Install spell checking on windows

From mailing list message by Nathan King:

Install

Here is the closest thing to an idiots guide I can offer. This requires running Zim from source. I know this works with Zim 0.60 on Windows XP 32 bit and 64 bit but you must use 32 bit python. I do not know if this works for Windows 7. According to Jeff this is working with a Windows 7, 64 bit.

1. Download and install the following.

   • python 2.6.6 (32 bit) - http://www.python.org/ftp/python/2.6.6/python-2.6.6.msi
   • pyGTK-all-in-one GTK2.22 - http://ftp.gnome.org/pub/GNOME/binaries/win32/pygtk/2.22/pygtk-all-in-one-2.22.6.win32-py2.6.msi
   • pyenchant-1.5.3 - http://pypi.python.org/packages/any/p/pyenchant/pyenchant-1.5.3.win32.exe
   • PyGTKSpell-2.25.3 - http://gramps-project.org/wiki/images/f/ff/PyGTKSpell-2.25.3.win32-py2.6.zip

2. Download and extract the latest zim src(June 2013, using 0.60, I extracted to C:\Program Files (x86)\zim-0.60):

   • http://zim-wiki.org/downloads/zim-0.60.tar.gz

3. Create a copy of [zim_root]\zim.pyand rename the copy to [zim_root]\zim.pyw(the .pyw extension allows launching without a shell).

4. Do one of the following: a. add the installed location of Enchant to the windows path. eg: C:\Python26\Lib\site-packages\enchant (this is my preferred option) or b. Edit [zim_root]\zim.pyw, add import enchant at the top with the other imports

5. Start zim using [zim_root]\zim.pyw --standalone (January 2013, starting with 0.58 the --standalone tag is required)

Additional Tips:

Here are a couple additional tips that helped Jeff

Dictionaries:

Use "en_US" for United States English. The dictionaries are part of the Enchant install and should be someplace like: C:\Python26\Lib\site-packages\enchant\share\enchant\myspell There should be several .dic files and .aff files. The Zim configuration uses the name (without the file extension) of the .dic files.

Zim Shortcut:

To get Zim to run from the source code without also having a DOS window open you need to use the .pyw extension however, to get Zim to start from the .pyw you need to include "--standalone" in the start command. The easiest way to do this is to create a windows shortcut and in the Target field include the --standalone argument. For example my shortcut has target (quotes included): "C:\Program Files (x86)\zim-0.60\zim.pyw" --standalone