Section 17. Customize the AutoText Feature

17. Customize the AutoText Feature

SEE ALSO

4 About the BlackBerry User Interface

If you have any experience using an " intelligent " word processor such as Microsoft Word, you understand how handy it can be to have spelling mistakes and typos automatically fixed as you type. The BlackBerry operating system includes a feature called AutoText that serves as somewhat of a simplified spell checker. AutoText isn't a true spell checker because it focuses more on commonly mistyped words, as opposed to including an entire dictionary of correct spellings. However, AutoText goes beyond the call of duty for a spell checker by carrying out a more general text replacement.

In addition to correcting misspelled words, AutoText allows you to specify any word and corresponding replacement text for that word. Any time you type the specified word, the replacement text is plugged in to replace it. If you pay close attention to the words and phrases you use regularly, you'll find that creating AutoText entries for them will save you a lot of time. As an example, by default, the word sig is set so that it is replaced by your owner information ( see 4 Make Yourself the Owner ). This enables you to quickly use your owner information as an email signature by simply typing the word sig .

1.

Open the Tools Screen

Scroll to the Tools icon on the Home screen and click the trackwheel. The Tools screen appears, offering a list of tools options.

2.

Open the Settings Screen

Scroll to the Settings icon and click the trackwheel. A list of options for which you can change the settings appears.

3.

Open the AutoText Screen

Scroll to the AutoText option in the list of settings and click the trackwheel. The AutoText screen opens.

17. Customize the AutoText Feature

4.

Create a New AutoText Entry

The AutoText screen consists of a fairly large list of words and their respective replacement text. The idea behind AutoText is to recognize a word when you type it and then replace it with another word, phrase, or macro . Many commonly misspelled words are already listed, as well as a few handy replacement shortcuts such as lt , which gets replaced by the current time (in long format, which includes AM or PM ).

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To quickly filter the AutoText list so you can view a specific set of entries, type the first few characters in the entry. For example, if you type the , you will see the AutoText entries that add apostrophes to words such as they'd, they'll, there's , and so on.

KEY TERM

Macro A special symbol that references a piece of information stored on your device such as the date, time, owner name , or phone number. Using AutoText, macros enable you to insert such information by simply typing a short word. For example, the AutoText word sig is replaced by the owner information so you can quickly enter it as your signature at the bottom of a message. See 4 Make Yourself the Owner .

To create a new AutoText entry, click the trackwheel and then click New on the menu that appears. The AutoText: New screen appears.

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Just as you can create new AutoText entries, you can also edit existing entries. Just click the entry with the trackwheel, and then click Edit from the menu that appears. The AutoText: Edit screen appears and is very similar to the AutoText: New screen that is used to create a new entry.

5.

Enter the New AutoText Details

The AutoText: New screen includes several fields for filling in the details of a new AutoText entry. The Replace field shows the word to be replaced, and the With field contains the word, phrase, or macro that replaces it. In the example, the word sfl is replaced by the phrase Stalefish Labs , which is the name of my company. Because I use the name fairly often in email correspondence, it can get tedious having to type it over and over. This AutoText entry provides an extremely efficient way to enter the name.

If you choose to use a macro in the replacement text for an AutoText entry, you must take advantage of special codes that identify the macros. All these codes begin with a percent symbol ( % ), as shown in the table. To enter a macro in the Replace field, just type the code corresponding to the macro in the table.

Macro Codes Available for Use in AutoText Entries

Macro	Code	AutoText Word
Owner Name	%o	usrid
Owner Info	%O	sig
Phone Number	%p	mynumber
Handheld PIN	%P	mypin
OS Version	%V	myver
Short Date	%d
Long Date	%D	ld
Short Time	%t	st
Long Time	%T	lt
Backspace	%b	rb
Delete	%B	br
% Symbol	%%

You might notice a couple of other fields in the AutoText: New screen. The Using: field specifies how the case of the replacement text is determined. The default setting of SmartCase means that the case of the text is determined based on the context in which it is used. For example, if the text appears at the beginning of a sentence , it is automatically capitalized. In the case of my company name, I always want it to be capitalized, so the other option is more appropriate, Specified Case . If you select Specified Case , the replacement text is capitalized exactly as you've entered it.

The last field in the AutoText: New screen allows you to apply the AutoText entry to all locales or a specific locale . Unless you switch locales frequently and are creating language-specific AutoText entries, the default setting of All Locales makes the most sense for this setting.

KEY TERM

Locale A combination of a country/region and a language. Locales are used in BlackBerry devices to reflect language and cultural differences throughout the user interface and applications.

6.

Exit and Save Changes

Press the Escape button to exit the AutoText: New screen. You're prompted to save or discard your changes. When prompted, scroll the trackwheel to the Save option and click to save the changes. You're then returned to the AutoText screen. Press the Escape button three times to navigate back to the Home screen, or just press the End key once.