Spell checker update 2.1: a few bug fixes and couple of new features

This article is obsoltete. Please look here for newer version https://blogs.msdn.com/webdevtools/archive/2008/11/29/spell-checker-update-2-2-full-support-for-vs-2008-sp1-simpler-setup-and-a-few-bug-fixes.aspx  

Bug fixes:

  1. <param>Text</param> was not handled correctly.
  2. Comments in <% %> blocks were not included in spell checking.
  3. Spell checking terminated prematurely under certain conditions after encountering <% %> block.
  4. REM VB comments were not always handled correctly.
  5. Vista setup issues fixed (hopefully)

New features:

  1. It is now possible to add word to "ignore" list. The list is global and is stored as a text file.
  2. You can also add words to the Office active custom dictionary.

Spell Checker 2.1

List of word to ignore is a Unicode text file and stored in your user roaming profile folder. It is shared across VS 2005 and VS 2008 add-ins if you have both versions installed.

Spell Checker 2.1 ignore list location

Microsoft Office custom dictionary file is also a Unicode text file that is stored in the roaming profile in the Microsoft\UProof folder

Microsoft Office custom dictionary location

You can either either file in Notepad. Alternatively, you can edit list of words in the Office custom dictionary using Microsoft Word facilities:

Microsoft Word menu

Microsoft Word proofing options Microsoft Word custom dictionary editor

Since using custom dictionary and ignore list introduces certain perfomance hit (which depends on the dictionary size), you can turn it off in rules.xml file located in the Spell Checker installation folder (typically C:\Program Files\VS 2008 Spell Checker Add-In ) and change useOfficeCustomDictionary and/or useIgnoreList to 0.

<options>
<useOfficeCustomDictionary>1</useOfficeCustomDictionary>
<useIgnoreList>1</useIgnoreList>
</options>

For multilanguage spell checking, please look here and here. More details on how spell checker works and its various options can be found here

Important note: Add-in does not work with Visual Web Developer Express as Express editions are not extensible.

Visual Studio 2005 Add-in download

Visual Studio 2008 Add-in download

Troubleshooting

If after setup add-in does notnot show up in Visual Studio Tools menu, try installing component in admin mode. Save downloaded MSI file on disk, locate command prompt icon in the Windows Start menu (typically in Accessories folder), right click on it and select Run As Administrator. Then run MSI file from the admin command window. If, for some reason, add-in still does not appear in Visual Studio, try running regsvr32 vsspellchecker.dll from the admin command prompt in the add in installation folder. Some more information about add-in registration is here.