trying every click possible, while following advice in forum. didn't work. then found that deleting something worked. I really thought I deleted a strange looking "Available Language Modules", it was definitely the 1st of 4, thought there were 4. thought I right clicked and deleted it.
I see there is no delete, as you wrote. I might have deleted my custom.dic, and that worked. that was key!
Prior, I could tell my custom.dic was being used to spellcheck, but it only had 40 entries.
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life_traveler
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Re: [Solved] No dictionary present in OpenOffice

Post by life_traveler »

If this has been a problem for 10YEARS why hasn't it been fixed? The "easy fix" is NOT easy. Sorry, I'm a writer, not a computer tech or programmer. The instructions are exceedingly obtuse. Why isn't there just an easy download from Open Office? Why do I need to spend the next 4 hours (or more) trying to figure this out? Totally F'ed up.
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Bill
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Re: [Solved] No dictionary present in OpenOffice

Post by Bill »

life_traveler wrote:If this has been a problem for 10YEARS why hasn't it been fixed?
Because there is no magic "fix" that will prevent your computer from breaking. If you describe the symptoms of your problem, then someone can probably tell you how to fix it in much less than 4 hours.
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Somer.V
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Re: [Solved] No dictionary present in OpenOffice

Post by Somer.V »

Having put up with no useful spelling check since before February 2021(seemed I usually lost it after an update, after which all words would be marked as incorrect) I decided to repeat the old cure that worked in the past. (on my Acer E1-510 running Windows10 & AOO 4.1.6).
Process: Closed AOO Writer. Opened File Explorer(from the task bar at bottom of screen). Opened the folders Acer (C:) > Users >[my computer name] > AppData > Roaming > OpenOffice > 4.
There I renamed "user" folder to "user 21-10-22".
Then I reopened OpenOffice to find I was asked to register. I registered with name & password(which I had recorded). Spellcheck worked! I think I had to tick "English(UK)" via Tools > Language > For Selection to be able to check a selected passage.
A new "user" folder was automatically installed.
This may have all been well explained before, but it's largely a reminder for myself. Some one may find it useful.
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robleyd
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Re: [Solved] No dictionary present in OpenOffice

Post by robleyd »

This may have all been well explained before
See for example the first, stickied, post in this subforum [Tutorial] Spell Check Not Working (words red underlined)
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