Skip spelling check for timecodes

[linkcheck]

We have a problem when spellchecking timecoded documents such as TV script transcripts. Unless the Check Numbers option is disabled the spelling checker stops at every timecode - eg 10:43:17 - which requires an Ignore and lengthens the time taken unacceptably.

I cannot find a solution to this. I know others have a similar problem because I’ve seen there request for this and the inevitable reply: disable Number checking. Since there is a possiblity of numbers and text appearing in the main document’s text this is unacceptable.

One solution has been to use tables, with a column for timecode and another for text, but this is not always possible.

I have investigated adding a “timecode” dictionary but the size of it seems likely to be at least 99 * 99 entries long. I have also looked into adding regex expressions into various places in the spelling hierarcy but this does not work.

The problem seems to be caused by the prescence of a colon : between the numbers.

Am I missing something, documented or not, that could help with this problem? It would seem to be a simple enough option to include in the checker - enable/disable timecode checking.

[ajlittoz]

Writer “formatting” (by lack of a better word) is based on styles. Contrary to common belief, styles primary purpose is not to describe typographical attributes of paragraph or words, but to tag paragraphs, words, pages or other objects as to their semantic value for an author. Typographical appearance comes as a consequence of this, not the other way round.

In your document, timecodes have a special significance for you and you require them to be skipped by spellchecking. The cure is easy.

Create a user character style with nameTimecode. In the Font tab of this style, set Language to None to disable spellchecking.

All you have to do now is to select all your timecodes (this can be done in Edit>Find & Replace with a regular expression, Find all button, leave dialog) and apply the Timecode character style to the selection.

[linkcheck]

Thank you for the suggestion but that is not appropriate in this case. It requires extra actions by someone who is not conversant with regex and would be confused by it; also, in many instances, it would require setting up the initial conditions for every new template that a customer sends. I will keep it in mind as a last resort, though.

I would not expect an alteration to the spelling checker code to be difficult and am surprised it does not already exist. Certainly there are quite a few users who would appreciate it.

[ajlittoz]

You need to search with regexp only to fix existing documents. Afterwards, when you add a new timecode, you only style it with the character style. This is the same annoyance as hitting Ctrl+B to embolden a word. And you can also associate this style with a keyboard shortcut to have it handy.
This style can also be stored in a Writer template (probably not what you call “template” in your comment) so that it is made available for all documents based on this template.
Also, the trick works only if your documents are saved .odt. If your customers send .doc(x), no luck!

[linkcheck]

Thank you. That information is more positive. But customers send us DOCX files (and we have to convert back before returning the completed document).

I still cannot understand the problem in implementing the common timecode exemption in the spelling checker, similar to the “do not check numbers”.