TypeIt4Me, Typinator - what works together with Scriv 2.0?

[AndreasE]

I used to be a happy user of TypeIt4Me. I rely very much on this tool. Besides the usual abbreviations for emails ("bw" --> "best wishes, so-and-so", "*adr" --> my postal adress, "*no" --> polite answer explaining why I won't accept an invitation to appear somewhere etc.), I use to set up abbreviations for all my important protagonists that expand to their full names while I write. I type "/w" and it becomes "Wickersham", for example, a character in my latest novel. Speeds up the writing nicely, and the name gets never misspelled.

The advantage of having an extra text expander is that the abbreviations are available no matter in which application I am working - whether I have an email discussion about the manuscript with my editor, whether I am writing in Scrivener, whether I am writing in Papyrus, the abbreviations always work and so I don't have to think about it any longer. Which means I am free to think about more important things.

But – since Scrivener 2.0, I have problems. If TypeIt4Me is running, my typing in Scrivener gets horribly delayed; sometimes to the point of uselessness. (This is the first time I experience any compatibility problems between TypeIt4Me and another application.)

I would like to hear about the experiences of others. Who uses TypeIt4Me? Who uses other text expanders - Typinator etc.? How do they interfere with Scrivener?

[Hugh]

I have Typinator on my machine. It gave me no problems with Scr 1.x; I haven't used it with 2. However, I will try it today.

BTW, have you checked to see whether TypeIt4Me is conflicting in some way with Scrivener's auto-correct preferences? And (an obvious question, sorry), can TypeIt4Me be set to ignore specific programmes? I know Spell Catcher, which also expands boiler-plate text, can be set to do this.

[Cadence]

I use TextExpander by Smile Software with Scrivener 2. Works great, I love both apps.
Link to TextExpander's developers website

[AndreasE]

BTW, have you checked to see whether TypeIt4Me is conflicting in some way with Scrivener's auto-correct preferences?

I have checked, but I am not sure it which way it could conflict. Disabling "Symbol and text substitution" changes nothing about the delay.

And (an obvious question, sorry), can TypeIt4Me be set to ignore specific programmes?

Yes, that's possible, but that would be no solution. The whole point of a text expander tool is to have it active in all applications.

[Hugh]

BTW, have you checked to see whether TypeIt4Me is conflicting in some way with Scrivener's auto-correct preferences?

I have checked, but I am not sure it which way it could conflict. Disabling "Symbol and text substitution" changes nothing about the delay.

My understanding is that some if not all of these external text expanders operate on the boundaries of what the operating system permits. This makes them more liable to disrupt applications with which they interact, and in their turn more liable to be disrupted by those applications (I used Spell Catcher for a while and both those phenomena were apparent with earlier versions.) Hence, having two text-expanders/auto-correct functions (TypeIt4Me and Scrivener's own) operating together and checking everything you type may be generating the problems you're facing...

... I'm speculating. Somebody who actually knows about these things should pick this issue up!

[Hugh]

No problems with Typinator so far.

However... I unchecked all the boxes on Scrivener's auto-correction preference page, and re-launched before starting.

[exegete77]

I use TextExpander for all programs; works well.

[johnz]

Another vote for TextExpander, works well with Word, Scrivener, Nisus, Gmail... I've put in TE some 300 snippets (for ex the adverbs, horribly long in Italian) and I'm using it regularly.

Giovanni

[dagaz]

I used to have licences for both TypeIt4Me and Typinator, but ever since Snow Leopard I've just been using the built in symbol and text replacement - seems a lot more solid and instant to me.

[valente.mac]

Happily using Typinator with a little more than 300 abreviations. No slow down here.

I also have TypeIt4Me, but I prefer Typinator interface. Besides it works a bit faster than TypeIt4Me.

-- MJ

[suavito]

Typinator is working fine here. I have watched some delays while typing but not related to Typinator. I had suspected it but nothing changed after I quit Typinator.

Before I bought Typinator I had checked the competition too but found all of them limited in expanding functions (Typinator has a more flexible delimiters concept). I don't know how they have evolved since then.

[Prion]

Andreas
I am experiencing exactly the same, only I am using TextExpander. However, I don't think it is a simple cause-consequence relationship because sometimes everything is nice and dandy with TE running. Switching TE OFF alleviates the problems of general typing slowness so it definitely is involved but I share the impression that it is a complex interplay of several programs and services conflicting with each other under certain circumstances.

I found http://www.chromescreen.com/disable-spell-checker-in-mac-osx-system-wide/ but haven't tried it yet so no guarantees.

I'd love to find a solution for this so please post if you know more.
Prion

[Prion]

I am not saying that I found the solution. I do say though that the following has eliminated the problem for me:

Reset PRAM: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1379
Reset SMC (for Intel-based Macs): http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964?viewlocale=en_US

This MBP feels more responsive than ever before, now even WITH Textexpander running. I am carefully optimistic that only some low-level garbage was responsible for the terrible typing lag I was experiencing.
Let me know if this solves your problem.

Prion

[AndreasE]

Thanks for the hint, Prion. I will try this the next days.

[Spitfire31]

I like TypeIt4Me and it really bummed me out when, after upgrading to version 5, I found out that it doesn't play nice with Spell Catcher. In fact, TI4M doesn't work at all when Spell Catcher is active. On the other hand, it works just fine on its own with Scrivener 2 on 10.5.8.

On the upside, I discovered that Spell Catcher has its own completion feature which works great once you've made all the right selections.

So, my $9 for upgrading TI4M was wasted to a certain degree, but the incompatibility made me look closer at the capabilities of Spell Catcher. Swings and merry-go-rounds and all that.

Best,

Joachim