Have GtkSpell use Enchant for spell checking
Migrated from https://bugs.launchpad.net/inkscape/+bug/1049548
from 2012-09-12 to 2017-04-28
Summary:
I would like to request that Inkscape will use GtkSpell in such a way that it will use Enchant for spell checking. Enchant is a spell checking wrapper using the spell checker installed on the system. This can be Aspell, Ispell, Myspell, Hunspell and much more.
According to https://bugs.launchpad.net/inkscape/+bug/171111/comments/8 and the package dependencies on Ubuntu, it is clear that Aspell is begin used. However, most people are using superior spell checker Hunspell and want to use this also in Inkscape. Spelling dictionaries for Dutch and many other languages are nowadays only released for Hunspell.
The changes to the implementation will be minimal, see http://gtkspell.sourceforge.net/ on how to use Enchant. See also gedit, firefox and many other major applications which use Enchant.
Benefits of fixing this bug are:
- freedom of choice in spell checker to use (mainly ability to use Hunspell)
- identical spell checking as other applications on the system, also in terms of available dictionaries and personal dictionaries
- dependencies on aspell and aspell-en can be dropped
Additional Information/Comments:
Patrick Storz (@ede123) wrote on 2017-04-28:
Inkscape still uses Aspell if you use "Text -> Check Spelling..." so we can't simply drop that dependency.
That being said we also use gtkspell (which makes use of the enchant backend) in the "Text and Font..." dialog's "Text" tab.
If we could get rid of Aspell and depend on enchant exclusively that certainly would be preferable, but it's not just a matter of changing dependencies but would require some code changes.
Version Info:
- Inkscape Version: ... <!-- (run inkscape -V or copy from Help → About Inkscape, top right) -->
- Operating System: ...
- Operating System version: ...
Migrator's Notes:
This issue is too "under-the-hood" for my understanding. Migrated purely for dev team discussion.