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QuickWords
Need to quickly insert the same items multiple
times?
QuickWords are an easy way to insert
- letterheads, favorite mailing and return
addresses, and signature blocks
- "boilerplate" text
- graphics and logos
- WordPerfect structures (such as tables)
and codes (such as watermarks, headers and footers, tab sets,
counters, and styles)
- any mix of the above
See also -
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In WordPerfect 8 and later versions, you can use a QuickWord to insert blocks
of material -- including graphics, tables, and styles. You can
even use a QuickWord to insert WordPerfect codes such as a watermark
or a special tab-set code.
There are many things for which you can use
a QuickWord: inserting letterheads, mailing addresses, custom
envelope return addresses (see the Tips section below), large
blocks of standard text, graphic images, special paragraph format
settings or styles, special-purpose tables, formatted screenplay
character names, specially formatted numerals or letters ...
the list is almost endless.
If you need to use the same material again
in the current document or future documents, consider using QuickWords.
Basically, a QuickWord is a small abbreviation
-- a few unique text characters, typically preceded by a special
character such as a backslash -- such as \MyName or ~Joe or `123.
The QuickWord expands automatically into whatever you have assigned
to that QuickWord. (You can optionally expand all QuickWords
at once with a shipping macro; see below.)
How to create and use QuickWords
- To create a QuickWord, first type the
text and insert any desired WordPerfect codes or graphics.
- It often is useful to do this in a blank
document (unless you also want to also "capture" some
material in the current document). For example, you could type
several "boilerplate" paragraphs, complete with formatting.
Or you could set up your letter's entire closing (even with a
scanned graphic signature "anchored" to the closing's
paragraph). Use any styles or other formatting you wish, even
tables or columns.
- Select the text, graphics, and any related
codes using the Reveal Codes window.
- Selection may be easier in Reveal Codes if
you place the insertion cursor just to the left of the material
-- particularly any relevant codes -- and then hold down the
<Shift> key while you press the <Right Arrow> key
to select the material. Some find this easier and more accurate
than using a mouse to select text with adjacent codes
- If you are selecting format codes,
you may need to include any "Off" codes as well as
"On" codes. Some formatting in WordPerfect is achieved
by bracketing the material by an On/Off code-pair. Bold, Italics,
Highlighting, and similar formatting are examples of this. Be
sure to select both codes of the code-pair.
- Click Tools, QuickWords, and give the
new QW a name.
- It may be useful to precede a QW name with
a backslash (e.g., \draft or \copy) or other unique and little-used
character (such as a tilde, ~) to help prevent possible confusion
with the same characters used elsewhere.
- Click on Add Entry to add the QW to the
list.
- Click the Options button and select "Expand
as text with Formatting."
- From WordPerfect's Help: "When you expand
text as plain text, you can insert a QuickWord in a document
other than the one where it was created, and the QuickWord text
will look the same as the other text in that document. When you
expand text as formatted text [as recommended here], you can
insert a QuickWord in a document and include the formatting and
graphics that appeared with the QuickWord when you created it."
- Important:
If you are using WordPerct 10 or later version, and choose the
"Expand as plain text" option, be sure to aslo
enable the new feature available in those versions in
Tools, Settings, Environment: "Use WordPerfect 9 text
selection." If this setting is disabled (i.e., not ticked)
during QuickWord creation you might find that some of
your newly created QWs expand with an extra hard return in them.
If this happens, see Footnote
2 here about this bug and how to work around it.
- If you want the QW to expand as you type
it (the typical case), make sure the
"Expand QuickWords ... " box is checked at the bottom
of the QW dialog box.
- To use a QuickWord,
just type the QW (plus a space, <Tab>, or <Enter>
key) on the page where you want it to begin. (See notes below.)
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NOTES
1.
If you have not checked the "Expand QuickWords..."
box at the bottom of the QuickWord dialog box, the QuickWord
won't expand. However, you can expand
all QuickWords at once by playing the EXPNDALL.WCM shipping macro,
usually located in your default or supplemental macro folder
(see Tools, Settings, Files, Merge/Macro for these locations).
2. QuickWords
will not expand if you have a macro toolbar or a merge
toolbar showing on any open document (even if empty). You can run the macro Abbrev.wcm to force a QuickWord
expansion immediately. You can also use the EXPNDALL.WCM macro
to expand all QuickWords later.
3.
QuickWords (specifically, their abbreviations) are "words"
and therefore need to be separated from preceding characters
with a space, tab, indent, etc. Otherwise they will not normally
expand when you follow the QuickWord with a space, tab, or hard
return.
HOWEVER, you can work around this if you need
to produce a QuickWord expansion in the middle of a string of
characters, such as in a mathematical formula.
You will need to (a) create the QuickWord
as described above (using the "Expand as text with Formatting"
option), then (b) create a one-line macro with this command
in it:
AbbreviationExpand (AbbreviationName:
"\2"; Template: QuickWords!)
In this example, the QuickWord abbreviation
"\2" (without quotes) was previously created to produce
a superscripted 2. You can, of course, use any QuickWord in the
macro command, as long as you use the syntax shown and specify
the QuickWord abbreviation's name.
Also -
- To copy this macro code to your WordPerfect
program, see here.
- You can then assign this macro to a keystroke
combination, toolbar button, or menu, as described here.
This will make it very easy to use in a document.
- See also the Miscellaneous Tip
below which uses a more robust macro (ReplWithQW)
to expand multiple instances of a QuickWord in a document, after
the final draft is completed.
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Miscellaneous Tips for using QuickWords
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 Use a leading "special
character" in QuickWord abbreviations.
If you click on Tools>QuickWords, you will
see that the samples shipped with some versions of WordPerfect
are preceded by a backslash [\]. This is not essential, but if
there is any chance that your QuickWord abbreviation may also
be acceptable as a word or something that QuickCorrect
might recognize, you are advised to use a leading '\' (or similar
character, such as the tilde [~]) to avoid expansion of the abbreviation.
For example, don't use 'BP' as the QuickWord for 'The patient's
BP was normal'. But you could use '~BP' or even 'PBP,' if it
is an abbreviation that is unlikely to be automatically corrected
by QuickCorrect. [Thanks to Charles Rossiter for this tip.]
You can record a macro
to play a QuickWord:
- Click on Tools, Macro, Record;
- give the macro a name;
- position the cursor in the document where
you want the QuickWord to expand (assuming you have set QuickWords
to expand as explained above, under "How to create and use
QuickWords");
- select the QuickWord with Tools, QuickWords;
- click Insert in Text;
- stop the macro recording with the Stop button
on the macro toolbar.
- The macro can then be assigned to a menu,
toolbar button, or shortcut key, as explained here.
Create
matching envelopes for your letterhead.
If you have WordPerfect8 and later, you can
use a QW to insert your custom return address (including
different font sizes and a graphic logo) in the Envelope dialog.
See here.
You
can use a QuickWord to stamp a document
with DRAFT, COPY, etc.
Want to add your scanned
signature to a .WPD document to be e-mailed as an attachment
or created as a PDF file?
- Scan a printed document that contains your
signature. Use a high resolution for the scan.
- Clip ("crop") just the signature
from the scanned image (probably a .BMP or .JPG image) with any
graphics program (WordPerfect Office's Presentations should do
the job, or use something like PaintShopPro), then insert it
between previously typed closing lines of text ("Sincerely...").
- Position the graphic signature, and then
anchor it to "Character" or "Paragraph" (not
"Page") by right-clicking the image and choosing Position.
(It will then move with the closing if you add or delete text
later.) Right-click again and choose Wrap, Behind text. You can
make final adjustments by right-clicking the image and choosing
Select Box, then use the mouse to drag the image; or you can
right-click the box and use the Position choice to enter numeric
values. When finished positioning the box, click outside it to
deselect it.
- In Reveal Codes, select both the closing
lines of text and the signature's graphic code, and create a
QuickWord from them, as described above.
- From that point on, typing the QuickWord
will insert both the closing and the signature -- all in one
step.
You
can set repeating tabs with a QuickWord.
- For example, to quickly set all tabs 0.25
inches apart, click Format, Line, Tab Set.
- In the Tab Set dialog, set the Tab type (usually,
Left), the Tab position (0.25" from the left margin), and
check the Repeat box and set it to every 0.25". Click on
Set to return to the document.
- (Alternatively, you can also record these
first two steps in a macro and assign
the macro to a toolbar button, menu, or keystroke.)
- Finally, follow the directions above to select
the new [Tab Set] code in the Reveal Codes window and assign
it to a QuickWord, such as "\25".
- Whenever you need the new settings, simply
type "\25" (without quotes) followed by a space and
the new tabs will be set. Backspace to delete the extra space.
- See also TabSet25,
a macro that sets left tabs every 0.25 inches, out to 9.75 inches
(the WordPerfect limit).
Using text and counters with
a QuickWord. [For more on counters see here.]
You can automatically and sequentially
number items at the end of a phrase -- and you can even
insert a second type of sequentially numbered list (dark red items
below) into the first list (dark
blue items below). This technique works
like an outline, where deleted or inserted items cause automatic
renumbering of subsequent items. WordPerfect will keep the lists
properly -- and separately -- numbered.
For example -
Interrogatory No. 1.
Did you ever ....
Interrogatory No. 2.
List the people within your division
who ...
Interrogatory No. 3.
State where the manager told ....
Production Request No. 1.
Produce all records in the ...
Interrogatory No. 4.
Do you claim that Mr. X never ...
Production Request No. 2.
If your answer is yes ...
And so forth.
Here's how:
1. Open a new, blank document. Create a single-level
counter for each list item (e.g., one for Interrogatory items
and one for Production items) with Insert, Other, Counter, Create.
Enter a name for the counter in the Create Counter Definition
dialog that pops up, and click OK. When finished creating all
counters, click Close to exit from the Counter Numbering dialog.
2. Then, in the main body of the document,
type the leading text phrase and a space ("Interrogatory...
"), then click Insert, Other, Counter. Choose the new, appropriate
counter from the list and then click Display in Document. This
takes you back to the main document. Make sure the insertion
point is to the right of the new code in Reveal Codes. Then click
Insert, Other, Counter, Increase.
You should now have two codes in the
document,
[Count Disp][Count Inc]
-- in that order.
The idea is to make WordPerfect display the
number, then (internally) increment it for any counter number
that may follow later in the document.
Add a space, colon, hard left indent, etc.,
as desired to separate and/or format the text that will follow
the two counter codes.
3. Here's the part that automates everything:
Make a QuickWord out of the text phrase and
the two codes (and any following spaces or codes) by using Reveal
Codes to place the cursor just in front of (i.e., to the left
of) the text phrase, and then use <Shift>+<RightArrow>
keys to move the cursor to just after (to the right of) the end
of the phrase and codes.
Now, with the phrase and counter codes and
any formatting codes selected, click on Tools, QuickWords. Give
the QW an easy-to-remember abbreviation, such as "\Int"
(without quotes) for "Interrogatory."
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 for the other list
item. Use the other counter, of course, and give the QuickWord
a different name (e.g., "\Prod" [without quotes]).
Note that when you create QuickWords, you
should make sure that the "Expand QuickWords when you type
them" box is enabled, and the Option button's "Expand
as text with formatting" is selected.
Now, when you need the items, just type the
QuickWord for them, plus a space, tab, or hard return. The QW
will expand and the counter will number the item. You can add
or delete a counter item, or insert a counter of the second type
between a sequence of the first type, and WordPerfect will keep
them properly -- and separately -- numbered.
Using Edit, Find and Replace
you can use a QuickWord abbreviation (e.g., \MyLogo) as a replacement
for an existing character, word, or symbol that exists anywhere
in a document -- then expand the QuickWord abbreviations throughout
the document with the shipping macro EXPNDALL.WCM.
Note that EXPNDALL only works if the QuickWords
are individual items and not part of a word; that is,
the QuickWord abbreviation must be separated from other text
characters. Still, this is a quick way to replace, for example,
a text character or number (or a symbol) with a highly formatted
item -- such as a math symbol in a different font and size, or
a specially formatted corporate or product name -- that you have
previously created as a QuickWord.
Alternative:
For a macro that can find an existing character, word,
or symbol wherever it appears in a document and replace it with
an expanded QuickWord -- all in one step -- see ReplWithQW.
[Note: Since QuickWords are stored in their own special template,
they will be available in all documents for the same version
of WordPerfect on the same system. See the next section for information
on migrating your QuickWords to another version of WordPerfect.]
Some
things cannot be recorded in a macro, such as creating custom
graphics or text box sizes. They must be hand-coded by a macro
writer.
But there is an easy way to insert complicated
structures (such as custom text boxes): Open Reveal Codes and
select the structure (e.g., the [Box] code) and create a QuickWord
from the selected item. Typing the QuickWord abbreviation later
will insert the item at the cursor location. You can even select
adjacent format codes and/or text along with the structure itself.
A single QuickWord can contain all of these items.
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Managing and
troubleshooting your QuickWords
- Problems with QuickWords? Your QuickWords template file might have become corrupted.
Here are some things you can try.
- You may be able to salvage the old QuickWords
template file. Try repairing it with the methods here.
- You can export the QuickWords using the methods
above, then you can simply delete the QuickWords template file.
(Here is a Corel page
that lists the default locations of the QuickWords template file.
Make a back up before deleting the file.) WordPerfect will then
create a new, virgin one when you next load WordPerfect. Then
import the old QuickWords into the new file.
- Back up your QuickWords from time to time. QuickWords are stored in their
own template file, QWnnxx.WPT, in the same folder as the default
template as shown in Tools, Settings, Files, Template. [Here,
"nn" is the WordPerfect version number (e.g., 8, 9
... 12, 13, etc.) and "xx" is the language ("EN"
for all English language versions).]
- You can then copy this file to another computer
for use on it. But see the next tip, which shows how to preserve
the older version.
- How to migrate your QuickWords to a new
version of WordPerfect:
- Use Windows Explorer to find the new QuickWords
file [e.g., QW12EN.WPT for WP12/English (CE, OZ, UK and US);
here's a Corel page that
lists the default locations of the QuickWords template file.]
Right click on this QuickWords file and select Rename. (For example,
if your new version is WordPerfect 12 the file probably will
be QW12EN.WPT for English versions. To the end of the name add
.NEW and hit Enter to rename the file. This will preserve the
new version, which you can restore later by simply removing the
.NEW filename suffix.)
- Find the old QuickWords file (e.g., QW10EN.WPT
for WP10) and copy this file to the same folder that contains
the new version of QuickWords.
- Now you need to rename the file so
that the new version of WordPerfect can recognize it: Right click
on the old QuickWords file (e.g., QW10EN.WPT) and select Rename.
Type the new version file name of the QuickWords file and hit
Enter to rename the file. (For example, if your new version is
WordPerfect 12 you would type in QW12EN.WPT.)
- Launch the new version of WordPerfect. Click
on the Tools menu and select QuickWords to confirm that your
QuickWords were migrated to the new version.
- Use a macro to export / import QuickWords:
See Charles Rossiter's QWManage
macro, downloadable from Charles's site here.
(Or, see here.) It
is designed to -
- A. Create a 2 column table listing all QuickWords
Abbreviations and their Expansions defined in the current, default
and supplemental templates.
B. Restore QuickWords and their expansions from the output of
option A created in a table with 2 columns of Abbreviations and
Expansions."
- For those on a network who wish to "roll
out" a master list of QuickWords to each user:
- Each user has their own QuickWords template
on their own system. So --
- [Quoted from a post
by Charles Rossiter, replying to a user who needed to replicate
a master list of 50 QuickWords on several networked computers:]
"When you run the [QWManage] macro, it creates a 2 by nnn
table of QuickWord abbreviations and their expansions. You could
create such a table for your 50 desired QuickWords. If you now
copy your master QuickWords table to the users' default template
folders, then you can run QWManage.wcm and all your 50 desired
QuickWords will be added to those already available to each user
personally. If it happens that a user has a QuickWord with the
same abbreviation as one of your set of 50, then you will be
warned to choose to save the original or the new QuickWord."
- How to save your QuickWords to a text
file (quoted from Corel's KnowledgeBase).
1. Download the WPLOOK file utility from the following link:
ftp://ftp.corel.com/pub/WordPerfect/wpwin/10/wplook.exe
[Note that WPLOOK.EXE for WordPerfect 10 works for WordPerfect
6.x files and newer. For more on this handy utility see this
thread on WordPerfect Universe.]
2. Save the file to a location you can easily find, for example
the desktop.
3. Once the file is downloaded, click Start, Search.
4. Click "All files and folders".
5. In "Named" type in on of the following files depending
on your version of WordPerfect: QW9EN.WPT (WordPerfect 9), QW10EN.WPT
(WordPerfect 10) or QW11EN.WPT (WordPerfect 11).
6. In "Look In" select "Local Hard Drive(s)".
7. Once the file is found, right click on it, select copy.
8. Close the Search window, go back to the desktop, right click
an empty spot, select paste.
9. Open the WPLOOK program that was downloaded in step 1.
10. Click File, Open.
11. Select the QuickWords file that was copied to the Desktop
in step 8, click open.
12. Click Edit, Extract text from document.
13. Click Extract Text.
14. Close WPLOOK.
- A new file will be created on the Desktop
called: QW9EN.txt (for WordPerfect 9), QW10EN.txt (for WordPerfect
10) or QW11EN.txt (for WordPerfect 11). This file has all the
... information in text file format.
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Barry MacDonnell's