[OS X TeX] counting words in 2010

[David Derbes]

I'm not sure if this is a solution, but Excalibur counts words as it spell-checks. 

There is also WordService from Devon Technologies that works with many programs; it has a word count feature.
Free.

http://www.devon-technologies.com/products/freeware/services.htm

David Derbes
U of Chicago Laboratory Schools



On Oct 28, 2010, at 6:56 PM, Dr. Clea F. Rees wrote:

> As I understand it, TeXShop uses /usr/texbin/detex to calculate
> document statistics (words, characters, lines). Specifically, it calls
> detex via a wrapper script included in the application's resources. (In
> my case, the wrapper has been "tweaked" but this is not relevant here.)
> 
> The problem I'm seeing is with /usr/texbin/detex as supplied with TeX
> Live 2010 as opposed to the versions supplied with TeX Live 2008 and
> 2009. Essentially, I'm getting much lower word counts than I should
> because detex is stripping out text which it really shouldn't. The
> things I'm certain about include footnote text and italicised text but
> I suspect these are just a part of the problem.
> 
> I'm hoping this isn't intended to be a feature. Does anybody know:
> - if this is a known (or unknown) bug?
> - if there is any way of working around it? (I'm currently using the
>  2009 issue of detex but that's a bit messy.)
> - if there is a better way of getting document statistics?
> 
> Specifically, I need word counts which are as accurate as possible. But
> if there is to be inaccuracy, it is generally better if the count is
> reported as slightly higher than it really is rather than lower because
> I'm typically trying to write stuff which does not exceed a given limit.
> This makes the current detex almost useless.
> 
> I know detex is used for more than word counts but can't imagine what
> purpose is served by stripping out italic text, for example. Please,
> this isn't supposed to be a feature, is it? Please?!
> 
> This is also intended to alert people who rely on TeXShop's statistics
> (or detex | wc) that the results may be unreliable with TeX Live 2010.
> Perhaps I missed it, but I don't recall seeing any warnings to this
> effect or information about changes to the current version of detex.
> (If anybody saw such and can send me a pointer, that'd be great.)
> 
> Thanks,
> cfr
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