Q. How do I use Spellex Spelling Server on my Web site?

You can use Spellex Spelling Server in two ways:

• Use the included spelling applet to spell-check the contents of text areas in your HTML forms. The applet is tiny (just 11K) and communicates with your server to check spelling. Using the applet requires virtually no programming on your part.
• You add a spell checker to your ASP and ASP.NET applications. Your application calls Spellex Spelling Server (running on your server) to check the spelling of text entered in HTML forms. Example ASP and ASP.NET applications are included with Spellex Spelling Server.

Q. What's the difference between Spellex Spelling Server and the Spellex Windows SDK?

The Spellex Spelling Server was designed specifically to handle a large number of simultaneous client spelling requests. It is optimal for use on high-traffic servers, where users are concurrently accessing the software. Features such as shared dictionaries, multiple client access, and no blocking make this efficient usage possible without sacrificing performance. The Spellex Windows SDK, on the other hand, was designed for use in desktop applications where access would be limited to a few number of users. The Spellex Windows SDK is recommended for use on low- to medium-traffic Web sites only.

Q. What is the difference between the DE and XE versions of Spellex Spelling Server?

Click here for more information about the Spellex Spelling Server

Q. What happens in the DE version when a fifth spelling request is received? Does the user get an error message?

The limit of four simultaneous spelling requests in the DE version has no undesirable side-effects. The fifth simultaneous spelling request is simply queued internally until one of the first four finishes. From the outside, nothing appears to happen at all. No error messages are displayed, and no exceptions are raised. The user would be entirely unable to tell whether his or her request was the fifth, and therefore queued, or the first, and processed right away. The fifth request is not rejected or discarded; it simply waits for its turn. We like to use the analogy of a barber shop with four chairs to describe the DE version. From the outside, you could see a customer (a spelling request) go in, and some time later that customer would come out (the spelling request would be finished). You couldn't easily tell if the customer was served right away or had to sit in the waiting area for a while until a barber chair became available. Of course, if it was necessary to wait in the waiting area, it would take a little longer for the customer to come out.

With only five simultaneous spelling requests, the difference between the DE and XE versions of Spellex Spelling Server are negligible. At higher loads (e.g., 50 simultaneous requests), the XE version has higher throughput. That is the only difference between the DE and XE versions.

Q. Does Spellex offer technical support?

Our current policy provides free e-mail support with no fixed time limits for all customers. Our technical support representatives are prepared to spend a reasonable amount of time helping you resolve problems related to integrating our products with your software. We are well-known for prompt response times with accurate solutions for your technical support inquiries.

Q. How do I obtain upgrades?

Upgrades for any Spellex product are usually available for roughly 25% of the product's price at the time the upgrade is purchased.

Annual maintenance contracts are also available. An annual maintenance contract keeps your software updated with any major or minor upgrades released by Spellex during the year. You can contact us at any time to inquire about current version numbers, recent changes, etc.

Q. Can I add words to the dictionary?

Yes! The Spellex Spelling Server enables your application to open dictionaries, much like a program can open files. When the Spelling Server checks the spelling of a word, it verifies the word with all open text dictionaries. These text dictionaries are then modifiable; your application can add or remove words from them at runtime. Multiple dictionaries can be open simultaneously.

Q. Can Spellex Spelling Server offer suggested replacements for misspelled words?

Yes! The ActiveX Spelling Engine includes the Suggest method, which looks up suggestions for misspellings. If your application is using our built-in spelling-checker dialog, the spell checker can be adjusted to offer suggestions automatically or only when the "Suggest" button is pressed by the user.

Q. Does the dictionary just contain words, or words and definitions?

The current version of the Spellex Spelling Server is a highly optimized spell check engine which contains only word lists. Definition dictionaries are currently unavailable through the Spellex Spelling Server.

Q. How much memory and disk space does Spellex Spelling Server need?

The engine’s DLL file is about 120K in size. The American and UK English dictionaries, which are included with the Spelling Server, each occupy slightly over 300K. At run time, the Spellex Spelling Server will use a maximum of approximately 500K of memory space.

Q. How fast is Spellex Spelling Server?

The Spellex Spelling Server offers extremely fast spell checking performance! At its optimal capacity, the Spelling Server can check the spelling of over 500,000+ in less than 1.5 seconds.

Q. Do you have a version that runs on UNIX or Linux servers?

Spellex does not currently offer a product that operates within a UNIX or Linux server environment.

Q. If we license Spellex Spelling Server, do we need to license the English Word List too?

No. Spellex Spelling Server comes with American, Canadian, and UK English dictionaries.

Q. We have a database application. Will Spellex Spelling Server work with our database?

Spellex Spelling Server works with database and non-database applications. Spellex Spelling Server uses dictionary files that are not connected in any way to your database.

Q. Does the text being spell-checked have to come from an HTML form?

The text spell-checked by Spellex Spelling Server can come from anywhere. Spellex Spelling Server has an API that spellchecks text in a string. The string can come from any source, including database fields and text boxes in web forms.

Q. We need a way to validate keywords (or part numbers, product ids, etc.) before searching. Can Spellex Spelling Server do that?

Certainly. Just create a custom dictionary containing your keywords and tell Spellex Spelling Server to use it. When the user enters keywords for searching, have Spellex Spelling Server check the spelling of each keyword against your custom dictionary. Any unknown keywords will be reported as misspelled words. Spellex Spelling Server can even suggest replacements based on similarity to valid keywords. One of the examples included with Spellex Spelling Server demonstrates this technique.