Conversion from ShortHand to Instant Text is easy
Converting a ShortHand SPF file to an Instant Text glossary is an easy operation. Just use the following steps.
Step 1: Print the ShortHand List to a File
For this you use the File menu of ShortHand and select the command File/Print to File This will produce a text file that looks like the one below:
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KEYWORD: aafc
DESCRIPTION:
and a Foley catheter
KEYWORD: aafcwp
DESCRIPTION:
and a Foley catheter was placed
KEYWORD: esai
DESCRIPTION:
extended superiorly and inferiorly
KEYWORD: esw
DESCRIPTION:
entered sharply with
KEYWORD: eswms
DESCRIPTION:
entered sharply with Metzenbaum scissors
KEYWORD: wwi
DESCRIPTION:
wound was irrigated
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Step 2: Convert the Printed List to Formulas
We will do a sequence of replacements to convert the Printed list to formulas. This will produce a text file that looks like the one below, where each short form is followed by
= and its expansion:
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aafc=and a Foley catheter
aafcwp=and a Foley catheter was placed
esai=extended superiorly and inferiorly
esw=entered sharply with
eswms=entered sharply with Metzenbaum scissors
wwi=wound was irrigated
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If you are using MS Word, the transformation can be done in three Replace All commands:
| 1. | Replace | KEYWORD: | with | nothing |
| 2. | Replace | ^pDESCRIPTION: ^p | with | = |
| 3. | Replace | ^p^p | with | ^p |
After the first replace, the text looks like as follows:
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aafc
DESCRIPTION:
and a Foley catheter
aafcwp
DESCRIPTION:
and a Foley catheter was placed
esai
DESCRIPTION:
extended superiorly and inferiorly
esw
DESCRIPTION:
entered sharply with
eswms
DESCRIPTION:
entered sharply with Metzenbaum scissors
wwi
DESCRIPTION:
wound was irrigated
|
To understand the second replacement, note that Word uses ^p for paragraph marks so this means that we replace the paragraph marks before and after DESCRIPTION: to produce a =
The text will now be as below:
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aafc=and a Foley catheter
aafcwp=and a Foley catheter was placed
esai=extended superiorly and inferiorly
esw=entered sharply with
eswms=entered sharply with Metzenbaum scissors
wwi=wound was irrigated
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And the final replacement - replacing any two consecutive paragraph marks by a single one - eliminates blank lines and produces the formulas:
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aafc=and a Foley catheter
aafcwp=and a Foley catheter was placed
esai=extended superiorly and inferiorly
esw=entered sharply with
eswms=entered sharply |