IDEA: Unicode-based texter program

[dcsev]

Title half-assedly says it all.

I'm sure some of you already know Lifehacker Texter

Lets you define text substitution hotstrings that, when triggered, will replace hotstring with a larger piece of text. By entering your most commonly-typed snippets of text into Texter, you can save countless keystrokes in the course of the day.

The program works great (albeit slightly buggy). 

WHAT I WANT
Basically, Texter unicode compatible.

WHY
I'm learning Mandarin Chinese and typing Pinyin markers is a major PITA.

Texter has the ability to greatly simplify my task by replicating this online flash-based Pinyin Word Processor as I'm typing my document!

There are a shitload of people on the net who want to do something like this, but I just can't find an alternative.

I know about Accents 1.0 by donation coder, but it isn't unicode aware (I'm using it right now, I know) and also the functionality I want is closer to Texter.

I want to type the text in bold, which will convert it to the text on the right, respectively (see bottom).  Accents will not do this, but Texter will. Hell, texter is even lightweight AND portable.  Dammit, if only it was unicode aware. I know the Texter Source Code was released to the public.


a1  ā 
a2  á
a3  ǎ
a4  à

[housetier]

vim with :abbr can do that.

vim has very good support for unicode, and its :abbr command lets you define abbreviations that, when typed, will be expanded.

[dcsev]

What is vim? I googled and found:
http://en.wikipedia....iki/Vim_(text_editor)

If so, that's a wonderful program (I'll try it), but it's still a far cry from doing it from WITHIN the system/program. That way,  I don't have to copy paste every word (ack!) into another program.
thanks

[PhilB66]

Go through IDEA: Customizable Unicode character paster thread. You might just find an alternative solution in there.

[yksyks]

A bit overkill, but PhraseExpress should accomplish this easily in any program.

[dcsev]

Hi all
Thanks for the responses. I checked out all the links. Unfortunately, none of them work for my needs. 

Is anyone daring enough to take the source code of Texter and make it unicode-capable so that ANY character can be pasted?

So many people requesting this on the texter lifehacker comments, but no definitive solution

I even tried forcing unicode awareness using applocale (in both texter or accents). This didn't work for either

[yksyks]

What was the problem with PhraseExpress? It works with your supplied examples, you just have to set the paste method to clipboard and the target application should be Unicode capable, of course. Verified in MS Word 2003 and Outlook 2003, even in the plain text format.

[dcsev]

yksyks,
Can you paste the code that you have in the "phrase content" and/or provide specific instructions (line by line) on how you achieved this? I wasn't able to

So basically, you're able to type "a1" and it AUTOMATICALLY converts it to "ā"?

Thanks so much! Looks like a pretty powerful program. I hope I can utilize it!

[yksyks]

Phrase content:

[Select]

{#pasteoptions -method cb}ā

Autotext:

[Select]

a1

Prefix and Postfix: Default
No Hotkey set.

I'm using paste method "key-by-key" as a default, hence the first macro in the Phrase content, otherwise it's not necessary. For details see the manual. Please let me know.

So basically, you're able to type "a1" and it AUTOMATICALLY converts it to "ā"?

Yes, in my testing phrase typing "a1" and a delimiter produces your desired character. It could be configured not to wait for the delimiter, though, just set Prefix and/or Postfix to "Any".

[dcsev]

Hi yksyks,
Thanks for your help so far.

Here's a screenshot:


I don't know where to modify "prefix" and "postfix"? and "key-by-key"


Also, the macro sort-of works, but what I don't want to have to press ANY key to initiate the macro.  Basically, I want to be able to write "xi1ng" and it creates "xīng" without having to press tab, space or any other key.  With the setup so far, I have to press tab twice and then backspace to go back to the word, unless the aforementioned bolded entries make a difference.

[yksyks]

There are no Prefix/Postfix options in the Clipboard cache folder. You have to create a new folder in the phrase tree and put the phrase there. Also, I'm not sure if it's a good idea running PhraseExpress in Sandboxie, or what is it. Setting Prefix and/or Postfix to "Any" works just like you described. You can set these either in the new folder properties, or, if you prefer, you can disable inheriting options and set them individually in each phrase below this folder.

The default paste method can be set in Tools > Settings > Expert options > Paste method. (You have to enable the Expert mode first, of course.)