.TH ASPELL 1 "2006-12-10" "GNU" "Aspell Abbreviated User's Manual"
.SH NAME
aspell \- interactive spell checker
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B aspell
.I "[options] <command>"
.br
.SH "DESCRIPTION"
.B aspell
is a utility program that connects to the Aspell library so that it can
function as an
.B "ispell -a"
replacement, as an independent spell checker, as a test utility to test
out Aspell library features, and as a utility for managing dictionaries
used by the library.
.PP
The Aspell library contains an interface allowing other programs direct
access to its functions and therefore reducing the complex task of
spell checking to simple library calls.  The default library does not
contain dictionary word lists.  To add language dictionaries, please
check your distro first for modified dictionaries, otherwise look here
for base language dictionaries <http://aspell.net>.
.PP
The following information describes the commands and options used by the
Aspell Utility.  
.PP
This manual page is maintained separately from the 
official documentation so it may be out of date or incomplete.  The
official documentation is maintained as a Texinfo manual.  See the
.RB "`\|" aspell "\|'"
entry in
.B info
for more complete documentation.
.SH COMMANDS
.I "<command>"
is one of:
.TP
\fBusage\fR, \fB\-?\fR
Send a brief Aspell Utility usage message to standard output.  This is
a short summary listing more common spell\-check commands and options.
.TP
.B help
Send a detailed Aspell Utility help message to standard output.  This is
a complete list showing all commands, options, filters and dictionaries.
.TP
\fBversion\fR, \fB\-v\fR
Print version number of Aspell Library and Utility to standard output.
.TP
\fBcheck\fR \fI<file>\fR, \fB\-c\fR \fI<file>\fR
Spell\-check a single file.
.TP
\fBpipe\fR, \fB\-a\fR
Run Aspell in
.I "ispell -a"
compatibility mode.
.TP
.B list
Produce a list of misspelled words from standard input.
.TP
[\fBdump\fR] \fBconfig\fR
Dump all current configuration options to standard output.
.TP
.BI "config " <key>
Send the current value of
.I <key>
to standard output.
.TP
.B soundslike
Output the soundslike equivalent of each word entered.
.TP
.B munch
Generate possible root words and affixes from an input list of words.
.TP
\fBexpand\fR [\fB1\-4\fR]
Expands the affix flags of each affix compressed word entered.
.TP
\fBclean\fR [\fBstrict\fR]
Cleans an input word list so that every line is a valid word.
.TP
\fBmunch\-list\fR [\fBsimple\fR] [\fBsingle\fR|\fBmulti\fR] [\fBkeep\fR]
Reduce the size of a word list via affix compression.
.TP
\fBconv\fR \fI<from> <to>\fR [\fI<norm-form>\fR]
Converts
.I <from>
one encoding
.I <to>
another.
.TP
\fBnorm\fR (\fI<norm\-map>\fR|\fI<from> <norm\-map> <to>\fR) [\fI<norm-form>\fR]
Perform Unicode normalization.
.TP
[\fBdump\fR] \fBdicts\fR|\fBfilters\fR|\fBmodes\fR
Lists available dictionaries, filters, or modes.
.TP
\fBdump\fR|\fBcreate\fR|\fBmerge master\fR|\fBpersonal\fR|\fBrepl\fR \fI<wordlist>\fR
dump, create, or merge a master, personal, or replacement word list.
.SH DICTIONARY OPTIONS
The following options may be used to control which dictionaries to use
and how they behave.
.TP
\fB\-\-master=\fR\fI<name>\fR, \fB\-d\fR \fI<name>\fR
Base name of the dictionary to use.  If this option is specified then
Aspell will either use this dictionary or die.
.TP
\fB\-\-dict\-dir=\fR\fI<directory>\fR
Location of the main dictionary word list.
.TP
\fB\-\-lang=\fR\fI<string>\fR, \fB\-l\fR \fI<string>\fR
Language to use.  It follows the same format of the LANG environmental
variable on most systems.  It consists of the two letter ISO 639 language
code and an optional two letter ISO 3166 country code after a dash or
underscore.  The default value is based on the value of the LC_MESSAGES
locale.
.TP
\fB\-\-size=\fR\fI<string>\fR
The preferred size of the dictionary word list.  This consists of a two
char digit code describing the size of the list, with typical values of:
10=tiny, 20=really small, 30=small, 40=med-small, 50=med, 60=med-large,
70=large, 80=huge, 90=insane.
.TP
\fB\-\-variety=\fR\fI<string>\fR
Any extra information to distinguish this variety of dictionary from
other dictionaries which may have the same \fIlang\fR and \fIsize\fR.
.TP
\fB\-\-jargon=\fR\fI<string>\fR
Please use the \fIvariety\fR option since it replaces \fIjargon\fR as a
better choice.  \fIjargon\fR will be removed in the future.
.TP
\fB\-\-word\-list\-path=\fR\fI<list of directories>\fR
Search path for word list information files.
.TP
\fB\-\-personal=\fR\fI<file>\fR, \fB\-p\fR \fI<file>\fR
Personal word list file name.
.TP
\fB\-\-repl=\fR\fI<file>\fR
Replacements list file name.
.TP
\fB\-\-extra\-dicts=\fR\fI<list>\fR
Extra dictionaries to use.
.TP
\fB\-\-ignore\-accents\fR
This option is not yet implemented.
.SH CHECKER OPTIONS
These options control the behavior of Aspell when checking documents.
.TP
\fB\-\-ignore=\fR\fI<integer>\fR, \fB\-W\fR \fI<integer>\fR
Ignore words <=
.I <integer>
characters in length.
.TP
\fB\-\-ignore\-case\fR, \fB\-\-dont\-ignore\-case\fR
Ignore case when checking words.
.TP
\fB\-\-ignore\-repl\fR, \fB\-\-dont\-ignore\-repl\fR
Ignore commands to store replacement pairs.
.TP
\fB\-\-save\-repl\fR, \fB\-\-dont\-save\-repl\fR
Save the replacement word list on save all.
.TP
\fB\-\-sug\-mode=\fR\fI<mode>\fR
Suggestion
.I <mode>
= \fBultra\fR|\fBfast\fR|\fBnormal\fR|\fBbad-spellers\fR
.SH FILTER OPTIONS
These options modify the behavior of the various filters.
.TP
\fB\-\-add\-filter=\fR\fI<list>\fR, \fB\-\-rem\-filter=\fR\fI<list>\fR
Add or remove a filter.
.TP
\fB\-\-add\-filter\-path=\fR\fI<paths>\fR, \fB\-\-rem\-filter\-path=\fR\fI<paths>\fR
Add or remove paths searched for filters.
.TP
\fB\-\-mode=\fR\fI<string>\fR, \fB\-e\fR, \fB\-H\fR, \fB\-t\fR, \fB\-n\fR
Sets the filter mode.  \fIMode\fR is one of none, url, email, html, tex
or nroff.  The alternative shortcut options are '-e' for email, '-H'
for Html/Sgml, '-t' for Tex or '-n' for Nroff.
.TP
\fB\-\-encoding=\fR\fI<string>\fR
encoding the document is expected to be in.  The default depends on the
current locale.
.TP
\fB\-\-add-email\-quote=\fR\fI<list>\fR, \fB\-\-rem-email\-quote=\fR\fI<list>\fR
Add or Remove a list of email quote characters.
.TP
\fB\-\-email\-margin=\fR\fI<integer>\fR
Number of chars that can appear before the quote char.
.TP
\fB\-\-add\-html\-check=\fR\fI<list>\fR, \fB\-\-rem\-html\-check=\fR\fI<list>\fR
Add or remove a list of HTML attributes to always check.  For example,
look inside alt= tags.
.TP
\fB\-\-add\-html\-skip=\fR\fI<list>\fR, \fB\-\-rem\-html\-skip=\fR\fI<list>\fR
Add or remove a list of HTML attributes to always skip while spell
checking.
.TP
\fB\-\-add\-sgml\-check=\fR\fI<list>\fR, \fB\-\-rem\-sgml\-check=\fR\fI<list>\fR
Add or remove a list of SGML attributes to always check for spelling.
.TP
\fB\-\-add\-sgml\-skip=\fR\fI<list>\fR, \fB\-\-rem\-sgml\-skip=\fR\fI<list>\fR
Add or remove a list of SGML attributes to always skip while spell
checking.
.TP
\fB\-\-sgml\-extension=\fR\fI<list>\fR
SGML file extensions.
.TP
\fB\-\-tex\-check\-comments\fR, \fB\-\-dont\-tex\-check\-comments\fR
Check TeX comments.
.TP
\fB\-\-add\-tex\-command=\fR\fI<list>\fR, \fB\-\-rem\-tex\-command=\fR\fI<list>\fR
Add or Remove a list of TeX commands.
.SH RUN\-TOGETHER WORD OPTIONS
These may be used to control the behavior of run\-together words.
.TP
\fB\-\-run\-together\fR, \fB\-\-dont\-run\-together\fR, \fB\-C\fR, \fB\-B\fR
Consider run\-together words valid.
.TP
\fB\-\-run\-together\-limit=\fR\fI<integer>\fR
Maximum number of words that can be strung together.
.TP
\fB\-\-run\-together\-min=\fR\fI<integer>\fR
Minimal length of interior words.
.SH MISC OPTIONS
Miscellaneous options that don't fall under any other category.
.TP
\fB\-\-conf=\fR\fI<file name>\fR
Main configuration file.  This file overrides Aspell's global defaults.
.TP
\fB\-\-conf\-dir=\fR\fI<directory>\fR
Location of main configuration file.
.TP
\fB\-\-data\-dir=\fR\fI<directory>\fR
Location of language data files.
.TP
\fB\-\-keyboard=\fR\fI<keyboard>\fR
Use this keyboard layout for suggesting possible words.  These spelling
errors happen if a user accidentally presses a key next to the intended
correct key.
.TP
\fB\-\-local\-data\-dir=\fR\fI<directory>\fR
Alternative location of language data files.  This directory is searched
before data\-dir.
.TP
\fB\-\-home\-dir=\fR\fI<directory>\fR
Directory Location for personal wordlist files.
.TP
\fB\-\-per\-conf=\fR\fI<file name>\fR
Personal configuration file.  This file overrides options found in the
global config file.
.SH ASPELL UTILITY OPTIONS
These options are part of the
.I aspell
Utility and work independently of the library.
.TP
\fB--backup\fR, \fB\-\-dont\-backup\fR, \fB\-b\fR, \fB\-x\fR
The aspell utility creates a backup file by making a copy and appending
.I .bak
to file name.  This only applies when the command is
.I check <file>
and the backup file is only created if any spelling modifications take
place.
.TP
\fB\-\-byte\-offsets\fR, \fB\-\-dont\-byte\-offsets\fR
Use byte offsets instead of character offsets.
.TP
\fB\-\-guess\fR, \fB\-\-dont\-guess\fR, \fB\-m\fR, \fB\-P\fR
Create missing root/affix combinations not in the dictionary in
\fBpipe\fR mode.
.TP
\fB\-\-keymapping=aspell\fR, \fB\-\-keymapping=ispell\fR
The keymapping to use, either
.I aspell
for the default mapping or
.I ispell
to use the same mapping that the Ispell utility uses.
.TP
\fB\-\-reverse\fR, \fB\-\-dont\-reverse\fR
Reverse the order of the suggestions list in pipe mode.
.TP
\fB\-\-suggest\fR, \fB\-\-dont\-suggest\fR
Suggest possible replacements in pipe mode.  If false, Aspell will simply
report the misspelling and make no attempt at suggestions or possible
corrections.
.TP
\fB\-\-time\fR, \fB\-\-dont\-time\fR
Time the load time and suggest a time in pipe mode.
.PP
In addition Aspell will try to make sense out of Ispell's command line
options so that it can function as a drop in replacement for Ispell.  If
Aspell is run without any command line options it will display a brief
help screen and quit.
.SH CONFIGURATION
Aspell can accept options via global or personal configuration files so
that you do not need to specify them each time at the command line.  The
default global configuration file is
.I "/etc/aspell.conf"
or another file specified by option \fI\-\-conf\fR and is checked first.
The default per user configuration file
.I "~/.aspell.conf"
located in the
.B "$HOME"
directory (or another file specified by option \fI\-\-per\-conf\fR) is
checked next and overrides options set in the global config file.
Options specified at either the command line or via an environmental
variable override those specified by either configuration file.
.PP
Each line of the configuration file has the format:
.PP
.RS
\fBoption\fR \fI[value]\fR
.RE
.PP
where 
.B option
is any one of the standard library options above without the leading
dashes.  For example the following line will set the default language to
Swiss German:
.PP
.RS
.B lang de_CH
.RE
.PP
There may be any number of spaces between the option and the value,
however it can only be spaces, i.e.\& there is no '=' between the option
name and the value.  Comments may also be included by preceding them
with a '#' as anything from a '#' to a newline is ignored.  Blank lines
are also allowed.  The \fI/etc/aspell.conf\fR file is a good example of
how to set these options and the Aspell Manual has more detailed info.
.SH SEE ALSO
.PP
.BR aspell\-import (1),
.BR prezip\-bin (1),
.BR run\-with\-aspell (1),
.BR word\-list\-compress (1)
.PP
Aspell is fully documented in its Texinfo manual.  See the
.RB "`\|" aspell "\|'"
entry in
.B info
for more complete documentation.
.SH SUPPORT
Support for Aspell can be found on the Aspell mailing lists.
Instructions for joining the various mailing lists (and an archive of
them) can be found off the Aspell home page at <http://aspell.net>.
Bug reports should be submitted via GitHub Issues rather than being
posted to the mailing lists.
.SH AUTHOR
This manual page was written by Brian Nelson <pyro@debian.org> based
on the Aspell User's Manual, Copyright \(co 2002 Kevin Atkinson.
Updated Nov 2006 by Jose Da Silva <digital@joescat.com>, and Dec 2006
by Kevin Atkinson <kevina@gnu.org>.

