Text Blocks

Text Blocks are a great way to add auto-complete functionality to any program on your PC. If you're starting off, text blocks are extremely useful because there is no memorization required. All that is needed to create a text block is to add the full phrase. Ditto will recognize the phrase as you type and offer to complete it for you. Users of MS Word's AutoText feature are familiar with this functionality.

In this section we will go over the following topics:

• Create a Plain Text Block
• Create a Formatted (Rich Text) Block
• Delete a Block
• Edit a Block
• Move a Block Across Groups
• Using Blocks
• Printing Blocks
• Searching Blocks
• Sorting Blocks

Create a Block

Select the "Text Blocks" tab to create a text block. Simply type or paste in the block of text you would like Ditto to auto-complete for you. Select an optional group and click "Save" to store the Text Block entry. To see how a formatted text block is entered differently, go to that section.

Create a Formatted (Rich Text) Block

Creating a formatted text block works exactly the same as creating a plain-text block with the following two exceptions:

• Formatted text blocks must have the "Formatted Text" option selected.
• The phrase must be pasted with the text formatted.

Creating a formatted text block gives you the opportunity to control the appearance and structure of the full text phrase. The best way to do this is to create the phrase in your favorite word processor (Word, Word Perfect, Wordpad, etc.) and paste the text into Ditto's phrase input field.

Select the "Formatted Text" option to force Ditto to keep the formatting. Otherwise, Ditto will strip the formatting and insert the phrase as plain text. Once the block is created, you'll notice a formatted icon in your text block list in the lower half of the entry screen to distinguish it from the plain-text text blocks.

You can edit and delete a formatted text block the same way as a plain-text text block.

Delete a Block

To delete a text block, locate it within its group. You can sort the text block rows by full text or search the content for a particular keyword. Once selected, right-click and select "Delete Selected".

Deleting text blocks works exactly the same as deleting text shortcuts.

Edit a Block

To edit a block, locate it within its group. You can sort the text block rows or search the content for a particular keyword. Once selected, either double-click the row you would like to edit or right-click the selection and click on "Edit Selected".

Editing text blocks works exactly the same as deleting text shortcuts.

The text block data will get prefilled with the row you selected. Make your changes and click "Save".

Move a Block Across Groups

To move a text block to another group, simply drag and drop the full text into the group. First locate the full text you would like to move. Then click and keep your left mouse button down. Start dragging it to your destination group. Your mouse-pointer will change to the following while you drag the text block.

When your mouse is finally over the destination group, release the left mouse button. The text block is now in the destination group. Multiple text blocks can be moved at the same time.

Moving text blocks works exactly the same as moving text shortcuts.

Using Blocks

Using text blocks requires no memorization. Simply start typing one of the phrases saved in your Text Block groups and the visual advisory window will offer to complete the phrase for you.

Text Blocks can be used on most software in your PC. Some programs where Ditto might not be compatible is in DOS-based systems. Ditto has been tested in hundreds of programs successfully, however the best way to find out if it works in your environment is to try it out.

In this example we started typing "To ". To accept the text block, either hit "Enter" or the "Tab" key and Ditto will fill in the rest of the block. You can read more about visual advisory window in the "Visual Advisory" section.

Printing Blocks

To print a group of text blocks, go to the lower half "Group" Section of the Text Blocks tab. Select the group you would like to print. To print the entire group, simply click on the "Print" button. You can also limit the printed list by typing in part of the full phrase and searching for those. Once the phrases are there, you click "Print" to print out the current list of text blocks.

Printing text blocks works exactly the same as printing text shortcuts.

Searching Blocks

Searching for shortcuts is a great way to find out what text blocks you already have and edit if necessary. You can search full text phrases only. Simply type in part of the phrase in the search field and hit "Enter" or click the search button.

Searching text blocks works exactly the same as searching text shortcuts.

Sorting Blocks

You can sort within the selected group by click on the column you would like to sort. You can sort in ascending or descending order.

Sorting text blocks works exactly the same as sorting text shortcuts.