aspell
Although aspell has been mentioned, I would like to give some usage examples.
Basic usage
aspell --mode=tex -c sample-file.tex
Languages
List all dictionaries:
aspell dump dicts
Change language to check:
aspell --lang=de --mode=tex -c sample-file.tex
Downsides of aspell
The following is from a German document I've just written. It has 413 lines, so it is rather small.
This should have been recognized as LaTeX, but wasn't:
Before \begin{document}:
\sisetup{locale=DE} - "locale"\pgfmathdeclarefunction{strrepeat}{2}{% - "strrepeat"
pgfmathint{#2}\pgfmath@count\pgfmathresult and twice later - 3x"count"\let\pgfmathresult\pgfutil@empty - "empty"\pgfutil@loop - "loop"\pgfutil@repeat - "repeat"
\pgfmath@smuggleone - "smuggleone"\algtext*{EndIf} - "EndIf", "EndWhile", "EndFunction"\usetikzlibrary{arrows, positioning, calc, shapes} - "arrows", "positioning", "calc", "shapes"\DeclareMathOperator{\ggT}{ggT} - "ggT" (That is valid in a German document about math)
25x words in:
\tikzset{
Stern Brocot at/.style={at/.pgfmath={
strcat("([rotate around=180:(!", strrepeat("#1",\SBLevel),")] !",
strrepeat("#1",\SBLevel-1),"2)")}},
Stern Brocot at*/.style n args={3}{
at/.pgfmath={strcat("(!",strrepeat("#1",#2),"-| SB@#3)")},
append after command/.expanded={\ifnum#2<\SBLevel(\noexpand\tikzlastnode)
edge[densely dotted] (SB@#3@\the\numexpr\SBLLoop+1\relax)\fi}}}
After \begin{document}:
- Almost everything within TikZ
- Much in
algorithm environment
\begin{tabular}{l||ccl} - "ccl"
aspell also has problems with hyphenated words (source)
Workarounds
Create a file called my_def.tex and put your whole preamble in it.
Then add \include{my_def} to your preamble. It should be your file in there.
However, this does not solve the TikZ / table issue. But you can apply the same workaround for TikZ images. I guess it is not convenient to do so for tables.
Best Answer
Just make sure that automatic checking is enabled:
Tools > Spelling > Automatic Spell Checking