Typing Assistant 4.2

Typing Assistant is now 99% perfect — the makers are good listeners. Version 4.2 is now totally keyboard accessible, and everything else in my previous review still applies. Thank you programmers!

Typing Assistant review: excellent multipurpose program

I gladly let my trial of TypeBooster run out because it was too glitchy for me. When I went looking for a comparable program, I found Typing Assistant 4.1, tried it out, and snapped it right up. If you want to buy it, it’s slightly more expensive than TypeBooster at $35, but definitely worth it. Even though the program’s name sounds generic, it’s actually extremely functional.

First of all, this program really is universal — it’s not just limited to the newer programs. Even I, still clinging to Microsoft Word XP, can use it. Big plus right there. Second, the programmers have actually fixed that seemingly omnipresent bug that all word prediction programs seem to have — for a change, this program does not suddenly quit working in the middle of a word. Third, it works with both physical and virtual keystrokes.

The gist of Typing Assistant is similar to most others — using either the number or function keys (or pointing device) to select word suggestions from a list. You can adjust the letter threshold. You have the option of telling the program to insert a character after words are predicted, such as a space, period, or comma. Since this character will appear after every word you select, the space seems to be the most logical option if you decide to do this. Most importantly, Typing Assistant immediately begins ordering your selections by frequency of use.

Where Typing Assistant differs from other programs is first of all its treatment of the shorthand feature, which I like very much. When you enter your shorthand and its corresponding replacement text, it becomes part of the prediction, meaning that you select from the same numbered list. Helpfully, when you begin to type your shorthand, the suggestion list actually gives you the text it stands for, so you don’t have to keep remembering your replacements. Whatever settings you applied to the prediction will also apply to the shorthand. For example, if you have told Typing Assistant to insert a space after predictions, your shorthand result will also have a space after it. I like this feature because it was occasionally fatiguing for me to have to keep using the spacebar in order to expand my shorthand in programs like Writer. (I like to reduce movement as much as possible.) Additionally, you can use both capital and lowercase letters for your shorthand, and give them separate values. For example, in my list “X” will give me the suggestion “whether,” and “x” will suggest “if.” You have more options for your shorthand here, because it will not expand unless you tell it to. So, if you have used the letters “me” to stand for something, you don’t have to sacrifice using the pronoun “me” — just ignore the suggestion list and keep typing.

Another feature I find myself using is the clipboard extender. Normally when you copy something, you can only do one thing at a time because the next item wipes out the previous. Typing Assistant takes whatever you’ve copied and puts it into its own “clipboard prediction dictionary,” which can also appear in the general suggestion list if you want it to. If you just want to see the clipboard, just press Alt-Right arrow. This way, if you’re putting multiple links in your blog post for example, it’s a lot faster. Another feature, which I have not used much, is the Auto Launcher, which will create hotkeys to launch your favorite programs.

Although Typing Assistant has hotkeys to bring up its control panel and its separate dictionaries, its only drawback at the moment is that its menus are not accessible by keyboard. To make choices like OK, Add, or Delete, you have to actually move the cursor to the button and click it, either with Mouse Keys or pointing device. However, it turns out Typing Assistant has excellent technical support. I wrote to the programmers and suggested adding the ability to use the Tab and Enter keys to navigate, and they answered that they hadn’t thought of that while making 4.1, but would consider it for the next version. They even offered to tell me when they added it. How cool is that?

TypeBooster and Word update

I mentioned that the TypeBooster word completion/expansion program doesn’t work with Word XP or OpenOffice.org Writer 2.4. It still doesn’t. However, I was informed that it will in fact work with Word 2007. So, if you can stomach it…go to. Off to edit previous review…

Portable Apps: Portable word completion

Unfortunately, public computers are not great (yet) at being accessible to those with physical disabilities. Most often, the barrier is money. Open source software may eventually change some of that, but for now a lot of network folks still need to be convinced that these programs are even worth installing.Until then, you have at least one option — how well it works will depend on your other hardware or software needs and whether you can bring them with you also. If you’re in a public place like a library that only gives you a set amount of time on a machine, and you need word completion or shorthand in order to work efficiently, I suggest downloading the portable version of Open Office from Portable Apps. Portable Apps will install programs like Open Office onto any flash drive you have, provided you have enough space — your flash drive doesn’t have to be U3. The catch is that once Open Office is on the flash drive, you will have to program your shorthand into the AutoCorrect replacement table again, the instructions for which are here. Once you have done that, however, you can load your flash drive into any public computer, run the program, and type with both abbreviation expansion and word completion enabled.

If for some reason you cannot use a flash drive, there is another more roundabout solution. If the public computer is running Microsoft Word, you will be out of luck if you want word completion, but your shorthand might still be of some good to you. When you are typing, simply use your shorthand as you normally would. It will not expand — it will be entered as it is. Before your time on the computer is up, save the document (in 97/XP/2003 format) and e-mail it to yourself. When you get home, open the attachment in Writer. Then, go to the Format menu and look under AutoFormat. If “while typing” is checked, uncheck it. Then, go under AutoFormat again and click Apply. Your shorthand should expand. If it doesn’t, you might have to go under Tools — AutoCorrect Options– Options and make sure the box for “use replacement table” is checked for M (modifying existing text). Also note that you will only run the replacement once. After you’re done, you can go back to AutoFormat and check “while typing” again, and go into the AutoCorrect replacement table and check T (while typing).

Portable Apps has Firefox also, so you can have Mouseless Browsing or whatever add-ons already set up. It also offers an onscreen keyboard. Unfortunately, it’s only the Windows “lite” version, which most public PCs have already. I wish they’d make a portable Click-N-Type.

Be a N00b at your own risk!

Well, excuse the heck out of me.  A professional programmer might well find it ridiculous that somebody wanted to learn about it with no intention of pursuing it full time. But it’s just as useful, I think, if I wanted to learn it for my own ends. So, with that in mind, I inquired whether it was possible to use VBA to help with the problem of Word’s replacement table not distinguishing between upper and lowercase entries. It’s a small thing, but would make it easier to use Speedwords for when I couldn’t think of efficient contractions. It’s easier to undertake learning to do something if you know there’s a use at the end. Now, apparently that was a rank amateur question. I knew that but still didn’t know the answer, so I asked. I was helpfully told that wasn’t possible, then not so helpfully told:

“Why not learn how to type!!!”

Uh, excuse me, Mr. Programmer. I asked a question because I didn’t know the answer. Answering a question does not require making assumptions about the questioner. If I asked, I had a reason. Enough said. Ever consider somebody with a disability who couldn’t type much might want to learn how to adapt her machine, eg by using shorthand, without paying through the nose for specialized software she can’t afford? I know you didn’t know that. But if you don’t know why somebody is asking, don’t presume. I’m sorry I’m new at programming, but is there anywhere a student can ask computer or programming questions and get a bare bones answer?

I’ve seen it with the adapted keyboard and speech recognition, too — people think they’re unnecessary or “laziness” or something like that just because they haven’t touched them or don’t personally have a need for them. I remember a reviewer of Dragon saying it was useless and slow because she could already type 150 WPM. If you can do that, what the hell more do you want? Warp speed? The mentality boggles me.

Bless the programmers part 2: free abbreviation expansion!

An even more useful tool in Writer is the replacement table, which is what the program uses to correct your typos. I can spell, thank you very much, and I don’t type quickly enough to make careless errors. So, I decided to use the replacement table to make Writer do abbreviation expansion. I deleted the dictionary of typo corrections and set up a large dictionary of my own. Now, instead of useless things like “ebuot” being replaced with “about”, I can expand words and phrases I use a lot. “sth” is replaced with “something,” “dsp” is replaced with “despite the fact that,” and so forth. There is a pretty large threshold for this; I have a ton of abbreviations and room to add more.

To create abbreviation expansions:

* Tools
* AutoCorrect
* Replace
* Enter your shorthand into the “Replace” column
* Enter the corresponding full word or phrase into the “With” column
* New
* OK