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Text expander and clipboard enhancer tools
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Posted by Dr Andus
Dec 3, 2013 at 09:24 PM
PhraseExpress wrote:
>Indeed, this is a completely different and pretty much time-consuming
>approach. Our customer feedback tells us that not many users are willing
>to entertain such enormous efforts.
Well, it looks like I don’t fit your target customer profile then :)
There is nothing “time-consuming” or “enormous” about building my own phrase list if I can simply highlight a word in any text and hit a hotkey and the word is added automatically to my text expander. On some days I add a few words, on other days none. The phrase list grows incrementally and organically over time.
I have no need for tens of thousands of random words in my text expander. Yes, I did try that approach and I stopped doing it because it doesn’t work for me. I only want words that I have selected for specific reasons, and I want to use them from a pop-up box by the cursor, and I want to be able to manipulate the order in which they appear. And my current text expander does that very well.
Posted by PhraseExpress
Dec 4, 2013 at 08:47 AM
Dr Andus wrote:
PhraseExpress wrote:
>I have no need for tens of thousands of random words in my text
>expander.
It is not about *random* word lists. It is about *large* word lists that fit to the user’s work scope. Think of lists of medical/chemical substances, spare part numbers, topic titles of boilerplate templates e.g. for contract document generation, etc. Again, our video is using random data just for simulation purposes. It’s not “real-life” data.
Your dictionary will grow, too. The video gives you a clue about what might happen .
Have you successfully tried to import the file just to simulate what happens with multiple similar words?
I don’t want to evangelize you - It’s just that your enthusiam about the feature is in straight opposition of our research. That makes it interesting.
Anyway, as you are a “Smart"Complete aficionado, then you really must check out InstantText. It’s what I consider the “original” and it is really worth a look.
Posted by jimspoon
Dec 4, 2013 at 01:28 PM
Dear PhraseExpress,
I used PE for awhile, but have switched over to a simpler solution, using Autohotkey “hotstrings”.
I have an idea and would like to know what you think about it.
I think it would be useful to have a text expansion utility that would work as follows:
(1) to include a string of text as an “expansion”, simply highlight, right-click it, then select an option to put it in the database of expansions. no need to define an abbreviation.
(2) to insert an expansion, type in a defined keystroke or sequence to signal the expansion utility “I want you to enter a text expansion. Please monitor the following keystrokes by which I will indicate the expansion I want.” For example, I might use the string “///” to signal the utility that I want to select an expansion.
(3) start typing in characters that appear anywhere in the desired expansion. for example, to select the expansion “mary had a little lamb”, one might type in “lam mar lit”. As the characters are typed in, the expansion utility would search the database for all expansions that contain the all the space-delimited strings, until the desired expansion is found and selected.
(4) no list of expansions would be displayed until the number of matching expansions is below a certain number. (Until that point is reached, perhaps only the number of matching expansions could be displayed.) I suggest this in order to prevent a very large, flickering, and distracting display of matching expressions.
(5) in the list of matching expansions, the typed-in space-delimited strings should be highlighted as they appear in each matching expansion. This visual aid would aid the user in entering further strings to narrow down the list.
(6) when a small list of matching expansions is displayed, the user may select the desired expansion by typing a number, or by simply continuing to type in space-delimited strings that appear in the expansion. When there is only one matching expression, use the down-arrow to select it and press enter.
(7) this method would eliminate the need to define, memorize, and type in abbreviations. I find that I am reluctant to take the time to define an abbreviation-expansion pair. Also, as the number of abbreviation/expansion pairs increases, one quickly reaches the point where it is difficult to recall the appropriate expansion and to type it in accurately to invoke the desired expansion.
(8) the database of expansions would include only those specifically included by the user using the above method. This would prevent the utility from proposing unwanted expansions, and would make the search and selection process go faster.
(9) there would be no need to disrupt one’s typing by using the mouse or arrow keys to select a desired expansion. Simply continue to enter characters that appear in the expansion until there is only one left, then press enter.
What do you think?
jim
Posted by Dr Andus
Dec 4, 2013 at 02:07 PM
PhraseExpress wrote:
>Have you successfully tried to import the file just to simulate what
>happens with multiple similar words?
I haven’t tried this particular file but I have imported other large libraries in the past and decided against using them precisely because I didn’t find them useful. Considering that in about 12 months I have added about 800 phrases, it’s unlikely that I’m going to hit 20,000 anytime soon. A smaller library equals higher productivity in my case.
>I don’t want to evangelize you - It’s just that your enthusiam about the
>feature is in straight opposition of our research. That makes it
>interesting.
Possibly because I am not part of the standard category of your typical user. I’m not a GP or a customer relationship manager. I use text expansion primarily for academic writing, which is a slow process, it’s not about banging out urgent letters with a boilerplate. Hence my needs are different, and a smaller but accurate phrase library is what matters to me.
Posted by PhraseExpress
Dec 4, 2013 at 03:05 PM
Dr Andus wrote:
>Possibly because I am not part of the standard category of your typical
>user.
This may be but you have a valid use scenario and if we can cover it (and we certainly can technology-wise!) we will do so.
Thank you for your feedback. Stay tuned.