Nisus Pro support of Spellchecking and Grammar software

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Manu31
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Nisus Pro support of Spellchecking and Grammar software

Post by Manu31 »

Hi,

Since Apple has shrugged off in the face of its serious Pages users with the recent release of version 5, I'm considering a switch to Nisus Pro. I had to stick with Pages 09 until now, because despite its limitations, it is the only word processor (along with partial support of MS Word) that my spellchecker and grammar software works with. It's name is Prolexis, and it's a professional software for French language that is used by most of French publishers and newpapers (http://www.prolexis.com).

I was wondering if Nisus Pro was opened to that sort of plugins, and if I could incite the Prolexis guys to develop support of Nisus Pro (they already have InDesign and QuarkXPress plugins). This support would eventually bring new users to Nisus Pro, since it would make it the best choice in word processing on the Mac platform for french speaking people. It's a pity but we do not have any other alternative than MS Word today, which, bloated as it is, is far from being a great tool when it comes to serious writing and lengthy files. But I doubt Prolexis will support Nisus Pro if it's a hassle to access to main text and footnotes.

Thanks for your attention.
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martin
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Re: Nisus Pro support of Spellchecking and Grammar software

Post by martin »

NWP leverages whatever spelling dictionaries are installed on your Mac system. If Prolexis developed a spelling dictionary compatible with Mac (aka: a Cocoa spell server) then NWP will be able to take advantage of it. That naturally includes the main document body and other content areas (eg: footnotes, etc).

Have you tried the Mac OS X version of Prolexis? Its list of features indicates support for Mac applications and things like OSX services. If you've tried it, what did you find lacking?
Manu31
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Re: Nisus Pro support of Spellchecking and Grammar software

Post by Manu31 »

Martin,
Thanks a lot for your answer. The thing is that Prolexis isn't a mere dictionary (and, by the way, I didn't find how to make it the default French dictionary instead of Apple's one). It mainly offers two modes:
0. Aside from unsupported apps,
1. with some others, a service is available, so that some text selection can be copied to the clipboard and sent into Prolexis for correction. This means that all format is lost in the process. After correction, the text can be copied into the clipboard, and pasted back into the app.
2. with apps like Pages '09, MS Word, InDesign, InCopy, QuarkXPress, there is a full integration with Prolexis. That is, one can launch Prolexis and it will operate from within the word processor or layout app, with no loss of format. I attach a screen capture of this mode.

In Nisus Writer, mode 1 is accessible which, I suppose, implies that Prolexis uses SpellCheck Server. Mode 2 is not available. The problem is that the first mode is clearly not an option when one wants to check an entire manuscript, even part of it, since all format is lost in the process. Hence, my question: since Pages is no more a word processor for serious writing and Microsoft closed its Word app so that footnotes are no more supported in Prolexis (mode 2), the guys at Prolexis could be interested in adding support to one reliable word processor, which would be the only one fully supported in mode 2 on the Mac platform. I emphasize again the fact that they are the leading professional French checker.

Thanks again.
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martin
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Re: Nisus Pro support of Spellchecking and Grammar software

Post by martin »

Thank you for the extended explanation. I understand now that Prolexis provides much more than spellchecking.
Manu31 wrote:by the way, I didn't find how to make it the default French dictionary instead of Apple's one
You can control which spelling dictionary is used in NWP on a per-langauge basis. You'll want to change the spelling dictionary associated with the languages you use in NWP. If Prolexis offers a proper OSX/Cocoa spelling dictionary, it should appear among the list of available dictionaries.
2. with apps like Pages '09, MS Word, InDesign, InCopy, QuarkXPress, there is a full integration with Prolexis. That is, one can launch Prolexis and it will operate from within the word processor or layout app, with no loss of format. I attach a screen capture of this mode.
Thank you for the screenshot. It appears that Prolexis isn't exactly operating from within the other app, but perhaps is just displaying their own window to frame the existing document window. It might be that Prolexis uses OSX's accessibility API to position the original app's document, and probe the available formatted text. If that's true, they should be able to use the same accessibility API to interface with Nisus Writer. But all this is just conjecture.

Do you know anyone we might get in touch with at Prolexis? I don't speak any French, so I'm not able to easily navigate their website.
Manu31
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Re: Nisus Pro support of Spellchecking and Grammar software

Post by Manu31 »

Martin,
thanks a lot for taking on your time on this matter.

As for the spelling dictionary, it seems that Prolexis doesn't provide any alternative dictionary in French, since it doesn't appear in the list of available dictionaries.

I think you guessed right about the way Prolexis leverages other softwares, even if I lack any knowledge in this matter. But the fact is that the active document is framed into Prolexis.

Their website provides the following email address: supportmac@prolexis.com
Since I'm a customer, I could also get a direct access to the support team with my license number. Just let me know if you need me to initiate a contact with someone dedicated to Mac software development.
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martin
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Re: Nisus Pro support of Spellchecking and Grammar software

Post by martin »

Thank you very much for your help. We appreciate your suggestion and gracious involvement in this matter. I've gone ahead and written Prolexis support, and we'll see if there's anything that can be done to improve the experience when using Nisus Writer Pro and Prolexis together.

Thanks again!
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