Coptic Spell Checking in OpenOffice
(for Linux & Windows)

The following describes, how you can install a Coptic dictionary (for Bohairic) in the OpenOffice.org package. This will enable you, to be able to make spell checking on your Coptic texts.


Please be aware, that you must have prepared your operating system for working with Unicode Coptic before. This means, that you must have done the following:

• install Unicode Coptic fonts
• install Unicode Coptic keymaps

The preparation differs of course depending on your operating system. To be more clear: it will not work with all fonts like CS-Fonts from Coptic.Net, or older standards, since these fonts are not Unicode. With these fonts the PC "thinks" you are typing English! You can get few Unicode fonts following this link. The following links describe how to install a Coptic keymap for Linux and for WindowsXP

How to install the Coptic Dictionary? (applies for Linux and Windows)

The procedure for installation depends whether you work with an OpenOffice version prior 3.0 or not. In both cases you shall do the following steps:

• prepare your operating system for Coptic Unicode as described above.
• If Openoffice is not installed on your system: download the appropriate version at OpenOffice.org and install it as described there. Alternatively, you might find an installation file on your Linux distribution (for example an rpm-file for Suse or deb-file from Debian).

Depending on the OpenOffice version, proceed with the following steps:

Openoffice versions prior 3.0

• Download the compressed files of the latest version of the Coptic dictionary cop_EG_v0.2.tgz or cop_EG_v0.2.zip.
  Untar/unzip the file into the directory:

OPENOFFICE_HOME/share/dict/ooo/

where OPENOFFICE_HOME is the basis directory, where the OpenOffice files were installed.
This could be for example /opt/openoffice.org2.2 under Linux or C:\Program Files\openoffice.org2.2 under Windows.
• add the following line:
  
  DICT cop EG cop_EG
  
  at the end of the file: dictionary.lst
  You can open this file with any text editor like WordPad (Windows) or emacs (Linux).
• Choose another user interface font for OpenOffice. This is needed, to be able to see the suggestions made by the dictionary for misspelled words. There is no dedicated option for changing the default user interface font in OpenOffice.org. However, it is possible to change the font by the general font replacement mechanism. Select:
          Tools -> Options -> OpenOffice.org -> Fonts
  Check the "Apply replacement table" check box. Replace the font:
  "Open Symbol"    with: "FreeSerifAthanasius"
  or any other Unicode font you like, which supports the Coptic glyphs.
  In certain versions (older versions), the default ui font was "Andale Sans UI" instead of "Open Symbol", so simply try replacing both fonts with a Unicode Coptic font.
  In case you do not find an entry "Open Symbol" or "Andale Sans UI" in the left font list box, simply write it manually into the "Font" field.

• To add this replacement into the replacement table, click the green check mark, then in the list check the "Always" flag.
  The settings should apply immediately after pressing the "OK" button, otherwise you might need to restart OpenOffice
• If everything works correct, then after restarting Openoffice, you should see a small Symbol in the language selection dialog (menu: Format --> Character...), right to the entry "Coptic" in the language list, indicating that the dictionary has been installed correctly. Please notice, that you have to restart OpenOffice to see this symbol. This also means, that you have to exit the quick launcher (under Windows).
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Now test, if everything works by trying to type a Coptic Unicode text. Use a Unicode font and mark the written text and set the language to "Coptic". You can also download a sample odt-file to experiment with. Please notice, that ligatures (like the Jinkim or over-bar) are handled as combining characters, which means, if you would like to type a letter with a bar symbol above: first type in the letter, then the ligature!

Openoffice version 3.0 and upwards

Starting from version 3.0, the Coptic dictionary is installed as an extension. You don't need to edit any files like described above. You can get the extension for the Coptic language spell checking from the OpenOffice.org extensions site. You can also get the extension from here , download it, save and install it manually.
After this, complete all the steps described above for versions prior 3.0, starting from the step: "Choose another user interface font .."

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last updated: 06.05.2008
Moheb Mekhaiel