Wintertree Spelling Server

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How to stop and restart Spelling Server

Applies to: All versions

Wintertree Spelling Server reads information from the system registry exactly once: when it starts, which happens the first time spelling is checked (version 1.3 and later) or when the Start method is called. The contents of dictionaries (except the user dictionary) are read and loaded into memory during this process. Once it has started, Spelling Server does not check the registry configuration or re-read dictionaries again while it is running. Therefore, if you change the configuration in the registry, or update a dictionary file configured via the registry, the change will not take effect until Spelling Server is restarted. (Changes to user dictionaries specified via the userDictFileName parameter take effect immediately, because the user dictionary is read on every call to CheckText or Suggest.)

One way to restart Spelling Server is to reboot the server on which it is running. Another way is to restart IIS. Both of these methods are somewhat drastic, and will probably cause inconvenience to your clients.

An easier method is to stop Spelling Server, which can be done by calling the Stop method. However, you must call the Stop method only when you are sure Spelling Server is not processing spelling requests; otherwise, a crash or other undesirable behavior may result. Unfortunately, there is no easy way to tell if Spelling Server is processing spelling requests. The best time to restart Spelling Server is when no clients are logged on to the server, or at some other point when you can be sure no spelling requests are in progress.

You can call Spelling Server's Stop method using a script similar to the following:

<SCRIPT LANGUAGE="VBScript" RUNAT="Server">
Set WSS = Server.CreateObject("SpellingServer.SpellCheck")
Dim rv
rv = WSS.Stop()
</SCRIPT>

In version 1.3 and later, it is normally not necessary to call the Start method. The CheckText method automatically calls the Start method. However, the Start method accepts a parameter which contains an alternate registry tree containing Spelling Server configuration information. If your application uses an alternate registry tree, it must call the Start method explicitly. This can be done using code similar to the code above, but call WSS.Start instead of WSS.Stop.

Note that there is no easy way to tell if Spelling Server is in a stopped or started state. One way is to examine the event log.