New words for dictionary

Scrivener Scrivener for Windows
4

I finally managed to find a few minutes to investigate adding new words to the Aspell dictionaries - it actually works out to be pretty simple. I have already added the words listed thus far and they will appear in the next release of Scrivener (beta 026 is the current version as of posting this). Below is a set of instructions for those brave enough to open a command prompt and download a free plain text editing tool like Notepad++ - Windows Notepad will not do it without pain.

I’ve also attached four files (zipped) for users who can’t wait, and can’t be bothered with command prompt. You just need to detach these files into the Aspell\Dict directory within Scrivener. You must overwrite the existing two en_US.multi and en_UK.multi files. Then restart Scrivener and the new words will all be recognised.

Augmented Dictionary Files US & GB.zip (1.66 KB)

I would still appreciate if the word list of this post is continually augmented as it will make it easier at release time just to pull the full list and add the words. So, please continue the good work here Jennifer and co :slight_smile:

Here are the instructions for doing it yourself:

  1. Create a file list named yourlist.txt. Add words, one per line, to yourlist.txt.

c:\Program files\Scrivener\Aspell\bin\yourlist.txt i.e. your list might

look like:-

malondialdehyde
neuropsychology
Silybin
vagus

  1. Convert file list to an Aspell word list.

This command creates an Aspell wordlist with the en_US language specification (en_GB is another example):

Move to the following directory with a command prompt:
cd c:\Program files\Scrivener\Aspell\bin

Type the following command and then press Enter:
aspell --lang=en_US create master yourlist.rws < yourlist.txt

  1. To finish adding it to the dictionary change into the dictionary directory by running the following:

c:\Program files\Scrivener\Aspell\dict

Then edit the following file with Notepad++: en_US.multi

Then add the following on a new line at the end of the file:

add yourlist.rws

Restart Scrivener and your words will now be updated in the main Aspell dictionary