Typing Productivity - Part 4 - AutoCorrect Import and Export

A Free Document Productivity Tool for Word

This part describes the AutoCorrect import and export tool that allows you to add new Typing Productivity abbreviations to your system.

It is the way you can use the library of nearly 1000 entries already prepared, and it allows you to move your abbreviations from one PC to another.

You can use this tool to move spelling AutoCorrect entries, even if there are no Typing Productivity entries involved.

Preparation

Download a copy of the Typing Productivity Import and Export Tool from here. 

You may already have some spelling correction entries in AutoCorrect which you want to preserve.   If you do, carry out Part 1 – Preserve Current Spelling Entries before proceeding to Part 2.

If you don’t care about any existing spelling entries go straight to Part 2.

Part 1 - Preserve Spelling Entries

Spelling entries are the AutoCorrect entries used to correct typing errors.  You will want to preserve them, carry out these steps.

Step 1. Take a copy of the Import Export Tool document and delete the entries in Table 1 – Spelling entries, making sure that the header row remains. 

Step 2.  Click the Export Spelling button.  All existing AutoCorrect entries will be loaded into Table 1.  It might take a short while and the update counter in the status bar may get a bit behind, but it will finish eventually.

Table 1 now contains all current spelling corrections.  This table should replace the Table 1 in your downloaded version of the Import and Export Tool.

Part 2 - Import Typing Productivity Entries

To import the Typing Productivity entries, click the Import All AutoCorrect button.  This will import the contents of both Table 1- Spelling Entries and Table 2 - Typing Productivity  Entries.  

You have to confirm this, because the first thing that the system does after the confirmation is delete all existing entries and replace them with the contents of the two tables.

It might take a short while and the update counter in the status bar may get a bit behind, but it will finish eventually.

You are now good to go.  The Typing Productivity Entries are now ready to use.

Moving Typing Productivity Entries

Step 1. Preserve the existing spelling entries on the target machine by taking a copy of the Typing Productivity Import and Export Tool onto the target PC and carry out Part 1 above

Step 2. Move the Tool document to the source PC and click Export Typing Productivity.  This will load Table 2 with all the abbreviations in use.  This includes any that you have added yourself.

Step 3. Move the Tool document to the target PC and carry out Part 2 above.  That’s it.

Moving All AutoCorrect entries without Typing Productivity

To move all AutoCorrect entries from one PC to another, simply make sure that the Typing productivity table is empty except for the header row, Click Export Spelling to take a copy of the AutoCorrect entries in the source PC, the move the Tool Document to the Target PC and click Import All AutoCorrect.

As before, each of these steps may take a while, but they will finish eventually.

Managing Entries

The system assumes that an entry is a Spelling Entry if it cannot be found in Table 2.  Similarly, an entry is assumed to be a Typing Productivity abbreviation if it is not in Table 1. 

This means that if you add both spelling and abbreviation entries, the system won’t be able to tell them apart and entries may get into the wrong table.  To fix this, you may have to edit the extracted data from time to time. 

If I need to do this, I often copy the table to Excel and work on it there, and copy the finished table back.

You may also find that you want to quickly correct several entries at once.  You can extract the data, correct the entries and import the new values – the old ones will get overwritten.

Note on Special AutoCorrect entries

The Import and Export Tool won’t handle AutoCorrect entries that automatically insert tables. The use of this kind of entry is quite rare, for me at least, so this does not seem a problem.

Inspiration

The need to transfer AutoCorrect entries from one PC to another is important for me as I move from one client to another.  I hope that you find it a useful tool for general AutoCorrect Entries, even if you don’t use Typing Productivity abbreviations.