Spelling correction in user interfaces

ABSTRACT

The feasibility of providing a spelling corrector as a part of interactive user interfaces is demonstrated. The issues involved in using spelling correction in a user interface are examined, and a simple correction algorithm is described. The results of an experiment in which the corrector is incorporated into a heavily used interactive program are described. More than one quarter of the errors made by users during the experiment were corrected using the simple mechanisms presented here. From this we have concluded that there are considerable benefits and few obstacles to providing a spelling corrector in almost any interactive user interface.

REFERENCES

• 1: Fred J. Damerau, A technique for computer detection and correction of spelling errors, Communications of the ACM, v.7 n.3, p.171-176, March 1964 [doi>10.1145/363958.363994]
• 2: United States Department of Defense. Reference Manual for the Ada Programming Language. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., Order L008-000-00354-8, 1980. The 1980 version of the official Ada specification.
• 3: Gorin, R.E. SPELL: Spelling check and correction program. Online documentation, 1971. Documentation online in file DOC:SPELL.DOC at CMU-CS-A.ARPA. Describes operation of PDP-10 SPELL program. A description of the basic algorithm is also given by Peterson {7}.
• 4: Hayes, P., Ball, J.E., and Reddy, D. R. Breaking the man-machine communication barrier. IEEE Computer 14, 3 (March 1981). Discusses desirable attributes of user interfaces.
• 5: Lamb, D.A. RdMai{ Message Management System: User's Guide and Reference. Carnegie-Mellon University Computer Science Department, Pittsburgh, Pa., 1980.
• 6: Howard L. Morgan, Spelling correction in systems programs, Communications of the ACM, v.13 n.2, p.90-94, Feb 1970 [doi>10.1145/362007.362033]
• 7: James L. Peterson, Computer programs for detecting and correcting spelling errors, Communications of the ACM, v.23 n.12, p.676-687, Dec. 1980 [doi>10.1145/359038.359041]
• 8: John F. Reiser, SAIL, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 1976
• 9: Teitelman, W. lnterLisp Reference Manual. Xerox Research Center, Palo Alto, Calif., 1978. Chapter 17 describes the DWIM (Do What I Mean) facility, which corrects simple programmer errors, including misspelled keywords.

INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  D. Software
  D.2 SOFTWARE ENGINEERING
      D.2.2 Design Tools and Techniques
          Subjects: Software libraries

Additional Classification:
  D. Software
  D.2 SOFTWARE ENGINEERING
      D.2.2 Design Tools and Techniques
          Subjects: User interfaces

  H. Information Systems
  H.1 MODELS AND PRINCIPLES
      H.1.2 User/Machine Systems
          Subjects: Human factors

General Terms:
Algorithms, Human Factors

Keywords:
interactive programs, spelling, spelling correction, typographical errors, user interfaces