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Help Topics: - Regular Help File / Documentation The Mac / TextExpander User's Quick and Easy Guide to Breevy: - Importing your TextExpander Snippets - Syncing your TextExpander Snippets with Breevy using Dropbox - Exporting your Snippets back to TextExpander Other: - Acknowledgements |
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Thanks for downloading Breevy!
We appreciate you taking the time to install and use Breevy. If you ever need help, please don't hesitate to contact us. You can send us an e-mail or contact us through the Ask Us a Question feature of the program (under the Help menu). We'll get back to you as soon as we can.
You probably already know what a text expander is, and just want to know how to use your TextExpander snippets with Breevy. No problem! Breevy is very similar to TextExpander and can indeed import (as well as sync with) your TextExpander snippets. It can also export back to TextExpander, either via Dropbox sync or manual export.
Importing your TextExpander Snippets
Breevy can import your TextExpander (SmileOnMyMac) snippets, allowing you to use your snippets even if you're away from your Mac.
The process can be completed in just two easy steps (if you have Dropbox installed on your Mac and enabled in TextExpander, the process is even easier -- see below). After you've completed both steps, you'll have successfully imported your TextExpander snippets into Breevy and will be able to start using them on your Windows PC immediately:
Step 1: Transfer your TextExpander snippets from your Mac to your Windows PC.
To transfer all of your snippets as well as your TextExpander preferences, find the main snippet file located on your Mac in the [Home]/Library/Application Support/TextExpander folder, named Settings.textexpander. (You can also just do a search for Settings.textexpander in the Finder application to find it.)
To transfer specific snippet groups instead of all of your snippets, manually save a copy of each snippet group you'd like to import into Breevy by clicking on it in TextExpander's main window and then pressing the Apple key (also known as the Command key) and the S key simultaneously. A dialog will then pop-up asking you where to save each group's snippet file.
Now that you have the TextExpander snippet file(s) you wish to use in Breevy, it's time to actually transfer them to your Windows PC. You can do this in a number of different ways:
By copying the snippet file(s) from your Mac to a USB flash drive, burnable CD or DVD, ZIP drive, or a floppy disk, and then copying them to your Windows PC
By e-mailing them in an attachment to yourself (if you don't have an e-mail address, signing up for a GMail or Yahoo account is easy and free)
By uploading them to the free private file hosting service senduit, saving the URLs of each uploaded snippet file, and then downloading them with your web browser after you boot into your Windows PC.
Step 2: Import your transferred TextExpander snippet file(s).
This part is easy. Now all you have to do (while in Windows) is either...
Double-click on each snippet file, or...
Select File -> Import TextExpander Snippets in Breevy's main window, locate your snippet file, and click Open. Do the same for any other snippet file(s) you wish to import.
If you haven't already enabled TextExpander mode in Preferences, a dialog will then pop-up asking you if you'd like Breevy to enable TextExpander mode for you automatically before importing. We recommend clicking Yes, as in TextExpander mode, Breevy looks and behaves more like TextExpander.
Finally, if you are importing your Settings.textexpander file, Breevy will ask you if you'd like it to import your TextExpander preferences (expansion mode, default abbreviation mode, etc) automatically. Clicking Yes will make Breevy auto-configure itself to match your old TextExpander preferences.
After that, all you have to do is click Apply to save the changes and you can then use your TextExpander snippets in Windows!
Still having trouble importing your TextExpander snippets into Breevy? Contact us and we'd be glad to help you out. You can send us a message from the Help menu in Breevy's main window, or send an e-mail to support@16software.com. We'll do our best to respond as quickly as possible.
Note: While Breevy supports almost all of TextExpander's snippet features, it doesn't support a few of TextExpander's more advanced features, such as snippets with formatted (rich) text / pictures, and adding/synchronizing snippet groups from URLs. However, we're working on these features, so stay tuned. In the meantime, all of your other snippets will work perfectly.
Syncing your TextExpander Snippets with Breevy using Dropbox
Breevy includes full support for Dropbox sync with TextExpander. Dropbox is free, very easy to install, used by over 4 million people, and runs on both Mac OSX and Windows.
With Dropbox sync enabled in both TextExpander and Breevy, you'll no longer have to worry about manually keeping your snippets up to date on all of your computers, whether they're running Mac OSX (TextExpander) or Windows (Breevy). Breevy will handle all of that for you: whenever you make changes to your snippets in TextExpander, they'll be automatically and instantly reflected in Breevy; in addition, whenever you make changes to your snippets in Breevy, they'll be automatically and instantly reflected in TextExpander. Which means there's no work involved for you!
Just follow these simple steps and your TextExpander snippets will be auto-sync'd into Breevy in no time:
Make sure that Dropbox is installed on your Mac, and that Dropbox sync is enabled in your TextExpander preferences.
Download and install Dropbox on the PC that Breevy is installed on, if you haven't already done so.
In Breevy, check the Enable Dropbox sync box in Preferences -> Dropbox Sync, and switch the Sync mode from Normal to TextExpander Compatible.
If the My Dropbox Folder field is blank, click the button with the green arrow next to the My Dropbox Folder field so that Breevy auto-detects your Dropbox folder location.
After you click OK, you'll never have to worry about manually keeping your TextExpander snippets up to date in Breevy again.
Exporting your Snippets back to TextExpander
Breevy can also export your snippets back to the TextExpander format, so that even if you don't have Dropbox (see above) you can still make changes to your snippets in Breevy and then transfer those changes back to TextExpander easily.
To export all of your snippets back to the TextExpander format, simply select File -> Export All Abbreviations to TextExpander Snippet File and click Save. Then, transfer the exported Settings.textexpander file to your Mac (if you're not sure how to do this, see above) and place it in the [Home]/Library/Application Support/TextExpander folder.
To instead only export a single group from Breevy so you can import it in TextExpander, right-click that group in Breevy and select Export as TextExpander Group from the pop-up menu. Transfer this exported group file to your Mac, and then in TextExpander, choose File > Add Group from File... from the menu and select the exported group file.
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