Word-processing features

This chapter covers the word-processing features of HoTMetaL PRO: undoing and redoing actions; cutting, copying, pasting, and deleting a selection; spell checking; thesaurus.

Undoing and redoing actions

The Undo command in the Edit menu allows the effect of the last operation to be undone.

Typing text, and any command that changes the content of the document, can be undone.Note the following actions that cannot be undone:

• Scrolling and windowing commands
• Text selection
• Undo itself (it can be undone with Redo)
• Edit Dictionary... and other operations that affect the user dictionary
• Any actions performed prior to the last time the document was saved cannot be undone.

If you execute several Undo commands in a row you will undo the most recent action, and then undo the second most recent action, and so forth. You can undo the last 30 actions.

To reverse an Undo, you must use Redo. If you have performed several Undos, you can reverse each of them by performing an equal number of Redos. If you perform one or more Undos, and then perform an undoable action, you will no longer be able to redo any of the Undos.

If you undo a Copy or Cut command, the previous contents of the clipboard will be restored.

Selecting, copying, cutting, and pasting

One of the advantages of HoTMetaL PRO over text-based HTML editors is that you can easily select and move around parts of the document structure without having to worry about making the markup invalid. It is easy to select a whole element (and its sub-elements, if any): you just have to drag the mouse over the start-tag (from the left) or the end-tag (from the right) and the element is selected.

The Cut, Copy, Paste, and Delete commands work as they normally do in word-processing applications. The only exception to this is that in HoTMetaL PRO, a selection can contain elements. For this reason there will be circumstances where removing or pasting a selection would cause the document to be incorrectly marked up.

If you try to do a paste that would cause the markup to become invalid, you will get a warning dialog box that gives you the opportunity to turn rules checking off if you want to continue with the paste. There are some circumstances in which you will never be able to do a paste, such as when the insertion point is inside an IMG element, which cannot contain text or markup.

Cut and Delete will be disabled if you select one of the elements HTML, HEAD, or BODY.

If you choose Select Element, the current element, including its start- and end-tags, will become highlighted.

Spell checking

The Check Spelling... command in the Edit menu allows you to spell-check all or part of the text of your document, using one or more dictionaries.

Using the spell checker

When you choose Check Spelling... or click on the toolbar icon, HoTMetaL PRO spell-checks your document, starting at the insertion point and continuing through the document, wrapping around to the top when the end of the document has been reached. If a word is found that has no entry in any of the dictionaries, a dialog box appears: the word is displayed at the bottom of the dialog box next to the label Misspelled Word and is also highlighted in the document window.

The list in the dialog box will present a number of possible substitutions: this list includes words whose spelling or pronunciation is close to the unrecognized word. The words are listed in decreasing order of probability that they are the correct substitution.

Correcting a misspelled word

If one of the words in the list is the correct substitute for the misspelled word, you can click on that word. The word you chose is then put in the text entry box labeled Replace with. You can also type replacement text of your choice in the text entry box directly. This text entry box initially contains the unrecognized word. When the text entry box contains the desired substitution, click on the [Replace] button to make the correction to the document and continue spell-checking.

Leaving a word as-is

If the unrecognized word is a word that you consider spelled correctly (perhaps it is a jargon word, a proprietary name, etc.) then you have several options.

• If you expect this word to appear again in this document or in other documents, you can add it to the user dictionary by clicking on the [Add to Dictionary] button. If there is no current user dictionary you will get a Load Dictionary dialog. Use this dialog as described in the section on editing dictionaries (click here). After you load the dictionary, you will have to click on [Add to Dictionary] again to add the word to the user dictionary. The next time you spell-check with the same user dictionary, the spell checker will not stop at this word.
• If you want the unrecognized word to be ignored by Check Spelling... only for the duration of this HoTMetaL PRO session, click on the [Ignore] button. This causes the word to be put into a temporary list of correctly spelled words, and subsequent occurrences will be ignored. The next time HoTMetaL PRO is invoked with the same dictionaries, the spell checker will again stop at this word.
• If you do not want to take any special action, click on the [Next] button. This causes the search to resume; if the word occurs again in the document, the spell checker will stop at it.

HoTMetaL PRO informs you when no more misspelled words are found.

Restricting spell checking

You can restrict spell checking to a selection in your document. This must be done in two parts. First, define the restricted search area:

• Highlight the portion of the document that you wish to restrict spell checking to. (This can be done from the structure window if you wish to select a large part of the document.)
• Click on the [Set Restriction] button in the Check Spelling dialog box.

This causes the restricted search area to be defined. Even if you later highlight some other part of the document, HoTMetaL PRO will still know where the restricted area is. This process does not actually enable restricted spell checking. To do this, you must then:

• Click in the check box labeled Restrict.

If it is turned on, restricted spell checking is enabled.

Choosing the spell checking `language'

HoTMetaL PRO can check for American English or British English spelling. The lexicon for each `language' is contained in a system dictionary that is shipped with HoTMetaL PRO. System dictionaries cannot be edited.

The default is American English. To switch to British English, you must open the file hmpro2rc in the HoTMetaL PRO directory with a text editor (e.g., vi). Find the lines:

spell_checking_language=AMERICAN
user_dict=user.dct
supp_dict=hmpro2.dct

Change them to:

spell_checking_language=BRITISH
user_dict=userb.dct
supp_dict=hmpro2b.dct

Save the file and then restart HoTMetaL PRO.

User dictionaries

You can create a personal user dictionary to which you can add your own list of words that do not appear in the system dictionary. This way you avoid having the spell checker stop at the same words over and over.

The default user dictionary is the file user.dct, located in the lib/spell directory in the HoTMetaL PRO directory: this file is always loaded when you launch HoTMetaL PRO. You can load a different dictionary during a HoTMetaL PRO session, but only one user dictionary can be loaded at a time.

Creating or loading a dictionary

To create a new user dictionary or load an existing user dictionary:

• Choose Edit Dictionary... from the Edit menu.
• If no dictionary is currently loaded, you will get the Load Dictionary file chooser dialog box. If there is a dictionary already loaded, you'll get the Edit Dictionary dialog box. Click on the [Load Dictionary...] button to get the Load Dictionary dialog.
• In the Load Dictionary dialog box, choose the name of the dictionary you want to load. If you enter the name of a file that does not exist, HoTMetaL PRO will ask if you want to create a new dictionary.

Editing a user dictionary

User dictionaries are binary files and cannot be modified with a text editor. To edit a user dictionary:

• Create or load the user dictionary.
• Choose Edit Dictionary....

HoTMetaL PRO brings up the Edit Dictionary dialog box. This dialog contains a list of words in the current user dictionary.

To add a word to the dictionary:

• Enter the word in the text entry box labeled Word and click on the [Add Word] button.

To delete a word from the dictionary:

• Click on that word in the list and then click on the [Delete Word] button.

You may prefer to add words to the user dictionary during a spell checking session.

Changes to the user dictionary will be saved automatically when you quit HoTMetaL PRO, save the current file, or switch dictionaries.

Remember that since HoTMetaL PRO loads user.dct by default, only changes that you make to that file will be loaded the next time you start up HoTMetaL PRO. (Of course, you can use Edit Dictionary... to load another dictionary manually.)

Supplementary dictionaries

You can specify as many as 24 supplementary dictionaries, which are generally lexicons of specialized terminology for a specific field such as medicine or law. The difference between supplementary dictionaries and the user dictionary is that supplementary dictionaries cannot be modified during a spell checking session unless you load one explicitly using Edit Dictionary.... Supplementary dictionaries are created and developed using Edit Dictionary..., just like user dictionaries.

You must use the Preferences... command to specify which supplementary dictionaries are loaded. See the section on this command (click here) for more information.

HoTMetaL PRO is shipped with a default supplementary dictionary, hmpro2.dct, which contains a list of Internet-related terms.

Thesaurus

HoTMetaL PRO lets you look up words in an on-line thesaurus.

• In the document, highlight the word that you want to look up.
• Choose the Thesaurus... command in the Markup menu, or click on the toolbar button.

The document must contain a selected word when you choose the command. The selection will be displayed at the top of the Thesaurus dialog box; if the selection is a word in the thesaurus, then the number of meanings for that word that the thesaurus contains will be indicated, and the first meaning displayed. The buttons [Next Meaning] and [Previous Meaning] can be used to display the different meanings. If the thesaurus does not contain the selected word, the dialog box will give a message indicating this.

The dialog box contains a menu that is used to display lists of words that are somehow related to the selected word (with the meaning you have chosen). The choices are:

• Synonym - gives words that have the same or almost the same meaning as the current selection
• Antonym - gives words that have the opposite or almost the opposite meaning to the current selection
• Related - gives words whose meanings are similar to the current selection, but not as close as synonyms
• Contrasted - gives words that oppose the current selection, though not as directly as antonyms
• See Also - gives words that describe ideas related to the current selection

If you want to replace the current selection with a word from one of these lists, click on the word from the list and then click on the [Replace] button. Alternately, you can type a word directly into the text entry box labeled Replace with and then click on the [Replace] button. Any word that you select from one of the lists is immediately inserted in this text entry box.

If you wish to invoke the thesaurus with a new word from the document, highlight the desired word and click on the [Get Word] button.

The thesaurus is not editable.