Path: utzoo!mnetor!tmsoft!torsqnt!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!ub!uhura.cc.rochester.edu!rochester!pt.cs.cmu.edu!o.gp.cs.cmu.edu!andrew.cmu.edu!rq02+ From: rq02+@andrew.cmu.edu (Richard Quadrel) Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.apps Subject: Re: Grammar Checker Message-ID: Date: 18 Feb 91 15:41:53 GMT Organization: Architecture, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA Lines: 39 Robert Dale writes: > Only the first of these (Correct Grammar) is actually a grammar > checker. As a colleague said of "Sensible Grammar" on exploring > the package: "it would seem that the only sensible grammar is no > grammar at all." > The only other Mac grammar checker is Grammatik, but Correct Grammar > is far superior. I did a comparison between Correct Grammar, Sensible Grammar and Grammatik by running all three programs through the sample files that were provided by the software companies, as well as a number of my own files. All of these files contained deliberate errors which were designed to check the behavior of the programs. The program that caught the least number of these errors was Correct Grammar. In fact, Correct Grammar made some suggestions for improvement that were simply incorrect. Correct Grammar did, however, have the cleanest interface and was the easiest to use. In spite of its interface, though, this program went immediately into the trash. I don't know what kind of papers Mr. Dale writes, so I have no idea why he made that comment about Sensible Grammar. While no grammar checker is perfect, both Sensible Grammar and Grammatik were successful in dicovering errors in both my technical papers and informal correspondance. Both programs allow the user to control the rules that are used to perform the checking, and both programs are quite comprehensive. Personally, I prefer Grammatik, primarily because of its interface. Grammatik highlights the errors it finds in a single text window, while Sens. Gram uses three or four windows that contain errors, forcing you to read each one separately. Sensible Grammar doesn't seem to catch as many potential problems as Grammatik does, but it's still a pretty good program. And either of these beats the pants off of Correct Grammar, in my opinion. For Mr. Dale and others: try running Correct Grammar and Grammatik on a sample file (I'll be happy to provide one of my own!) and compare for yourself! ... and then run it on this message - obviously I need grammatical help myself! :^) Rich Quadrel rquadrel@cad.cs.cmu.edu