# phpman > man > word-list-compress(1)

[WORD-LIST-COMPRESS(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/WORD-LIST-COMPRESS/1/markdown)             Aspell Abbreviated User's Manual             [WORD-LIST-COMPRESS(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/WORD-LIST-COMPRESS/1/markdown)



## NAME
       word-list-compress - word list compressor/decompressor for GNU Aspell

## SYNOPSIS
       **word-list-compress** **c**[**ompress**] | **d**[**ecompress**]

## DESCRIPTION
       **word-list-compress**  compresses  or decompresses sorted word lists for use with the GNU Aspell
       spell checker.

## COMMANDS
### -c
              compress the plain text word list read from standard input.

### -d
              decompress the compressed word list read from standard input.

## EXAMPLES
       Here are a few examples of how you can use _word-list-compress_

       word-list-compress **d** <wordlist.cwl >wordlist.txt
              Decompress file wordlist.cwl to text file wordlist.txt

       word-list-compress **c** <wordlist.wl >wordlist.cwl 2>errors.txt
              Compress wordlist.wl to wordlist.cwl and send any error messages to a text file  named
              errors.txt

       LC_COLLATE=C sort -u <wordlist.txt **|** word-list-compress c >wordlist.cwl
              Sort  a  word  list,  then pipe it to _word-list-compress_ to create a compressed binary
              wordlist.cwl file.

       word-list-compress d <words.cwl **|** aspell create master ./words.rws
              Decompress a wordlist, then pipe it to [_aspell(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/aspell/1/markdown)_ to create a  spelling  list.   Please
              check the [_aspell(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/aspell/1/markdown)_ info manual for proper usage and options.

## TIPS
       _Word-list-compress_  is  best used with sorted word list type files.  It is not a general pur‐
       pose compression program since the resulting files may actually increase in size.

       _Word-list-compress_ accepts up to 255 text characters in the range of {0x21...0xFF}.  If  your
       word  list  requires  a  larger  character  set  for  certain  languages or longer length for
       multi-word, scientific, medical, technical or other use, then it is recommended that you com‐
       press your word list using [_prezip-bin(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/prezip-bin/1/markdown)_

## DIAGNOSTICS
       _Word-list-compress_ normally exits with a return code of 0.  If it encounters an error, a mes‐
       sage is sent to standard error output (stderr), and _word-list-compress_ exits with a  non-zero
       return value.  Error messages are listed below:

### (display help/usage message)
              Unknown  command given on the command line so _word-list-compress_ displays a usage mes‐
              sage to standard error output.

### Corrupt Input
              This is only for the decompression command **d**.  The input file is of an unknown  format
              or  the  input  file/stream  is  corrupted.   You  may  have  some  valid  output, but
              _word-list-compress_ could not complete the process.  If the input file is a  compressed
              wordlist  but you have no output file, then it may be a newer [_prezip-bin(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/prezip-bin/1/markdown)_ version of
              compressed file, if so, try decompressing the file with [_prezip-bin(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/prezip-bin/1/markdown)_ instead.

### Output Data Error
              The output is full, write protected, or has an error and can no longer be written to.

## SEE ALSO
       [**aspell**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/aspell/1/markdown), [**aspell-import**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/aspell-import/1/markdown), [**prezip-bin**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/prezip-bin/1/markdown), [**run-with-aspell**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/run-with-aspell/1/markdown)

       Aspell is fully documented in its Texinfo manual.  See the `**aspell**' entry in  **info**  for  more
       complete documentation.

## REPORTING BUGS
       For help, see the Aspell homepage at <<http://aspell.net>> and send bug reports/comments to the
       Aspell user list at the above address.

## AUTHOR
       This manual page was written by Aaron Lehmann <<aaronl@vitelus.com>>,  Brian  Nelson  <pyro@de‐
       bian.org> and Jose Da Silva <<digital@joescat.com>>.



GNU                                          2005-09-05                        [WORD-LIST-COMPRESS(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/WORD-LIST-COMPRESS/1/markdown)