The Dictionary

[PA]

We have a Department that deals with State oversite offices, and the rules
are quite stringent. They also have quite a selection of terminology that
must be employed within a "properly" formatted document. Thus we are
constantly adding words to the (custom) dictionary.
In Word 2003, how can I set up a dictionary for them that is shared so that
all the words not found in the standard dictionary need only be added once,
by one individual. We do have many shares available to accomplish this, if
possible.

 

[Terry Farrell]

Word store customized spellings in Custom.dic. This is merely a very SIMPLE
plain text list of words. All you have to do is to update it and then
distribute it to the users. How you do that depends on how you administer
your networks. At its simplest, just email the new custom.dic as an
attachment to all your users with instructions to save it to the local hard
drive overwriting the existing custom.dic.

 

[macropod]

Another option would be to have just the one copy of the corporate dictionary in a central location and edit all users' Word custom
dictionary settings (see under Tools|Options) to point to that location.

Cheers

 

[Herb Tyson [MVP]]

You can do it, but you won't 100% perfect results. The .dic file is loaded
when you first open Word. During the current session, anything you add is
automatically stuffed into memory, so that such words are in your personal
"ok" list. And words that I add, are also stuffed into my personal "ok"
list.

But, your "ok" list won't show up on my Word session until the next time I
close Word and re-open it. Similarly, my "ok" list won't show up on your
Word session until the next time you close Word and re-open it.

When you click Add to Dictionary, it is added instantly. So, unless two
people happen to do it at the exact same time, there shouldn't be any
sharing conflicts. You also don't have to worry about changes getting lost,
since it's not like a regular Word document when one person's changes can
wipe out someone else's if they're saving over the same master copy without
some kind of file coordination system supervising the changes. It's like a
dart board that's sittting in a central area. Each person's dart gets to the
dart board. The only problem would be if two people try to throw darts at
the exact same moment, in which case there would be a momentary sharing
violation for one of the two (I would think... but I can't be sure since I
can't seem to get things to happen at the exact same moment).

At worst, if you & I add the same word, it can show up twice in the .dic
file. No big deal. But, just so you know.

Otherwise, it can work fine. I keep my default .dic file on my desktop
computer's public folder so that if I add words while writing on my laptop,
they get added to my main .dic file. That way, I accomplish the aim you
seek.

First, copy the most complete .dic file you have to a shared location. I
named mine shared.dic to prevent confusion. But, you're not so constrained.

Then, choose Tools - Options - Spelling and Grammar - Custom Dictionaries -
Add. Navigate to the shared location and click OK. Back in the custom
dictionaries dialog, with that dictionary selected, click Change Default.

 

[PA]

Perfect, thanks.

We will probably create shared dictionaries for more than one department.

Another option would be to have just the one copy of the corporate dictionary in a central location and edit all users' Word custom
dictionary settings (see under Tools|Options) to point to that location.

Cheers

 

[PA]

Terrific stuff, thanks Herb.

You can do it, but you won't 100% perfect results. The .dic file is loaded
when you first open Word. During the current session, anything you add is
automatically stuffed into memory, so that such words are in your personal
"ok" list. And words that I add, are also stuffed into my personal "ok"
list.

But, your "ok" list won't show up on my Word session until the next time I
close Word and re-open it. Similarly, my "ok" list won't show up on your
Word session until the next time you close Word and re-open it.

When you click Add to Dictionary, it is added instantly. So, unless two
people happen to do it at the exact same time, there shouldn't be any
sharing conflicts. You also don't have to worry about changes getting lost,
since it's not like a regular Word document when one person's changes can
wipe out someone else's if they're saving over the same master copy without
some kind of file coordination system supervising the changes. It's like a
dart board that's sittting in a central area. Each person's dart gets to the
dart board. The only problem would be if two people try to throw darts at
the exact same moment, in which case there would be a momentary sharing
violation for one of the two (I would think... but I can't be sure since I
can't seem to get things to happen at the exact same moment).

At worst, if you & I add the same word, it can show up twice in the .dic
file. No big deal. But, just so you know.

Otherwise, it can work fine. I keep my default .dic file on my desktop
computer's public folder so that if I add words while writing on my laptop,
they get added to my main .dic file. That way, I accomplish the aim you
seek.

First, copy the most complete .dic file you have to a shared location. I
named mine shared.dic to prevent confusion. But, you're not so constrained.

Then, choose Tools - Options - Spelling and Grammar - Custom Dictionaries -
Add. Navigate to the shared location and click OK. Back in the custom
dictionaries dialog, with that dictionary selected, click Change Default.

--
Herb Tyson MS MVP
Author of the Word 2007 Bible
Blog: http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com
Web: http://www.herbtyson.com

 

[Terry Farrell]

To overcome that difficulty, you can have more than one custom.dic. So the
best solution would be let users continue using their own custom.dic for
their own spell settings.

Create a new set of dictionaries for the departments - such as Finance.dic -
and place on the server in its own folder. Add the Finance.dic to the Custom
Dictionaries in Word Options, Proofing. You are able to add many custom
dictionaries because you may need scientific or medical specific
dictionaries.

Terry

 

[Herb Tyson [MVP]]

One more caveat... if any of your users have laptops, note that the default
..dic file will no longer be available when they work detached from the
network (I've been unable to get Word to use a .dic file over the internet,
although there might be some specification I've overlooked). If they try to
add a word to the default .dic, they'll get an error message. If they're
savvy, they'll know why the error occurred and reset their default to a
"local" .dic until they get back to the office. Otherwise, they'll just get
frustrated.

--
Herb Tyson MS MVP
Author of the Word 2007 Bible
Blog: http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com
Web: http://www.herbtyson.com

 

[Herb Tyson [MVP]]

Right... although, someone will then need to take on the responsibility to
periodically review and consolidate additions into the different department
dictionaries.

Another caveat that occurs to me with the shared one is that if someone adds
an incorrect word, it will affect everyone's "ok" until someone edits the
list & removes it.

--
Herb Tyson MS MVP
Author of the Word 2007 Bible
Blog: http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com
Web: http://www.herbtyson.com

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

With Terry's suggestion, though, the corporate dictionary could be
read-only. It would be loaded for every user, but each user would have his
own local Custom.dic set as the default, so words added would go into the
personal one. Users could perhaps suggest additions to the corporate one
periodically.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA

 

[PA]

I am certainly glad that I came back to reread.
This is very enlightening for me in this situation.

Thank you

 

[Terry Farrell]

Correct. That's why I suggested this route. One would not want ordinary
users making changes to a shared template or custom dictionary. Where would
it end

Terry

 

[Herb Tyson [MVP]]

I usually begin by answering the user's exact question... then let them
discover why what they asked for isn't really what they want once all of the
caveats have been set forth.

Personally, though, I'm fond of the free-for-all approach to custom.dic.
Reading through it can be loads of fun.

Another approach in the current question would be for someone to collect up
all of the users' different custom.dic files, concatenate them, sort them,
purge the dupes and any errors, and then make the resulting file available
as a resource.

--
Herb Tyson MS MVP
Author of the Word 2007 Bible
Blog: http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com
Web: http://www.herbtyson.com