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Text expander and clipboard enhancer tools
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Posted by PhraseExpress
Dec 4, 2013 at 03:46 PM
jimspoon wrote:
>(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.
It’s almost like it is done in PhraseExpress: http://manual.phraseexpress.com#create
The only challenge is the “rightclick” thing. External programs barely can integrate into the context menu of independent programs (for good reasons).
In PhraseExpress, just press CTRL-ALT-C instead. It is easy to memorize. CTRL-C is to copy into the clipboard. CTRL-ALT-C is to copy into PhraseExpress.
>(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.
Now THIS is a funny coincidence. Check out this video:
http://youtu.be/JOG7k6rLjy8
Please wait just a few days. It will be a new feature of upcoming PhraseExpress v10.
>What do you think?
Ingenious! ;-)
Posted by jimspoon
Dec 8, 2013 at 08:32 AM
youtube video looks good ..
but I do think it would be really great to allow searching through saved phrases by typing in multiple strings - delimited by a space - which appear anywhere in the phrase. I couldn’t tell whether this is implemented iin PE10 or not.
For example - if one typed in “sco ven our” - the hit list would contain the saved phrase “four score and seven years ago”, among any other saved phrases that also contain those strings. No one would do the search that way - but one WOULD try to narrow down to the desired phrase by typing in strings that appear in the deisred phrase and only in that desired phrase.
Posted by PhraseExpress
Dec 8, 2013 at 11:38 AM
We have that already in an internal version. You can find a demo video in another thread in this forum.
Posted by Dr Andus
Mar 19, 2014 at 09:54 PM
Jim,
PhraseExpander 4 was released today, you may want to check it out, as a lot of what you had suggested below might now be possible:
http://www.phraseexpander.com/tour/phraseexpander-4-new-features/
Personally I was pretty happy with v. 3 due to its agility, and was a bit reluctant to try v. 4, as I was worried of feature creep. But being able to add a new phrase to the database without having to bring up the main software window (it’s now done in a little pop-up box) won me over.
Another useful improvement for me is that the suggestion box (of the SmartComplete feature) can now be freely positioned in software that otherwise wouldn’t allow the pop-up by the cursor (such as most browsers). In those situations in the past the suggestion box would be displayed in a fixed position around the top middle, which could obscure one’s typing or be too far from the typing for the eye to follow.
I can’t comment on the other features (clipboard extension, application launcher etc.), as I don’t use those.
jimspoon wrote:
>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 Wayne K
Mar 27, 2014 at 12:06 AM
PhraseExpress is 50% off today at BitsDuJour. I was going to post my experiences on BJD but I see they’re screening posts for this offer, which means no negative comments will be tolerated.
PE is one of the most powerful and useful pieces of software I’ve ever used but it eventually became too much trouble trying to keep it working correctly. I was open to the idea of upgrading to the paid version but based on my experience with their tech support I decided to uninstall the software and move on.
Thanks for the suggestions in this thread. I’ll give these alternatives a try.
Wayne