The Write Stuff --- Using the Dictionary
 
by Dick Estel Fresno Commodore User Group / 64UM
via The Interface

  Recently we reviewed use of The Write Stuff with the spell checker and I wanted to offer a few notes on its use and adding words to the dictionary.    On the original TWS V2. 0 disk,  the program is on the back,  and the dictionary is on the front. You must load from this version in order to use thr spell checker.    There is a large and a small dictionary module. The thought here is thatthe vast majority of common words are in the small dictionary,  and it can be checked much faster than the large one. 
  
When you are ready to check the spelling of a document,  hold down the [Shift] key and press the [UP ARROW] key. This will activate the small dictionary. In order to use the large dictionary,  you must continue to hold the [Shift] key until the checking of the small dictionary is completed. When checking begins,  you will see the message " Checking SMALL dictionary " at the top of the screen. When this message changes to " Checking LARGE dictionary ",  you can release the [SHIFT] key. 
  
When you first press the [UP ARROW] key,  you will see a prompt,  " Insert Dictionary Disk ". If you have already inserted it. you can just hit [RETURN].    Once the program finishes checking the word,  it begins displaying lists of words not found in the dictionary,  with the top word highlighted. Remember,   if you use just the small dictionary,  words that are correctly spelled but are in the LARGE dictionary will appear in these lists. Words that are not usually in the dictionary,  like your name and street,  will also appear. To accept a word as is,  press the [UP ARROW]. To accept all words in a list,  pres [F7]. To add the highlighted word to the dictionary,  press [PLUS SIGN].    

If you wish to correct a word,  press [RETURN]. This will display a section of the dictionary with a word highlighted. This is the word the program thinks is closest to your incorrectly spelled word. Often this will be the correct word,  or the correctword will be near it in the list. Just cursor up or down to the correct word and press [RETURN].    The wortrd from the dictionary will now appear at the top of the screen with a flashing cursor. If you now press [RETURN],  the spelling at the top of the screen will replace the incorrect spelling in your document and you will be returned to the misspelled word list. By the way,  if the word is capitalized in your document,  it will stay that way,  even though the word in the dictionary is all lower case. 
 
If the correct spelling is not visible on the list,  you can go backward or forward through the dictionary. However,  if you know the correct spelling,   it is usually quicker to correct it manually. To do this,  press [SHIFT] [RETURN]. This will place the cursor on the word at the top of the screen,  and you can type over it,  insert or delete to correct it. When you press [RETURN],   the correction will be made. If you decide at this point that the word is already correct,  press [SHIFT] [RETURN]. The word will not be changed,  and you will be returned to the " incorrect " word list. That word will still appear,   and you will need to press the [UP ARROW] key to accept it. 
 
Sometimes when you are typing,  you are uncertain of the spelling of a word,  and you would like to check it immediately. To do this,  place the cursor anywhere on the word,  and press [COMMODORE KEY] [UP ARROW]. This will immediately check the word where the cursor appears against the dictionary.    

When you select words to be added to the dictionary by pressing [PLUS SIGN],  they are not actually added to the dictionary at that time.  Instead,  they are placed in a file named - u on the dictionary disk. This file is a list of words that you selected to add,  with the letters S or L preceding the word. This indicates that it will be added to the Small or Large dictionary. When you quit this file remains intact,  and each time you use the spell checker,  you can add more words to it. If you use an REU to store your dictionary,  this file must be copied to the dictionary disk before you quit.   

In order to actually put the words in the dictionary,  you must run a program called " merge user -> dict " on the PROGRAM side of the disk. This takes a fairly long time,  so I recommend waiting until you have a number of words in the - u file before running it.    

From BASIC,  load the program by typing LOAD " MERGE *", 8. Then insert the DICTIONARY side of the disk and type RUN. the program will ask you to indicate what drive the dictionary is in,  and lead you through a series of prompts.  When work begins,  the screen will occasionally flash,  and display word counts.  The program does not inform you when the work is completed,  but it takes a long time, so do something else and come back in 20 to 30 minutes. The final screen display is a word beginning with the letter Z at the top followed by some meaningless characters and a word count. The next time you boot TWS,  the added words will be in the dictionary,  and will not come up in the incorrect word list. 
 
Before you use TWS again,  remember to clear out the words in the - u file that have been added to the dictionary. The simplest way to do this is to load a file called "- u file reset ". As soon as it loads,  press [CONTROL] [S],  and it will be saved as "- u ", replacing the old - u file. Or you can load the - u file,  delete the words,  and resave it.