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                   JINX.EL - ENCHANTED SPELL CHECKER
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Jinx is a fast just-in-time spell-checker for Emacs. Jinx highlights
misspelled words in the text of the visible portion of the buffer. For
efficiency, Jinx highlights misspellings lazily, recognizes window
boundaries and text folding, if any. For example, when unfolding or
scrolling, only the newly visible part of the text is checked if it has
not been checked before. Each misspelling can be corrected from a list
of dictionary words presented as a completion menu.

Installing Jinx is straight-forward and configuring should not need much
intervention. Jinx can be used completely on its own, and is designed as
a full replacement for Emacs's built-in spell-checker Ispell, but it can
also safely co-exist with it.

Jinx's high performance and low resource usage comes from directly
calling the API of the [Enchant library]. Jinx automatically compiles
`jinx-mod.c' and loads the dynamic module at startup. By binding
directly to the native Enchant API, Jinx avoids slower inter-process
communication. Enchant is used by other text editors and supports
multiple backends like [Nuspell], [Hunspell] and [Aspell].

Jinx supports spell-checking multiple languages in the same buffer. See
the `jinx-languages' variable to customize for multiple languages. Jinx
can flexibly ignore misspellings via faces (`jinx-exclude-faces' and
`jinx-include-faces'), regular expressions (`jinx-exclude-regexps'), and
programmable predicates. Jinx comes preconfigured for the most important
Emacs major modes. Modes like JavaScript, TypeScript, Java, Ruby or Rust
are listed in `jinx-camel-modes'. For these modes composite words in
`camelCase' and `PascalCase' are accepted.


[Enchant library] <https://rrthomas.github.io/enchant/>

[Nuspell] <https://nuspell.github.io/>

[Hunspell] <https://hunspell.github.io/>

[Aspell] <http://aspell.net/>


1 Installation
══════════════

  Jinx can be installed from [ELPA] or [MELPA] directly with
  `package-install'.

  Your Emacs must be compiled with dynamic module support. Furthermore a
  C compiler must be available on your system (`gcc' or `clang'). Jinx
  requires `libenchant', which is needed to compile the native module at
  install time. If `pkgconf' or `pkg-config' is available, Jinx will use
  it to locate `libenchant' during installation. Depending on your BSD
  or Linux distribution you have to install different packages:

  • Debian, Ubuntu: `libenchant-2-dev', `pkgconf'
  • Arch, Gentoo: `enchant', `pkgconf'
  • Guix: `emacs-jinx' defined in `emacs-xyz.scm'
  • Nix: `jinx' defined in `elpa-packages.nix'
  • Void: `enchant2-devel', `pkgconf'
  • Fedora: `emacs-jinx' or `enchant2-devel', `pkgconf-pkg-config'
  • OpenSUSE: `emacs-jinx' or `enchant-devel', `pkgconf-pkg-config'
  • FreeBSD, OpenBSD, Mac: `enchant2', `pkgconf'

  On Windows the installation of the native module may require manual
  intervention.


[ELPA] <https://elpa.gnu.org/packages/jinx.html>

[MELPA] <https://releases.melpa.org/#/jinx>


2 Configuration
═══════════════

  Jinx has two modes: the command, `global-jinx-mode' activates
  globally; and the command, `jinx-mode', for activating for specific
  modes.

  ┌────
  │ ;; Alternative 1: Enable Jinx globally
  │ (add-hook 'emacs-startup-hook #'global-jinx-mode)
  │ 
  │ ;; Alternative 2: Enable Jinx per mode
  │ (dolist (hook '(text-mode-hook prog-mode-hook conf-mode-hook))
  │   (add-hook hook #'jinx-mode))
  └────

  The commands `jinx-correct' and `jinx-languages' are marked as
  autoloads. Invoking `jinx-correct' corrects the misspellings. Binding
  `jinx-correct' to `M-$' takes over that key from the default
  assignment to `ispell-word'. Since Jinx is independent of the Ispell
  package, `M-$' can be re-used.

  ┌────
  │ (keymap-global-set "M-$" #'jinx-correct)
  │ (keymap-global-set "C-M-$" #'jinx-languages)
  └────

  • `M-$' triggers correction for the misspelled word before point.
  • `C-u M-$' or `M-x jinx-correct-all' spell-checks the entire buffer.
  • `C-u C-u M-$' or `M-x jinx-correct-word' forces correction of the
    word at point, even if it is not misspelled.

  A sample configuration with the popular `use-package' macro is shown
  here:

  ┌────
  │ (use-package jinx
  │   :hook (emacs-startup . global-jinx-mode)
  │   :bind (("M-$" . jinx-correct)
  │          ("C-M-$" . jinx-languages)))
  └────

  See also the [Jinx Wiki] for additional configuration tips. The wiki
  documents configurations to save misspellings as global abbreviations
  and support for Ispell `LocalWords'.


[Jinx Wiki] <https://github.com/minad/jinx/wiki>


3 Correcting misspellings
═════════════════════════

  The easiest way to correct a misspelling is to right click on the
  word, underlined with a wavy line. Then a context menu will open where
  you can select from suggestions.

  If you prefer to use the keyboard, invoke the command
  `jinx-correct'. The recommended binding is `M-$', see the
  configuration section. In order to check the entire buffer press the
  keys `C-u M-$' or use `M-x jinx-correct-all'.

  Suggested corrections will be displayed as a completion menu. You can
  press the displayed digit keys to quickly select a
  suggestion. Furthermore the menu offers options to save the word
  temporarily for the current session, in the personal dictionary or in
  the file-local or directory-local variables.

  You can enter arbitrary input at the correction prompt in order to
  make the correction or to store a modified word in the personal
  dictionary. For example if you typed `alotriomorpc', the prompt offers
  you the option `@alotriomorpc' which would add this word to your
  personal dictionary upon selection. You can then correct the option to
  `@allotriomorphic' and add it to the dictionary.

  While inside the `jinx-correct' prompt, the keys `M-n' and `M-p' are
  bound to `jinx-next' and `jinx-previous' respectively and allow you to
  move the next and previous misspelled word.

  The completion menu is compatible with all popular completion UIs:
  Vertico, Mct, Icomplete, Ivy, Helm and the default completions
  buffer. In case you use Vertico I suggest that you tweak the
  completion display via `vertico-multiform-mode' for the completion
  category `jinx'. You can for example use the grid display such that
  more suggestions fit on the screen and enable annotations.

  ┌────
  │ (add-to-list 'vertico-multiform-categories
  │              '(jinx grid (vertico-grid-annotate . 20) (vertico-count . 4)))
  │ (vertico-multiform-mode)
  └────


4 Navigating between misspellings
═════════════════════════════════

  When correcting a word with `jinx-correct', the movement commands
  `jinx-next' and `jinx-previous' are available on the keys `M-n' and
  `M-p' to navigate to the next and previous misspelling
  respectively. The movement commands work from within the minibuffer
  during `jinx-correct' and also globally outside the minibuffer
  context.

  While the commands are not bound globally by default, they are
  available as `M-n' and `M-p' if point is placed on top of a misspelled
  word overlay. If you want you can add them and other commands to the
  `jinx-mode-map', such that they are always available independent of
  point placement. If `repeat-mode' from Emacs 28 is enabled, the
  movement can be repeated with the keys `n' and `p'.


5 Enchant backends and personal dictionaries
════════════════════════════════════════════

  Enchant uses different backends for different languages. The backends
  are ordered as specified in the personal configuration file
  `~/.config/enchant/enchant.ordering' and the system-wide configuration
  file `/usr/share/enchant-2/enchant.ordering'. Enchant uses Hunspell as
  default backend for most languages. For English Enchant prefers Aspell
  and for Finnish and Turkish special backends called Voikko and
  Zemberek are used.

  Depending on the backend the personal dictionary will be taken from
  different locations, e.g., `~/.aspell.LANG.pws' or
  `~/.config/enchant/LANG.dic'. It is possible to symlink different
  personal dictionaries such that they are shared by different spell
  checkers. See the [Enchant manual] for details.


[Enchant manual] <https://rrthomas.github.io/enchant/lib/enchant.html>


6 Alternatives
══════════════

  There exist multiple alternative spell-checking packages for Emacs,
  most famously the builtin ispell.el and flyspell.el packages. The main
  advantages of Jinx are its automatic checking of the visible text, its
  sharp focus on performance and the ability to easily use multiple
  dictionaries at once. The following three alternative packages come
  closest to the behavior of Jinx.

  • [jit-spell]: Jinx borrows ideas from Augusto Stoffel's
    Jit-spell. Jit-spell uses the less efficient Ispell process
    communication instead of Jinx's calling a native API. Since
    Jit-spell does not restrict spell checking to the visible text only,
    it may enqueue the entire buffer too eagerly for checking. This
    happens when scrolling around or when stealth font locking is
    enabled. For this reason, Jit-spell affected load and latency in my
    tests ([issue on Github]).

  • [spell-fu]: The idea to check words just in the visible text came
    from Campbell Barton's spell-fu package. Spell-fu is fast but incurs
    high memory overhead on account of its dictionary in a hash
    table. For languages with compound words and inflected word forms,
    this overhead magnifies ([issue on Codeberg]). By accessing the
    Enchant API directly, Jinx avoids any overhead. Jinx also benefits
    from the advanced spell-checker algorithms of Enchant (affixation,
    compound words, etc.).

  • flyspell: Flyspell is a built-in package. Flyspell highlights
    misspellings while typing. Only the word under the cursor is
    spell-checked. Jinx, on the other hand, is more effective because it
    automatically checks for misspellings in the entire visible text of
    the buffer at once. Flyspell can check the entire buffer but must be
    instructed to do so via the command `flyspell-buffer'.


[jit-spell] <https://github.com/astoff/jit-spell>

[issue on Github] <https://github.com/astoff/jit-spell/issues/9>

[spell-fu] <https://codeberg.org/ideasman42/emacs-spell-fu>

[issue on Codeberg]
<https://codeberg.org/ideasman42/emacs-spell-fu/issues/40>
