Quickstart: Check spelling with Bing Spell Check REST API and Java

Use this quickstart to make your first call to Bing Spell Check REST API. This simple Java application sends a request to the API and returns a list of suggested corrections.

Although this application is written in Java, the API is a RESTful web service compatible with most programming languages. The source code for this application is available on GitHub.

Prerequisites

• The Java Development Kit(JDK) 7 or later.

• Import the gson-2.8.5.jar or the most current Gson version. For command-line execution, add the .jar to your Java folder with the main class.

Create and initialize an application

1. Create a new Java Project in your favorite IDE or editor with a class name of your choosing, and then import the following packages:

   import java.io.*;
   import java.net.*;
   import com.google.gson.*;
   import javax.net.ssl.HttpsURLConnection;
   

2. Create variables for the API endpoint's host, path, and your subscription key. Then, create variables for your market, the text you want to spell check, and a string for the spell check mode.

   static String host = "https://api.bing.microsoft.com";
   static String path = "/v7.0/spellcheck";
   
   static String key = "<ENTER-KEY-HERE>";
   
   static String mkt = "en-US";
   static String mode = "proof";
   static String text = "Hollo, wrld!";
   

Create and send an API request

1. Create a function called check() to create and send the API request. Within this function, add the code specified in the next steps. Create a string for the request parameters:

   1. Assign your market code to the mkt parameter with the = operator.

   2. Add the mode parameter with the & operator, and then assign the spell-check mode.

   public static void check () throws Exception {
       String params = "?mkt=" + mkt + "&mode=" + mode;
      // add the rest of the code snippets here (except prettify() and main())...
   }
   

2. Create a URL by combining the endpoint host, path, and parameters string. Create a new HttpsURLConnection object.

   URL url = new URL(host + path + params);
   HttpsURLConnection connection = (HttpsURLConnection) url.openConnection();
   

3. Open a connection to the URL. Set the request method to POST and add your request parameters. Be sure to add your subscription key to the Ocp-Apim-Subscription-Key header.

    connection.setRequestMethod("POST");
    connection.setRequestProperty("Content-Type", "application/x-www-form-urlencoded");
    connection.setRequestProperty("Ocp-Apim-Subscription-Key", key);
    connection.setDoOutput(true);
   

4. Create a new DataOutputStream object and send the request to the API.

       DataOutputStream wr = new DataOutputStream(connection.getOutputStream());
       wr.writeBytes("text=" + text);
       wr.flush();
       wr.close();
   

Format and read the API response

1. Add the prettify() method to your class, which formats the JSON for a more readable output.

   // This function prettifies the json response.
   public static String prettify(String json_text) {
       JsonParser parser = new JsonParser();
       JsonElement json = parser.parse(json_text);
       Gson gson = new GsonBuilder().setPrettyPrinting().create();
       return gson.toJson(json);
   }
   

2. Create a BufferedReader and read the response from the API. Print it to the console.

    BufferedReader in = new BufferedReader(
    new InputStreamReader(connection.getInputStream()));
    String line;
    while ((line = in.readLine()) != null) {
    	System.out.println(prettify(line));
    }
    in.close();
   

Call the API

In the main function of your application, call your check() method created previously.

    	public static void main(String[] args) {
    		try {
    			check();
    		}
    		catch (Exception e) {
    			System.out.println (e);
    		}
    	}

Run the application

Build and run your project. If you're using the command line, use the following commands to build and run the application:

1. Build the application:

   javac -classpath .;gson-2.2.2.jar\* <CLASS_NAME>.java
   

2. Run the application:

   java -cp .;gson-2.2.2.jar\* <CLASS_NAME>
   

Example JSON response

A successful response is returned in JSON, as shown in the following example:

{
   "_type": "SpellCheck",
   "flaggedTokens": [
      {
         "offset": 0,
         "token": "Hollo",
         "type": "UnknownToken",
         "suggestions": [
            {
               "suggestion": "Hello",
               "score": 0.9115257530801
            },
            {
               "suggestion": "Hollow",
               "score": 0.858039839213461
            },
            {
               "suggestion": "Hallo",
               "score": 0.597385084464481
            }
         ]
      },
      {
         "offset": 7,
         "token": "wrld",
         "type": "UnknownToken",
         "suggestions": [
            {
               "suggestion": "world",
               "score": 0.9115257530801
            }
         ]
      }
   ]
}

Next steps

Create a single-page web app

• What is the Bing Spell Check API?
• Bing Spell Check API v7 reference