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ActiveWords 1.0 Readme

Contents:
  • Introduction:
    • What is ActiveWords?
    • How does ActiveWords extend standard MS Office features?
  • Installation
  • Getting started:
    • Concept
    • Step by step:
      • Active list manager:Edit, Delete, Add substitutions and move them between Active and Removed list
      • Office list manager:Edit, Delete, Add substitutions and Move them from Office list to Active or Removed lists
      • Commands tab:Delete or Move groups of substitutions between lists
      • Options tab:Configure ActiveWords
    • First time run


INTRODUCTION

What is ActiveWords?

ActiveWords is a software component developed to let you type quicker than you are doing it now and increase your productivity from 100% to 700%.

With ActiveWords you can automatically correct common typing mistakes as you work. For example, if you type "abotu", ActiveWords replaces it with "about" as soon as you press Spacebar. You can also use ActiveWords to quickly insert words or phrases that are long or difficult to type. For example, use ActiveWords to automatically replace "aw" with "ActiveWords."

You create a list of substitutions (Words and Shortcuts) and after that in all MS Office components type a Shortcut and press Spacebar you will see Word appeared on the screen.

Word as well as Shortcut can be at least 255 characters long so you can assign even long phrase to one-letter Shortcut. Productivity is increased from 100% in large texts and up to 700% when working with short memos.

ActiveWords is a shareware. This means that you can freely distribute the unregistered copy of it, but the unregistered copy can be used only for a limited time and after that it must be deleted or registered. The details are provided in Software License Agreement in the software.

How does ActiveWords extend standard MS Office features?

  • "Naitive" substitution

MS Office has an AutoText feature, that highlight some text when you type it's beginning, and if you press a special key like F5 or Enter, that text will be entered. With ActiveWords you just type your shortcut and press Spacebar to get the whole word. The other problem is that with AutoText you are to type beginning of the word, to get it from AutoText list. With ActiveWords you can set any shortcuts with your often used words, like I do: "q" for "Windows", or you can assign shortcuts with words in other languages.

  • One-click switching substitutions on-off.
MS Office has AutoCorrect feature that does nearly the same as ActiveWords does. But if you ever actively used it, you could find lots of drawbacks in it. The main is that you cannot switch a single AutoCorrect substitution off. You can switch off the feature at all, or delete the entry you currently doesn't need. But very often you do need a substitution to be performed in Word (ex., automatically change "r" to "Internet"), and not to be performed in Excel (you need to just enter "r" in a cell). So in this situation with standard MS Office functions you can only delete an entry. With ActiveWords you can just switch it off with one click, and when you will return to Word, switch it on again.
  • Clear and convenient management of your ActiveWords.

With ActiveWords you always know where your substitutions are stored and can easily backup them or copy between computers. MS Office doesn't give such an opportunity.

  • AutoCorrecting whole sentences

MS Office gives you ability to enter 31-character long Shortcut and 255-character long Word. With ActiveWords you can enter 255-character long Shortcut! With this feature you can automatically correct whole sentences!


INSTALLATION

To install ActiveWords in your system please run setup.exe file and follow the standard instructions. First time you start ActiveWords it creates a subdirectory named AWUserFiles and generates there your user files. Please note, that you should never modify those files. ActiveWords is tightly integrated into MS Office and every time ActiveWords starts it checks integrity of all the data. If any of the files was edited manually, ActiveWords won't start and you will need to delete those manually changed file.


GETTING STARTED

Concept

ActiveWords organizes your substitutions into 2 lists: Active and Removed. Active list contains substitutions that currently work in MS Office applications. Substitutions from Removed list are not working at the moment. For example, when you work in Word you always use "exp" as a Shortcut for "expenses", but while working in Excel you don't want "exp" to be automatically replaced. So you move this word to Removed list and type "exp" in Excel's workbook. When you switch back to Word, you mark the substitution "exp"-"expenses" as Active and that's all! It's very clear, simple and saves your time.

MS Office has it's own substitution list (AutoCorrect) and with ActiveWords you can manage that list as well. AutoCorrect substitutions by default are stored into Office list. Instead of all the standard functions (like adding removing, or editing substitutions) with ActiveWords you can move substitutions between Office, Active and Removed list. I advise you to leave standard AutoCorrect substitutions in Office list because in fact you'll mot need to turn them off.

ActiveWords Step By Step

ActiveWords Manager interface consists of 5 tabs: Active list manager, Office list manager, Commands,Options and Register.

  • Active list manager: Edit, Delete, Add substitutions and move them between Active and Removed list.

At this tab are shown substitutions from Active and Removed lists. Currently Active substitutions are checked and non-Active, or Removed, substitutions are unchecked. So, to make substitution Active you need to check it and to uncheck make it non-Active.

Below substitutions list edit fields are located. To Edit a substitution you are to select it. After that Word and Shortcut from the selected substitution appear in edit fields. After you've made changes, press Update button.

To Add a substitution you should type Word and Shortcut in edit fields and press Add button. Please note, that you cannot create duplicating substitution.

To Delete a substitution you are to select it and press Delete button.

Tip: all functionality provided by buttons is also available through right-button pop-up menu.

  • Office list manager:Edit, Delete, Add substitutions and Move them from Office list to Active or Removed lists.

By default at this tab are shown substitutions from Office AutoCorrect list, but you can add there any substitutions or move any substitutions from that list to Active or Removed lists. AutoCorrect list is a list of standard substitutions that is installed together with MS Office. In fact, I do not recommend you to move those standout AutoCorrect substitutions to your Active/Removed lists because in most cases you will not need to manage them. Put in Office list substitutions that you think you will use all the time and will not need to switch on/off. Also you need this tab to synchronize Office and Active/Removed lists if you added substitutions to Office list via AutoCorrect dialogue in Office apps.

Tip: Importing AutoCorrect list from Office may take time depending on size of the list, so I recommend you to Add new substitutions only via ActiveWords. In this case you will not need to use it often and will save time. Below substitutions list edit fields are located.

To Edit a substitution you are to select it. After that Word and Shortcut from the selected substitution appear in edit fields. After you've made changes, press Update button.

To Add a substitution you should type Word and Shortcut in edit fields and press Add button. Please note, that you cannot create duplicating substitution.

To Delete a substitution you are to select it and press Delete button.

To Move a substitution from Office list to Active/Removed lists, select a substitution, right-click on it, and select corresponding command from pop-up menu.

  • Commands tab:Delete or Move groups of substitutions between lists.

To run corresponding command, select an option and press Run Selected Command button.

  • Options tab:Configure ActiveWords

At the moment configuration consists of ShowGrid option and Confirm Deletion option. If you want to delete substitutions without confirmation, uncheck Confirm Deletion. To apply settings press Apply button.

  • Register tab: Read License Agreement and Register ActiveWords

Register button opens browser and forwards you to online registration center.

First time run

When you run ActiveWords for the first time I recommend you to import words you add manually to AutoCorrect into Active list.

Also note that ActiveWords can be minimized to tray so you can run it once and then refer to it any time you like.


FAQ

No questions yet. If you have some, please contact me.