spell - scan a file for misspelled words
spell [ -b[dict]] [-c|-x] [-v] [-i] [-s dict] [ file ... ]
spell reads in a file and splits it into words, then compares each unique word with a dictionary file (all comparisons and reporting are done in lower case). The "misspelled" words are printed on standard output.
The options are as follows:
Multiple flags can be combined, but -b and -s must come last, i.e. "spell -icvb" instead of "spell -i -c -v -b", and can be specified in any order.
If a file is not specified, it reads from standard input. Use the -i switch if you are going to type words in by hand.
ispell
/usr/dict/words
I did not create a word list,
but found one without restriction (compiled for linux) at: ftp://ftp.cs.unc.edu/pub/users/faith/linux/linux.words.2.tar.gz
.
This program is only as good as your word list (and maybe not that good, use the -v switch at least once). I did not compile the word list and cannot vouch for it. Remember this is a tool and not a replacement for your own thinking. Anyone who depends wholly on a spell checker without doing their own proofreading, deserves what they get (or worse), I accept no liability for any consequences of using this program.
This program only finds the misspelled words, it is up to you to decide if they are really wrong and replace them yourself.
My focus in writing this program was portability, therefore I did not use some things that may have speeded things up, however perl itself is quick enough that it still does pretty good even with the slower method.
I know of no bugs at this time. There are a couple of things that may make it run a bit faster and the documentation may be made a little clearer.
Gregory L. Snow, (Greg), snow@biostat.washington.edu
This program is copyright (c) Gregory L. Snow 1999.
This program is free and open software. You may use, modify, or distribute this program (with or without modifications) to your hearts content. However I take no responsibility for your use or misuse of this program.