TypeIt4Me 3.1.1 Mini-Review Update - OS X Odyssey 851
TypeIt4Me is a keystroke activated text macro application that allows you to define a set of abbreviations to trigger automatic entry of blocks of specified text as you type, which may be a short as a single word, or as long as you wish. When you type the abbreviation (or select it from TypeIt4Me's menulet) and hit the assigned trigger keystroke(s), the program expands the entry as you continue typing. It is especially useful for entering frequently-used words, phrases and other boilerplate stuff like your email address.
With TypeIt4Me:
Never type your full name or email signature again;
Never hunt around for that standard contract clause;
Type a short abbreviation and have it expand to a word, a phrase, even several pages worth of text (with pictures, too);
Trigger AppleScripts with your abbreviations instead of reaching for a menu or pressing obscure keyboard combinations.
Fore a full list of TypeIt4Me's capabilities compared with its main competition, visit:
http://ettoresoftware.com/TypeIt4MeFeatures.html
Any time you enter text in your Mac by typing it at the keyboard, TypeIt4Me can help you do it faster and more accurately. First you define a number of abbreviations and the full text entries that they represent, then you watch the Mac expand them on the fly even as you continue typing!
Interface-wise, TypeIt4Me 3.x has a new, larger, menulet icon, and a new Preference Pane for configuration and settings. You no longer have to go to the International pane to activate or deactivate TypeIt4Me.

Note that if you have TypeIt4Me 2.x installed, you will need to disable it while you test 3.0 (othewise, you'll get strange results and double expansion!).
To disable the old 2.x version, move TypeIt4Me.component out of either /Library/Components or Home/Library/Components and restart your Mac. Do NOT remove the old TypeIt4Me Prefs and TypeIt4Me data file. TypeIt4Me 3.0 will then be able to convert your abbreviations automatically to the new file format.
As noted, TypeIt4Me 3.x is no longer accessed via the International menu, but is now a background application, which displays a new icon elsewhere in the menubar, independent of the keyboard icon (the one that shows a flag) — although there is an option to display a flag icons in composite with the TypeIt4Me icon.
TypeIt4Me 3.x is now managed via it's own System Preferences panel in which you can:
edit abbreviations and the text they expand to (now called "clippings")
make a number of choices in the Settings tab
decide if in a particular application TypeIt4Me should expand different abbreviations than those available generally
decide if TypeIt4Me should NOT expand at all in a particular application.

TypeIt4Me 3.x is a substantial upgrade of the program, with enough new features and refinement that you won't want to skip upgrading.
New in version 3.1.1:
launch AppleScript by typing an abbreviation;
show/hide any abbreviation in menu
expand abbreviations from two files at once
add a label to any abbreviation (e.g. useful to pick pictures from menu)
import abbreviations from TAB delimited files
fixes a bug that would prevent proper expansion of clippings starting with text and including a picture
the backspace character ? is now always inserted at the beginning of the clipping text.
adds a way to insert the special a/s symbol that causes a clipping to be executed as AppleScript
System requirements:
Mac OS X 10.3 min, works best with Tiger
System support
PPC/Intel
$27 Shareware
For more information, visit Ettore Software's new Website here:
http://ettoresoftware.com/About%20TypeIt4Me.html
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Charles W. Moore
