After the Deadline Grammar Checker

I'm hoping someone can help me here. I'm running up to date versions of all the relevant software, but am still getting the "Could not create Java implementation folder" error when I try to run this extension. I've used ATD elsewhere and was impressed so it would be great if I could get it working. I'm not the most computer literate person, but I know enough; what am I doing wrong?

Thanks in advance.

Why is version 3 the only one found here? I have version 4, so I know it exists.

White Phoenix

I've tried several grammar checkers, and none do much for your, including this one. Yeah, it finds the passive voice, which is easy. Whenever it finds "to be" or "was" or "had been," and so forth, it flags it (blindly). But it doesn't even have the real idiot fixers, such as hear/here (not that I need that, but a lot of people do)

It did correct misuse of there/their.

But what I need it for, and I expect most writers do, is to fix things like using "an" when you mean "and," or "the" when you mean "they," and stuff like that. Errors due to fast typing. Things not caught by spell checker, but which are maddeningly difficult for the writer to find. In its defense, none of the checkers I tested did.

On top of that, it's excruciatingly slow with large documents.

Okay, it's free, but don't bother unless you are learning what the passive voice is, and you don't know the difference between "there" and "their."

Anyone who has ever used a grammar checker knows that they are of very limited value. The complexities of the English language make it impossible for any software ever to make a really good fist of checking text. A good grammar checker, therefore, limits itself to those few aspects that lie within its compass: homograph confusion, apostrophes and a few others that you mistype as you hurry to get your thoughts down.

This, however, bites off more than any software is likely to be able to chew in the foreseeable future. The inevitable result is that it does a lot of things very badly indeed and, within five minutes, you will be turning off the options, one by one. as you tire of them wasting your time with assertions that are almost invariably wrong.

It is buggy, too. Every time I start up OO, it throws up the same message that it cannot connect to the ATD website, and grammar checking will not be available. One can and the other is.

The biggest worry is the lack of consistency, though. I tried it while editing files for Kindle and Createspace: same text, different formats. This should have produced identical errors. That it didn't throws doubt on the whole thing.

In short, save bandwidth by installing a less ambitious extension that will do a few things well.

Wunderbar, umfassende, gut zu führen verstehen. Vielen Dank für die Zeit nehmen, um all dies zusammen! Ich plane einige Updates für mein Blog, und werde auf jeden Fall die einige Ihrer Vorschläge hier.

AtD installed. When I clicked the enable button, it showed this error: Could not create Java implementation loader

I do have Java version 1.6.0_33 Sun Microsystems' radio button clicked. It is the only avaible program shown in the Java dialog under Options. Prior to this, I did download the Java jre 7 -- I noticed that this is jre 6. I'm using OpenOffice.org 3.3

What can I do to fix this problem?

Thank you!

Running Windows 7 - 64. Got the error that it could not create the required directory.
This is something that I was looking for. Wish I could use it.

I have been searching all over for a robust proofreading tool. I found nothing that I could use on my desktop except whitesmoke, which is pricey. I'm running Open Office on Lion/MAC OS. Install was smooth. This seems to work great so far. It's finding questionable grammar in a large text for me and making me think in new ways. I wouldn't mind it being more aggressive with suggestions than it is, but it will help me make a pass through the material with new eyes, which is mainly what I needed. As a side note, my text has small bits of French, Russian, and Vietnamese in it, and I was so happy to see that I could get these dictionaries installed as well. When I'm checking and come to a foreign language phrase, I can pull down the language from within the spell checker and it checks that word or phrase, and then reverts the search back to English without even having to close the window. So glad I don't have to invest in Whitesmoke to try such an approach to fine editing my text. Thank you so much for making this available via open source. Am I gleaning that this works with WordPress, too? Very sweet that you're cross developing a tool with both Open Office and WordPress.

Upgraded both 32 bit and 64 bit Java to JRE 7. I am running AOO 3.4 on Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit SP1. OpenOffice is using the latest version of the 32 bit Java. Also I have LibreOffice 3.5 on the same system. When I try to install After the Deadline into either one, I receive the same error:

Could not create Java implementation loader.

But don’t feel too bad. There are a few other extensions that have the same problem.

Aha! The problem came from a combination of user error and a slightly confusing user interface. You cannot just highlight the Java that you want to use and click OK. You need to click the button on also.

I find that this extension continually crashes OO Writer when I try to do anything, even open a file, better than a virus on an old Win98 machine. I cannot unistall it because it crashes Writer. I am using Debian Wheezy with Mate desktop with AMD64 bit.
It looks like I will have to uninstall OO completely and then reinstall just to get rid of this thing.
Another thought, with everything being done with this extension offsite, this can be an excellent tracking tool. I don't know if it is or not. I am only saying this format with offsite corrections could make it possible.

I would recommend that OO take this extension off of this site.

This extension was exactly what I needed to clean up my manuscript. It's like having an editor right inside OpenOffice. Works in LibreOffice too. The integration with OpenOffice is flawless; it works right alongside the spell checker. A comparison of the same text sent through WhiteSmoke vs. After the Deadline (sent via this plugin) resulted in virtually the same results. This extension works and works well. Well done!!!

I tried a possessive test using this extension and it failed to pick it up in openoffice and officelibre.

"The dogs dinner" - with correct grammar would be "The dog's dinner" - however nothing got picked up.

I checked all settings as shown above. If I use the browser plugin of afterthedeadline the grammer error above is picked up.

This tool also provides grammatically incorrect solutions.

Keep in mind, these examples are not isolated sentences. They are excerpts from one chapter in a manuscript of mine.

After he waited more than a quarter hour, his head fell forward in a slow bob.

The gentlemen used the momentary lapse to check their personal accounts and passed the remaining time with bouts of superficial nail biting and thumb twiddling.

"Those of us still able bodied should learn to use these new techniques,” his harsh Russian voice commanded.

(It wanted to put a hyphen in between "quarter hour", "nail biting" and "able bodied")

This tool is horribly misnamed. It should be called, "You Missed Your Deadline -- Passive Voice Checker".

Results:

Strengths:
Whoever programmed this tool spent a lot of time on sentence structure, which was probably a complex and time-consuming process. To be more specific, this tool is good at picking up passive versus strong voice. Although this is not technically an error, it is helpful in giving the prose in a speech or novel that extra kick.

Weaknesses:
The programmer for this tool spent about 30 seconds entering the parameters for common homophone mistakes, and spent no time on contractions. I took a few excepts from a children's book and purposely put in some common errors. I bracketed them below for emphasis:

Susie and Bobby popped the red ball. [There] parents [we're] unhappy, but they bought them a new one anyway. [There] going to the store tomorrow to get a new one. [There] dad said, “[Theirs] no reason this should happen again!" Mom smiled at Bobby and Susie and said, "Don't worry, [its] okay. We all make mistakes."

This tool caught none of the errors. It can detect complex sentence nuance, but it can't tell the difference between there/their/they're, and it cannot detect contraction errors, such as, its/it's and we're/were. These errors, to my experience, are part of a handful of most common typos I've come across in correcting other writer's work.

If anyone expects to use this for college level, or even high-school level proof reading, then they should expect to fail every class.

I noticed after installing this program that my computer bugged up something awful. It seems to be related to java and this extension.

The biggest problem is when I would have the extension open for to long, my internet would slow to the point that it would no longer load, and I had to restart the router to get it working again.

Second is even more frustrating, when loading a certain document of mine, my quoted speech was corrupt! the first " and letter was a Japanese Kanji, and the closing quote was completely deleted as well as the fallowing space! And as soon as I correct it and save, when I reload it, it screws up all over again!

I really liked this extension, but it seems to have some sort of malware attached to it. Please look your extension over as I love it, but am not willing to sacrifice my writing to it's bugs :C

That's the best english grammar checker I've ever seen.

It helps me (as non-native speaker) a lot. Thanks!

I can has tea
Does you knew where I were
but language are not OK here

Detected only the error in the 1st sentence !...