It offers:

• Spell-checking services in multiple languages
• 100,000 to over 300,000 words in each major language database
• Expandable with new words
• Instant spell-checking in most e-mail clients for Palm OS as well as in other applications
• Word replacement suggestions
• Widely configurable for speed, depth and quality of suggestions
• Uniquely optimized for convenience during the spell-checking process
• Runs on all handhelds with Palm OS 3.5 or higher
• High speed and excellent lexicon compression based on proven spell-checking technologies
• Fully-functional evaluation version for each language lexicon

The available language databases for LexSpell at the time of preparing this document are listed below along with the approximate size (words/memory) for each lexicon.

• English (American) /100,000 in 308 kB/
• English (British)     /100,000 in 311 kB/
• German (Classic)   /290,000 in 826 kB/
• Spanish               /320,000 in 795 kB/
• French                /140,00 in 337 kB/
• Italian                 /210,000 in 513 kB/

More languages may have already been developed and made available by the time you read this, so make sure to check out the LexSpell home page.

• Any device running Palm OS 3.5 or higher
   

• RAM only
  Due to the spell-checking process specifics (very fast search in random text) LexSpell requires that all its files - program and data - are installed in the main handheld memory (RAM). For more details on this requirement see the FAQ section.
   

• Resident invocation subject to device and OS capabilities:
   

  devices running Palm OS 3.5 and 4 will be able to rely on hotkey combination and possibly on command toolbar icon devices running Palm OS 5 and higher will only be able to rely on command toolbar for resident invocation

  The command toolbar is normally invoked by a diagonal upwards left-to-right stroke in the Graffiti area (or elsewhere if the device supports it). Some handhelds may require specific key combination (e.g. Ctrl-T on Sony Clie UX series) while others may not even feature command toolbar. If there is no toolbar available LexSpell will not be able to perform resident lookups.
   

LexSpell is commonly distributed in ZIP or EXE format.

Distributions are made per language meaning each such distribution will contain program files, manuals and only one language lexicon file. Supporting another language will thus require a separate installation.

EXE installations are self-installing distributive packages for the Microsoft Windows operating system. All you need to do is double-click the EXE file and follow the on-screen instructions.

ZIP files are composite files containing the necessary program, data and documentation files for an application. They are widely used in Internet data delivery because of their high compression (faster downloads) and data integrity improvements. To extract (unpack) the contents of the ZIP file users usually need additional application such as WinZIP (www.winzip.com) or StuffIt (www.stuffit.com). Note you do not even need to purchase any of those applications (although we recommend it) - you can actually extract the ZIP file with the trial version available for free download!
Windows XP has built-in support for opening reading ZIP files, but that also presents certain problems:

Note: Whether opening ZIP files from within the built-in Windows XP browser or from within a third party application (WinZIP, StuffIt or other) it is highly recommended that you create special folder on your computer and drag or extract the ZIP file contents there as opposed to directly attempting to install them from within the ZIP file!
If you do not do that chances are good you will see the Palm Install Tool complaining it can not find the file you want to install (when you double-click it).

Note: Some web sites offer automated download and extraction/installation of ZIP or other files. They would usually take care of downloading and extracting the files for you, some may even automatically prepare them for installation during the next HotSync^®.

There are two program files that need to be installed: LexSpell.prc  and LexLib.prc.
You will also want to install the one or more language lexicon databases for the spell checker. You will find the available files with self-explanatory names in the in the "Lexicons" folder of the distributive.

Important note: All LexSpell files, including the lexicon files, must be installed in the main handheld memory (RAM) in order for the program to function properly!
For more details on this limitation please see the FAQ section.

For uninstallation instructions, please refer to the FAQ section.

Some quick instructions are available in the program itself. They are accessible through the "Instructions" command in the main application menu.

LexSpell can be started in two separate modes - Standard and Resident.

Standard Mode
In standard mode you run the program like you would run any other Palm OS application - from the main application launcher or through an assigned shortcut button.
LexSpell occupies the full screen and lets you configure it or do a spell checking of the text you would enter.

Resident Mode
This mode allows you to invoke the program from within almost any other program through either a hotkey combination or through the command toolbar.
Note the program must have been run at least once in Standard Mode in order for the resident lookup to be activated.

When invoked in Resident mode, the program will first look to see if there is a blinking cursor inside a field on the current screen.
If there isn't, LexSpell will bring up its own little data entry form where you can quickly enter and verify a word or a phrase.

If there is, LexSpell will get the text contents of the field and automatically run spell-checking for it, highlighting each word being processed.
When encountering an unknown word, LexSpell will bring up a form showing you the word and asking you what to do.

For example, an American would typically want to use the American English spelling checker and would have to register that lexicon for use.
A French would most likely want the French language spelling checker database, so they will only want registration for it.

The price for using a single language lexicon is $14.95.
Discounts apply for multiple languages.

For site licensing and education prices, please call +1 214 550 2204 or send an email to sales@beiks.com. Our education, government and enterprise licenses start at 20% and we enjoy a wide and growing array of licensees!

LexSpell allows for a fully functional evaluation period with the lexicon(s) of your choice. The evaluation starts the first time a lexicon is used for performing a spelling check and allows 30 more such services, whether in Standard or Resident mode.

A reminder will show how many times are left until the evaluation expires. At expiration the lexicon will no longer be available for use until unlocked.

To unlock a lexicon for permanent use, you need to purchase an unlocking (registration) key as instructed by the program.

All bug fixes and minor application updates are free of charge to the user. Beiks reserves the right to charge an update fee (usually 20%-40% of the sale price) for any major functionality or platform updates, but no more than once in a calendar year.

Due to the lack of a system-wide standard for text exchange LexSpell may not be able to perform a proper resident spelling check service in certain applications.
For further explanation of this limitation please refer to the FAQ section.

The short rule of thumb is that LexSpell should and will work for any applications that use standard device input controls (fields).

Applications that implement proprietary and enhanced input (e.g. most word processors) will fail to either give or accept back data from another application.

Below are some popular applications that LexSpell was tested against and found to be successfully working with.
The best way to know for sure, however, is to just try on your own handheld!

For technical support please write to support@beiks.com or visit our website at www.beiks.com.

For sales questions, site and school licensing please write to sales@beiks.com.

Q. Why do all LexSpell files need to be in RAM? Why can't we install the large lexical files on an SD card?
A. The short answer is: to avoid the slow process of tunneling data back and forth between the media card and the device itself. This is where the bottleneck is.
Because the communication between the card and the device is serial, it is going bit by bit, which can be fairly slow, especially if the content is compressed.
A dictionary program, for example, would always load only a portion of that content corresponding to the word being looked up, but the words in a dictionary are ordered and displayed alphabetically, so it all makes sense. A spell-checker, on the other hand, may need to verify words from the opposite ends of the alphabet in three words next to each other!
The decision for RAM requirement was made for best interest of the customer experience and after some real experiments.

Q. Why can't LexSpell work with some applications (WordToGo, WordSmith etc.)?
A. Because the text entry and output in those applications is implemented used proprietary means and not the standard Palm OS technology; like any normal program, LexSpell is only aware of so many methods of communicating with other programs and when it encounters a new one it does not know how to approach it. To avoid potential problems it simply does not do anything in such case, just as if there is no text on the screen.
It is important to note that proprietary text input and output in such programs does not mean they are bad: the proprietary technologies are usually developed to provide better user experience.
We encourage you to contact the developers of these applications and let them contact us: the fact is they can easily provide spell-checking functionality through LexLib or LexSpell if they want and we are willing to work with them for making it happen.

Q. How do I uninstall LexSpell?
A. (Please let us know why you would want to uninstall it!)
To uninstall the program you will first have to run it once, go to the resident settings screen and turn the resident invocation method OFF.
Alternatively, if the program could not start for whatever reason, try performing a soft reset of the device while holding down the UP ARROW button and then deleting the files the regular way.
Note that both LexLib and  the language lexicon files may also be used by other applications than LexLib (e.g. WordToGo) and you may want to leave them in the device.

Q. Suggestions are slow, can I make them faster?
A. Well, truth is this is mostly our responsibility and we are working hard to provide faster suggestion at least on the new more powerful devices. One thing you could do in the meantime is to turn off the automatic suggestion checkbox from the program's settings screen. This will not actually make suggestions generation faster, it would just turn it off and will make the correction screen appear faster.
To manually generate suggestions tap the "No suggestions" line in the list where suggestions usually appear.

Q. Can I edit the list with my additions (the user lexicon)?
A. Not in this version, but it is in works and will hopefully be available in the very next release.

Q. Can I edit the list with my additions (the user lexicon)?
A. Not in this version, but it is in works and will hopefully be available soon.

LexSpell and LexLib are (c) 2001-2005 Beiks LLC, portions (c) Wintertree software.
Palm OS is registered trade mark of Palm Source; Palm, PalmOne and VersaMail are registered trade marks of PalmOne, Inc.; Iambic and Iambic Mail are trade marks of Iambic Inc.; SnapperMail is trade mark of SnapperFish LLC; Sony and CLIE are registered trade marks of Sony Inc. All other registered trade marks used in this document belong to their owners.