Skip to main content
JapanMike
JapanMike
Inspiring
December 15, 2019
Question

Spellchecking words with a symbol at the end

  • December 15, 2019
  • 1 reply
  • 500 views

I am trying to add a word to my user dictionary such as: XYZ+
I can't work out how to get spellcheck to recognise the "+". The red underline showing a misspelling is under the XYZ and ignores the + entirely.

Is there a way to do this?

I'm having the same proble with email addresses elsewhere (the name before the @ is treated separately from the rest of the address).

Thanks,

Mike

This topic has been closed for replies.

1 reply

BobLevine
Community Expert
BobLevineCommunity Expert
Community Expert
December 15, 2019
I don't completely remember all the details but you can't do this through the InDesign interface. I do seem to remember a tip where you can edit the dictionary file (I think it's XML) and add it there.

Don't hold me to any of that since it's early and I haven't had a whole lot of coffee, yet.
    Joel Cherney
    Community Expert
    Joel CherneyCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    December 15, 2019

    Your pre-coffee brain was right on the money, Bob. I just did a big InDesign project for the first time this year, and needed to refresh my memory on this process myself. The Keith Gilbert post & accompanying comments over at indesignsecrets has a fairly complete summary of how to pull it off. 

    E
    Community Expert
    Eugene TysonCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    December 16, 2019

    Thanks to both. However, helpfully... or otherwise, the user dictionary is now a text file (.udc or .txt) and I cannot seem to get it to recognise special characters (CC, InDesign2020). I can put them in but the spell check ends at the end of the word, not the special character. For example x@abc.com produces errors separating the x from the @.

     

    I am really surprised that this is not supported (without directly editing the files) in id. Wouldn't dictionaries of technical terms, a firm's email addresses, etc. be things that would be commonly required?

     

    Thanks,

    Mike


    Try changing the @ symbol to no language - if you have styles setup you can set all your punctuation to "no language".

    Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement
    Using the community Terms of use Privacy Cookie preferences Do not sell or share my personal information ad choicesAdChoices