Spelling is the name-authority layer above Database. It loads Scid spelling files, stores canonical names and aliases for each database name category, and answers correction and metadata queries without mutating the database itself.

Name Normalization handles the general prefix, infix and suffix rewrite rules. Spell Checker is the loaded index over canonical names and aliases. Player Metadata is the player-only side channel for title, country, dates, peak rating, biography and rating history.

Name normalization is a broad cleanup pass. A caller can apply spelling-file Prefix, Infix and Suffix rules for a database name category without performing canonical alias lookup.

Spell checker owns the loaded strings. It builds sorted alias indexes per database name category, removes section-specific comparison characters from lookup keys, and returns borrowed canonical-name pointers.

Player metadata is available only for player names. It interprets the comment plus Bio and Elo lines attached to canonical player entries, again returning borrowed views owned by the loaded spell checker.