• Quick-Start Guide: Creating A New Text Abbreviation
With Breevy, you can increase your productivity and speed up your typing (in any application) in three simple steps:
1) Select the folder in which you'd like to create a new abbreviation, or click New Folder to create a new folder.
2) Click New Abbreviation to add a new abbreviation to the selected folder.
3) Enter your custom details for this new abbreviation:
Abbreviation: The text that, when typed, will be replaced automatically with the replacement text (set below). Example: bbr
Replacement text: The text that will replace the typed abbreviation. Example: Best Regards,
Match mode (optional): The matching mode Breevy should use to detect this abbreviation.
Replacement mode (optional): The replacement mode for this abbreviation.
Description (optional): A short description of this abbreviation, to be displayed in the list of abbreviations.
After you've finished adding and/or modifying your abbreviations, simply click OK or Apply, and the changes you made will be applied. You can then type any of your abbreviations in any application and they will be recognized and replaced for you automatically.
If you wish to discard all of your changes, click Cancel.
• Quick-Start Guide: Creating A New Program, File, or Folder Launcher
You can also use abbreviations to launch programs, files, and folders with Breevy. The process is similar to creating a new text abbreviation:
1) Select the folder in which you'd like to create a new program, file, or folder launcher, or click New Folder to create a new folder.
2) Click New Launcher, then click
New Program, File, or Folder Launcher to add a new launcher to the selected folder.
3) Enter your custom details for this new launcher:
Abbreviation: The text that, when typed, will launch the program, file, or folder. This text will be removed after being typed.
Location: The location on disk of the program, file, or folder you'd like to launch. Click the button to browse for the location.
Parameters (optional): The parameters to pass to the launched program, if the location points to a program.
Show Mode (optional): Whether to show the launched program normally, minimized, or maximized.
Run-in (optional): The working directory of the launched program.
Match mode (optional): The matching mode Breevy should use to detect this abbreviation.
Replacement mode (optional): The replacement mode for this abbreviation.
Description (optional): A short description of this launcher, to be displayed in the list of abbreviations.
• Quick-Start Guide: Creating A Website Launcher
Last but not least, Breevy can launch websites for you whenever you type an abbreviation.
1) Select the folder in which you'd like to create a new website launcher, or click New Folder to create a new folder.
2) Click New Launcher, then click
New Website Launcher to add a new website launcher to the selected folder.
3) Enter your custom details for this new launcher:
Abbreviation: The text that, when typed, will launch the website. This text will be removed after being typed.
URL: The URL / web address of the website you'd like to launch in your web browser, such as http://www.google.com.
Open with (optional): The browser you'd like the website to be launched in. Leave as Default Browser to open with the browser you normally use.
Match mode (optional): The matching mode Breevy should use to detect this abbreviation.
Replacement mode (optional): The replacement mode for this abbreviation.
Description (optional): A short description of this website launcher, to be displayed in the list of abbreviations.
Breevy lets you choose between three match modes for each abbreviation. Let us assume that we are creating a new abbreviation of ab with a replacement text of a boy:
Breevy lets you set the match mode on an abbreviation-by-abbreviation basis. For convenience, you can also set the default match mode for all newly created abbreviations in the Preferences window.
You can choose when you'd like Breevy to replace an abbreviation that you type:
As with the match mode, Breevy lets you set the trigger mode on an abbreviation-by-abbreviation basis. For convenience, you can also set the default trigger mode for all newly created abbreviations in Preferences
After you make changes to your abbreviations, or import a separate abbreviation file or included abbreviation set, don't forget to click OK or Apply to save them.
Click the blue arrow to the right of an abbreviation's Replacement Text box and a menu will pop up providing you with easy access to all of the insertion macros that you can use. These insertion macros allow you to do cool things like include the current date/time in the replacement, insert the clipboard contents in the replacement, and embed an abbreviation (or multiple abbreviations) within another abbreviation, among many other things.
You can associate multiple abbreviations with a single replacement or launcher. Just separate each abbreviation with a |. For example, you can have an abbreviation of who|what|where|when|why and a replacement text of Why do you insist on asking me so many questions, human? Then you can type either who, what, where, when, or why, and the abbreviation will be expanded.
Use the LaunchPad if you want to type a launcher abbreviation but aren't in a program, or part of a program, that accepts text input.
If you're not quite sure what something does in Breevy, hover your mouse over the item for a brief second, and a tooltip will pop-up automatically with information that explains what the item does.
Want to move an abbreviation or a folder? Breevy supports dragging and dropping. Just click and drag the abbreviation or folder to wherever you'd like to move it to.
Enable the Advanced editor view mode in Preferences to unhide some useful options not visible in Normal view mode, such as Anywhere Mode, an abbreviation-specific option that allows an abbreviation to be typed after a letter or number and still be replaced.
Click the magnifying glass icon in the search box to access a menu of options that allow you to fine-tune your search.
In addition to "plain old" searches, the search box also supports basic AND / OR / NOT boolean searches. For example, a search for x AND y NOT z will return results that contain x and y, but not z. As another example, a search for a OR b will return results that contain either a or b.
• TextExpander Compatibility (Import, Export, and Sync)
Breevy is compatible with TextExpander (Mac OSX) and can import your TextExpander snippets, export to the TextExpander format, and even sync with TextExpander via Dropbox, allowing you to use your snippets even if you're away from your Mac. For more information, please click here.
• Launching with the LaunchPad
If you'd like to launch something -- a program, website, file, folder, etc. -- by typing the abbreviation you assigned to it, we recommend using the LaunchPad to do so, though it's not necessary.
The LaunchPad is a convenient little window that pops up whenever you press its hotkey -- which, by default, is Ctrl + Space, though you can change it in Preferences if you want.
After the LaunchPad pops up, all you have to do is type the abbreviation associated with whatever you'd like to launch (ff for Firefox, calc for the Calculator, etc) and Breevy will handle the rest.
In cases where you're not currently in a text editor or are in a program (or part of a program) that doesn't accept text input -- like Internet Explorer, Firefox, Photoshop, Windows Calculator, etc. -- the LaunchPad is the preferred place to type your launcher abbreviation.
• Importing and Exporting Your Abbreviations
To export all of your abbreviations, click File -> Export All Abbreviations in the main window. Choose the location you'd like to export the abbreviations to (such as the Desktop) and click Save. You can also export an individual folder by right-clicking it and clicking Export.
To import an abbreviation file you previously exported, you can just double-click the file on your computer and Breevy will automatically import it for you. You can also import an abbreviation file by clicking File -> Import Abbreviations in the main window.
• Synchronizing your Abbreviations Across Multiple Computers with Dropbox
Breevy includes Dropbox sync support, making life much easier for users who wish to use the same abbreviations across multiple computers.
When you enable Dropbox sync (in Preferences -> Dropbox Sync) on all of your computers that have Breevy installed, you'll no longer have to manually export your abbreviations and then reimport them on all of your other computers each time you make changes to your abbreviations. Breevy will do this for you automatically, detecting when you make changes to your abbreviations on one computer, and applying those changes to all of your other computers.
In order for this feature to work, you need to have Dropbox installed. Dropbox is free, very easy to install, and is used by over 4 million people.
After you install Dropbox, simply click the button with the green arrow on it next to the Dropbox folder field in Preferences -> Dropbox Sync so that Breevy auto-detects your Dropbox folder, and then click OK. Repeat this process on all of the computers that Breevy is installed on and you're good to go!
Mac / TextExpander users: Breevy can sync with your TextExpander snippets, too. Click here to find out how (it's easy).
• Using Breevy on a Portable Device (USB Flash Drive, etc)
Breevy can now be run on portable devices like USB flash drives. When running on a USB flash drive, Breevy saves your preferences, abbreviations, and all other data to the flash drive that it is running on instead of the host computer, thus making it portable and allowing you to use Breevy with your abbreviations on any computer, even if Breevy isn't actually installed on that computer.
To run Breevy on a USB flash drive, simply download the special portable package from Breevy's website and extract it to your flash drive. You can then run it either by double-clicking the BreevyPortable.exe file, or by selecting Breevy Portable from your PortableApps.com(tm) app menu (if you are using the PortableApps.com Platform).
Note: To prevent data loss, before you physically remove your USB flash drive from the computer after using Breevy on the USB flash drive please always remember to first exit Breevy (File -> Exit, or right-click the system tray icon and click Exit), and then safely eject/remove your USB flash drive by using the Safely Remove Hardware feature of Windows.
To safely eject/remove your flash drive (make sure you save any changes to your abbreviations and exit Breevy first):
Click the Safely Remove Hardware icon in the system tray (the area with all of the little icons on the bottom right-hand corner of your screen, to the left of the clock). On Windows 2000/XP the icon will look like this: . On Windows Vista/7 the icon will look like this:
.
Find your USB flash drive in the pop-up menu that is displayed after clicking the Safely Remove Hardware icon and click on it. Unless a message displays stating otherwise, your USB flash drive can now be safely removed.
If you're having difficulty safely ejecting / removing your flash drive, please contact us and we'd be glad to help!
• Importing the Included Abbreviation Sets
Typo AutoCorrections Set
Included with Breevy is a set of over 6500 abbreviations that can be used to AutoCorrect your spelling errors in any application. Just click Import Typo AutoCorrections in the File menu and they'll be imported for you automatically.
Medical Transcription Set
Also included is a set of over 13,500 abbreviations just for medical transcriptionists. Just click Import Medical Transcription Set in the File menu and they'll be imported for you automatically.
• Importing Your Microsoft Word AutoCorrections
Breevy can import all of your Microsoft Word AutoCorrections. Just click File -> Import Microsoft Word AutoCorrections and they'll be imported automatically.
Want to temporarily disable the abbreviations inside of a particular folder and prevent them from being expanded when you type them? Simply right-click that particular folder (you can disable more than one, of course) and select Disable, then click Apply to apply the changes.
To re-enable a disabled folder, just right-click it and select Enable, then Apply.
Breevy supports the use of macros in the Replacement Text field for text abbreviations. Macros are commands that tell Breevy to do certain things with the outputted text that couldn't otherwise be done.
The list of currently supported macros are listed below. You can also see and choose from a list of the macros Breevy supports by clicking the button, which is located next to the Replacement Text entry box in Breevy's main window.
Supported Macros:
%(abbreviation abbreviation): Inserts the replacement text of the specified abbreviation. For example, if you have an abbreviation myname with the replacement text Jonathan Doe Smith, you could create another abbreviation, perhaps mynameis, and dynamically insert your name into its replacement text:
Hello, my name is %(abbreviation myname). It's nice to meet you.
Breevy would replace the %(abbreviation myname) with Jonathan Doe Smith. Of course, if the abbreviation myname's replacement text were something different, such as Jane Noname, then the %(abbreviation myname) macro would be replaced with that instead.
%(abbrev abbreviation): Same as %(abbreviation abbreviation). See immediately above.
%(input identifier): Pauses for your interactive input. When you're done inputting text, simply press Tab and Breevy will continue outputting the rest of the replacement (until another %(input) or %(fill) is found, of course).
Use of an identifier is optional but useful as it adds variable-like functionality to the macro, allowing the reuse of the same input later on in the replacement without you having to retype it. If specified, then the first time Breevy comes across the identifier, it will literally output identifier (i.e., if it is name, Breevy will output name), select it, and then pause for your input until you press Tab. However, for all subsequent times in the same abbreviation's replacement text Breevy comes across an %(input) or %(fill) macro with the same identifier, Breevy will remember what you inputted earlier and automatically output it for you again, without pausing for your input and requiring you to type it again. For example:
Hello, my name is %(input name) and I live in %(input country). I repeat, my name is %(input name).
In the example above, after Breevy comes across the first %(input name), it'll pause and allow you to enter your name. After you do so and then press Tab, then when Breevy comes across the second %(input name), however, you won't have to enter your name again; Breevy will do that automatically for you. Note that you can use the %(fill) macro instead of %(input) if you prefer; in fact, both can be used interchangeably. Also, the text you input for an identifier will not be "remembered" after Breevy finishes outputting the replacement text.
Don't forget to press Tab when you're done typing your input! Also, pressing the Escape key at any time cancels the operation.
%(fill identifier): Same as %(input identifier). See immediately above.
%(clipboard): Insert the clipboard contents at this position in the outputted text.
Example: I just copied the text %(clipboard) to the clipboard by pressing CTRL + C!
%(cursor): After the text is outputted, move the cursor to the position at which this macro is located in the replacement text.
Example: <a href="%(cursor)"></a>
Date / Time: There are quite a few different macros for dynamically inserting the date and time into the outputted text. Click the blue arrow next to the Replacement Text entry box in Breevy's main window to see them all.
Date / Time Math: With the date / time math macros, you can make Breevy output a date or time in the future (or past).
These math macros are used in conjunction with the regular date / time macros, and you can use them to add or subtract years, months, days, hours, minutes, or seconds to/from the current date or time that Breevy outputs when you use the regular date / time insertion macros. (You can also click the blue arrow next to the Replacement Text entry box in Breevy's main window for easy access to these macros).
Example: In one hour, it will be %(AddHours 1)%(Hour):%(Minute):%(Second) %(AMorPM).
You can replace Hours with Years, Months, Days, Minutes, or Seconds. You can also replace Add with Subtract to subtract from the time/date. For example, Three days ago was a %(SubtractDays 3)%(WeekdayName).
Note how the date / time math macro (%(AddHours 1), %(SubtractDays 3), etc) always comes before the actual date macro (%(WeekdayName), etc).
%(Key): Simulates a single/combination key press. For example, %(Key Escape) tells Breevy to press the Escape key, and %(Key Shift+Tab) tells Breevy to press both Shift and Tab at the same time.
You can optionally specify the number of times you'd like Breevy to repeat the key press(es). For example, %(Key Space 10) tells Breevy to press the Space key 10 times, resulting in an output of 10 spaces total.
Click here for a full list of key names supported by the %(Key), %(KeyDown), and %(KeyUp) macros.
%(KeyDown) / %(KeyUp): Simulates a press down -- %(KeyDown) -- or press up -- %(KeyUp) -- of the key(s).
For example, %(KeyDown Escape) tells Breevy to press the Escape key down and hold it down until a %(KeyUp Escape) is found. Similarly, %(KeyDown Ctrl+Tab) tells Breevy to press both the Control and Tab keys down and hold them down until a %(KeyUp Ctrl+Tab) is found.
Click here for a full list of key names supported by the %(Key), %(KeyDown), and %(KeyUp) macros.
%(Delay): Tells Breevy to delay for the number of seconds/milliseconds specified before continuing to output key presses.
For example, H%(Delay 500ms)e%(Delay 1s500ms)llo%(Delay 100)! would tell Breevy to output the letter 'H', wait half a second (500 milliseconds), output the letter 'e', wait 1.5 seconds, output the letters 'llo', wait 100 milliseconds, and then output an exclamation point.
This is a very powerful macro, especially when coupled with the %(Key) macro. The following example, when added to an abbreviation's replacement text and executed (by typing the abbreviation) opens the Windows Run dialog (Win+R), types 'cmd', presses enter, types 'echo Hello, world!' into the command prompt, and then presses enter:
%(Key Win+R)%(Delay 500ms)cmd%(Key Enter)%(Delay 500ms)echo Hello, world!%(Key Enter)
Without the %(Delay)'s, the Windows Run dialog and command prompt wouldn't have time to load before Breevy continued typing the rest of the replacement text.
Note that in order for the previous example to work, the Continue outputting replacement text even if active window changes option must be enabled in Preferences.
%(Launch "program, file, or folder path" arguments (optional)): Tells Breevy to launch the specified program, file, or folder. The easiest way to create this macro is to click the blue arrow next to the Replacement Text box and select Launch a program if you want a program to be launched, or select Launch a file or folder if you'd like a file or folder to be launched/opened. A dialog will then appear allowing you to quickly browse for the program, file, or folder path to launch as well as configure the other available options; after clicking OK, the correct syntax for the macro will then be inserted for you into the Replacement Text box automatically.
The following are the optional arguments currently supported:
-parameters "parameters": Allows you to pass parameters to the specified program being launched. This argument is ignored if the specified path doesn't point to a program.
Example: %(Launch "C:\Windows\notepad.exe" -parameters "C:\path\to\file\to\open.txt")
-run-in "run-in directory": Allows you to specify the run-in directory of the program being launched. This argument is ignored if the specified path doesn't point to a program.
-show-minimized / -show-maximized: Tells Breevy to launch the specified program or folder minimized or maximized. This argument is ignored if the specified path doesn't point to a program or folder.
Example: %(Launch "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" -show-maximized)
-run-as-admin: Tells Breevy to run the specified program as an administrator on supported versions of Windows (such as Vista and 7). This argument is ignored if the specified path doesn't point to a program.
If you have a suggestion for a macro you think would be useful, tell us about it and we'll consider adding it in the next release.
By default, Breevy automatically makes a backup copy of your abbreviations each time you modify them and click OK or Apply. You can restore one of these backups and recover your abbreviations if necessary at any time by opening up the Backup Manager, which can be accessed from the main menu in Breevy's main window.
See also the Backups tab in Preferences, which allows you to change the backup directory (recommended if you have a separate hard drive, though not necessary), as well as the maximum number of backups that should be saved before pruning older ones to make room for newer ones. You can also turn off automatic backups in Preferences.
• Read-Only Folders that Sync with External Files
Breevy makes it possible to create read-only folders that sync with external abbreviation/snippet files and can't be modified. Organizations that wish to create easily-updatable sets of abbreviations for their employees to use will find this feature useful.
To make use of this feature, first export the abbreviation folder(s) you'd like your employees to have read-only access to by right clicking each folder, clicking Export, and choosing the location to export the folder to.
Then, on the system(s) you'd like to give read-only sync access (to the folder(s) you just exported), just click File -> New Read-Only Sync Folder -> From File in Breevy's main window. You can then browse for the location of the abbreviation file that you just exported. Both Breevy abbreviation files and TextExpander snippet files are supported.
Finally, choose how often you'd like Breevy to automatically update the folder from the external file (if ever), click OK, then click Apply to save your changes.
From that point on, Breevy will automatically check to see if the external file has been updated on disk as often as you told it to, and if it has changed -- for example, because you re-exported a modified version of the folder to the same location you exported it to previously -- Breevy will reload it automatically.
• We're here to help.
Having some trouble, or have a suggestion/comment? 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.
Copyright (c) 2009-2012 16 Software. All Rights Reserved.