Linux ispell Command
The Linux ispell command is used for spell checking.
ispell defaults to using the /usr/lib/ispell/english.hash dictionary file to check text files. If it encounters words not found in the dictionary within the checked files, ispell will suggest alternative words or allow you to add new words to your personal dictionary.
Syntax
ispell [-aAbBClmMnNPStVx][-d<dictionary file>][-L<line number>][-p<dictionary file>][-w<non-alphabetic character>][-W<string length>][file to check]
Parameters:
-a This parameter must be used when output is sent to ispell from other programs.
-A When encountering the "&Include File&" string, it checks the contents of the file specified after the string.
-b Generates a backup file with the filename .bak.
-B Checks for hyphenation errors.
-C Does not check for hyphenation errors.
-d<dictionary file> Specifies the dictionary file.
-l Reads strings from standard input device and displays misspelled words after completion.
-L<line number> Specifies the number of lines to display.
-m Automatically considers suffix variations.
-M Displays command key bindings at the bottom of the screen after entering ispell.
-n The file to check is in noff or troff format.
-N Does not display command key bindings at the bottom of the screen after entering ispell.
-p<dictionary file> Specifies the personal dictionary file.
-P Does not consider suffix variations.
-S Does not sort suggested replacement words.
-t The file to check is in TeX or LaTeX format.
-V Non-ANSI standard characters are displayed in "M-^" format.
-w<non-alphabetic character> Specifically checks for the presence of specified characters.
-W<string length> Does not check words of the specified length.
-x Does not generate a backup file.
Example
Check the spelling of a file. For example, to check the testfile, you can use the following command:
ispell testfile
If there are suspicious words in the file, the first suspicious word will be highlighted and suggestions for corrections along with ispell commands will be displayed at the bottom of the screen. For example:
netwrks File: testfile
Linux netwrks are becoming more and more common, but security is often an overlooked
issue. Unfortunately
0: networks
[SP] <number> R)epl A)ccept I)nsert L)ookup U)ncap Q)uit e(X)it or ? for help
In this example, the word "netwrks" is identified as incorrect and correction suggestions are provided. By entering "0", you can correct the error with "networks" and continue to the next error until all errors are displayed.
From the above example, we can see that the file testfile contains spelling errors. After modifying the file, you need to back it up. Use the following command:
ispell-b testfile # Checks for spelling errors and backs up the file
If there are no spelling errors in the file, no information will be displayed. Using the ls command, we can see that a backup file testfile.bak has been generated in the current directory. The result is as follows:
$ ls # View files in the current directory as a list
examples.desktop testfile_1 testfile.bak xx01 templates images music
testfile testfile1 testfile_2 xx00 public videos documents desktop
Here, the testfile.bak file is the backup file generated by the previous command, and its content is identical to the original testfile.