Adding a UK English Dictionary to OpenOffice

DicOOo v1.8 DOES now include the UK dictionary. So you can now update the spelling dictionary as follows:

• Click on the Documents icon in the - Work tab to open OpenOffice Writer.
• Unordered List Item If you need to specify a proxy server for Internet connectivity, enter the correct details for your establishment using Tools, Options, Internet, Proxy, Manual (for both http and ftp).
• Click on File, Wizards, 'Install new Dictionaries'. A document entitled DicOOo will be loaded.
• Click on the bold blue link for English to jump further down the document.
• Click on the Start DicOOo button.
• Click on Next (leave default settings as 'not Offline' and 'Current user setup' and English).
• Click on the 'Retrieve the list' button at the top of the empty window.
• If asked to upgrade to version 1.8, click on Yes, select OK. When a new document loads go back to step 5.
• From the list of languages, select English (United Kingdom).
• Click Next.
• Click on the 'Retrieve the list' button at the top of the empty window.
• Select English (United Kingdom).
• Click Next.
• Click on the 'Retrieve the list' button at the top of the empty window.
• Select English (United Kingdom).
• Click Next.
• Untick the 'Do not download dictionaries that are already installed' (remove the bold black cross X).
• Click Next.
• After the download has completed, click Finish.
• Quit all open Writer sessions and then re-load OpenOffice Writer (click on the Documents icon).
• Click on Tools, Options, Language Settings, Languages, Western, select the previously chosen language from the drop-down list. Note: The language selected will have a small ABC tick icon. This indicates it will work with the spell checker.
• If desired, change the other Language Locale setting to English (UK).
• Click on OK.
• Check that 'color' is wavy-underlined in red now and then pressing F7 performs a spell check correctly. Note: Use a new document for this test, not an existing document.

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OpenOffice on the Eee PC does not include the ability to install a UK English dictionary out-of-the-box. The dictionaries availble in DicOOo v1.8, accessed through the Install New Dictionaries Wizard, includes numerous English dictionaries (American, South African, New Zealand etc), but not one for the UK!

For users in the UK who exchange Word files between their Windows PC and their Eee PC this can be a real pain, as the language is embedded in the Word file. The effect of this is to cause the spellchecker and thesaurus to not function in the Eee PC's OpenOffice.

In order to get around this problem we need to install the UK specific OpenOffice files without using DicOOo.

NOTE: If you've already added the Xandros repositories, you don't need to complete this step.

- Open a shell (Ctrl-Alt-T)

- Type the following:

sudo kwrite /etc/apt/sources.list

- Add the following line to the end of the document then save and close:

deb http://debian.virginmedia.com stable main contrib non-free

- Type the following commands into the shell:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install myspell-en-gb
sudo apt-get install openoffice.org-l10n-en-gb
sudo apt-get install openoffice.org-help-en-gb
sudo apt-get install openoffice.org-thesaurus-en-gb

- Run the OpenOffice Writer application (Work / Documents in Easy Mode)

- Select Tools → Options → Language Settings → Languages

- Modify the Default language for documents to English (UK)

- Select Language Settings → Writing Aids

- Modify the Spellchecker and Thesaurus to use the newly installed UK files.

It's important to be careful with repositories on the EEE. If you know about all this already, don't worry about this step.

If not, it's best to turn that Debian virgin media repository off again, just to be safe:-

- Open a shell/console again (Ctrl-Alt-T)

- Type the following again:

sudo kwrite /etc/apt/sources.list

- Put a # in front of the debian line, so that it looks like this:

# deb http://debian.virginmedia.com stable main contrib non-free

- Save and close. All done!

If you need to turn it on again, repeat and delete the #.

(Note - If you're using a UK keyboard layout on a non-UK EEE, the '#' key is on the far right above 'enter'. If you can't type £'s and need to change keyboard layouts, look here: Changing keyboard layout )

• http://forum.eeeuser.com/viewtopic.php?id=4254