Superior Global Knowledgebase

Home Search Tags Glossary

Welcome Guest ( Login | Register )

Home » Knowledgebase » ShortCut For Windows » Importing AutoCorrect Entries in to ShortCut using SCMerge

Importing AutoCorrect Entries in to ShortCut using SCMerge

Importing AutoCorrect Entries in to ShortCut using SCMerge

Importing AutoCorrect Entries in to ShortCut© using SCMerge

The SCMerge utility, which came with your ShortCut program, was designed to import a two-column text file containing your abbreviations and expansions into ShortCut. It is an easy utility to use if you have made the proper preparations.

Getting Ready (see the related article links below "Exporting Word97Autocorrect files" for instructions on creating Autocorrect macro and "How can I import/ export autocorrect entries to transfer to another machine".)

1. Make sure the text file you created using the AutoCorrect macro and excel contains no apostrophes, colons, semi colons, quotation marks, question marks etc. in the abbreviation column. If you open it in wordpad you can do a Find (Ctrl F) to search for them, then replace the ones in the left column. Remember, you will need to put them back once the merge has been completed.

2. Be sure you know the path (location) of the AutoCorrect file you created - (*.PRN). (Chances are it resides in the My Documents folder on your local C: drive).

Running SCMerge

1. The SCMerge Utility is copied into your scwin folder when you install ShortCut. The easy way to find it and launch it is by using the find function on your PC. Do this by clicking on the START button, then click FIND, then Files or Folders.

2. In the Named box, type scmerge.exe

3. In the Look in box make sure it shows either MY Computer or an entry with the C: drive in it.

4. Click on the Find Now button. Windows will search your hard drive for the program scmerge.exe, which will import the AutoCorrect file you created using Excel into ShortCut.

5. After the search stops, click on the SCMerge icon in the lower box of the find screen. This will launch SCMerge.

6. In SCMerge, type the name of the file you created in the red box next to Source File 1: In our example we used C:\mydocu~1\ACOR.TXT (SCMerge is a DOS program and it does not recognize folders or filenames longer than 8 characters. It recognizes the folder My Documents (path) as C:\mydocu~1\). If you didn’t change the file extension from *.prn to *.txt you should type C:\mydocu~1\ACOR.PRN. Use the down arrow to highlight the field next to Destination File: and type the name you want your file to be. Again, we used ACOR.SC as our destination file. You may want to use MED.SC or SHORTCUT.SC (remember only 8 characters in the name). No path is needed since this will be created in the proper folder.

7. Hit the F10 key to begin the merge. If you are asked if you want to overwrite the report file SCMERGE.RPT, type Y.

8. If you get invalid abbreviation errors minimize SCMerge and open the Excel file (*.xls) you created in step 9 of the Exporting Word97 Autocorrect Files document and edit the left column to remove the offending character. In our example the error is on line 418 of the file. Make your edits, save as both Excel (*.xls) and space delimited text (*.prn).

9. Once complete, you will see this screen:

10. Hit escape to exit.

11. Open ShortCut by clicking on the Icon on your desktop. Click File>Open and click on the file you just imported. It will walk you through the final steps.

12. Make the destination file (ACOR.SC) your default dictionary by clicking on Tools, then Configuration and type ACOR.SC in the Default Table box.