MS Word expert Cheryl Flanders, author of the widely used, Tips 'N Techniques, and Jon Knowles of ABCZ Software have teamed up to produce a Shorthand/Speedtype dictionary which makes use of the @Key tag. This feature permits far more than text entry!
This page describes the Shorthand Command Dictionary. For the Instant Text version, click here.
What can the "command" file do? The first benefit is that you can use the home row and neighboring keys much more, and the mouse, top row and even F keys much less! You can literally issue commands, via Shorthand, telling Word to open a menu or submenu, to move around in the document, replace or add a word ending, open, close or save, format text or headings, find and go directly to a hard-to-remember submenu, execute a command that would otherwise require a macro, and more - by typing a few letters and the corresponding entry key. All this is accomplished without having to remember arcane key combinations, or devise and record a macro, stretch your fingers to reach far-off keys, or type difficult key combinations.
With the ABCZ Command file, you simply type words and word forms to tell Word what to do.
To open a document, type "open" and the appropriate Shorthand entry key or method. To print, type "print". To create a footnote, type "foot". To convert "surgery" to "surgeries" type "ytoies". To find the document word count, type "count". To change the Environment settings, type a few letters of "environment". To change "is going" to "are going," type a few letters of "istoare1wordleft." There are many other menu and deep submenu items and Word keystroke combinations you can access from the home row and neighboring keys with the natural, intuitive command entries.
The Shorthand Command Dictionary can be used not only for command entry, navigation, replacement, etc. but is also a unique tool to teach or relearn Word menus and keystroke combinations. For example, the command entries you type take you quickly to numerous menus and submenus, and the corresponding keystroke shortcuts are visible in the advisory, as in the example below - should you wish to learn and use those instead.
In the above screen shot, WordCommands has been opened and the letters "co" have been typed. If you want to view the hidden format codes, you would type F7 (concealalltoggle). If you want to convert a series to a pair of words (which has been known to happen in transcription), you type F4. The word "and" will be removed, a comma inserted, and you are returned to the starting point. The letters you typed to get the command are removed. You could make a macro to do this, but then you have to assign shortcut keys to it and the macro would cover only this one instance. Not every efficient! With the ABCZ Command file, there are many commands that perform complex actions like these - such as changing "was" to "were", "has" to "have", or adding a hyphenated or plain ending.
If you wanted to insert a comment, you would hit the F5 key. This takes you to the Insert menu where you then type "m". (The Command dictionary goes as deep into submenus as is consistent across versions of Word.) If you want to copy 2 or 3 words to the left, you type F8 or F9. You can also access these choices by typing more letters in the short form and/or using commas and the spacebar, and not use the F keys at all.
The short forms are designed to tell you what the expansion does, but you do not need to type the entire short form to get the entry.
In the above screen shot, the letters "fi" have been typed. If you want to select from the File menu, type F5. If you want to start a "Find", F8. To Find Again, F6. If you want to insert a file, F4. To see the range of field codes you would type F2 (or ,, space). You do not need to remember which keystroke combinations do these things - you simply type the words instead.
In this third screen shot, the letters "pr" have been typed:
With one or two more keystrokes you can access the print menu (F8) or print the current page (F6). You can view the page in layout view (F9) or go to a previous window (F5). You can also navigate to a previous cell, field or object (F1,F2,F3 or type commas and the spacebar).
These are but a few of the more than 725 @key commands in the ABCZ Shorthand Command Dictionary which make it easier and simpler to use the features of MS Word. And this too without having to compose and record any macros or remember keystroke combinations.