Exclude dictionary doesn't work

[Shoshanna]

Word X, service release 1, running under Panther.

I can't get Word to accept and activate an exclude dictionary! Here's
what's happening. I have a list of words that I want to use as a
custom exclude dictionary. I save this list in a file called "Project
Exclude Dictionary," in Speller Exclude Dictionary format (File -->
Save As --> Format --> Speller Exclude Dictionary).

(Side note: Under OS 8.6 and Word 98 I used to keep custom
dictionaries in the same folder as the Word files they applied to -- I
have different custom and exclude dictionaries for each of many
editing projects, so this was tidy -- but Word X's help says to put an
exclude dictionary "in the same folder that contains the main
dictionary (usually located in Library/Preferences/Microsoft folder)."
Of course, there *is* no such folder, but I assume Word means
~/Library/Preferences/Microsoft/. I don't know what Word means by "the
main dictionary" -- is that my main/default Custom Dictionary, which
is indeed in ~/Library/Preferences/Microsoft/, or is it the US English
Spelling Dictionary, which is in Applications/Microsoft Office
X/Shared Applications/Proofing Tools/? In any case, I have tried
saving my custom exclude dictionary in both places, and neither one
works.)

Now I open a file to be spellchecked, and choose Tools --> Spelling
and Grammar --> Options --> Dictionaries... . I click "Add" to add my
new exclude dictionary to the list, and the window that comes up
allows me to enable either "Speller Custom Dictionary"-format
documents or "All Documents," but not "Speller Exclude
Dictionary"-format documents. If I leave it as the default "Speller
Custom Dictionary," I can't choose my exclude dictionary, since its
not in that format. If I change it to "All Documents," the exclude
dictionary is greyed out, but I can still choose it. So I do; it
appears in the list of dictionaries, and I activate it (by clicking to
put the check in the checkbox next to its name).

I click OK, and am returned to the Spelling and Grammar preference
pane, and indeed, the Project Exclude Dictionary now appears in the
pop-up list of dictionaries next to "Custom dictionary:". So I click
OK again.

Now, however, Word throws up a dialog box saying, "There is no custom
dictionary Macintosh
HD:Users:shoshanna:Libraryreferences:Microsoftroject Exclude
Dictionary. Do you want to create it now?" Which is true, sorta; there
is no *custom dictionary* named that; it's a *custom exclude
dictionary*. But there was never any way for me to tell Word that.

If I tell this dialog box "No," I'm returned back to the Spelling and
Grammar checking dialog, with no exclude dictionary anywhere to be
seen, just as if I'd never done any of this. If I tell it "Yes," I get
another dialog saying "Word cannot create the custom dictionary
Macintosh HD:Users:shoshanna:Libraryreferences:Microsoftroject
Exclude Dictionary." And all I can do to respond here is click OK (the
only choice), which again returns me to Spelling and Grammar checking
as if I had never done any of this.

I and someone else have been thrashing with this for days. Can anyone
help?

 

[John McGhie [MVP - Word]]

Hi Shoshanna:

Read the Help VERY carefully. The Exclude dictionary must have exactly the
same name as the Main Dictionary for the language in question, with an
extension of EXC instead of LEX.

That's how Word knows it's an Exclude dictionary and which one to use. And
yes, it must be in the same folder as the Main Dictionary, which does exist
and if you cannot see it your UserID permissions are wrong and that's your
problem.

Sorry: Nobody but us perfectionists ever uses Exclude dictionaries, so they
have never bothered to make them easy to use, figuring we deserve all the
pain they can give us

Cheers


This responds to article <[email protected]>,

Word X, service release 1, running under Panther.

I can't get Word to accept and activate an exclude dictionary! Here's
what's happening. I have a list of words that I want to use as a
custom exclude dictionary. I save this list in a file called "Project
Exclude Dictionary," in Speller Exclude Dictionary format (File -->
Save As --> Format --> Speller Exclude Dictionary).

(Side note: Under OS 8.6 and Word 98 I used to keep custom
dictionaries in the same folder as the Word files they applied to -- I
have different custom and exclude dictionaries for each of many
editing projects, so this was tidy -- but Word X's help says to put an
exclude dictionary "in the same folder that contains the main
dictionary (usually located in Library/Preferences/Microsoft folder)."
Of course, there *is* no such folder, but I assume Word means
~/Library/Preferences/Microsoft/. I don't know what Word means by "the
main dictionary" -- is that my main/default Custom Dictionary, which
is indeed in ~/Library/Preferences/Microsoft/, or is it the US English
Spelling Dictionary, which is in Applications/Microsoft Office
X/Shared Applications/Proofing Tools/? In any case, I have tried
saving my custom exclude dictionary in both places, and neither one
works.)

Now I open a file to be spellchecked, and choose Tools --> Spelling
and Grammar --> Options --> Dictionaries... . I click "Add" to add my
new exclude dictionary to the list, and the window that comes up
allows me to enable either "Speller Custom Dictionary"-format
documents or "All Documents," but not "Speller Exclude
Dictionary"-format documents. If I leave it as the default "Speller
Custom Dictionary," I can't choose my exclude dictionary, since its
not in that format. If I change it to "All Documents," the exclude
dictionary is greyed out, but I can still choose it. So I do; it
appears in the list of dictionaries, and I activate it (by clicking to
put the check in the checkbox next to its name).

I click OK, and am returned to the Spelling and Grammar preference
pane, and indeed, the Project Exclude Dictionary now appears in the
pop-up list of dictionaries next to "Custom dictionary:". So I click
OK again.

Now, however, Word throws up a dialog box saying, "There is no custom
dictionary Macintosh
HD:Users:shoshanna:Libraryreferences:Microsoftroject Exclude
Dictionary. Do you want to create it now?" Which is true, sorta; there
is no *custom dictionary* named that; it's a *custom exclude
dictionary*. But there was never any way for me to tell Word that.

If I tell this dialog box "No," I'm returned back to the Spelling and
Grammar checking dialog, with no exclude dictionary anywhere to be
seen, just as if I'd never done any of this. If I tell it "Yes," I get
another dialog saying "Word cannot create the custom dictionary
Macintosh HD:Users:shoshanna:Libraryreferences:Microsoftroject
Exclude Dictionary." And all I can do to respond here is click OK (the
only choice), which again returns me to Spelling and Grammar checking
as if I had never done any of this.

I and someone else have been thrashing with this for days. Can anyone
help?

--

Please respond only to the newsgroup to preserve the thread.

John McGhie, Consultant Technical Writer,
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
Sydney, Australia. GMT + 10 Hrs
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:[email protected]