Linux hyphenation

users
#1

I need some help with my Linux LO installation.

I'm running Linux Mint 15, and LO 4.0.5. I recently noticed that hyphenation doesn't work. I don't know if it ever did, so I can't say that it just recently stopped working.

My language settings tell me that I have spell check and thesaurus modules, but neither hyphenation nor grammar modules. My language setting is "English (USA)."

My "usr/share/hunspell" folder simply shows two files "en_US.dic" and "en_US.aff."

So, I then downloaded the more complete American English dictionary from the LO dictionary extension pages. (http://extensions.libreoffice.org/extension-center/american-british-canadian-spelling-hyphen-thesaurus-dictionaries).

My extension manager says it is installed, and the files, including a hyphenation dictionary, appear in the "users/extensions/tmp/extensions/lu3jpv1t.tmp_/kpp-american(etc)" folder, but...

LO doesn't seem to recognize the new dictionaries. Hyphenation still doesn't work, and my language settings under "Tools/Options/Language Settings/" haven't changed. I still have no hyphenation or grammar modules, and no options are available to recognize them.

Any ideas on how to get LO to recognize my new dictionaries?

Virgil

#2

Hi :slight_smile:
I think that is 2 separate questions.  (Not completely convinced but i think it is)

For hyphenation try
Tools - Options - "Language Settings" - "Writing Aids"
and then near the bottom of the bottom box as well as near the top of the top one.

I think the middle box might deal with the dictionaries problem? 
Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

#3

I think all my setting are right in the Writing Aids dialogs. My problem is that it doesn't give me any option to add a Hyphenation or Grammar module. If I click on "Edit" next to the top box, it doesn't show any modules for Hyphenation or Grammar. I don't think it's seeing the dictionaries I downloaded in the extension manager.

I tried copying my downloaded dictionary files into the Hunspell folder, but Linux wouldn't let me. These are the times when I want to just forget Linux and stick with Windows. But, I'll be patient.

Virgil

#4

It works on my Ubuntu 12.04 install[s] and my Windows install[s].

Since it uses the same en_US.dic for the language reference for the
797K+ word list, it may not show up as a different dictionary outside of
the Extension manager. My last testing for the thesaurus showed the
lookup results of that dictionary first , then showed the original en_US
thesaurus results at the end of those results.

In the top box of the "Writing Aids", I see Hunspell Spellchecker,
Libhyphen Hyphenator, Lightproof grammar checker, and Openoffice.org New
Thesaurus.

The bottom box - at the bottom of the option list - is the check boxes
for the Hyphenate option, plus there is the grammar check boxes.

The only added extension was the American English extension.

I have seen this same issue[s] with dictionary/thesaurus/hyphen system
on and off since 3.4 or 3.5 days. I believe there has been bug reports
before. Some people fixed the problem by closing LO and then renaming
the user profile. When you reopen LO, you will need to reinstall the
American English, since it may have been removed from the extension list.

For Ubuntu, it is ".config/libreoffice/" I would rename it
".config/libreoffice-old/" or "-backup". That way you do not loose your
profile if you want to go back to it.

#5

Kracked_P_P---webmaster wrote:

In the top box of the "Writing Aids", I see Hunspell Spellchecker,
Libhyphen Hyphenator, Lightproof grammar checker, and Openoffice.org New
Thesaurus.

I'm missing the "Libhyphen Hyphenator" and "Lightproof Grammar Checker".

I'll try renaming the profile. I've done this so many times in Windows that it's second nature to me. I've been a little skittish about doing in in Linux as I'm just not accustomed to the way Linux spreads things around its file system.

Virgil

#6

Yes, Linux can be "something" after using Windows for years and years.

The .config folder is a hidden folder as well, so that messes people up
as well.

I know where it is located with Debian-based Linux, Like Ubuntu and
Mint, but not on the RPM based installs of LO.

I do not know why you do not have those two parts.
I recently did a clean install on a new drive. So it all has been
mostly "default" installs.

I did not add anything to LO except the dictionary .oxt file.

#7

Yes, I've become aware of the hidden nature of the .config folder.

I installed Linux Mint 15 a month or so ago, and used the LO 4.0.2 that came with it. I recently upgraded to 4.0.5, but I honestly don't recall if the hyphenation was working before the upgrade or not. So far, I've just played in Linux, slowly and patiently migrating as Tom recently mentioned.

I just renamed my user profile, reinstalled my American English dictionaries, and nothing changed. I still have no hyphenation or grammar modules.

Virgil

#8

"Virgil Arrington":

Have you tried to install 'hyphen-en-us' package?

#9

Are you asking about a package that is included with Linux Mint?

There is a working hyphen package in the American English dictionary.
Spelling, Thesaurus, and Hyphenation, for en_US.

#10

As Kracked alluded, I'm not sure what Urmas is referring to.

I've installed the American English dictionary from the extension library. It has a hyphenation library.

What my program seems to be messing is the Libhyphen Hyphenator module, whatever that is...

Virgil

#11

Hi :slight_smile:
The Rpm distros put the User Profile in exactly the same place as does every other Gnu&Linux system except openSuSE and maybe SuSE.

The difference they make is about halfway through there is a folder called "libreoffice" which they rename to "lo".

Programs used to put their user-profiles and configuration files straight into the users home directory but over the years there was some agreement that it made things look a bit messy so most programs are moving their configs into a sub-folder called ".config" and that "." makes it a hidden folder.  If you have a version of LibreOffice earlier than 3.5.0 then it's User Profile might be in the old place but all currently supported versions are in
/home/<user name>/.config/libreoffice/4/user 
errr, except 3.6.x which is in
/home/<user name>/.config/libreoffice/3/user

If you are new to Gnu&Linux it might be interesting to have a look in
/home/<user name>/.config

to see which programs/packages have already made it into there and then look in the old
/home/<user name>

to see which ones haven't made it yet.  Those that haven't moved already probably will move to rejoin the others in their next upgrade (or maybe the one after).  LibreOffice made the move earlier than a lot of them because LO upgrades so quickly.

I'm not sure what you mean about "scattered around the system".  The only bits you need to worry about are in

/home
Log-files are kept with all the other logfiles but you shouldn't poke around with them and the programs are kept with the other programs but you shouldn't poke around with them either.  Generally it is not a good idea to poke around with any system-files and all system-files form everything that is outside the

/home

You may have successfully followed advice to make some changes to your system-files to move around menu entries in your boot-menu or edited your network settings or graphics card or ssh but all those are "per machine" rather then "per user" and you will have had to use "sudo", "gksu", "su" or had to deal with a dialogue-box asking permission to act as "Super User" in order to deal with changes to system-files.

One advantage is that if you need to back-up your system then you only need to back-up your /home and that doesn't grab tons of extra stuff that wont work on a different system.  You could copy your /home to a different machine and then install a different OS and still find all your stuff and configs neatly unharmed and all working to give you your programs the way you tweaked them.  It helps if your /home is on it's own partition because then there are tons of other neat tricks you can do.

Anyway all this is waaaay off-topic.  It would be nice to have a separate thread about that sort of thing but it's not really anything to do with LibreOffice.  One nice forum that tries to cover all the different flavours of Gnu&Linux is
http://www.linuxquestions.org
although each distro tends to have it's own in addition to using that one.
Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

#12

OK, I went to Synaptic Package Manager and looked up "libhyphen".

It was there as part of the Ubuntu packages.
Maybe Mint did not install that package.

So go to your package manager and look up and install that "Debian"
package and see if that helps.
My package was labeled "libhyphen0".

Looking up "hyphen", I have the following [but not the entire list]
installed:
hyphen-en-us
libhyphen0
openoffice.org-hyphenation

So go that route.
Look up the packages in you package manager - I prefer to use Synaptic
which Ubuntu no longer installs by default. Then install them there.

You might fix some of your issues.

As I stated, Mint and I had problems with one if my network printers -
it did not exist on the network - but would use it as a USB printer.
Had no issues with Ubuntu 10.04 or 12.04.

#13

Okay, here's what I've done.

1. I searched Synaptic for "libhyphen" and found the same files you mentioned. Yet, LO doesn't recognize it.

2. I then uninstalled my Linux Mint. It was no big deal as I had a Bible research program that wouldn't work with it anyway. (I won't necessarily blame Mint, but I didn't want to have to chase down two Mint problems)

3. I installed Ubuntu 12.04 LTS using the Wubi installer. That installed LO 3.5.x by default. (The Bible research program also worked.)

4. I checked LO 3.5.x, under Options/Language Settings/Writing Aids/ and it had the Hunspell spellcheck module, but it did not have any modules for Hyphenation, Grammar, or Thesaurus.

5. I then upgraded LO to 4.0.4.2 using the "ppa:libreoffice/libreoffice-4-0" repository. That was a little weird as I followed online instructions for upgrading to 4.0.5, but the closest I got was 4.0.4.2. Oh, well.

6. I then installed the American English dictionary from the dictionary extensions.

7. Once that was installed, I gained the OpenOffice Thesaurus module, but still no Hyphenation or Grammar Checker modules.

8. Using Synaptic, I found all the same files you listed on your system.

9. Out of curiosity, I then noticed the packages listed at <https://launchpad.net/~libreoffice/+archive/libreoffice-4-0>. It mentions the "hunspell" package and, immediately after, a "hyphen" package (version 2.8.3-1~lucid1), but no "libhyphen" package. At this point, I'm waaayyyy out of my techno comfort zone.

This has become a real head scratcher for me. For my actual work, I'm still booting into Windows, but the OCD side of me wants to figure this out.

Virgil

#14

Unless anyone else is bothered by this behavior in the Linux LO, I'm letting it go.

I just uninstalled my Ubuntu wubi install. I'm going to leave it for a while before trying again. My Windows LO works fine, and so for now, I'll stay here. I have another life I have to live.

Thanks to all who were interested in this issue.

Virgil

#15

hi virgil,

-------snip-------

5. I then upgraded LO to 4.0.4.2 using the

"ppa:libreoffice/libreoffice-4-0" repository. That was a little weird as
I followed online instructions for upgrading to 4.0.5, but the closest I
got was 4.0.4.2. Oh, well.

--------snip-------

that is because libreoffice 4.0.5 was upgraded in that ppa only for

raring
(https://launchpad.net/~libreoffice/+archive/libreoffice-4-0?field.series_filter=raring);
not for quantal, precise or lucid.

so, if you are using the ppa

in raring, 4.0.5.2 will be installed; otherwise, 4.0.4.2 is going to be
the latest one from this ppa.

#16

Hi :slight_smile:
You could always install the 4.0.5 by downloading directly from the "upstream" website at
https://www.libreoffice.org/downloads
errr, something like that.  I just typed it rather than copy&pasted it because i've already got far toooo many tabs open and so i keep losing track of where anything is.

There are 3 main ways of installing software
1.  Stick to the default repos and only use the package managers to find and install stuff
2.  Add extra repos, PPAs and similar repositories of software that has been tweaked for your system
3.  Go "upstream" directly to whichever random website you think might be a legitimate download site for the program you are looking for and cross your fingers
4.  Get a Cd or Dvd and hope that it really is what you were looking for and is legit and doesn't have malware bundled with it
5.  Find the original source code and check it's legitimate and have a quick read through to see if anything dodgy jumps out at you and then compile from source

Lets ignore 5, especially in Ubuntu and other gateway distros.  you kinda need coding skills and a lot of patience because compiling is a slow painful process best left to the experts.

Windows only offers options 3 and 4 (which are both really the same option) and that puts you at the mercy of people who might only be familiar with 1 program and may well have no idea about your system.  So i copy what microsoft.com keep saying - i recommend that you normally avoid this route but "you can trust us" (honest guv)

Each route has it's own advantages and disadvantages.  Different people will recommend slightly different routes but may not tell you the drawbacks.  I tend to stick with 1 as much as possible and get most of my stuff from there but of course i add some PPAs and the Medibuntu repos (Medibuntu deals with all the multimedia stuff i enjoy using (thanks folks!)).

I only use option 3 for LibreOffice and Evolution.  In both cases it's because i happen to prefer the untweaked version and i like to only upgrade them when i want to (and not halfway through doing the newsletter or something big).  So, i get no automatic updates nor upgrades but if i put the time in then i can be on the ultra-latest versions faster without having to wait for anyone else.

If i had to install LibreOffice on my dad's boat i would go for the Dvd because connecting to the internet is such a pain from his.  There are a few i would trust.  The "North American Dvd Project" is an excellent one and a lot of time and hard work goes into those Dvds.  Generally they are worth at least twice as much as they cost, possibly more.  I'm not nearly as involved in that as their website suggests!  Mostly it's the heroic work of just 1 man.

Anyway, point is that if you want the ultra-latest versions soon after they come out then you kinda have to talk to the PPA or repo maintainers but they are never going to be as fast as you can be by downloading directly off the "upstream" downloads page.

Good luck and regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

#17

I do not use Repository or PPA for installing LibreOffice. I download
the Debian install from the web site. The only issue with that is you
will need to remove the previous installed version first. That is a
whole different discussion why that is required.

I run 4.0.5 on Ubuntu and have one Windows system using 4.1.1.

#18

Hi :slight_smile:
Ahhh, the Wubi.  For most people it does work really well and for many years but just occasionally it runs into weird problems that just don't happen on a proper dual-boot system.

The Wubi is installed inside Windows and depends on MS Windows co-operating with the Ubuntu.  Various crucial systems such as the boot-loader and the file-system are basically MS systems instead of the proper Gnu&Linux ones.  The Gnu&Linux ones are built to be stable.  Years ago several antivirus programs would inaccurately report various false-positives.  There are other distros which also have clever ways of installing inside Windows without having to resort to too many layers or emulators or virtual machines but the whole idea seems flawed to me.  MS are not renowned for co-operating with other systems.  Still, a lot of good work goes in and the systems are usually stable for most people but a few are unlucky without any obvious reason.

Sorry Virgil!
Apols and regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

#19

"Tom Davies":

The Wubi is installed inside Windows and depends on MS Windows co-operating with the Ubuntu. Various crucial systems such as the boot-loader and the file-system are basically MS systems instead of the proper Gnu&Linux ones.

That has no relation to the system stability.

#20

Uh, sure it does. They are different systems, therefore they have
different stability issues. Any two parts that are *different* will have
the potential for different problems.

In this case there is the additional factor that these subsystems
are integral to the whole, and many other parts of the system further
down the line are made with the assumption that these underlying
subsystems function a certain way. In well written systems, subsystems
make as few assumptions about other parts of the system as possible,
but it does still happen more often that one would hope for. And when
they are as different as linux and windows are, sometimes those
assumptions become invalidated, which can cause further instability.

Paul