Speckie v1.0.0 - Spell Check for IE

[Flashlite]

I tested it in IE8 on XP. It works pretty well overall.

Two problems I found:

• It doesn't capture all misspelt words if I type too fast
  
• If something refreshes or updates the page, the underlined misspelt words might disappear.
  

For the second problem, I was encountering this on Google Translate. Every time it updated the translated text, this would happen.

Off topic, but how did you get that gorgeous background?

[Bill_Bright]

The first time I tested clicking the quote button, the red tags disappeared. :( I restarted IE and this time the tags stayed. I had to restart IE after installing the last beta too. I did not have IE running when I installed it.

But there's still a problem when tagged combined words are edited to add a proper space between them, the tags stay.

Just for reference, you can force Speckie to spell check a word by simply placing the caret on it and then off it. You can move the caret by clicking on the word and then clicking on a different word or using the arrow keys on your keyboard.

Huh? What caret? Do you mean the cursor? "On it then off it"? I don't see anything that I can move, hover over or click on to force a check. And my arrow keys don't affect spell checking either. Perhaps I need some more coffee but I'm lost. Please explain, or illustrate.

[Bill_Bright]

Hmmm, the 64-bit version has issues too. :(

Note the attachment. I don't know what's up with the dotted line on that site rather than squiggly line here but note it originally tagged "frsh" and "inconsistnt" but when I added the quote code, you can see the results.

[mauro]

@Bill_Bright, I'm surprised you're not familiar with the term caret.

The red line used by Speckie to indicate spelling mistakes is controlled and rendered by IE. It's a Markup property that's applied to the text. Sometimes, IE will render it like a dotted line as you've noticed. I've attempted to contact the IE team regarding this issue but they appear disinterested.

As for the issue with the red line not being removed when you edit, this appears to be caused by the same rendering issue. During development, I've noticed that occasionally, when I remove the red line through code, IE continues to render it on screen. You have to force it to redraw. Note that this happens mainly in editors contained in an iframe, which most forum editors use (not IPB!)

[mauro]

I've released a final v1.6.0 which resolves all reported and outstanding issues, making this the best version yet ! Thanks to all of you who provided feedback, you've made Speckie better :D

@Bill_Bright, I offer my apologies for the last sentence in my previous post. Whilst it holds its validity on certain occasions, you were correct in identifying the specific issue with the tag not being removed when inserting a space in a tagged word. I swear this was working in previous builds, hence my previous statement. Nonetheless, it's resolved in the current version.

Don't forget, if you like Speckie, spread the word ! Tell your friends or click the button on Speckie.com ;)

[Bill_Bright]

Although as an electronics technician with a keen interest in computers and networking hardware who has made a 40+ year career out of avoiding programming, I do know what a caret is. But since placing the "cursor" over any word as you describe has no apparent effect, I asked "what caret?"

Okay, I have installed 1.6.0. So far so good. However, performing manual spelling by placing the "cursor" still does not seem to have any effect - perhaps something that says "spell check complete" would reassure us something is happening, assuming it really is checking.

And I still would like to see the right click option "Check document" rather than, or in addition to, disable or enable the add-on. That can be done through the add-on manager.

Also, if you can edit the dictionary, or at least the custom dictionary, I think you should put Speckie in there.

[XerXis]

works fine, one thing though, when a new version is available I get an extra tab telling me about that each time I open a new tab. That is really invading and annoying, you should have the option to say, ok I saw there is a new version, now stop bugging me about it, I'll install it when I have the time.

[mauro]

Although as an electronics technician with a keen interest in computers and networking hardware who has made a 40+ year career out of avoiding programming, I do know what a caret is. But since placing the "cursor" over any word as you describe has no apparent effect, I asked "what caret?"

Okay, I have installed 1.6.0. So far so good. However, performing manual spelling by placing the "cursor" still does not seem to have any effect - perhaps something that says "spell check complete" would reassure us something is happening, assuming it really is checking.

And I still would like to see the right click option "Check document" rather than, or in addition to, disable or enable the add-on. That can be done through the add-on manager.

Also, if you can edit the dictionary, or at least the custom dictionary, I think you should put Speckie in there.

@Bill_Bright, I was aware of your history from your MVP page, hence my surprise.

With the manual spell checking, if it's not tagging a word, it's because the word is not deemed to be misspelt. The way I've designed Speckie is, it spell checks the last word the caret was at when the caret moves. Try this; in an input box, go back and edit a correctly spelled word so that it's misspelt. You'll notice that while you're editing it, the word is not flagged. Now move the caret away from that word (by clicking the mouse elsewhere or using the arrow keys) and Speckie will tag it.

I understand your need at this point for reassurance that Speckie is working, but in time you'll come to trust it. I've put a lot of effort in to the logic behind the checking and I think I've got it pretty much working well. In saying that, I'm aware I'm as fallible as the next person, so if you think you've found a bug, don't hesitate to post a bug report on the Versoworks forum.

With the Check Spelling menu item, you're not disabling Speckie entirely when you uncheck that, you're disabling it in that specific edit field only. It'll still be enabled in other edit fields on the page.

I'll be adding a configuration option in a future version which will also allow you to edit the user dictionary.

works fine, one thing though, when a new version is available I get an extra tab telling me about that each time I open a new tab. That is really invading and annoying, you should have the option to say, ok I saw there is a new version, now stop bugging me about it, I'll install it when I have the time.

hmm, sounds like a bug because I designed it to only notify once every 24 hours. I'll look in to it. Thanks for letting me know.

[Bill_Bright]

@Bill_Bright, I was aware of your history from your MVP page, hence my surprise.

Ah, well, again, I was asking "what caret?", not "what is a caret?" I did say I made a career out of avoiding programming, but - I was not always successful, especially after I got out of the Air Force and became a hardware guy in a software company! I was one of a few technicians surrounded by a couple hundred developers and code tweakers. "Caret" is a term used by "programmers".

you can force Speckie to spell check a word by simply placing the caret on it and then off it.

"Placing the caret" is not something the "normal Windows user" would typically see or use. "Click here, then click there" or "move your cursor to..." is what most IE users understand. I'm not criticizing, just observing. If I was uncertain, others might be too - at least that's how I think. Just something to consider when you write your user guide or FAQ! ;)

So far, since installing this latest version, I like it! :) The way it works is intuitive - a good thing. But - IE9RC has crashed twice since installing it too (and I am happy to report IE9RC's crash recovery worked perfectly each time!). IE9RC had been stable until this latest version of Speckie. Twice is too few to suggest anything at this time, but typically, IE crashes are caused by conflicts between an add-on and IE, or with other add-ons. But in this case, there were a couple Windows updates in the middle of this too. So we are in a "hurry up and wait" state to see if any more "events" occur.

I understand your need at this point for reassurance that Speckie is working, but in time you'll come to trust it.

I'm not sure it is a matter of trust - I "trust" it will find the misspelled words. And I understand what you mean by forcing Speckie to check a word.

One problem with IE7Pro's spell checker is that sometimes, pages were not checked - perhaps after the page was refreshed. While annoying, a simple right-click option forced a recheck of the entire document. If Speckie always, as in every single time, keeps tagged words tagged, or automatically rechecks every time, then I will be happy. But if sometimes it does not, even if IE's fault, I would like to see a "Force spell check" right-click option.

:( Oh, I just found a big bug. I will post an image of what I see. IE7Pro is tagged, IE7Pro's is not. "IEPro" is not either. Speckie is tagged but Speckie's is not, and neither is "Speckies".

IE7Pro

... on a line by itself is not tagged.

Playing with other special characters has similar effects.

I'll be adding a configuration option in a future version which will also allow you to edit the user dictionary.

I also think that needs to be a feature as soon as possible. We must be able to edit our personal user dictionaries. I don't often mistakenly add a misspelled word, but when I do, I want to delete it immediately.

I've put a lot of effort in to the logic behind the checking and I think I've got it pretty much working well.

No doubt. And I appreciate your responsiveness too!

[mauro]

@Bill_Bright, in the current Speckie version, it doesn't check words with punctuation, hence the behaviour you're seeing. The actual bug is IE7Pro not being tagged when on a line by itself. I've corrected this in the next Beta and changed the behaviour to tag words with punctuation seeing this is what's expected. I would have released the Beta today, however, I'm currently experiencing an issue with my web host. Hopefully they'll resolve it soon.

[Bill_Bright]

Well, there seems to be other issues, unfortunately - specifically, IE crashing. For example, when viewing this page: http://www.pricewatch.com/gallery/software_oper_system/windows_7_professional with Speckie enabled, IE crashes - over and over again. Disabling Speckie and restarting IE and it never crashes. Enable it again and restart, it crashes. :(

[mauro]

@Bill_Bright, thanks for letting me know about these issues, I really appreciate it. I've released another Beta to address them, you can find the details here. Hopefully my forum won't be down by the time you attempt to download the Beta, my host has been having issues the last few days :(

[the better twin]

Well, there seems to be other issues, unfortunately - specifically, IE crashing. For example, when viewing this page: http://www.pricewatch.com/gallery/software_oper_system/windows_7_professional with Speckie enabled, IE crashes - over and over again. Disabling Speckie and restarting IE and it never crashes. Enable it again and restart, it crashes. :(

May have been IE9 tho.

I updated to the RTW and that page no longer crashes with Speckie 1.6.0.0 installed.

The RTW seems to have fixed a lot of the crashes.

[the better twin]

i think maybe the "64bit" version should be taken down. still desnt work. I uninstalled speckie for some reason while installing ie9 final, and then downloaded the 64bit forgetting that it didnt work the first time, and then went through the entire process of "ooooh i remember it didnt work", and had to download the all in one.

soo i think it'll just save you alot of trouble to just remove it, because im sure many others have the same problem, and the all in one works just fine.

works for me :|

[mauro]

i think maybe the "64bit" version should be taken down. still desnt work. I uninstalled speckie for some reason while installing ie9 final, and then downloaded the 64bit forgetting that it didnt work the first time, and then went through the entire process of "ooooh i remember it didnt work", and had to download the all in one.

soo i think it'll just save you alot of trouble to just remove it, because im sure many others have the same problem, and the all in one works just fine.

If you could be more specific as to the issue you're experiencing with the standalone 64 bit installer I can look in to it. Note that the Full installer installs both the 64 and 32 bit versions of Speckie where applicable.

[Bill_Bright]

Well, I have just installed IE9 Final and the newest beta. We'll see how it goes.

[vinum]

Just Logged in to say ...

1. Great Add-On

2. Finally a inline one

3. Now i can replace my iespell

Thanks a lot mate ... :laugh:

Bugs : (I am doing it wrong :blush: )

* When correcting this wall of text i typed now its not give me option to type or check for all the spelling mistake it does just 1 by 1 ...

then selecting the word give the option again :(

Edit : Forgot to correct the spellings :whistle:

[Bill_Bright]

So is the version in your sig, mauro, the latest beta (as in link in your post #142 above)?

[Bill_Bright]

Nevermind. I see the beta is 1.6.1.

[evacchi]

featured on downloadsquad http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/03/15/speckie-a-real-time-spell-checker-for-internet-explorer/

[+Elі Subscriber²]

featured on downloadsquad http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/03/15/speckie-a-real-time-spell-checker-for-internet-explorer/

Yeap, once the word spreads out, people will come to it in droves, it's such a great feature that has been missing for such a long time! I'm very glad it's being noticed.

[mauro]

I've released another Beta which addresses a number of reported issues. The main issue was Facebook wasn't working, so that's now resolved. There's still a few more issues to resolve which I'm slowly working through :yes:

[Bill_Bright]

I am getting some inconsistent performance. I might suggest building in a tiny delay. When typing over at another forum (this site won't let me enter the name! :(), it seems to work too fast. That is, as soon as I type the first or second letter of any word, the red tag starts to appear. Then as I type more, if recognized, the line goes away. But on this forum, it seems to wait until I press the space bar before it checks the word. I like it better with the delay. For example, I just typed the word "require" here and no red lines. But when I type it over there, as soon as I enter re, the red line appears and does not go away until the whole word is typed. I don't understand the difference the but too fast is not good - it is distracting to see the red line flash on and off all the time. Better than too slow, but slowness is not a problem.

[Hawk999]

I ma having a problem with Speckie in Gmail. When I type a message I have to wait every 6 or 8 words because gmail will freeze for a moment. It lasts for about 20 to 25 seconds and them I can write again. I know the cause is Speckie because the problem did not occur when I disabled it.

Any hint or tips for me?

[mauro]

I ma having a problem with Speckie in Gmail. When I type a message I have to wait every 6 or 8 words because gmail will freeze for a moment. It lasts for about 20 to 25 seconds and them I can write again. I know the cause is Speckie because the problem did not occur when I disabled it.

Any hint or tips for me?

I'll look in to it.