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PhraseExpress v8, Pro Edition, on BdJ, Tuesday 12 April, 2011

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tomos:
Peace! Michael and all!
-cmpm (April 21, 2011, 06:12 PM)
--- End quote ---

:Thmbsup:

Steven Avery:
Now on todays Bits.  Suggestions welcome.  I will probably try it during the day and read the comments, with a 50% estimated purchase possibility.

The tone above is a bit unfortunate, there was no snarkiness and generally DC has the most informed, hospitable discussions ..  on the other hand it is very excellent to have a person from the company in active dialog and explanation.

Let the research continue afresh and anew.

Steven

johnk:
I've been using PE since the last deal. Before that I was using AHK.

PE is easier and faster, if it can do what you need to do. Last week I came across the first situation where PE couldn't deliver -- I was trying to create a shortcut to restore a program hidden in the system tray. PE can't do this, AHK can.

In the end, it's ease of use (PE) against flexibility (AHK). Overall, I'm still happy I bought PE.

As I mentioned earlier, I bought two PE licences and converted them to network licences -- this allows me to run the PE server on my Windows Home Server box, and my laptop and desktop can share the same PE file, which is a nice feature.

tranglos:
Last week I came across the first situation where PE couldn't deliver -- I was trying to create a shortcut to restore a program hidden in the system tray. PE can't do this, AHK can.-johnk (September 15, 2011, 09:33 AM)
--- End quote ---

Aaargh! That's exactly where I am stuck right now, too. Using AHK, bought a PE license on BdJ way back when. Would love to switch from AHK to a more GUI-fied environment to easier create and manage my expansions, which are — well — expanding.

But I don't want to run two apps that both use low-level keyboard hooks, because it's asking for trouble, it's confusing in the long run, and a waste of resources.

In AHK I have a lot of little macros that go like this:


--- ---ASSIGN the following to WIN+W:

IF (a window named "Word" already exists) THEN
    ACTIVATE (the existing window named "Word")
ELSE
    LAUNCH "c:\whatever\winword.exe"

Straight text expansion-type apps cannot do this, because it requires logic processing, hence a built-in macro language. So I've tried and rejected these so far:

Macro Toolsworks: awfully expensive and way too complex for my needs. I find that I don't ever need to actually record any macros in the first place. Plus, weird, overcomplicated syntax such as <command>(parameters) And, to define a simple text expansion item, you have to use 4 (four!) tabs. Sometimes I wonder, you know? Four tabs, only a small handful of settings on each, and there is no way to see all the settings at once. If you are looking at the abbreviation, you cannot see the activation key (or prefix, whatever). Sometimes I really wonder.

Macro Express Pro: also expensive, a really inconvenient UI for my taste, but the worst thing about it is their implementation of the actual text expansion feature. You can choose whether to use a prefix key or a suffix key in preferences, and it is applied to all expansions. At least this is how it works in ShortKeys, their smaller edition of MEPro. Unusable. (Unfortunately I managed to forget all about it after I installed the trial, which has now expired, so I cannot swear that the full Macro Express Pro edition has the same limitation. But I don't like the Outlook-like their "Save and Close" UI idiom anyway, too much hassle to define something as simple as a text expansion item. No go.)

Quick Macros: had a lot of hope for this one, but the macro language syntax is from hell, and their implementation of text expansion also seems badly designed. You create special "menus" (except they are not real menus) and then... see for yourself. It certainly didn't seem easier, faster or more GUI-fied than AHK.

For basic text expansion, I would choose Breevy. Its one annoyance is the jumpy bottom panel (why not just leave it in place?), but it's fast, lightweight, very clear on what it does and its expansion options cover all bases. It can also adapt character case to the case of the abbreviation you typed, so that "gm" becomes "good morning", but "Gm" is "Good morning". A critical feature, which AHK supports, but not all expanders do.

But, Breevy doesn't do hotkeys and certainly won't support conditional statements.

Meanwhile, AHK does it all flawlessly, using a tiny amount of resources, *but* it's getting harder and harder to navigate the growing script, ensure there are no duplicate abbreviations, etc. I'd really welcome a nice, lightweight GUI with all the scripting power of AHK and a human-friendly syntax I could actually memorize!

bmms:
Hi folks, we will look into the hidden program window issue. We gladly inform you about improvements in PhraseExpress and new versions. Please sign the spam-free newsletter to stay tuned for news about product releases: http://newsletter.phraseexpress.com.

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