CodeSpell Archives - Software Quality Blog

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Should You Hold Spelling Errors Against Developers?

October 16, 2018Eric GoebelbeckerNo Comments

You’re checking out some code. It’s been a long time since you looked at this project. Or maybe it’s the first time. You point your editor at an interesting file name and double-click to open it. Your coffee is warm, your mind is clear, and you’re ready to go.

And there it is, sticking out like white socks in sandals. A spelling error.

How do you handle it? Do you fix it? Do you ignore it? Discuss it with the author? Bring it up during lunch when he’s not around?

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Anatomy of C# Spell Check

August 22, 2017Erik DietrichNo Comments

With the vast ecosystem of tools and plugins around Visual Studio, the existence of a C# spell check shouldn’t come as a surprise. ?But maybe it does. ?It’s entirely possible that this sort of spell checking never occurred to you as something worth doing. ?Or maybe it just never occurred to you at all.

Personally, I think spell checking your code is most definitely worth doing. ?I won’t belabor the point here, since I’ve made this case in the past. ?Suffice it to say that since you can have it so effortlessly, you might as well get your spelling right.

Today, I’d like to talk instead about the problem of a C# spell checker (or a general purpose spell checker to use inside an IDE). ?In order to make things easy on you, the spell checker has to do some pretty sophisticated stuff and wrestle with subtle problems.

Spell check in a word processor is relatively easy from an implementation perspective. ?You assume the person is typing natural language and check all words against a dictionary. ?But in code? ?Not so much. ?Let’s take a look at some of the reasons for that.

C# Spell Check: the Basic Challenge

Written English (or any natural language) has very specific rules around spelling and grammar. ?Spaces demarcate words, and periods do the same for sentences. ?If you spell words incorrectly or have sentence fragments, you have nonsense, as far as the language is concerned.

This is, of course, also true of source code. ?Spaces separate tokens, and semicolons (or parentheses) demarcate statements. ?But whereas precision around English syntax and semantics optimizes for human understanding, these properties in code optimize for compiler understanding. ?You have to spell and case reserved keywords correctly so that the compiler can identify them. ?But non-reserved language tokens? ?The compiler has no opinion or preference.

This creates a rule vacuum of sorts. ?As I type this sentence, English rules dictate that I capitalize the word “English.” ?If I wrote a method named GetEnglishEquivalent, the compiler would care not a whit whether I capitalized any or all of those letters. ?We programmers are left to figure this out by convention.

So the core challenge of C# spell check is to join these two worlds and navigate the subtleties of rules versus conventions.

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Released: GhostDoc v4.7

August 15, 2013Serge BaranovskyNo Comments

We are happy to introduce the release of GhostDoc v4.7, a version that is greatly influenced by feedback from our users. It extends Visual Studio 2013 support and introduces an Enterprise version, Help Configurations, Help Content Targeting, embedding images into help markup, hyperlinking to base .NET Framework classes, abbreviation expansion, Non-breaking Words list, and much more:

Visual Studio 2013 support
Introduced GhostDoc Enterprise
(Pro) New Help Configuration feature – save custom configured help generation settings and switch between them easily
(Pro) Help Content Targeting – ability to create a (partial) ‘filtered’ help file based on attributes by using <tags/> in XML Comment and tag filtering in Help Configuration. If you need to have different help content for public API users, testers, internal documentation, etc, you can do that now!
New Abbreviations dictionary enables expanding abbreviations to full words (for example, ‘args’ -> ‘arguments’)
New Non-breaking Words list to preserve splitting when comment template is generated (for example, ‘CheckBox’ or ‘ListView’)
(Pro) Embed/reference images into the Help markup
(Pro) Option to skip documenting private/internal/protected members with Document File/Type batch commands
(Pro) .NET Framework classes are now hyperlinked to corresponding Microsoft reference page for additional information
(Ent) Customize Comment Preview
(Ent) Customize help layout and template

For the complete list of v4.7 changes see What’s New in GhostDoc and GhostDoc Pro v4.7

GhostDoc Enterprise

We have identified a clear need for a new kind of GhostDoc product, specifically suitable for enterprises and customers who need advanced configuration features for the help file output.

The GhostDoc Enterprise version that we are officially introducing today offers silent deployment options, full customization of the template and layout of the Comment Preview and Help Files. The Enterprise license customers are also eligible for the on-premises Enterprise Licensing Server option.

For edition comparison please see this page – http://submain.com/ghostdoc/editions/

Help Configuration and Help Content Targeting

The new Help Configuration feature enables you to create ready-to-use help generation profiles. You can easily switch between profiles, depending on what kind of help you are producing. Also you can define attributes with <tags /> in XML Comment and use tag filtering in Help Configuration to target Help content to your specific audience.

Help Configuration profiles include settings for:

Output format
Scope
Projects to include
Header and footer
New tag filtering for help content targeting

How do I try it?

Download v4.7 at http://submain.com/download/ghostdoc/

Feedback is what empowers us!

Let us know what you think of the new version here – http://submain.com/support/feedback/

Released: GhostDoc v4.5

January 18, 2013Serge BaranovskyNo Comments

The .5 release of GhostDoc builds up on the version 4.0 features offering more flexibility for spell checking and help file generation. Most significant changes in v4.5 are:

(Pro) New Template Libraries feature with Export/Import
(Pro) New output formats for generated Help files
- Html Help1 (.CHM)
- MS Help 2 (.HxS)
- MS Help Viewer aka MS Help 3 (.MSHC)
- Website (HTML, ASP.NET, PHP)
(Pro) Options Dialog: solution specific settings for Ignore lists, Solution Dictionary and Help File, User Dictionary
(Pro) Added Spelling suggestions window to replace SmartTag. The older SmartTag option can be turned back on in the Options
(Pro) Custom tag support in Preview Comments and Build Help File
(Pro) AllMembers, Methods, Properties, Events, Fields, Operators sections to the generated Help file
Combined arguments of the same exception type into tag text
Help file/Preview now renders correct project language
Added syntax highlighting of the blocks in Help File/Preview
Added “Send Feedback…” to enable easy way of providing feedback right from the product menu

For complete list of v4.5 changes see What’s New in GhostDoc and GhostDoc Pro v4.5

Template Libraries

While GhostDoc Pro T4 template mechanism provides maximum flexibility how you can tweak and reconfigure your XML Comments and even regular comments, until now there was no easy way to share the set of templates with your team or the community.

Today we are introducing Template Libraries – you can Export the whole set of your custom templates and distribute it as one file which can be imported. Template Library includes meta-data – the library author, company name and contact information. To access the feature use Options -> Rules -> Export.

We will be hosting a section on our web site where we publish GhostDoc Pro Template Libraries we release. If you have specific comment formats you want us to release, send your requests in.

We also want to encourage sharing your templates with the community. Contact us if you have template library you was us to publish.

New Help File Formats and Options

When we introduced a simple single click way of generating help file from your project XML comments, we realized that just one CHM format is not enough and we would need to add options to tweak your help file output.

Today GhostDoc Pro can build into the following help file formats:

Html Help1 (.CHM)
MS Help 2 (.HxS)
MS Help Viewer aka MS Help 3 (.MSHC)
Website (HTML, ASP.NET, PHP)

You also have the following options when building help file with GhostDoc Pro:

Select solution projects that you want to be included into the help file
Define Header and Footer for the help file pages
Decide whether you want to include Private, Internal, Protected members

How do I try it?

Download v4.5 at http://submain.com/download/ghostdoc/

Released: GhostDoc v4.0

September 13, 2012Serge BaranovskyNo Comments

Note to GhostDoc Pro v3 users: Your v3 license won?t work with v4. We will be sending new license codes shortly to those of you with License Protection.

We are happy to announce the release of GhostDoc v4 and GhostDoc Pro v4 aligned with Visual Studio 2012 release as part of our VS2012 sim-ship commitment!

Version 4 is a major milestone for us with great new features and rewrites that we have done over the last year. Here are the most significant additions to the GhostDoc feature set:

Visual Studio 2012 support
(Pro) Source code Spell Checker
C/C++ language support
XML Comment Preview
(Pro) Build Help File
StyleCop Compliance ? comments generated by GhostDoc are now pass StyleCop validation
Exception Documentation – exceptions raised within a method are documented in the XML Comment
(Pro) File Header menu and template
(Pro) Visual Studio toolbar with commands for documenting, comment preview and spell-checking
(Pro) Options -> Global Properties – allows to reference custom configured user properties within T4 templates (CodeIt.Right users will find this very familiar)
(Pro) IntelliSense in the T4 template editor
Version update notification ? you won?t miss new version release ever again!

For detailed list of v4 changes see What’s New in GhostDoc and GhostDoc Pro v4.0

Spell Checker

GhostDoc Pro Spell Checker features:

Check Spelling as you type
Spell Checking for XML Comments
Spell Checking for code elements
Spell Checking for strings and comments
Spelling SmartTag in the VS Code Editor
Added support for OpenOffice dictionaries and multiple languages
Ignore files and file extensions
Custom User Dictionary
Custom Dictionary by Solution
Solution wide Spelling Report
Check Spelling for
- Active Document
- Selected Documents
- Current Project
- Entire Solution

Comment Preview

Do you want to see how your XML Comment will look like in the help file? Have HTML tags encoded in the XML Comment and want to make sure your HTML is correct? GhostDoc Comment Preview is here to help!

How do I try it?

Download v4 at http://submain.com/download/ghostdoc/

Note to Beta testers: We appreciate your contribution to this release and we will be contacting shortly those of you who provided feedback during the alpha/beta testing program.

Note to GhostDoc Pro v3 users: We have changed licensing schema in v4.0 and your v3.x license codes won’t work with v4.0. For users with License Protection we will be sending v4.x license codes shortly. Users without the License Protection have to purchase new version – currently we are not offering upgrade path other than the License Protection program.

GhostDoc v4 Beta 2 is available!

June 21, 2012Serge BaranovskyNo Comments

Note to GhostDoc Pro v3 users: Please use the temporary license above, your v3 license won?t work with v4. Once v4 is released we will be sending new license codes to those of you with License Protection.

After a round of private Alpha/Beta for GhostDoc we are excited to release Beta 2 of GhostDoc and GhostDoc Pro and make it available as part of the public Beta program!

Version 4 is a major milestone for us with great new features and rewrites that we have done over the last year. Here are the most significant additions to the GhostDoc feature set:

Visual Studio 2012 support
(Pro) Source code Spell Checker
C/C++ language support
XML Comment Preview
StyleCop Compliance ? comments generated by GhostDoc are now pass StyleCop validation
Exception Documentation – exceptions raised within a method are documented in the XML Comment
(Pro) File Header menu and template
(Pro) Visual Studio toolbar with commands for documenting, comment preview and spell-checking
(Pro) Options -> Global Properties – allows to reference custom configured user properties within T4 templates (CodeIt.Right users will find this very familiar)
(Pro) IntelliSense in the T4 template editor
Version update notification ? you won?t miss new version release ever again!

For detailed list of v4 changes see What’s New in GhostDoc and GhostDoc Pro v4.0

Spell Checker

GhostDoc Pro Spell Checker features:

Check Spelling as you type
Spell Checking for XML Comments
Spell Checking for code elements
Spell Checking for strings and comments
Spelling SmartTag in the VS Code Editor
Added support for OpenOffice dictionaries and multiple languages
Ignore files and file extensions
Custom User Dictionary
Custom Dictionary by Solution
Solution wide Spelling Report
Check Spelling for
- Active Document
- Selected Documents
- Current Project
- Entire Solution

Comment Preview

How do I try it?

Download the BETA at http://submain.com/download/ghostdoc/beta/

What?s in it for me?

We will be rewarding GhostDoc Pro licenses (as we always do) at the end of the private/public beta program to those who provide feedback.

Where do I post feedback?

Please post your v4 Beta feedback in the GhostDoc Beta forum

What about GhostDoc Pro license?

The Pro trial license will allow you to run it for 14 days. To get past that point, please use the license below:

063A0-29A49-A6083-692D1-32CFC <- good through 09/01/2012

19E95-459BB-E531B-288C0-08659 <- good through 10/01/2012

Note to GhostDoc Pro v3 users: Please use the temporary license above, your v3 license won?t work with v4. Once v4 is released we will be sending new license codes to those of you with License Protection.

Retiring PrettyCode.Print and StudioTools; CodeSpell to be merged into GhostDoc Pro

August 25, 2011Serge BaranovskyNo Comments

PrettyCode.Print and StudioTools no longer fit our strategic corporate direction to deliver best code quality tools on the market.?

Discontinuing these products enables us to reinvest the efforts into our flagship products and offer even better code quality tools. We will be releasing new greatly enhanced versions of our existing products as well as new products over the next six months. For a sneak peek of what?s coming please see our Product Feedback board.

PrettyCode.Print
PrettyCode.Print for VB6/VBA and PrettyCode.Print for .NET will no longer be further developed. Both products will be converted into a free download in their current state. While we will continue to offer technical support for PrettyCode.Print products for six more month from now, there will be no enhancements, improvements nor bug fixes for these two products.? You can download PrettyCode.Print for VB6/VBA and PrettyCode.Print for .NET in the Community Downloads section.

CodeIt.Once
CodeIt.Once is retired and no longer available for download. We encourage you to learn about our CodeIt.Right product which offers automated refactorings and proactively finds the opportunities for refactoring and improving your code.

StudioTools
StudioTools is retired and will no longer be offered for download or supported.

CodeSpell
CodeSpell will not be available for purchase for approximately 6 months. The CodeSpell engine is being rewritten to allow greater flexibility and better features, after which, the code spelling feature will be offered as part of our GhostDoc Pro product. All customers that purchased CodeSpell from SubMain (after March 9th, 2010) will be offered, at no charge, the equivalent number of licenses for GhostDoc Pro once the code spelling feature is released.

We sincerely appreciate your continued support and look forward to working with you in the future.

SubMain acquires Exact Magic’s TestMatrix, CodeSpell and StudioTools

March 9, 2010Serge BaranovskyNo Comments

As announced earlier today we just closed the acquisition of the popular unit testing and code coverage product TestMatrix, as well as CodeSpell and StudioTools. We, SubMain, will continue to maintain and enhance these products.

TestMatrix adds support for unit testing, code coverage analysis, and test profiling to Visual Studio, seamlessly incorporating these critical development practices directly into the coding process itself; CodeSpell adds real-time, intelligent detection and correction of misspellings to Visual Studio; and StudioTools is a rich collection of Visual Studio enhancements.

We are also announcing today the availability of the new version for all three products – TestMatrix, CodeSpell and StudioTools – v2.1.10055 which adds support for Visual Studio 2010 RC.

We are very excited about taking over the future of such great products! TestMatrix complements CodeIt.Right into a Code Quality Suite which will be be complete with the addition of the new product codenamed Project Anelare in the following months.

For more on the agreement, please see the press release.