Autocomplete word and phrases as you type with SmartComplete

PhraseExpander SmartComplete technology allows you to autocomplete words and phrases as you type.

Select and expand the template

As you type, the suggestions matching the letters you are typing will appear on the screen. 

1

Narrow down the selection

As you continue typing, the list is reduced, so that you can select the desired item by doing one of the following actions:

• continue typing more characters: as you continue typing the selection is narrowed down until you get a single item
• type a number: the item associated with the number is automatically highlighted. If the list cannot be displayed completely, typing the last displayed number scrolls down the list. Similarly, typing the first number scrolls the list up.
• press the arrow key: use UP or DOWN keys to move the selection up and down.

2

Confirm the template

To confirm the selection, press the SHIFT key (or double-click on the selected item). The selected template will be inserted into the current document and the typed abbreviation is removed.

How to autocomplete words

When a word is set to autocomplete, when you start typing the beginning of it, PhraseExpander offers the option to autocomplete it by pressing the SHIFT key (or the chosen confirmation key).

Here's how to set it up.

1

Create a new template

2

Type the word that you want to autocomplete in the contents

Enter the same word in the abbreviation

4

To test it out, type the first two letter of the word you want to insert and then any other character until you narrow down the selection to the word you desire

How to autocomplete phrases

To work with long phrases, the most usual approach is to create an abbreviation made of the first letter of each word (or the most significant words) of the phrase. For example:

Enable SmartComplete

1

Click on File → Options → Suggestions

2

Make sure that SmartComplete is checked.

3

Choose how many characters you want to type before suggestions are displayed. If you want to see fewer suggestions, increase the number (Default is 2).

Set the number of displayed suggestions

1

Click on File → Options → Suggestions

2

Choose how many suggestions to be displayed

If more suggestions match the typed abbreviation, a scroll bar will indicate that more abbreviations are present. You can see them by scrolling through the list.

Use the "strict match" option to reduce the number of suggestions

1

Click on File → Options → Suggestions

2

Click on the Strict match option to enable it

When the Strict match option is enabled, only the abbreviations that start exactly with the typed characters are displayed.

When Strict match is unchecked, PhraseExpander will match the first two characters at the beginning of the abbreviation and then any character contained in the abbreviation (it will match it even if you skip some characters).