Why do some AutoText entries not AutoComplete?

[David Horowitz]

Folks,

I've seen this question asked many times, but haven't quite seen an answer.

Out of the box, Word 2002/2003 have "Dear Mom and Dad" and "Best wishes".

If you type "best w", "best wishes," comes up on AutoComplete.

If you type "dear mom", nothing comes up.

Is there an easy explanation?

Thanks!

David

 

[Guest]

General rule:
AutoComplete suggestions will not appear unless a specific AutoText is
_uniquely_ identified by its name.

I tried to find a rule that applies to AutoTexts with names consisting of
more than one word. I cannot guarantee that my explanation below is correct.
However, it was correct for all the tests I made and it also explains why you
see an AutoComplete suggestion when typing "Best w" but not when typing "Dear
mom".

The rule I found:
If the first word is _not_ unique (i.e. more AutoTexts start with that
word), the second word must be the only one starting with a specific
character in order for an AutoComplete suggestion to appear. However, if the
second word consists of max. 2 characters, no AutoComplete suggestion appears
even if the first character of the second word is unique.

Examples:
The AutoTexts "Best wishes" and "Best regards" both start with the word
"Best" but the first character of the second word differs (w and r). An
AutoComplete suggestion appears if you type "Best w" or "Best r". On the
other hand, several AutoTexts start with the word "Dear" and of those
AutoTexts, not only "Dear Mom and Dad" but also e.g. "Dear Mother and Father"
have the character M as the first character in the second word - no
AutoComplete suggestion appears.

If you add a new AutoText named "Dear sister", no AutoComplete suggestion
appears - but you will see that another AutoText with s as the first
character in the second word exists, "Dear Sir:". On the other hand, if you
add a new AutoText named "Dear brother", an AutoComplete suggestion appears
when you have typed "Dear b" - and you will see that no other AutoTexts have
b as the first character in the second word.

The AutoTexts named "Created on" and "Created by" have unique characters in
the start of the second word. However, no AutoComplete suggestion appears
when typing neither "Created o" nor "Created b". On the other hand, if you
create an AutoText named "Created all", an AutoComplete suggestion appears
when you have typed "Created a" (rule: second word must have more than two
characters).

--
Regards
Lene Fredborg
DocTools - Denmark
www.thedoctools.com
Document automation - add-ins, macros and templates for Microsoft Word

 

[Jay Freedman]

Hi David,

In my copy of Word 2003, typing "dear mom" does make the AutoComplete
tip appear.

The most likely reason for it not to appear is that you've defined
another AutoText entry that also begins with "dear mom" and differs
from "Dear Mom and Dad" in some later character. Word won't show an
AutoComplete tip until the text it's scanning uniquely matches exactly
one AutoText entry.

Open the Insert > AutoText > AutoText dialog and look at the list --
if there are two entries that start with "dear mom" they'll be
adjacent.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the
newsgroup so all may benefit.

 

[David Horowitz]

Lene,

That is the most wonderful reply I have seen!

Thank you so much for taking the time and using your ingenuity to figure out
exactly what was going on! It really had eluded me.

I will do more investigative work, but I think you must have it right on the
money.

Thank you Jay also. I'm using Word 2002, so maybe that's the difference. (I
don't have another "Dear Mom..." defined.)

Lene, thanks again!

David

 

[CyberTaz]

Then what may be happening... Especially if you're one who doesn't watch the
screen while typing:

"Dear m" triggers the "Dear Mom and Dad" AutoComplete tip box, but if you
continue to type the next two letters the AutoComplete tip goes away. IOW,
by the time you type "Dear Mom" the AutoComplete tip has come & gone

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[David Horowitz]

Thanks Bob, no, I'm paying close attention to the screen.

I've tested it -- it's definitely explained by Lene's posting -- good
detective work.

Although, I must say, this behavior is what I would consider a bug.

Plus, if you backspace and retype in any way, the whole Autocomplete thing
gets messed up too. It's just a little clunky.

Maybe it's better in 2007; I haven't tried.

Dave

 

[CyberTaz]

I hate to be the bearer of bad tidings, but I doubt you'll like how 2007
handles AutoText *at all*. As I understand it, AutoComplete tip boxes are
gone altogether & Enter doesn't trigger the insertion... You have to press
F3. There's a "new & different" feature called Quick Parts/Building Blocks
which may/may not be to your liking.

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[David Horowitz]

Thanks Bob. Looking forward to it!

I hate to be the bearer of bad tidings, but I doubt you'll like how 2007
handles AutoText *at all*. As I understand it, AutoComplete tip boxes are
gone altogether & Enter doesn't trigger the insertion... You have to press
F3. There's a "new & different" feature called Quick Parts/Building Blocks
which may/may not be to your liking.

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac