Custom dictionary problem

[davies236]

Under 'Tools' > Additional dictionary folder I have inserted the link > C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\UProof, but I am unable to link the final part 'Custom dictionary'username'.dic .

So I need to delete the link "C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\UProof" until I can sort this problem.  So far I have failed to delete the link.

Can anyone please advise on the best method of doing this.  The underlying problem is that I need to install my Custom dictionary before using Affinity Publisher.

Any assistance in achieving this would be greatly appreciated.

[Dan C]

Hi davies236,

Welcome to the forums

Please use the below instructions to install custom dictionaries -

Standard Hunspell dictionaries can be installed for the system spelling to use. These consist of two files, one names xx_XX.dic and one named xx_XX.aff. 

To install a dictionary or hyphenation dictionary on Windows from the Affinity Store or Microsoft Store:

1. Visit the OpenOffice™ or LibreOffice website and download the appropriate language dictionary or try an internet search for "<LanguageName> hunspell dictionary".
2. Open Affinity Publisher, then navigate to Edit>Preferences>Tools
3. At the bottom of this dialogue you will find an 'Additional Dictionary Folder' path, please select Open
4. Create a language code folder (e.g., ru_RU) in the folder that opens in Explorer and copy the downloaded dictionary files into this folder. Please note you require a .dic and an .aff file for the dictionary to be accepted. You also require a secondary .aff hyphenation file if you wish to add specific hyphenation dictionaries.
5. Restart app.

[walt.farrell]

10 hours ago, Dan C said:

To install a dictionary or hyphenation dictionary on Windows from the Affinity Store or Microsoft Store:

1. Visit the OpenOffice™ or LibreOffice website and download the appropriate language dictionary or try an internet search for "<LanguageName> hunspell dictionary".

The second part of that (searching for a hunspell dictionary) will work fairly well, Dan.

However, there's an issue with the first part (using the OpenOffice or LibreOffice site), which is also mentioned in the Publisher Help (which should be updated).

In current OpenOffice and LibreOffice versions the dictionaries are all downloaded and installed as OpenOffice extensions, and they download with a filetype of .oxt which users won't know how to handle. At least one user has found that confusing already, as I saw a mention of .oxt files a day or two ago here in the forums.

What needs to be explained: A .oxt file is a kind of .zip file. To use it with Publisher:

1. Rename the downloaded file from <whatever name>.oxt to <whatever name>.zip (and accept any warning that Windows or Mac might give you).
2. Unzip the renamed file into a new directory.
3. From that directory, take the 1 or 2 .dic files and the .aff file and feed them into your instructions above.

By the way, the hyphenation file is a .dic, not a .aff as you indicated above.

Thanks!

[Dan C]

Thanks for that Walt, I'll make sure the help gets updated  

[davies236]

Hello Dan C and walt.farrell,

 

Thank you both most sincerely for your helpful response.  I must confess I do not fully comprehend the advice given and the reference to ‘Hunspell’ and how it works.

 

So a fuller explanation on my part is probably the best option in the circumstances.

 

I will be 89-years-old in a few weeks’ time, but I have a fair day-to-day working knowledge of computers, although self-trained.  I have been a user of all the Serif products for about 20-years or more, and have used Serif Page Plus through all it versions without a real problem.  I have been a Family Historian for about 40-years and because of my Welsh heritage,  I have over the years built up my own ‘Custom dictionary G.Davies.dic’ which contains all the Welsh names and addresses, many of which are not included in a straight forward Welsh dictionary.

 

In the past, when a new version of Serif Page Plus was issued, it was a relatively simple matter to install my ‘Custom dictionary’ which incorporated all my exceptional peculiarities

 

With the jump to a new design technology utilised in AFFINITY Publisher, I have run into a brick wall.  I clicked on TOOLS > Preferences.  Under the caption ‘Additional dictionary folder’ I entered the link: -

C:\Users\Username\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\UProof\Custom dictionary G.Davies.dic.

 

Unfortunately the last section of the link ‘\Custom dictionary G.Davies.dic’ did not load.

When I click on open UProof – my Custom dictionary appears.  However when I highlight the custom dictionary; it will not open.

When I enter the link under ‘Folder’ >select folder, I receive a message stating: -

Custom dictionary G.Davies.dic > The folder name is not valid.

 

I believe there are two definitions of Custom dictionary files/folders.  One is a ‘Dictionary file’ (*.dic) containing a list of words, one per line.  Which I believe is the type I have created.

The other definition is a ‘Personal dictionary file’, which is a personal dictionary of simple word lists.

 

The bottom line in my dilemma is how can the installation of Hunspell help me in my predicament?  Why is AFFINITY Publisher rejecting my Custom dictionary folder name as invalid?

 

I should be most grateful for any constructive advice you give me in resolving this vexing issue.

 

Sincerely,

[Dan C]

Hi davies236

This is not working due to the folder path you've used, as the error message in Affinity is warning;

1 hour ago, davies236 said:

Custom dictionary G.Davies.dic > The folder name is not valid.

As you can see, the file you have pointed the Application at is not a folder but one specific file. This file is also in your Appdata, which I would say is far from the best place for Affinity to be accessing it.

Please open Windows Explorer and navigate to;

C:\Users\Username\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\UProof\

Select the custom dictionary file and copy it, then navigate to the following folder;

C:\ProgramData\Affinity\Common\1.0\Dictionaries

Now, within this folder create a new folder called 'cw_CW' (for Custom Welsh), open this folder and paste the .dic file here.

You should now have your dic file in the following folder path;

C:\ProgramData\Affinity\Common\1.0\Dictionaries\cw_CW

Now open Affinity Publisher, Preferences, Tools and select the Browse option, not open.

In the window that opens, paste the following in the address bar;

C:\ProgramData\Affinity\Common\1.0\Dictionaries

Without opening any further folders, click Select Folder. This should take you back to Publisher and your Preferences panel should look as follows:

Now restart your app and you should find your dictionary available!

[davies236]

Hello Dan C,

 

Thank you for your prompt response and your precise easy to follow instructions, which is much appreciated.

 

I have followed your distinct step-by-step guidance to the letter.  Unfortunately, much to my dismay, the end result did not work.  I have retraced my steps and I cannot fathom what has caused the unexpected glitch.

 

My Publisher Preference panel is now a facsimile of your helpful illustration: -

My Affinity>Common>1.0>Dictionaries>cw_CW replicates your precise setup instructions: -

The problem may arise at this juncture of the procedure.  When I click on cw_CW it displays ‘Custom dictionary G.Davies.dic’.  When I double click this file it reveals the full contents of my Custom dictionary.  At which point I was full of hope for a successful resolution to my problem.  Regrettably, it was not to be!

 

Upon opening a new page in Affinity, I entered a few words I know are in my Custom dictionary, such as: -

 

Abercwmboi, Abergwesyn, Aberffrwd etc  and they appeared with red underlining, indicating they were not in my dictionary.

 

It is probably a just minor tweak that is necessary to rectify the current impasse.   Despite every effort to resolve this issue myself, the solution simply defies me.

 

I am so sorry to take up so much of your time, but if you have any further thoughts on what has possibly gone wrong.  I would value your knowledgeable input.

 

[walt.farrell]

When you open the Character panel (View > Studio > Character) if it's not showing by default, what languages are available in the pull-down list for Spelling?

What language have you specified in the Character panel for that text (or in the Character or Paragraph style) you've applied to it?

Also, a Hunspell dictionary typically has 2 or 3 files. Here's what the UK English dictionary folder contains, for example:

The en_GB.dic file is the main file for spellchecking. I don't know if the additional files (one .aff, and one .dic) are truly needed. But the hyphenation one will be needed if you expect hyphenation to work for your words.

 

 

[davies236]

Hello Walt Farrell,

 

Thank you for your recent input regarding my Custom Dictionary problem, and for attaching an illustration of the open Character panel.

 

Firstly, let me state that I have set the Language to English (United Kingdom), and this is reflected throughout my setup.   That is until you sent me the Character Panel view.  This is an area of which I had no previous knowledge.  In attempting to replicate the procedure you described, I discovered that the Character headlining did not exist as a sub heading.  I traced back, to a section where I discovered the Character heading was not ticked.  I activated this heading and moved back to the Character panel.

 

To my consternation I discovered that unlike your illustration, all the drop-down boxes headed Spelling; Hyphenation language; Typography script; Typography language were solid blank.  They refuse to respond to a choice of usage, as evident in your illustration.

 

My inability to setup Affinity is extremely dispiriting, as I have never in all my years experienced such a frustrating programme.  It appears to be strewn with so many complicated facets forestalling a clean installation.

 

I am beginning to judge my competence in coming to terms with the vagaries of this new publishing programme.  I had been looking forward for some time to its launch, so I am bitterly disappointed that so far I have failed miserably to accomplish a workable setup that embraces my need for a Custom dictionary.

 

I am not a quitter, so I am hoping someone will help me in my quest.

[davies236]

I have tried every conceivable combination for setting up my Custom dictionary, but every attempt so far has met with abject failure.

 

When I click on my Custom dictionary in situ, the folder opens and reveals the contents of the folder.  But, it doesn’t work in the Affinity text frame.  All the words are underlined in red.

 

My Custom dictionary is in MS Notepad.  Whilst trawling the Internet looking for a solution I came across the fact that AFFINITY does not recognise Microsoft WORD or NOTEPAD.  The suggestion is to convert the Notepad document to either RTF or PDF format.

 

Is this information correct, or do I need to convert/save the notepad folder into another format for acceptance by the Additional dictionary folder?

 

Any advice on overcoming this this problem will be gratefully received.

[walt.farrell]

The dictionary must be in the standard format for a Hunspell dictionary. These are standard text files, but with specific names and data format.

Generally there are two files, <somename>.dic and <somename>.aff, and optionally a 3rd file for hyphenation. The <somename> is usually in two parts, separated by - or _ in the form of an ISO language code, such as en_US or en_GB.

The data within the file also has a specific format. More information can be found on the web. For example: https://www.systutorials.com/docs/linux/man/4-hunspell/

For your purposes I think you can ignore the information about personal dictionaries, as I believe you need to set up your file as a full system dictionary.

Perhaps if you attached a copy of your personal dictionary we could provide more advice.

Also, is there some reason you don't simply install a Welsh Hunspell dictionary, such as this one: http://troi.org/en/hunspell-cy.html

(Note: From that site, download the .xpi file by right-clicking and choosing to save the file. Rename the file extension from "xpi" to "zip". Unzip the file. The files you need will be in the directory named "dictionaries".)

 

[davies236]

Hello Walt.Farrell,

 

Thank you for your response, and the invitation to attach a copy of my Custom Dictionary for more advice.  Please find attached a copy of my Custom dictionary as requested.

 

My Custom dictionary is not solely comprised of Welsh words.  Although born in Wales I am not a Welsh speaker, although it was my late mother’s first language.  My father was Welsh born, but he was brought up in a mainly non-Welsh speaking valley.  My wife was taught Welsh at school, but it is not her first language.

 

I have numerous Welsh hardback dictionaries for reference because there are five main dialects in Wales.  The standard dictionary word for ‘a want’ is eisiau.  Usually pronounced isha, ishe or isio, varying by area.  In North Wales they spell it isio and pronounce it likewise.  So, whilst I have no objection to downloading and installing a Welsh Hunspell dictionary, I do not believe this would prove more beneficial than the Custom dictionary of Welsh words that I have built up over the past 40-odd years.

 

As a Genealogist covering family research over hundreds of years, different spellings of place names, farms and villages have evolved over the ages that are not accounted for in standard Welsh dictionaries.  I trust therefore you will sympathise with my need to install my own Custom dictionary.

 

Incidentally, in trawling the Internet it would appear to me in studying other similar issues, that it almost a prerequisite to install a Hunspell dictionary for the C:\ProgramData\Affinity\Common\1.0\Dictionaries to work, which I find somewhat disturbing.

 

My memory may be at default in recalling this accurately, but I seem to remember coming across one of the programme developers answering a forum members question by saying the “aa_AA.aff and aa_AA.dic” are loaded in/or under the Additional dictionaries folder.  I mention this, because neither of these items can be found in my Affinity programme, and I am wondering whether this is affecting my current problem.

 

My sincere apology for the length and detail in my response, but I am genuinely trying to be as open and helpful as possible.  I hope I am not imposing on you too much.

 

Best regards,

 

 

 

Custom dictionary G.Davies

[walt.farrell]

Thanks for the file, @davies236, and my apologies for the delay in responding.

That file is not a Hunspell dictionary, and will not be usable with Affinity.

1. The file name needs to end in .dic for a usable dictionary file. And you also need a corresponding .aff file, though supposedly it can be empty. That part of the requirement could be resolved simply by renaming the file, if we could figure out the right name. (More in point 3.)
2. In the .dic file, the first line should be a count of the number of lines in the file.
3. Next, there is some requirement on file naming, in order for both Hunspell and Publisher to use the files, that I do not quite understand. I know it relates to ISO language codes, but I haven't quite figured out how to construct a new set of codes that would work, or how to coopt an existing set and make it work. I think I may understand the Hunspell part of it, but don't know what is needed to satisfy Publisher.
4. The files need to be in a directory with a name related to the file names, in some way I'm not completely sure of.

Even when I try to construct a file that meets the requirements, and I at least get Publisher to acknowledge it exists, the spell-checking doesn't work. So I apparently have something wrong in step 3, as Publisher has recognized that I provided a new language, but Hunspell didn't.

More research needed.

 

[walt.farrell]

Well, I have managed to package your dictionary so it works, @davies236.

It is still not a perfect solution, because in order to get Publisher to accept it I had to lie and claim it is a Welsh dictionary. (I could have chosen some other country, but it appears that a legitimate country code must be used or Publisher will not recognize the language/dictionary as valid, and will not allow it to be specified. The standards provide ways to indicate an artifical language, but either Publisher does not support such a specification, or I haven't figured out how to do it.)

In any case, here, claiming to be a Welsh dictionary, is your personal dictionary:

gdavies-dictionary.zip

This zip file has a folder containing 2 files. If you unzip that into C:\ProgramData\Affinity\Common\1.0\Dictionaries and restart Publisher you should have Welsh (United Kingom) available as a spelling language. Note that it will not work for hyphenation; only spelling.

[davies236]

Hello Walt Farrell,

 

Thank you very much for the time and effort you have devoted to resolving my Custom Dictionary conundrum.

 

It pains me to report that despite my endeavour to replicate your clear instructions, it has failed to work at my end.   So, I fear the problem is at my end, and that I may have tripped at the last hurdle.

 

Here is a copy of my entry to C:\ProgramData\Affinity\1.0\Dictionaries

 

When I double click on gdavies-dictionary.zip : -

I get >  cy_GB > the folder (gdavies-dictionary.zip – ZIP archive, unpacked size 14,016 bytes).

 

When I double click on >cy_GB: -

I get >   cy_GB.aff

                cy_GB.dic

 

When I double click on cy_GB.aff > it appears empty

 

When I double click on cy_GB.dic > it reveals the complete contents of my custom folder.

 

 It appears to me that the two files cy_GB.aff and cy_GB.dic are working fine in tandem, as you defined; but they seemingly need massaging into the right folder for recognition by Affinity.

 

I am very sorry to trouble you further, but I would sincerely appreciate your counsel on the current situation, especially as you successfully tested the dictionary at your end.  I apologise if I have not followed your installation procedure correctly.  I am doing my best.

 

Sincerely,

[walt.farrell]

6 minutes ago, davies236 said:

It appears to me that the two files cy_GB.aff and cy_GB.dic are working fine in tandem, as you defined; but they seemingly need massaging into the right folder for recognition by Affinity.

When you unzip gdavies-dictionary.zip you should get a folder, cy_GB.

Simply copy that folder (with its contents) into C:\ProgramData\Affinity\Common\1.0\Dictionaries and everything should work.

[davies236]

Hello Walt Farrell,

 

Thank you for responding so quickly with the fresh installation instructions.  I have complied with your suggestion to the letter.  Unfortunately, it is disappointment once again.  The re-figuring did not work.

 

I have copied the folder, cy_GB into C:\ProgramData\Affinity\Common\1.0\Dictionaries, as evidenced by the following snapshot: -

 

When I double click on the folder, cy_GB; the view is cy_GB.aff and cy_GB.dic, as evidenced by the following snapshot: -

When I double click on cy_GB.dic’ the content of my custom dictionary is revealed.

 

I am extremely embarrassed that the immense time and effort you have expended on my behalf, has resulted in failure once again at my end.  I simply do not understand why this is happening.  Perhaps I have a rogue Affinity download, or it is not configured correctly somewhere, which impinges on the working of the Dictionaries folder.  It is beyond my comprehension as to why your perfectly sound tested logic on configuring the additional dictionaries feature is doggedly rebuffed by my computer.

 

You have been unstinting in your effort, for which I am truly grateful.  However, I do not feel I can impose on you any further with this seemingly unyielding problem.   I am now resigned to implementing a long laborious solution to this unresolved issue.  I think the only solution remaining is for me to copy 50 or more words at a time from my custom dictionary, paste them into a fictitious document, and click on each unrecognised word and add / learn to dictionary.  It will be a hard graft work around, but it should achieve my objective in the end.

 

Many thanks for your kindness.

 

Sincerely,

[walt.farrell]

No need to be embarrassed.

Yes, it looks like you have the dictionaries properly installed now, but there are still a few things we can check.

1. Preferences, Tools: Check that the directory for additional dictionary files is specified exactly as shown below:

2. Make sure that you quit and restarte Publisher after installing the dictionary files

3. Make sure that you have properly specified the language for spell checking. With the cursor in a block of text, look in the Character studio panel, and make sure you have the spelling set as Welsh (United Kingdom):

[davies236]

Hello Walt,

 

Wow! That almost did the trick.

 

I verified the Additional dictionary folder: read C:\ProgramData\Affinity\Common\1.0\Dictionaries, was correct.

 

I found the ‘Character’ box and altered the spelling language to Welsh (United Kingdom).  Then in the text box I entered numerous Welsh words from my custom dictionary.  Much to my delight all the words were recognised.  Fantastic!!

 

Then my bubble of euphoria suddenly burst.

 

I created an imaginary letter and commenced writing: -

 

“Dear Sir,

 

Thank you for your letter dated the……..”

 

When I looked at my typing, I was dismayed to discover every word was underlined in red.  My document was only recognising my Welsh custom dictionary words, but not English (United Kingdom).

 

So, it appears this worthy attempt to resolve the problem has created another unexpected enigma.

 

Where do we go from here?

[Hilltop]

You have to set the language to Welsh again.

[walt.farrell]

The default spelling language will be the same language you've specified as your language in Preferences, General.

You may want to create a Paragraph Style or Character Style that has Welsh specified as the spelling language. That way you can create a Text Frame, and specify that style in the Context Toolbar.

[davies236]

Hello Walt and Hilltop,

When I set the spelling language to Welsh.  My Document does not recognise English (United Kingdom).

My Preference > General > Language is set English (United Kingdom)..My document does not recognise the Additional dictionary folder, which is Welsh.

My interpretation of the dictionary scenario was that one sets the preferred language for general day-to-day usage.  My choice is English (United Kingdom).  The Additional dictionary folder I believed was created to facilitate the addition of another dictionary to the original choice and that both dictionaries would work as one, in tandem, and not individually.

This is the setup I had established in Serif PagePlus X9, and all earlier versions, without any problems whatsoever.  It also works with other programmes in use.

Have I completely misunderstood the Affinity concept of adding an additional dictionary?

[walt.farrell]

Only one dictionary can be in effect at a time. If most of your text will be English, then when you're going to type a word or phrase that should user your custom dictionary, assign that word or phrase a character style that is set to use Welsh instead of English.

[davies236]

Thank you Walt.  I now understand the limitations of dictionary usage in Affinity.  Having been an avid user of Serif products for so many years, I did not envisage for one moment that Serif's latest much heralded advanced desk top publishing product, would be devoid of such a simple facility that existed in their previous desk top publishing programmes.  In my humble opinion, the omission to facilitate the introduction of a custom dictionary that worked in conjunction with the default dictionary, is a backward step in the design of Affinity.

If I remember correctly, in the previous versions of Serif PagePlus 9.0 and earlier, your simply copied and transferred your personal dictionary UserBR.tlx from the previous version, and for safety sake renamed the old file UserBr.old.

I apologise for my moaning on this particular topic.  I appreciate the attributes of the Affinity design are not ascribed to you.

My sincere appreciation for your patience and kindness over the past few weeks.

[walt.farrell]

I'm happy to have helped.

1 hour ago, davies236 said:

If I remember correctly, in the previous versions of Serif PagePlus 9.0 and earlier, your simply copied and transferred your personal dictionary UserBR.tlx from the previous version, and for safety sake renamed the old file UserBr.old.

A "personal dictionary" in Affinity is the dictionary.propcols file, which is created when you use the Learn option while spell-checking. It sounds (from that extension) like it worked similarly in PagePlus, but I can't say for sure as I never used PagePlus.