How can I get the spell checker to work in XMetaL 6

[vanwagenenl]

We just recently upgraded to XMetaL 6. The spell checker no longer checks the document, nor does the spell as you type feature work.

The spell checker appears, but it just tells me it's done. Even when I know there are spelling errors, it won't flag them.

The Check spelling while typing option is on.

I've selected main and user word lists.

I've selected English as the language.

What am is missing?

Many thanks,

Lynne Van Wagenen
FamilySearch

[Derek Read]

There is nothing else to do. Short of uninstalling and reinstalling (perhaps it is not properly installed) it would be best to provide us with a sample document containing misspelled words so we can try to reproduce this issue here. We would need to know the document type as well and obtain a copy of your DTD so you may wish to submit this to XMetaL Support in this case.

[Derek Read]

I see that this is an upgrade. There is a known issue when upgrading from 5.5 to 6.0 but that causes a crash (more severe than just "not working").

The issue is that the files used for the spell checker in 5.5 differ quite a bit from 6.0, but the 6.0 installer does not properly upgrade them. When XMetaL 6.0 asks the 5.5 spell checker to do things it can't do (the spell as you type feature) it crashes. The solution for this particular issue is to force XMetaL 6.0 to install the 6.0 spell checker files by following the steps outlined here: http://forums.xmetal.com/index.php/topic,983.0.html

If you aren't seeing crashes then you seem to have a different issue. However, you should still perform those steps to be sure.

[vanwagenenl]

I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling. I also tried the fix you suggested in the other post. I'm still having the same problems.

I'm using plain-old DITA. No specializations.

The spell as you type feature works with my translated files. I can pull up a German file and see the red wavy line beneath some words. It seems to use the correct dictionary for the language. If it were using the English dictionary, most words would be marked with red.

Should I submit a case?

[vanwagenenl]

I think I've figured it out. Our templates specify the xml:lang tag incorrectly as en_US instead of en-US.

The spell checker works correctly when I either remove that attribute or correct it. I guess it would make sense that the program uses that attribute to determine which dictionaries to use.

[Derek Read]

Detail on this feature located here: http://forums.xmetal.com/index.php/topic,539.0.html

This feature was new to 6.0 and did not make it into the docs. See the section on INI settings in case you wish to continue to use en_US.