Handling a Detection
Each underlining in the text is an indication that the corrector has detected a problem, certain or possible, concerning that underlined word. The tooltip helps you understand the nature of the problem, and you have several options to correct it, if necessary. When you select an underlined word, it becomes the current detection. Most commands that follow in this section apply to the current detection. Note, however, that you can use the shortcuts offered via the mouse instead of selecting the current detection. (See the Handling a detection in the list section as well.)
Tooltip
When you select an underlined word, a tooltip will appear showing all the information you need to evaluate the detection and proceed accordingly. The tooltip is divided into three zones, described below.
- In the interface settings (General panel, under Corrector), tooltips can be set to appear when the pointer hovers over them, and the time before they appear can be adjusted.
The suggested correction
The suggested correction appears in the top left-hand corner of the tooltip. Its format varies depending on the type of detection.
green bold: Suggested correction related to an error of syntax, grammar, punctuation, etc. (bold underlining). The command correct is provided.
black italic: Suggested correction related to an alert (fine underlining). The command Replace is provided. These detections are often dependent on meaning, so the suggestion may not always be valid, hence the more discreet appearance.
black standard: in the absence of a specific suggested correction, Antidote indicates the type of detection (e.g. redundancy, informal), and gives a brief instruction (e.g. Evaluate), or asks you to check something (e.g. Appropriate?). Refer to the contextual explanation for details.
Number of identical detections
A number in parentheses appears to the right of some detections. This indicates that the corrector has identified other identical cases in the text. These cases are underlined, allowing you to quickly find them. If the detection allows them to be corrected at once, the selected action will apply to all the cases.
The contextual explanation
Each detection in the corrector includes an explanation, allowing you to understand and evaluate Antidote’s intervention. Sometimes, it may be necessary to evaluate multiple aspects of the same word. In this case, Antidote will provide the all the necessary contextual explanations.
[Details]
Certain explanations are followed by a [Details] option. This can occur if their content is larger or its structure is more complex. Click to show the entire text.
Setting…
Several detections, particularly linguistic alerts, are associated with a setting. Here, Antidote displays the word Setting after the contextual explanation. Click it to open the relevant panel and then adjust the desired setting.
The next level of explanation
The heading introducing the contextual explanation is a hyperlink that opens the most appropriate resource, depending on the type of detection. In keeping with the guides’ emblematic colour, an orange heading takes you to the right page of the guides, where you will find a detailed explanation of the subject of the current detection. In keeping with the dictionaries’ emblematic colour, a green heading opens the dictionaries to the definitions or conjugations of the word in question.
- You can also access this second level of explanation (guides or dictionaries) by pressing the + key. To return to the corrector, close the guides or dictionaries window by clicking on the close button.
- A black heading means that no supplementary link is considered necessary.
The commands
The commands for actions relating to the current detection are located to the right of the suggestion. For detailled descriptions of each one, refer to the later sections Approve a correction and Ignore a detection.
Searching for other words (the magnifying glass)
For some detections, for example unknown words, a magnifying glass () accompanies the commands in the tooltip. This performs a search in the dictionary for words that are graphically similar to the detection in question. It then displays the most relevant results in a list. If that list includes the word you want, click on it to make an instant substitution in your text.
- The All results option at the bottom of the list opens the dictionaries, allowing the complete range of search results to be displayed. If you find the word you are looking for there, click on it, then proceed to make the substitution by clicking Replace in the dictionaries.
Several possible spellings
In the Language view, the tooltip may list several suggestions. This happens when there is more than one possible analysis for a sentence and the spelling of the word changes according to the intended analysis. If the original word may also be correct, it appears in black.
The selected suggestion has a darker background and its corresponding contextual explanation is shown below it. If you select an alternative suggestion, the darker background will move and the contextual explanation will change. After considering the different suggestions, make your choice and apply it, allowing Antidote to modify your text accordingly.
Discontinuity warning
When the corrector is unable to analyze a sentence in its entirety, it will still display detections, but it will be less sure of its diagnosis in these cases. The tooltips for such detections are labelled Review to warn you of the corrector’s uncertainty.
Approve a correction
To approve a correction, click the Correct command in the tooltip. The proposed correction is inserted in your text and underlined in green. The corrector then moves on to the next detection. For alerts including a suggestion for replacement, click the Replace command.
- In the interface settings (Appearance panel), the underlining colour of a corrected detection can be set to blue instead of green.
In other cases, the appropriate correction must be made manually, either directly in the correction panel using the Edit command, or in the original document, using the Edit in original document command in the context (right click) menu. In both cases, you reactivate the corrector by clicking on its window. The modified sentence will be re-checked and you can continue with the correction.
Correct identical cases
By default, when several detections are identical to the current one, Antidote will apply the correction of the current detection to all the following cases as well. If you prefer, you can avoid this batch correction by using the command Correct this case.
- A number enclosed in parentheses in the tooltip indicates how many cases are identical to the current detection.
- In the list of detections, identical cases are grouped under a single entry accompanied by a circled number. Clicking on this number causes all the individual cases to be displayed, allowing them to be handled separately.
- Note that the corrector flags as identical only those cases that do not depend on the context, which is what allows them be corrected in batch mode.
- “Identical errors” does not always mean “identical words”. Incorrect spacing between a day and a month, for example, applies to any date.
- A setting in the General panel of the Corrector section lets you disable the automatic correction of identical cases. The Correct these cases command can then be invoked to batch-correct a specific group of identical cases.
- The commands Correct this case and Correct these cases can be accessed quickly from the context (right click) menu.
Ignore a detection
If you do not wish to make the change proposed by Antidote, you can simply go on to the next detection, or click on Ignore. The original text remains intact and Antidote moves on to the next case. Clicking on Ignore changes the underlining to a dotted black line; in the list of detections, an “X” is displayed next to the corresponding entry. This shows you at a glance that this case has been processed. The ignored case is also subtracted from the correction statistics.
Antidote automatically keeps a record of the cases that have been ignored during a checking session. Thus, if you have to interrupt the checking of a document and then come back to it later, the previously ignored cases will not be displayed again. You won’t waste time having to re-evaluate them.
- A setting in the General panel of the Corrector section controls whether ignored cases are remembered by the corrector.
Ignore identical cases
By default, when several cases are identical to the current detection, ignoring the current detection will tell Antidote to ignore all the following cases as well. If you wish, you can ignore only the current detection by using the Ignore this case command.
- A number enclosed in parentheses in the tooltip indicates how many cases are identical to the current detection.
- In the list of detections, identical cases are grouped under a single entry accompanied by a circled number. Clicking on this number causes all the individual cases to be displayed, allowing them to be handled separately.
- A setting in the General panel of the Corrector section allows you to stop the corrector from automatically ignoring identical cases. The Ignore these cases command can then be invoked to batch-ignore a specific group of identical cases.
- The commands Ignore this case and Ignore these cases can be accessed quickly from the context (right click) menu.
Disable
Antidote allows you to hide the alerts on a particular word. Perhaps you’re already aware that reunion is a false friend and no longer wish to be alerted about it in the future. Click the Disable command in the tooltip and Antidote will stop alerting you about this particular word.
- The Disable command only applies to alerts.
- A dialog warns you that the alert for the word in question will no longer appear at all. Click on OK to continue, or click on Disabled alerts to manage the settings for the alert. This warning can be turned off.
- To manage the list of words associated with disabled alerts, see the section entitled Disabled Alerts Panel in the Settings chapter.
Go to next/previous detection
To move to the next detection or to return to the previous detection, use the navigation arrows in the corrector’s toolbar.
Adjust sensitivity
You can adjust the corrector’s level of sensitivity for certain types of errors.
- The Settings chapter describes all the language and typography settings available. When the settings are opened from the corrector, they open at the panel that applies to the current detection. The Setting command in the tooltip is more precise, since it links to the setting for an individual alert in the case of multiple alerts for the same word.
Dialogues and quotes
In a novel, the dialogues reproduce the characters’ spoken language, and consequently they contain certain things that are not generally accepted in the standard written language: informal words, unusual contractions (e.g.: that’d), more colloquial turns of phrase (e.g.: Beats me!), swear words, etc. Furthermore, quotes reproduce the words of another person and, as such, should generally be left as is. You can tell the corrector not to flag certain stylistic errors in these passages, while continuing to flag them in the main body of the text. See the Settings chapter for details.
- A small speech bubble () inserted in the left margin of the text allows you to rapidly locate dialogues and quotes.
Presets
Presets allow you to quickly switch from one configuration of settings to another. Antidote provides separate groups of settings for its Language and Typography views, so that you can select the ideal combination for every writing context.
For a simple email to a friend, for example, you will probably opt for a tolerant combination of settings, e.g. Informal usage and Basic typography. For an official document, on the other hand, you will likely choose Formal usage or Flag all for the language checking, together with Formal typography.
- The list of detections updates with each new preset selected.
- Spelling and grammar errors are always displayed, regardless of the language preset chosen.
Linguistic presets
Flag all: The corrector adjusts all the settings related to alerts to their maximum value.
Formal usage: The corrector adjusts the values of its linguistic settings in order to carry out an exhaustive check.
Informal usage: The corrector adjusts the values of the linguistic settings to a more permissive level. All the settings related to alerts are disabled. Antidote will also tolerate certain mistakes; for example, it won’t flag the informal determiner in Lots of people hate coriander.
Custom usage…: The corrector uses your current linguistic settings, which differ from the standard presets.
Hide alerts: The corrector displays no alerts. This is useful if you are short on time and want to progress as quickly as possible.
Typographic presets
Formal typography: The corrector adjusts all typographic settings in order to carry out an exhaustive check.
Basic typography: The corrector disables most settings related to typography in order to verify only the most blatant typographical errors (double space between words, for example).
Custom typography…: The corrector uses your current typographic settings, which differ from the standard presets.
Add a word to a personal dictionary
Antidote may inform you that it doesn’t recognize a certain word. To add that word to one of your personal dictionaries, select it and click the Add command in the tooltip. The personal dictionaries window will open, showing your newly added word. If Antidote’s automatic analysis of the word seems correct to you, you may simply close the window. Otherwise, fill in or edit the various fields so that Antidote knows how the word should be used. See the Personal dictionaries chapter for more details.
The flagging of unknown proper nouns depends on the Flag unknown capitalized words setting in the Capital letters panel. Click the Setting command to access it as needed.
Simultaneously add several words to a personal dictionary
Antidote groups together all unknown words in the list of detections. To add several of these to a personal dictionary at the same time, select the desired words and then use the Add to a personal dictionnary… command (in the toolbar or the context menu).
Undo a correction
You can cancel a correction that has already been made to your text. When you select an error that has already been corrected, the Correct command in the tooltip changes to Restore. Click on the arrow to undo the correction in your text. Both the underlining and the suggested correction return to their initial state.