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Contractions with "curly" apostrophe reported as misspellings

Applies to: Version 1.7.3 and earlier

Symptom: Words containing the "curly" apostrophe (character code 146) are reported as misspelled by Wintertree Spelling Server. This typically happens when the text submitted for checking is pasted from a Windows-based word processor.

Discussion: The character normally generated when the single-quote key is pressed on a standard keyboard is the ASCII single-quote character (code 39). Word processing software sometimes automatically converts the single-quote character to the "curly" apostrophe character, which has a different character code (146). When text is copied from a word processor (or another application, but originally entered using a word processor) and pasted into a text area on a form, the "curly" apostrophe character codes will be pasted as well. The English dictionaries included with Wintertree Spelling Server include contractions which use the standard ASCII single-quote character (code 39), but not the "curly" apostrophe character. When that text is checked using Wintertree Spelling Server, contractions which use the "curly" apostrophes will be reported as misspellings because they do not exist in the dictionary.

Solution: The solution is to add a supplemental dictionary which includes contractions containing the "curly" apostrophe character:

1. Download file accent.zip. Zip file accent.zip contains a single file, accent.tlx.

2. Unzip accent.zip into the folder containing other Wintertree Spelling Server dictionaries (\Program Files\Wintertree Spelling Server by default). In version 1.7, unzip accent.zip to the folder indicated by the DictionaryPath string value in the registry. When you are done, the folder should contain accent.tlx.

3. Run regedit and locate the following key:

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Wintertree\Spelling Server\Languages\24941

   (The language code above is for American English. Substitute 25202 or 25441 as the last component in the key path for British or Canadian English.)

4. Edit the Dictionaries string value and append a semicolon (;) followed by "accent.tlx" (no quotes or spaces) to the value. When you are done, the Dictionaries string value should look something like this:

   ssceam.tlx;ssceam2.clx;correct.tlx;tech.tlx;accent.tlx

   (It may look different if you have defined custom dictionaries, are using older versions of Wintertree Spelling Server, etc. The important thing is that "accent.tlx" is added to the list of dictionary file names, the names of the dictionary files are separated by semicolons, and that no extraneous spaces or other characters are present.)

5. Restart Wintertree Spelling Server, either by restarting IIS or using the procedure described in How to stop and restart Spelling Server.