PhraseExpress is freeware system-tray resident macro engine that can insert user defined text and phrases whenever the user enters a certain text string or presses a hotkey combination. It can also function as a universal spelling checker for commonly misspelled words.
This program automates the insertion of phrases that are often used into any application. Here are some examples where this could be useful:
- I find myself very frequently typing in my blog URL into emails, forums, etc. that I participate in. With PhraseExpress I can set it so that whenever I type in “fwg” or “press ctrl-shift-f” (as examples) my blog’s URL is pasted instead.
- I could use PhraseExpress such that whenever I type in a phrase abbreviation (“btw”, “brb”, “fyi”, etc.) the actual phrase is inserted instead (not that I would, mind you; I like these abbreviations).
- PhraseExpress comes with a number of common misspellings pre-defined. For example, typing in “wriet” or “rwite” (two common misspellings of “write”) will immediately spring PhraseExpress into action, and it will replace these with the correct spelling.
- I often copy and paste html code from a text file into the html of my blog posts. Instead, I could store all of these in a folder within PhraseExpress such that whenever I press a hotkey combination PhraseExpress shows a drop down list of these that I can instantly paste from.
- You could use PhraseExpress to enter logins/passwords, either by programming hotkeys or by typing in abbreviations that PhraseExpress would complete.
PhraseExpress is extremely simple and easy to use. You can simply right click on the PhraseExpress icon in the system tray to transfer any phrase in the clipboard to PhraseExpress, and set either a hotkey or a string substitite for it. You actually do not need to define a hotkey or string for every single phrase you define; instead, you could group these into folders in the PhraseExpress console and define a hotkey combination for the folder. This will produce a drop-down with all the phrases in the folder whenever the hotkey combo is pressed, within any application.
I really like this program because its quite useful but also because of its simplicity (I found it very easy to use and get into, in contrast to other freeware macro engines that do pretty much the same thing). Definitely a program to keep.
Compatibility: Windows 98, 2000, 2003, XP.
Go to the download page to download the latest version. The program home page.
