SpellServer.NET Overview Documentation


Using SpellServer in ASP.NET

Sample Applications Overview

SpellServer is a class library for .NET, and as such, it provides a number of methods and properties that can be used to check spelling.  However, simply having a class library isn't enough, so we provide two complete working ASP.NET applications with SpellServer - one in VB.NET, and one in C#.

You can examine these sample applications and use them as examples while writing your own application, or you can easily integrate the main ASP.NET spell checking page from either sample (correct.aspx) into your application.

Our sample application is comprised of three pages:

InitialPage.aspx The initial data entry page.  This page will typically be replaced by a page in your current web application, as it serves only to collect the text that should be checked.
Correct.aspx The main spell checking page in the application.  This page uses SpellServer.NET to search for the next misspelled word, and then to present that word, its suggested replacement strings, and various possible actions for the user to take.  When the entire string has been spell-checked, this page forwards the user to the next page of your application (in the case of this demonstration, we use the Finish.aspx page).
Finish.aspx This page serves only to display the final results of the spell-checking.  It will always be replaced with your own page (one that continues processing with the now spell-checked text).


Examining the VB.NET Sample Application in Visual Studio.NET

Note that both ASP.NET sample applications use "src=" in the ASPX files, rather than "CodeBehind=".  This is because some ASP.NET programmers do not use Visual Studio.NET.  If you are planning on using VS.NET, you may wish to change "src=" in the *.ASPX files to "CodeBehind=" to help VS.NET handle the project properly.


To open the sample VB.NET project in Visual Studio.NET, you need to do the following steps:

1.  Once you start VS.NET, go to File - Open - Project From Web.

2.  In the URL text box, type in http://localhost/SpellServerNETDemoVB/, then select svnetdemo.vbproj.

3.  In the Solution Explorer, right-click on InitialPage.aspx and choose Set As Start Page.

4.  Change "src=" to "CodeBehind=" in the "<@Page" part of InitialPage.aspx, Correct.aspx, and Finish.aspx.


Examining the C# Sample Application in Visual Studio.NET

Note that both ASP.NET sample applications use "src=" in the ASPX files, rather than "CodeBehind=".  This is because some ASP.NET programmers do not use Visual Studio.NET.  If you are planning on using VS.NET, you may wish to change "src=" in the *.ASPX files to "CodeBehind=" to help VS.NET handle the project properly.


To open the sample C# project in Visual Studio.NET, you need to do the following steps:

1.  Once you start VS.NET, go to File - Open - Project From Web.

2.  In the URL text box, type in http://localhost/SpellServerNETDemoCSharp/, then select SpellServerNETDemoCSharp.csproj.

3.  In the Solution Explorer, right-click on InitialPage.aspx and choose Set As Start Page.

4.  Change "src=" to "CodeBehind=" in the "<@Page" part of InitialPage.aspx, Correct.aspx, and Finish.aspx.


Integrating Correct.aspx Into Your Application

The main page in the sample application is Correct.aspx.  This page can easily be integrated into your own application by following these steps:

1.  At some point in your existing application, you will have some text you wish to spell-check.  Perhaps your application allows the user to enter text into a text box, or maybe you retrieve or construct some text based on user input.  At the point that you've assembled or collected the text, you need to pass this text into the Correct.aspx page.  There are two approaches to getting the text into this page:

1a.  If you wish to pass in the text via a form post, you'll need to modify the INPUT_FIELD_NAME constant located at the top of Correct.aspx.vb or Correct.aspx.cs.  For example, if your application page uses a <TEXTAREA> tag named txaUserComments for the text you wish checked, you will need to change the INPUT_FIELD_NAME constant to be "txaUserComments".  The page will then retrieve the data via Request.Form.

1b.  If you don't wish to post the text to Correct.aspx (for example, if the text can be retrieved from a data source), you can retrieve or contruct the data in the page itself.  To do this, simply redirect flow to Correct.aspx, and modify the Correct.aspx.vb or Correct.aspx.cs file to get the initial text (comments in the file show which lines will need to be changed).

2.  If you wish to check spelling in UK English, French, or Spanish, set the Language property   The Language property can be "US", "UK", "FR" or "SP".

3.  If you are using the retail version of SpellServer, be sure to set the CompanyName property to match the value you entered during installation.  Also, ensure that SpellServer*.bdc and SpellServer*.dat files are located in the bin folder of your application.

4.  If you wish to change the look of the correction page, modify the styles either by changing the <LINK> tag to point to your own CSS file, or by modifying the styles stored in SpellServer's CSS file.  Another option would be to place the styles into the Correct.aspx file itself, although this approach isn't as flexible as using a CSS file.

5.  Add a reference to SpellServer.NET to your ASP.NET application.   You may wish to add the following lines to the Web.Config file, inside the <Config> tags: 

<compilation defaultLanguage="vb" debug="true">
 <assemblies>
  <add assembly="SpellServer.NET, Version=2.0, culture=neutral, publickeytoken=bf4f42a68db83050"/>
 </assemblies>
</compilation>

Deployment

 One of the benefits that the .NET framework provides is ease of deployment.  Installing the SpellServer library is as simple as copying the SpellServer.NET.dll file into a folder on your web server, and adding a reference to it in your ASP.NET application.  We recommend that you set "Copy Local" to True in the properties page of the reference.

Also, ensure that the language-specific SpellServer*.bdc (and SpellServer*.dat, for the retail version of the product) files are located in the bin folder of your application.

Technical Support

 Chado Software stands behind its products.  We offer free lifetime technical support for our products (details are available on our web site).  Be sure to check our web site for updates to SpellServer and new technical information, and also use it to contact our technical support team if needed.

www.chado-software.com