Texshop, macOS Sierra: Setting a cocoAspelling dictionary

Question

I have installed macTex (which includes TexShop).
I want the spell checker to ignore several of the latex commands.

Per this link, I have installed cocoAspelling.

In System Preferences: cocaoAspelling's Spelling menu:
I enabled the English (United States) dictionary,
(with Tex options enabled).

This created an English (United States) (Aspell) option
in System Preferences: Keyboard: Text tab.
I selected this pane
(although I would prefer an application only option.)

Per the link, I closed and reopened Texshop.
In TexShop: Edit: Show Spelling and Grammar,
the default language was set to Automatic by language
which meant there was a system problem setting the default.

Per this link,
I could manually set the spell checking language in TexShop
on a file by file basis
by using the following code:

% !TEX spellcheck = en_US

This enables me to set the dictionary I want,
but I do not know the correct input for the Aspell dictionary.

Questions:

1. Does anyone know if such a language code exists for Aspell dictionaries?

2. Does anyone know where any decent documentation on TexShop resides?

   • (Every question I've ever had is at least partially solved with,
     "Use this % !TEX command",
     but I can't find documentation specifying these commands.)

Answer 1

In general, changes in TeXShop Preferences affect all future documents, while changes through menus only affect the active document for a particular session. However, the spelling dictionary choice and the choice of smart quotes, smart dashes, etc., are special. (My fault) These items aren't mentioned in TeXShop Preferences and only available via menus. For these, the trick is to have ONLY ONE DOCUMENT OPEN when you set them. Then quit TeXShop. After that, your choices will apply to all documents opened later.

Answer 2

The code for using Aspell would be:

% !TEX spellcheck = English (United States) (Aspell)

(If the name of the Aspell dictionary appearing in Spelling and Grammar is different from the name shown in the code above, then use the name appearing in your dictionary list.)

Notice that this code line sometimes doesn't work if you have multiple .tex files open and some of them do not have this line in the beginning of the document.

Answer 3

You can also choose the English (Aspell) dictionary from your document by using

% !TEX spellcheck = English

near the top of your document.