(aspell.info.gz) Using Aspell as a Replacement for Ispell

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 3.2 Using Aspell as a Replacement for Ispell
 ============================================
 
 As of GNU Aspell 0.60.1 Aspell should be able to completely replace
 Ispell for most applications.  The Ispell compatibility script should
 work for most applications which expect Ispell.  However there are some
 differences which you should be aware of.
 
 3.2.1 As a Drop In Replacement
 ------------------------------
 
 Aspell can be used as a drop in replacement for Ispell for programs
 that use Ispell through a pipe such as Emacs and LyX.  It can also be
 used with programs that simply call the `ispell' command and expect the
 original file to be overwritten with the corrected version.
 
    If you do not have Ispell installed on your system and have installed
 the Ispell compatibility script then you should not need to do anything
 as most applications that expect Ispell will work as expected with
 Aspell via the Ispell compatibility script.
 
    Otherwise, the recommended way to use Aspell as a replacement for
 Ispell is to change the `ispell' command from within the program being
 used.  If the program uses `ispell' in pipe mode simply change `ispell'
 to `aspell'.  If the program calls the `ispell' command to check the
 file, then change `ispell' with `aspell check'.
 
    If that is impossible then the `run-with-aspell' script can be used.
 This script modifies the patch so that programs see the Ispell
 compatibility script instead of the actual true `ispell' command.  The
 format of the script is:
 
      run-with-aspell COMMAND
 
 where COMMAND is the name of the program with any optional arguments.
 
    The old method of mapping Ispell to Aspell is discouraged because it
 can create compatibility problems with programs that actually require
 Ispell such as Ispell's own scripts.
 
 3.2.2 Differences From Ispell
 -----------------------------
 
 Nevertheless, Aspell is not Ispell, nor is it meant to completely
 emulate the behavior of Ispell.  The `aspell' command is not identical
 to the `ispell' command when not used in "pipe" mode.  If an
 application expects the `ispell' command, then the Ispell compatibility
 script should be used instead.
 
 3.2.2.1 Functionality of the Ispell Compatibility Script
 ........................................................
 
 The Ispell compatibility script provides the following Ispell
 functionally.
 
    * The ability to check a file when called without any mode
      parameters.
 
    * The pipe or -a mode.
 
    * The list or -l mode.
 
    * The version or -v mode.  A single line is returned which, while not
      being identical to the line Ispell returns, is sufficient to fool
      most programs.
 
    * The munch or -c mode.
 
    * The expand or -e mode.
 
    * The ability to dump the affix file when called with '-D'.  However
      the format of the affix file is different.  Furthermore, not all
      languages have an affix file.
 
 
    However the Ispell script is currently unable to emulate the '-A'
 pipe mode.  This is different from the normal pipe mode in that the
 special `&Include_File&' command is recognized.
 
 3.2.2.2 Recognized Options
 ..........................
 
 Aspell, and thus the Ispell compatibility script, recognizes most of
 the options that Ispell uses except for the '-S', '-w' and '-T'
 options.  The Aspell command will simply ignore these options if it
 sees them.
 
 3.2.2.3 Check Mode Compatibility
 ................................
 
 The interface used by Aspell when checking individual files is slightly
 different than Ispell's.  In particular the default keymappings are not
 the same as the ones Ispell uses.  However Aspell supports using the
 Ispell keymappings via the `keymapping' option.  To use the Ispell
 keymappings set the `kepmapping' option to `ispell'.  This can be done
 on the command line by adding using the command:
 
        aspell check --keymapping=ispell ...
 or with the Ispell compatibility script
        ispell --keymapping=ispell ...
 
    The Ispell keymapping can always be used when the Ispell compatibly
 script is called by uncommenting the indicated line in the `ispell'
 script.
 
 3.2.2.4 Pipe Mode Compatibility
 ...............................
 
 The Aspell pipe mode should be identical to the Ispell pipe mode except
 if the line starts with a '$$' as that will trigger special Aspell only
 commands or if the line starts with a '~' which is ignored by Aspell.
 
 3.2.2.5 Other Differences
 .........................
 
 The compiled dictionary format is completely different than Ispell's.
 Furthermore the format of the language data files' are different than
 Ispell's affix file.  However, all known Ispell dictionaries were
 converted to Aspell format, except for Albanian (sq) as I was unable to
 find the source word list.
 
    The naming and format of the personal dictionary is also different.
 However, Ispell personal dictionaries can be imported using the
 `aspell-import' script.   Using aspell-import.  The Ispell
 personal dictionary is simply a list of words while the Aspell one is a
 list of words with a header line.  Thus it is also fairly easy to
 convert between the two.   Format of the Personal Dictionary.
 
 3.2.2.6 Missing Functionally
 ............................
 
 The only major area where Ispell is superior to Aspell is in the
 handling of multi character letters such as old ASCII encoding of
 accented characters.
 
    However, Aspell can handle UTF-8 documents far better than Ispell
 can.
 

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(aspell.info.gz) Using Aspell with other Applications