Helpful advice for editing, moving, or backing up your PAL. But . . . NOT for the technically challenged!!
Sometimes you'd like to do things to your PAL that TypeWell doesn't have menu options for. Perhaps you'd like to save a copy of your PAL, or transfer it to a new computer when you install TypeWell there, or do mass deletions of abbreviations that you no longer use. All these things are possible by working directly with the PAL file.
- Note that the "username" part of this will be the name you use to sign in to Windows.
- If you don't see an Application Data or AppData folder in the username folder, you need to set Windows to stop hiding it. In the folder view, go to the Tools menu, choose Folder Options, click the View tab, and set it so that "Hidden Files and Folders" are shown. Now you should see the Application Data or AppData folder.
- For the Everywhere version of TypeWell, substitute Everywhere for Transcriber in the folder names above.
However, BE AWARE that this is not for the technically challenged! If you edit the PAL file incorrectly (and there are no rules posted so it's hard to know what correctly really means) then TypeWell may not start. So, the first rule of PAL maintenance is to save an untouched copy somewhere before you do anything.
The PAL file is called userabbr.dict in the TypeWell system folder. The hard step is locating this folder, as described in the section below.
Once you've located the system folder, you can copy and replace userabbr.dict to work with your PAL. It's even possible to edit userabbr.dict with a text editor to do mass deletion of abbreviations. But if you edit it, be aware that you can mess it up so that TypeWell won't load. If that happens, get TypeWell running again by either deleting userabbr.dict entirely, or replace it with a copy you saved. You did save a copy before you started messing with it, right?
Locating the TypeWell System Folder
The FIRST RULE of working in the TypeWell system folder is: Close TypeWell First! You can't be messing around in there while TypeWell is also doing so. So make sure TypeWell is not running on your system, before you proceed.
The TypeWell system folder may be located in any of the following locations:
In V5 under Windows XP, this folder is usually in C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\TypeWell\Transcriber.
In V5 under Windows Vista or Windows 7, it may be in C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\TypeWell\Transcriber.
In V4, the config folder is at C:\Program Files\TypeWell\Transcriber (or sometimes one level up in C:\Program Files\TypeWell).
There are several things to know about the above locations:
Steve
1 comments:
Hi! I'm a C-Print Captionist, but I've been reading your blog with great interest. One thing I've wanted to do for years is have the chance to poke around in the custom dictionary of a Typewell user. I know the abbreviation formats are very different between C-Print and Typewell, but many of the abbreviations are probably the same or very similar, and you guys DO have so many more available than us poor C-Printers... ;)
Also, is there a discussion group or forum for Typewell that would allow a C-Print person to join? The two systems are different, but the in-class experience is pretty much the same, and it seems like the two groups don't really communicate. I bet we have useful information for each other! :)
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