Linux ispell Command with Practical Examples

Introduction

In this lab, we will explore the usage of the ispell command-line spell checker on an Ubuntu 22.04 system. We will start by installing the ispell package, and then demonstrate how to use it to check the spelling of a single word and a text file. The ispell command is a powerful tool for proofreading and editing text documents, and this lab will provide practical examples to help you get started with its usage.

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Skills Graph

Install ispell on Ubuntu 22.04

In this step, we will install the ispell command-line spell checker on our Ubuntu 22.04 Docker container.

First, let's update the package index:

sudo apt-get update

Example output:

Hit:1 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy InRelease
Get:2 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy-security InRelease [110 kB]
Get:3 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy-updates InRelease [114 kB]
Get:4 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy-backports InRelease [99.8 kB]
Fetched 324 kB in 1s (324 kB/s)
Reading package lists... Done

Next, install the ispell package:

sudo apt-get install -y ispell

Example output:

Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
The following additional packages will be installed:
  libaspell15 libhunspell-1.7-0 liblcms2-2 libmpc3 libmpfr6 libpaper-utils libpaper1
Suggested packages:
  aspell-en hunspell-en-us
The following NEW packages will be installed:
  ispell libaspell15 libhunspell-1.7-0 liblcms2-2 libmpc3 libmpfr6 libpaper-utils libpaper1
0 upgraded, 8 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 1,519 kB of archives.
After this operation, 5,557 kB of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n] Y
Get:1 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy/main amd64 libpaper1 amd64 1.1.28 [13.1 kB]
Get:2 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy/main amd64 libpaper-utils amd64 1.1.28 [9,012 B]
Get:3 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy/main amd64 libmpc3 amd64 1.2.1-1 [51.0 kB]
Get:4 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy/main amd64 libmpfr6 amd64 4.1.0-3 [289 kB]
Get:5 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy/main amd64 liblcms2-2 amd64 2.12-2 [168 kB]
Get:6 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy/main amd64 libhunspell-1.7-0 amd64 1.7.0-3 [375 kB]
Get:7 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy/main amd64 libaspell15 amd64 0.60.8-3 [575 kB]
Get:8 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy/main amd64 ispell amd64 3.4.00-8 [37.0 kB]
Fetched 1,519 kB in 1s (1,519 kB/s)
Selecting previously unselected package libpaper1.
(Reading database ... 16100 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../libpaper1_1.1.28_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking libpaper1 (1.1.28) ...
Selecting previously unselected package libpaper-utils.
Preparing to unpack .../libpaper-utils_1.1.28_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking libpaper-utils (1.1.28) ...
Selecting previously unselected package libmpc3:amd64.
Preparing to unpack .../libmpc3_1.2.1-1_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking libmpc3:amd64 (1.2.1-1) ...
Selecting previously unselected package libmpfr6:amd64.
Preparing to unpack .../libmpfr6_4.1.0-3_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking libmpfr6:amd64 (4.1.0-3) ...
Selecting previously unselected package liblcms2-2:amd64.
Preparing to unpack .../liblcms2-2_2.12-2_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking liblcms2-2:amd64 (2.12-2) ...
Selecting previously unselected package libhunspell-1.7-0:amd64.
Preparing to unpack .../libhunspell-1.7-0_1.7.0-3_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking libhunspell-1.7-0:amd64 (1.7.0-3) ...
Selecting previously unselected package libaspell15.
Preparing to unpack .../libaspell15_0.60.8-3_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking libaspell15 (0.60.8-3) ...
Selecting previously unselected package ispell.
Preparing to unpack .../ispell_3.4.00-8_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking ispell (3.4.00-8) ...
Setting up libpaper1 (1.1.28) ...
Setting up libpaper-utils (1.1.28) ...
Setting up libmpc3:amd64 (1.2.1-1) ...
Setting up libmpfr6:amd64 (4.1.0-3) ...
Setting up liblcms2-2:amd64 (2.12-2) ...
Setting up libhunspell-1.7-0:amd64 (1.7.0-3) ...
Setting up libaspell15 (0.60.8-3) ...
Setting up ispell (3.4.00-8) ...
Processing triggers for libc-bin (2.35-0ubuntu3) ...
Processing triggers for man-db (2.10.2-1) ...

The ispell package is now installed on our Ubuntu 22.04 Docker container.

Use ispell to Check Spelling of a Single Word

In this step, we will use the ispell command to check the spelling of a single word.

First, let's create a file named word.txt in the ~/project directory with a misspelled word:

echo "wrod" > ~/project/word.txt

Now, we can use the ispell command to check the spelling of the word in the word.txt file:

ispell ~/project/word.txt

Example output:

wrod, line 1: Unknown word
& wrod, 1 suggestion: word
i

The output shows that the word "wrod" is unknown, and ispell suggests the correct spelling "word".

To accept the suggested correction, type "i" and press Enter.

Use ispell to Check Spelling of a Text File

In this step, we will use the ispell command to check the spelling of a text file.

First, let's create a file named text.txt in the ~/project directory with some misspelled words:

cat > ~/project/text.txt << EOF
This is a test file with som misspelled words.
The quick brown fox jumps over the laxy dog.
EOF

Now, we can use the ispell command to check the spelling of the words in the text.txt file:

ispell ~/project/text.txt

Example output:

text.txt, line 1: som, misspelled
& som, 1 suggestion: some
i
text.txt, line 2: laxy, misspelled
& laxy, 1 suggestion: lazy
i

The output shows that the words "som" and "laxy" are misspelled, and ispell suggests the correct spellings "some" and "lazy". To accept the suggested corrections, type "i" and press Enter for each misspelled word.

Summary

In this lab, we first installed the ispell command-line spell checker on our Ubuntu 22.04 Docker container by updating the package index and then installing the ispell package. We then learned how to use ispell to check the spelling of a single word and a text file, which can be helpful for proofreading and ensuring the accuracy of written documents.

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