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Lolu chungechunge lwabekwa kunqolobane. Uyacelwa ubuze umbuzo omusha uma udinga usizo.

Language packs seem to break spell-check language selection

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  • Igcine ukuphendulwa ngu rkimmel

rkimmel
rkimmel
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I suspect this is a bug, but maybe I am doing something wrong, so I'll ask here before submitting a bug report.

I have Thunderbird 31.2.0 installed on OS X Mavericks. I am pretty sure it is the en-GB version, but I have several language packs installed, including the (presumably redundant) en-GB pack. I also have installed (and sometimes uninstalled) the add-ons "Quick Locale Switcher" and "Simple Locale Switcher" at various times to switch the user interface language. (The reason I have included the two is, I had the "Quick" switcher first, and suspected what I was seeing might be a bug in the add-on, so I switched to the other.)

Now, the symptom. When the user interface language is set as en-GB, the spell-checker language choice in the "Preferences" menu (I guess "Options" in Windows, and I don't know what in Linux) is respected - I can type an email in one language, stop, switch the spell-checker language half way through, and the real-time spell-checking is then by the new language exactly as I would have expected. But, when the user interface language is anything other than en-GB (I haven't tried en-US, but I have tried German and Russian), the spell-check language follows the user interface language, and changing the spell-check language option in the "Preferences" menu has no effect whatsoever on anything.

This problem persisted even after I removed the two language-switching add-ons. Then, I removed all the language packs (which forced my user interface back into en-GB), and magically the spell-check language selection started working again.

So I am thinking the problem is driven by the user interface being from a language pack. When the user interface language matches the original install language, the spell-check language selection works; when the user interface language is something else, the spell-check language selection is ignored, and the actual spell-check language follows the user interface language.

The "Simple Locale Switcher" does not seem to allow the user interface language and the spell-check language to be switched independently, but "Quick Locale Switcher" does. However, this feature doesn't seem to work, nor does switching the spell-check language through the Thunderbird Preferences rather than the add-on (unless the user interface language is the default en-GB).

Has any one else seen a problem like this? Is there a way to fix it? (Maybe futz with the language settings on the other side of the "Here Be Dragons" warning?)

I suspect this is a bug, but maybe I am doing something wrong, so I'll ask here before submitting a bug report. I have Thunderbird 31.2.0 installed on OS X Mavericks. I am pretty sure it is the en-GB version, but I have several language packs installed, including the (presumably redundant) en-GB pack. I also have installed (and sometimes uninstalled) the add-ons "Quick Locale Switcher" and "Simple Locale Switcher" at various times to switch the user interface language. (The reason I have included the two is, I had the "Quick" switcher first, and suspected what I was seeing might be a bug in the add-on, so I switched to the other.) Now, the symptom. When the user interface language is set as en-GB, the spell-checker language choice in the "Preferences" menu (I guess "Options" in Windows, and I don't know what in Linux) is respected - I can type an email in one language, stop, switch the spell-checker language half way through, and the real-time spell-checking is then by the new language exactly as I would have expected. But, when the user interface language is anything other than en-GB (I haven't tried en-US, but I have tried German and Russian), the spell-check language follows the user interface language, and changing the spell-check language option in the "Preferences" menu has no effect whatsoever on anything. This problem persisted even after I removed the two language-switching add-ons. Then, I removed all the language packs (which forced my user interface back into en-GB), and magically the spell-check language selection started working again. So I am thinking the problem is driven by the user interface being from a language pack. When the user interface language matches the original install language, the spell-check language selection works; when the user interface language is something else, the spell-check language selection is ignored, and the actual spell-check language follows the user interface language. The "Simple Locale Switcher" does not seem to allow the user interface language and the spell-check language to be switched independently, but "Quick Locale Switcher" does. However, this feature doesn't seem to work, nor does switching the spell-check language through the Thunderbird Preferences rather than the add-on (unless the user interface language is the default en-GB). Has any one else seen a problem like this? Is there a way to fix it? (Maybe futz with the language settings on the other side of the "Here Be Dragons" warning?)

All Replies (2)

Matt
Matt
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Before chasing dragons, right click in the body of a mail in the compose window and set the spell check language there. I have no idea if it will work, but it might add to the over all body of knowledge for a bug report.

Please post a link to any bug report you make.

rkimmel
rkimmel Umnikazi wombuzo
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Well how about that. It works - sort of.

I now notice the same behaviour in en-GB, which I had earlier noticed to behave differently than the other interface languages. At the time, I attributed that to the fact that en-GB was (probably) the original install language. But I've since uninstalled all the language packs, and then reinstalled, and now en-GB is behaving just like all the others.

So, what I am seeing now - changing the user interface language (using "Simple Locale Switcher") causes the spell-checker to change to the same language (which I think is by design). Changing the spell-check language through the "Preferences" menu (Mac OS X) then seems to have absolutely no effect on anything whatsoever. However, changing it by the right-click method you suggest does - it correctly changes the spell-check language to the one chosen. The language shown in the "Preferences" menu changes to match whatever was chosen in the right-click method, and the change is persistent - it applies to all future emails, not just the current one.

Thanks for the tip - I'd say there is still a bug somewhere, but this changes it from a giant pain in the <insert whatever you prefer here>, to one that is only mildly annoying.

Okulungisiwe ngu rkimmel