Custom Dictionary in WPF SpellChecker (SfSpellChecker)

18 Feb 202524 minutes to read

You can use a default and custom dictionaries to spell check the document based on your need. You can also spell check for any culture and languages using various dictionaries.

Default SpellCheck Dictionary

SfSpellChecker provides built-in dictionary for English language and it provides suitable suggestion of the error words.

Load your own dictionaries for any language

You can add your own dictionary to SfSpellChecker.Dictionaries collection. SfSpellChecker support 3 standard dictionary file format:

  • 1.Hunspell
  • 2.Ispell
  • 3.OpenOffice

NOTE

Built-in dictionary will be disabled once custom dictionary is added to SfSpellChecker

SpellCheck using Hunspell dictionary

You can check spelling mistakes using Hunspell dictionary format. This format contains files as follows,

  • Affix file with grammar rules- *.aff,
  • Basic Words file - *.dic file.

Adding Hunspell Dictionary

  1. Add your HunspellDictionary’s required culture *.aff and *.dic files and add them as Resource into the application.

Adding Basic word and Grammar files as resource into the application

  1. Create a HunspellDictionary instance and add the basic word & grammar file path to the HunspellDictionary.DictionaryUri & HunspellDictionary.GrammarUri properties and add the culture to the HunspellDictionary.Culture property.

  2. Add the HunspellDictionary into the SfSpellChecker.Dictionaries collection

  3. Setting the required culture to the SfSpellChecker.Culture property.

NOTE

The following code snippets shows how to add Hunspell dictionary to the SpellChecker. Please refer Adding SfSpellChecker to an application to know how to configure SfSpellChecker.

<Grid>
       <StackPanel>
           <TextBox 
               Text="Nous sommevs heureusre de vous avochir ici"
               Name="textbox"
               TextWrapping="Wrap">
   
               <!--Adding Spellchecker to the TextBox-->
               <syncfusion:SfSpellChecker.SpellChecker>
                   <syncfusion:SfSpellChecker
                       Culture="fr-FR"
                       x:Name="spellChecker"
                       EnableSpellCheck="True">
                       <syncfusion:SfSpellChecker.Dictionaries>
   
                           <!--Adding French cultured Hunspell dictionary-->
                           <syncfusion:HunspellDictionary DictionaryUri="/HunSpellCheck;component/French/fr-FR.dic"
                                                          GrammarUri="/HunSpellCheck;component/French/fr-FR.aff"
                                                          Culture="fr-FR"/>
                       </syncfusion:SfSpellChecker.Dictionaries>
                   </syncfusion:SfSpellChecker>
               </syncfusion:SfSpellChecker.SpellChecker>
           </TextBox>
           <Button 
               Content="Spell Check"
               Click="SpellCheck_ButtonClick"                
               HorizontalAlignment="Center"></Button>
       </StackPanel>
   </Grid>
//Creating a culture instance
   CultureInfo culture = new CultureInfo("fr-FR");
   
   SfSpellChecker spellChecker = new SfSpellChecker();
   
   // Adding Hunspell dictonaries in Dictionaries collection
   spellChecker.Dictionaries = new DictionaryCollection();
   
   //Add French culture Hunspell dictionary
   spellChecker.Dictionaries.Add(
       new HunspellDictionary()
       {
           Culture = culture,
           GrammarUri = new Uri("/HunSpellCheck;component/French/fr-FR.aff", UriKind.Relative),
           DictionaryUri = new Uri("/HunSpellCheck;component/French/fr-FR.dic", UriKind.Relative)
       }
   );
   
   //Setting a French culture for SpellChecker
   spellChecker.Culture = culture;
   
   //Assigning a spellchecker to the TextBox
   SfSpellChecker.SetSpellChecker(textbox, spellChecker);
//Call SpellCheck method to open SpellCheck on button click
   private void SpellCheck_ButtonClick(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e) {
       spellChecker.PerformSpellCheckUsingDialog();
   }

NOTE

You can add multiple HunspellDictionary with various culture files into the SfSpellChecker.Dictionaries collection. Based on the SfSpellChecker.Culture respective HunspellDictionary is used for spell check.

SpellCheck using Hunspell dictionary

SpellCheck using Ispell dictionary

You can check spelling mistakes using Ispell dictionary format. This format contains files as follows,

Ispell dictionary contains two files as follows,

  • Affix file with grammar rules- *.aff,
  • Basic Words file - *.xlg or *.dic file.

Adding Ispell Dictionary

  1. Add your IspellDictionary’s required culture *.aff and *.dic files and add them as Resource into the application.

Adding Basic word and Grammar files as resource into the application

  1. Create a IspellDictionary instance and add the basic word & grammar file path to the IspellDictionary.DictionaryUri & IspellDictionary.GrammarUri properties and add the culture to the IspellDictionary.Culture property.

  2. Add the IspellDictionary into the SfSpellChecker.Dictionaries collection

  3. Setting the required culture to the SfSpellChecker.Culture property.

    <Grid>
    <StackPanel>
        <TextBox 
            Text="gracsq por venizr por favor ven de nuevoq"
            Name="textbox"
            TextWrapping="Wrap">
   
            <!--Adding Spellchecker to the TextBox-->
            <syncfusion:SfSpellChecker.SpellChecker>
                <syncfusion:SfSpellChecker
                    Culture="es-ES"
                    x:Name="spellChecker"
                    EnableSpellCheck="True">
                    <syncfusion:SfSpellChecker.Dictionaries>
   
                        <!--Adding Spanish cultured Ispell dictionary-->
                        <syncfusion:IspellDictionary DictionaryUri="/IspellCheck;component/Spanish/es-ES.dic"
                                                     GrammarUri="/IspellCheck;component/Spanish/es-ES.aff"
                                                     Culture="es-ES"/>
                    </syncfusion:SfSpellChecker.Dictionaries>
                </syncfusion:SfSpellChecker>
            </syncfusion:SfSpellChecker.SpellChecker>
        </TextBox>
        <Button 
            Content="Spell Check"
            Click="SpellCheck_ButtonClick"                
            HorizontalAlignment="Center"></Button>
    </StackPanel>
</Grid>
    //Creating a culture instance
CultureInfo culture = new CultureInfo("es-ES");
   
SfSpellChecker spellChecker = new SfSpellChecker();
   
// Adding Ispell dictonaries in Dictionaries collection
spellChecker.Dictionaries = new DictionaryCollection();
   
//Add Spanish culture Ispell dictionary
spellChecker.Dictionaries.Add(
    new IspellDictionary()
    {
        Culture = culture,
        GrammarUri = new Uri("/IspellCheck;component/Spanish/es-ES.aff", UriKind.Relative),
        DictionaryUri = new Uri("/IspellCheck;component/Spanish/es-ES.dic", UriKind.Relative)
    }
);
   
//Setting a Spanish culture for SpellChecker
spellChecker.Culture = culture;
   
//Assigning a spellchecker to the TextBox
SfSpellChecker.SetSpellChecker(textbox, spellChecker);
    <div class="tabs">
   
<ul class="nav nav-tabs" role="tablist">
   
<li role="presentation" class=""><a data-target="#4h7isq0c85zznes9s2bhht0gm0k2u3h6-csharp" aria-controls="home" role="tab" data-toggle="tab" data-original-lang="csharp">C#</a></li>
   
</ul>
   
<div class="tab-content">
   
   
<div role="tabpanel" class="tab-pane" id="4h7isq0c85zznes9s2bhht0gm0k2u3h6-csharp" data-original-lang = "csharp" ><div class="highlight"><pre><code class="language-csharp" data-lang="csharp"><span></span><span class="c1">//Call SpellCheck method to open SpellCheck on button click</span>
<span class="k">private</span> <span class="k">void</span> <span class="nf">SpellCheck_ButtonClick</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="kt">object</span> <span class="n">sender</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">RoutedEventArgs</span> <span class="n">e</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="p">{</span>
    <span class="n">spellChecker</span><span class="p">.</span><span class="n">PerformSpellCheckUsingDialog</span><span class="p">();</span>
<span class="p">}</span></code></pre></div>
</div>
   
</div>
   
</div>

NOTE

You can add multiple IspellDictionary with various culture files into the SfSpellChecker.Dictionaries collection. Based on the SfSpellChecker.Culture respective IspellDictionary is used for spell check.

SpellCheck using Ispell dictionary

SpellCheck using OpenOffice dictionary

You can check spelling mistakes using OpenOffice dictionary format. This format contains files as follows,

OpenOffice dictionary contains two files as follows,

  • Affix file with grammar rules- *.aff,
  • Basic Words file - *.dic file.

Adding OpenOffice Dictionary

  1. Add your OpenOfficeDictionary’s required culture *.aff and *.dic files and add them as Resource into the application.

Adding Basic word and Grammar files as resource into the application

  1. Create a OpenOfficeDictionary instance and add the basic word & grammar file path to the OpenOfficeDictionary.DictionaryUri & OpenOfficeDictionary.GrammarUri properties and add the culture to the OpenOfficeDictionary.Culture property.

  2. Add the OpenOfficeDictionary into the SfSpellChecker.Dictionaries collection

  3. Setting the required culture to the SfSpellChecker.Culture property.

    <Grid>
    <StackPanel>
        <TextBox 
            Text="gracsq por venizr por favor ven de nuevoq"
            Name="textbox"
            TextWrapping="Wrap">
   
            <!--Adding Spellchecker to the TextBox-->
            <syncfusion:SfSpellChecker.SpellChecker>
                <syncfusion:SfSpellChecker
                    Culture="es-ES"
                    x:Name="spellChecker"
                    EnableSpellCheck="True">
                    <syncfusion:SfSpellChecker.Dictionaries>
   
                        <!--Adding Spanish cultured OpenOffice dictionary-->
                        <syncfusion:OpenOfficeDictionary DictionaryUri="/OpenOfficeSpellCheck;component/Spanish/es-ES.dic"
                                                         GrammarUri="/OpenOfficeSpellCheck;component/Spanish/es-ES.aff"
                                                         Culture="es-ES"/>
                    </syncfusion:SfSpellChecker.Dictionaries>
                </syncfusion:SfSpellChecker>
            </syncfusion:SfSpellChecker.SpellChecker>
        </TextBox>
        <Button 
            Content="Spell Check"
            Click="SpellCheck_ButtonClick"                
            HorizontalAlignment="Center"></Button>
    </StackPanel>
</Grid>
    //Creating a Spanish culture instance
CultureInfo culture = new CultureInfo("es-ES");
   
SfSpellChecker spellChecker = new SfSpellChecker();
   
// Adding OpenOffice dictonaries in Dictionaries collection
spellChecker.Dictionaries = new DictionaryCollection();
   
//Add Spanish culture OpenOffice dictionary
spellChecker.Dictionaries.Add(
    new OpenOfficeDictionary()
    {
        Culture = culture,
        GrammarUri = new Uri("/OpenOfficeSpellCheck;component/Spanish/es-ES.aff", UriKind.Relative),
        DictionaryUri = new Uri("/OpenOfficeSpellCheck;component/Spanish/es-ES.dic", UriKind.Relative)
    }
);
   
//Setting a Spanish culture for SpellChecker
spellChecker.Culture = culture;
   
//Assigning a spellchecker to the TextBox
SfSpellChecker.SetSpellChecker(textbox, spellChecker);
    <div class="tabs">
   
<ul class="nav nav-tabs" role="tablist">
   
<li role="presentation" class=""><a data-target="#k3ido4kx67lz3grcdx3fegnpvwfzoag2-csharp" aria-controls="home" role="tab" data-toggle="tab" data-original-lang="csharp">C#</a></li>
   
</ul>
   
<div class="tab-content">
   
   
<div role="tabpanel" class="tab-pane" id="k3ido4kx67lz3grcdx3fegnpvwfzoag2-csharp" data-original-lang = "csharp" ><div class="highlight"><pre><code class="language-csharp" data-lang="csharp"><span></span><span class="c1">//Call SpellCheck method to open SpellCheck on button click</span>
<span class="k">private</span> <span class="k">void</span> <span class="nf">SpellCheck_ButtonClick</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="kt">object</span> <span class="n">sender</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">RoutedEventArgs</span> <span class="n">e</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="p">{</span>
    <span class="n">spellChecker</span><span class="p">.</span><span class="n">PerformSpellCheckUsingDialog</span><span class="p">();</span>
<span class="p">}</span></code></pre></div>
</div>
   
</div>
   
</div>

NOTE

You can add multiple OpenOfficeDictionary with various culture files into the SfSpellChecker.Dictionaries collection. Based on the SfSpellChecker.Culture respective OpenOfficeDictionary is used for spell check.

SpellCheck using OpenOffice dictionary

Add custom words to dictionary

If you want to add words that is not available in existing  dictionary, you can add it using CustomDictionary. This dictionary does not has a grammar file, it accepts only dictionary file that contains a list of words. Users can also add words to this custom dictionary by clicking Add to Dictionary button available in dialog or context menu.

You can add multiple CustomDictionary for each culture using SfSpellChecker.Dictionaries collection. If you load the SfSpellChecker with en-US culture, then you can add your custom words only on en-US cultured CustomDictionary.

Adding Custom Dictionary

  1. Create a custom dictionary text file, set build action as None and set Copy to Output Directory to Copy if newer.

Adding custom word files as resource into the application

  1. Create a CustomDictionary instance and add the custom word file path to the CustomDictionary.DictionaryUri property and add the culture to the CustomDictionary.Culture property.

  2. Add the CustomDictionary into the SfSpellChecker.Dictionaries collection

  3. Setting the required culture to the SfSpellChecker.Culture property.

    <Grid>
    <StackPanel>
        <TextBox 
            Text="Ribbn illustrats the Microsoft illustrats Offce 2007 UI. Our prduct exposes most of the featres of the new UI and eeps intact winhth the Slverlight architecture. Configuring and designing the layout is very easy through XAML code. Ribbon tabs and Ribbon bars are the main client area in Ribbon. Ribbon tabs will allow your end users to navigate and find the appropriate tools for the task at hand. The Ribbon bars will contain the Ribbon tools."
            Name="textbox"
            TextWrapping="Wrap">
   
            <!--Adding Spellchecker to the TextBox-->
            <syncfusion:SfSpellChecker.SpellChecker>
                <syncfusion:SfSpellChecker
                    Culture="en-US"
                    x:Name="spellChecker"
                    EnableSpellCheck="True">
                    <syncfusion:SfSpellChecker.Dictionaries>
   
                        <!--Adding english cultured custom dictionary-->
                        <syncfusion:CustomDictionary DictionaryUri="E:/SpellcheckerDemo/bin/Debug/English/Custom_en-US.txt"
                                                     Culture="en-US"/>
   
                        <!--Adding english cultured OpenOffice dictionary-->
                        <syncfusion:OpenOfficeDictionary DictionaryUri="/CustomSpellCheck;component/US/en-US.dic"
                                                         GrammarUri="/CustomSpellCheck;component/US/en-US.aff"
                                                         Culture="en-US"/>
                           
                    </syncfusion:SfSpellChecker.Dictionaries>
                </syncfusion:SfSpellChecker>
            </syncfusion:SfSpellChecker.SpellChecker>
        </TextBox>
        <Button 
            Content="Spell Check"
            Click="SpellCheck_ButtonClick"                
            HorizontalAlignment="Center"></Button>
    </StackPanel>
</Grid>
    //Creating a culture instance
CultureInfo culture = new CultureInfo("en-US");
   
SfSpellChecker spellChecker = new SfSpellChecker();
   
// Get the current PROJECT directory
Uri CustomDict_uri= new Uri(Directory.GetCurrentDirectory()+  
   
                            @"\English\Custom_en-US.txt", UriKind.Absolute); 
   
//Add Custom dictionary for US culture
spellChecker.Dictionaries.Add(
    new CustomDictionary()
    {
        Culture = culture,
        DictionaryUri = CustomDict_uri
    }
);
   
//Add US culture OpenOffice dictionary
spellChecker.Dictionaries.Add(
    new OpenOfficeDictionary()
    {
        Culture = culture,
        GrammarUri = new Uri("/CustomSpellCheck;component/US/en-US.aff", UriKind.Relative),
        DictionaryUri = new Uri("/CustomSpellCheck;component/US/en-US.dic", UriKind.Relative)
    }
   
//Setting a US culture for SpellChecker
spellChecker.Culture = culture;
   
//Assigning a spellchecker to the TextBox
SfSpellChecker.SetSpellChecker(textbox, spellChecker);
    <div class="tabs">
   
<ul class="nav nav-tabs" role="tablist">
   
<li role="presentation" class=""><a data-target="#dsbegxu5lsmhfesabbh0a6mlxhovcz2t-csharp" aria-controls="home" role="tab" data-toggle="tab" data-original-lang="csharp">C#</a></li>
   
</ul>
   
<div class="tab-content">
   
   
<div role="tabpanel" class="tab-pane" id="dsbegxu5lsmhfesabbh0a6mlxhovcz2t-csharp" data-original-lang = "csharp" ><div class="highlight"><pre><code class="language-csharp" data-lang="csharp"><span></span><span class="c1">//Call SpellCheck method to open SpellCheck on button click</span>
<span class="k">private</span> <span class="k">void</span> <span class="nf">SpellCheck_ButtonClick</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="kt">object</span> <span class="n">sender</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">RoutedEventArgs</span> <span class="n">e</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="p">{</span>
    <span class="n">spellChecker</span><span class="p">.</span><span class="n">PerformSpellCheckUsingDialog</span><span class="p">();</span>
<span class="p">}</span></code></pre></div>
</div>
   
</div>
   
</div>

NOTE

As custom dictionary hold extra words that is not available in standard dictionary, it is always used in conjunction with standard dictionary.

NOTE

If you use the custom dictionary without standard dictionary, all words that are not included in the dictionary will be shown as error words.

NOTE

You can add multiple CustomDictionary with various culture word files into the SfSpellChecker.Dictionaries collection. Based on the SfSpellChecker.Culture respective CustomDictionary is used for spell check.

SpellCheck using Custom dictionary

NOTE

View Sample in GitHub

Switch language(Culture) at runtime

You can add Hunspell, Ispell, or OpenOffice dictionaries one or more times with various culture into the SfSpellChecker.Dictionaries collection. You can change the spell check culture at runtime by changing the SfSpellChecker.Culture property. Based on the current SfSpellChecker.Culture respective dictionary is used to spell check.

<Grid>
    <StackPanel>
        <TextBox 
            Text="Nous sommevs heureusre de vous avochir ici"
            Name="textbox"
            TextWrapping="Wrap">

            <!--Adding Spellchecker to the TextBox-->
            <syncfusion:SfSpellChecker.SpellChecker>
                <syncfusion:SfSpellChecker
                    Culture="fr-FR"
                    x:Name="spellChecker"
                    EnableSpellCheck="True">
                    <syncfusion:SfSpellChecker.Dictionaries>

                        <!--Adding French cultured Hunspell dictionary-->
                        <syncfusion:HunspellDictionary DictionaryUri="/HunSpellCheck;component/French/fr-FR.dic"
                                                       GrammarUri="/HunSpellCheck;component/French/fr-FR.aff"
                                                       Culture="fr-FR"/>

                        <!--Adding Spanish cultured Hunspell dictionary-->
                        <syncfusion:HunspellDictionary DictionaryUri="/HunSpellCheck;component/Spanish/es-ES.dic"
                                                         GrammarUri="/HunSpellCheck;component/Spanish/es-ES.aff"
                                                         Culture="es-ES"/>

                        !--Adding english cultured Hunspell dictionary-->
                        <syncfusion:HunspellDictionary DictionaryUri="/HunSpellCheck;component/US/en-US.dic"
                                                         GrammarUri="/HunSpellCheck;component/US/en-US.aff"
                                                         Culture="en-US"/>
                        
                    </syncfusion:SfSpellChecker.Dictionaries>
                </syncfusion:SfSpellChecker>
            </syncfusion:SfSpellChecker.SpellChecker>
        </TextBox>
        <Button 
            Content="Spell Check"
            Click="SpellCheck_ButtonClick"                
            HorizontalAlignment="Center"></Button>
    </StackPanel>
</Grid>
SfSpellChecker spellChecker = new SfSpellChecker();

// Adding Hunspell dictonaries in Dictionaries collection
spellChecker.Dictionaries = new DictionaryCollection();

//Add French culture Hunspell dictionary
spellChecker.Dictionaries.Add(
    new HunspellDictionary()
    {
        Culture = new CultureInfo("fr-FR"),
        GrammarUri = new Uri("/HunSpellCheck;component//French/fr-FR.aff", UriKind.Relative),
        DictionaryUri = new Uri("/HunSpellCheck;component//French/fr-FR.dic", UriKind.Relative)
    }
);

//Add Spanish culture Hunspell dictionary
spellChecker.Dictionaries.Add(
    new HunspellDictionary()
    {
        Culture = new CultureInfo("es-ES"),
        GrammarUri = new Uri("/HunSpellCheck;component//Spanish/es-ES.aff", UriKind.Relative),
        DictionaryUri = new Uri("/HunSpellCheck;component//Spanish/es-ES.dic", UriKind.Relative)
    }
);

//Add US culture Hunspell dictionary
spellChecker.Dictionaries.Add(
    new HunspellDictionary()
    {
        Culture = new CultureInfo("en-US"),
        GrammarUri = new Uri("/HunSpellCheck;component//US/en-US.aff", UriKind.Relative),
        DictionaryUri = new Uri("/HunSpellCheck;component//US/en-US.dic", UriKind.Relative)
    }
);

//Setting a required dictionary's french culture for SpellChecker 
spellChecker.Culture = spellChecker.Dictionaries[0].Culture;;

//Assigning a spellchecker to the TextBox
SfSpellChecker.SetSpellChecker(textbox, spellChecker);
//Call SpellCheck method to open SpellCheck on button click
private void SpellCheck_ButtonClick(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e) {
    spellChecker.PerformSpellCheckUsingDialog();
}

SpellCheck using Hunspell dictionary

Here, SpellChecker.Culture is fr-FR culture. So, fr-FR cultured Hunspell dictionary is used as speck check dictionary.