Other Software > Found Deals and Discounts
PhraseExpress v8, Pro Edition, on BdJ, Tuesday 12 April, 2011
Steven Avery:
Hi,
Most of my repetitive keystrokes are scripture verse references, where I use a software program to find copy and format. So if "1T316" expands to a formatted copy of the verse 1 Timothy 3:16 (RTF would be nice, perhaps in an alt version "R1T316", carriage returns embedded is one main point for formatting clean) that would be nice.
So Breevy might be an early try. Breevy and PhraseExpress have forums, always a nice indicator, with PE more active.
Maybe I have 100 other semi-repetitive phrases, often quotes (it is hard to think about what I do repetitively, makes me into an automaton) right now I use Linkman as my database holder and finder, combined with searching sections of my Eudora email.
Hmmm... I could see trying to use a phrase -text expander for this purpose, but I am not sure it would be best.
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The Phrase Express freeware might be sufficient as well, and a good compare to Breevy. Especially since I should qualify for personal use, and would recommend it at work-client (20 PCs there) if I find it a big help.
The big issue here is what triggers the nagging for commercial use ?. In the Snapfiles discussion, and elsewhere, it is clear that it used to be way overdone, and this was even acknowledged ... however is it ok now ? (the PhraseExpress website indicates it is only based on rather obvious business use phrases) Any users able to comment ? I do not want to start with the effort if this is going to be a problem.
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I understand the point about only one low-level keyboard hook program. Right now I am not using AutoHotKey or another, so I don't have that direct, immediate clash problem.
Do these programs tend to uninstall clean ? That is a major concern if there is a lower-level aspect. Should you just try one at a time ?
I noticed one program said that it worked with pasting instead of individual keys. Is that a significant architectural difference ?
Do we have a super "text expander-- autocomplete -- autotext" thread somewhere ?
Shalom,
Steven
cyberdiva:
Steven, it may be that either Breevy or PhraseExpress will meet your needs. As I read about what you'd like to do with scripture verses, I thought of another program you might want to try: ActiveWords. I've used it for years and find it almost indispensible. With it, you can certainly do text expansion (which it calls Substitute text), launch a program, navigate to a website, send email, open a file (and, if you wish, specify the program in which you want the file to open), open a folder, or do more complicated procedures via its Scripting codes. I've tried a couple of other text expansion programs, but I find I prefer ActiveWords. It's available in a very limited free version and in the much more capable commercial version. IIRC, you can test the commercial version for 60 days before deciding whether to buy it.
rjbull:
Do we have a super "text expander-- autocomplete -- autotext" thread somewhere ?-Steven Avery (September 15, 2011, 11:51 PM)
--- End quote ---
Just a few ;) Take a look at these:
Donation Coder threads, which deal with text expanders, completers and the
like:
jgpaiva's abbreviations importer
https://www.donationcoder.com/Forums/bb/index.php?topic=2598.0
link to jgpaiva's AHK tools
https://www.donationcoder.com/Forums/bb/index.php?topic=3461.0
Harrie's review of Instant Text, and following posts
https://www.donationcoder.com/Forums/bb/index.php?topic=2631.0
Word AutoCompleter
https://www.donationcoder.com/Forums/bb/index.php?topic=1036.msg6713#msg6713 (mentions IntelliComplete, AutoTyping, LetMeType, AllChars, Type Pilot)
Auspex
https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=25182.msg231091#msg231091
External links:
Productivity Talk - Harrie's own forum site for (primarily) Medical
Transcriptionists
http://www.productivitytalk.com/
Jon Knowles site on typing productivity
http://home.earthlink.net/~agjon/index.htm
Jon Knowles' ABCZ typing abbreviation system
http://home.earthlink.net/~agjon/abczrule.htm
rjbull:
Most of my repetitive keystrokes are scripture verse references, where I use a software program to find copy and format. So if "1T316" expands to a formatted copy of the verse 1 Timothy 3:16 (RTF would be nice-Steven Avery (September 15, 2011, 11:51 PM)
--- End quote ---
As an alternative, you might find it useful to consider one of the clipboard extenders and/or code-snippet holders, like mouser's Clipboard Help+Spell, or AceText, or one of the many others.
tranglos:
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.
-BartelsMedia (September 15, 2011, 10:24 AM)
--- End quote ---
Michael, thank you for sticking with us here :) May I make a request? I have reinstalled PhraseExpress because, even though I cannot use it for conditional app launching that I do with AHK, I still wanted to try out TypoLearn, which seems like an awesome idea (and I do make a lot of typos).
So this is where I noticed that PE does not seem to support another feature that's crucial to me: adjusting the letter case of the expansion phrase to the typed abbreviation. Many text expanders support it and I was surprised to see it missing from PE. Ideally, it should work like this:
You define a basic, case-insensitive expansion:
shtt = say Hi to Tom for me!
This is a snippet that could be used at the beginning of a sentence, but it might as well appear in the middle.
a) If the abbreviation is typed in all lowercase (shtt), expand it exactly as defined. (I.e., do not force it to all lowercase, the above example shows why)
b) If the abbreviation is typed in all UPPERCASE (SHTT), expand it to all uppercase, OR (perhaps more usefully), Capitalize Each Word (title case).
c) If the abbreviation begins with a capital letter (Shtt), capitalize the first letter of the expanded text ("Say Hi to Tom")
In my line of translation work (software localization) I'm finding plenty of expressions that, in my language, can be used in various contexts. But even in English you can come up with lots of simple, useful cases:
faq = frequently asked questions (just a generic phrase in the middle of sentence)
FAQ = Frequently Asked Questions (title case, though not all languages use that spelling)
Faq = Frequently asked questions (beginning of a sentence).
I have dozens of phrases such as these. PE can import my AHK expansions, but it seems to me that at the moment I would have to manually duplicate my expansions to create two or three case-specific versions of each. I would rather avoid that, because it's going to nearly triple the number of expansions, making them much harder to maintain.
Basically, instead of the "case-sensitive" checkbox, I would suggest a drop-down box with three options:
- case insensitive
- case sensitive
- adjust case to abbreviation.
Do you think this is feasible near term? Thanks a lot for listening!
(Reposted on PhraseExpress support forum)
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