Abbreviation expanders for DOS boxes under Win9x?

[rjbull]

Related to my plea for a Win98 holdout site...

I like abbreviation expanders like Superkeys, Robotype, Yadabyte Subtext, PowerPro, etc.  At work I use AHK.  But, my home laptop is Win98SE, and I still use certain DOS programs.  I have not yet found an abbreviation expander that works in DOS boxes under Win98.  Some of them don't even work in DOS boxes under Win2000.

Is this actually possible in Win98?

TIA...

[app103]

I have never heard of any. There might be some for real DOS that I don't know about but I don't think they would work unless you rebooted into DOS, and not in a console window within Win98.

[Jibz]

You could try 4DOS, which was a very nice commercial command processor which became freeware some years ago (bottom of http://www.jpsoft.com/download.htm ).

In Win2K/XP there is a built in completion feature, but you have to enable it through the registry .. check for instance http://www.sgr.nada.kth.se/win/win2k/docs/completion.html.en

[Darwin]

ActiveWords runs under Win98SE but it costs $49.95... it'll correct spelling and complete abbreviations in DOS windows.

[Jibz]

Ah, looks like I totally misunderstood the topic, sorry about that .

[f0dder]

Heh, I thought the same as you, Jibz. 4dos was <3 back in the days of DOS and 9x... for a while I even had shell=4dos, and used win9x as a multitasked, protected-mode, better-filesystem-cache version of DOS ^_^

[rjbull]

Maybe I didn't describe the topic very well 

ActiveWords runs under Win98SE but it costs $49.95... it'll correct spelling and complete abbreviations in DOS windows.

Darwin,

Do you know if ActiveWords will do substitutions in a DOS box under Win98?  I've found several programs that will expand abbreviations in DOS boxes under Win2000 or later but though they'll work with Windows programs in Win98, they won't work in DOS boxes in Win98.

TIA...

[Darwin]

I used AW under 98 only briefly - before upgrading to Win2k - and have no recollection about whether this feature worked under DOS or not! I can confirm that it works brilliantly under both 2k and XP (as I have it loaded on machines running both OS's). However, the website doesn't mention any limitations on AW running under 98. There is an active users forum that is frequented by the developers, so you could try there. The trial is good for 60 days (though you need to register for a trail key to activate it before you can use it) so you could just give it a go... I've moved AW around, installing and uninstalling it on various machines (I believe the license allows you to install it on two machines IIRC), and the uninstaller seems thorough and well behaved.

Hope this helps,

Mike

[rjbull]

I used AW under 98 only briefly - before upgrading to Win2k - and have no recollection about whether this feature worked under DOS or not!

The trial is good for 60 days

Generous...  I may check it when I get back from holiday.  I don't remember ActiveWords being mentioned in previous DC threads about text/abbreviation expanders, nor Direct Access that someone mentioned in a FARR thread either:

jgpaiva's abbreviations importer
http://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=2598.0
link to jgpaiva's AHK tools http://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=3461.0

Harrie's review of Instant Text, and following posts
http://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=2631.0

Word AutoCompleter
http://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=1036.msg6713#msg6713
(mentions IntelliComplete, AutoTyping, LetMeType, AllChars, Type Pilot)

However, if ActiveWords only works in DOS boxes in Win2000 onwards, I'd have a hard time justifying the cost given that AHK would probably do most of the same thing, albeit with an "erector kit" approach.

Thanks!

[Darwin]

DA only works under XP - doesn't even support Win2k... I had initially thought to recommend it to you as an alternative to AW, but checked before posting. It's a bit cheaper the AW and the interface is more "snazzy" but I didn't find it as elegant in implementation. I also found that, while I initially thought DA was lighter on resources (it runs as a single thread, unlike AW which runs four or more, depending on what you are doing), overall it seems a bit more resource intensive AND it doesn't auto-correct your spelling, as does AW. However, DA is only at v 1.1 so I am sure that the issues that I have with it will be ironed out in the long run...

[app103]

I've moved AW around, installing and uninstalling it on various machines (I believe the license allows you to install it on two machines IIRC)

According to their site you can install it on as many pc's as you use:

The ActiveWords PLUS Personal Version License
Your ActiveWords, where ever you need
them, for the price of a single license! 

The ActiveWords PLUS Personal Version License gives you the unrestricted right to install and use the purchased version on any computer.

As an ActiveWords PLUS customer you can install the software and use your ActiveWords on any computer, anywhere, for the price of a single license.  Save time and make your computing more spontaneous, relevant, and enjoyable on every computer you use.

[Darwin]

Great! Even better! I uninstalled it from two machines that have been re-allocated - one to my parents and the other to my wife, but I still have it on the two that I use all the time.

[rjbull]

Darwin,

Thanks for the caveats on DA.

app103,

That's a great license.  I like personal licenses. The WebSite-Watcher one allows me to install on both home and work PCs.  I have a business license to allow the latter, via the recent DC Discount   Sounds like ActiveWords will be worth trying.