In the following example, we are adding a Word Entry to the Current Glossary using the Add Glossary Entry window:
chocoholic is the Long form, also called the Expansion.
c is the Short form.
chocoholic *** addicted to chocolate *** is the Display form.
The Long form of a Word Entry is the text to produce, when expanding an abbreviation for that entry.
The Short form is the key factor that differentiates Word Entries from Phrase Entries:
A Word Entry Short form consists of a single character.
A Phrase Entry Short form has two or more characters.
Note that, while it is natural to define words as Word Entries, you may also define phrases as Word Entries.
The Display form of a Word Entry is the text that gets displayed in the Word Advisory when the corresponding entry is proposed as an expansion candidate. In our example we use this feature to display a comment that will not be part of the expansion:
The Display
form is optional, if you don't define one the Long form
is displayed.
An abbreviation for a Word Entry requires the following:
It must start with a letter that matches its Short form.
It must be a subset of letters of the Long form that appear in the same order.
This allows countless possible abbreviations, here for example:
Abbreviation | Long form |
---|---|
chc |
chc |
ccc |
ccc |
cooo |
cooo |
Singles Entries are Word Entries of a special glossary called the Singles Glossary. They are the only Word Entries that can be abbreviated using a single character.