This document discusses solutions to problems using Shorthand on popular word processing and transcription platforms. You should read the “Debugging Shorthand” section first. If you have questions, you can contact us through
http://pcshorthand.com/contact.html
Shorthand Compatibility Issues
Running Shorthand as Administrator
If ComCast is your Internet Provider
Internet Explorer on Windows Vista/Windows 7
Internet Explorer Vertical Lines
This is the recommended Shorthand setting for most word processors:
NOTE:
Microsoft Word, by default,automatically adds extra spaces if you select the "Simulate Clipboard Paste if Text Only" as the Shorthand text transfer method.
To disable the automatic spaces in Word 2010 and later:
"Use smart cut and paste" box.
To disable the automatic spaces in Word 2007:
For older versions of Word:
-- Use SHIFT instead of CAPS LOCK to capitalize expansions
If you had set your Shorthand text transfer method
to "Simulate Clipboard Paste", the CAPS LOCK key will have no effect
on the expanded text (this is because CAPS LOCK has no effect on
the text copied through the clipboard).
Instead of using CAPS LOCK to capitalize words,
we suggest you use one of these techniques to capitalize
an expansion:
Simply type the abbreviation in all CAPS using the SHIFT key.
For example if you have the following abbreviation:
subj = subjective
typing "SUBJ"<SPACE> will expand to "SUBJECTIVE".
(note: use your SHIFT key to type "SUBJ").
Another technique is to define separate abbreviations for
your long forms you need in all CAPS.
for example:
subj = subjective
subj1 = SUBJECTIVE
If you have problems getting Shorthand to work, try testing Shorthand with the Windows Notepad:
Whenever you type something, you should observe your most recent word displayed in the Suggestion Window. This should help you see if Shorthand is working or not. For example, if you type "asap" in your word processor, you should see "asap" in the Suggestion Window.
If you see only "sap", this means Shorthand failed to receive the first character. If you see nothing at all in the Suggestion Window, this means Shorthand could not track the keystrokes in the word processor (see the rest of this document for suggestions on how to get Shorthand to work in your word processor).
Shorthand usually will NOT work if you get message: "Allow sh10 to make changes to my computer?" when you launch Shorthand. You should make sure you are NOT running Shorthand in Windows Compatibility mode:
If Shorthand still does not work try running Shorthand as "administrator":
NOTE: You should NEVER select "Run this program as an administrator" box in the Windows Compatibility window.
This is the correct procedure to run Shorthand as "administrator":
You usually need to run Shorthand as administrator only if your word processor is running as administrator.
If you use ComCast as your Internet Provider: check if there is program called "Constant Guard" running on your computer. Shorthand is not compatible with Constant Guard which contains a keyboard logger. Constant Guard is a free program that is automatically installed
on your computer if you are using Comcast as your internet provider.
You may want to try uninstalling Constant Guard to see if that is causing the
Shorthand problem (you need to restart Windows after uninstalling Constant Guard to make
sure it really is disabled before trying out Shorthand).
See Internet Explorer Vertical Lines
If Shorthand does not work in ChartNet. try restarting Shorthand:
This is the suggested Shorthand setting for ChartNet:
1. From Shorthand's File menu, choose Preferences.
2. Select the "4. AutoReplace" tab.
3. Unselect (uncheck) the "Enable Automatic Keyword Completion" box.
4. Unselect (uncheck) the "Remember Last Expanded Word" box.
5. Click OK to save your changes.
6. Click the HIDE button.
Chrome has a security feature which sometimes blocks the ENTER key if Chrome detects a program (like Shorthand) is tracking your keystrokes.
Here's how to get around the problem:
You can create a Shorthand macro to simulate the ENTER key with another key press.
Here's a Shorthand entry that will make pressing Enter (or any other keyboard combination you want) to simulate the ENTER key:
Press F10 to bring up Shorthand then
choose ADD from Shorthand's DICTIONARY menu to create the following
entry:
KEYWORD: enter2 (or any abbreviation you want)
SHORTCUT: Enter
TEXT TO TYPE: {@KEY Enter}
Notes:
1. To create the SHORTCUT for Enter:
Click the SHORTCUT button.
When the Next Key Typed window appears, press ENTER.
2. Type "{@KEY Enter}" in the TEXT TO TYPE box exactly as you see it
(exactly 12 characters; be careful not to press ENTER in the TEXT TO TYPE
box).
Now whenever you press the ENTER key, Shorthand simulate the ENTER key.
This appears to bypass Chrome's security feature however pressing ENTER will
no longer expand abbreviations; i.e., if you type an abbreviation followed by ENTER, it will
not be expanded (you can press SPACE, TAB or a period after the abbreviation to expand the
abbreviation).
Many Shorthand users have been using Shorthand with Citrix with no problems; here's what they told us (in their own words):
"To use Shorthand with a word processor on Citrix, you have to push out a Desktop session to the end users. You CANNOT use the Published Applications session because, if you do this, Shorthand and your word processor will be on two separate sessions and Shorthand therefore cannot communicate with the word processor on the other session. When you push the Desktop session to the end user, you are giving them a single session to run all their applications they need."
What you need to do is install Shorthand on the Citrix server so both Shorthand and Citrix apps can run on the same session.
Another user has a different solution:
Install Shorthand on your local PC and run your Citrix session in a window and not full screen.
Shorthand will work as long as you don't make your Citrix session as full screen.
From feedback received from many Shorthand users, Shorthand can work with EXText if you first
disable the word expander that comes with EXText. Please consult your EXText documentation for instructions on how to disable the word expander that comes with EXText.
If Shorthand still does not work after disabling the word expander that comes with EXText, here are a couple of things to try:
If your EXText is running inside the Internet Explorer web browser AND you have Windows Vista or Windows 7 you should disable IE's "protected mode":
Also see: Running Shorthand as "administrator".
We have received feedback from many users who say they have been using Shorthand with DocQScribe for several years with no problems. It's possible that there could be different DocQScribe platforms and Shorthand may not work with certain DocQScribe platforms. The main thing to watch out for is to make sure you don't have two expanders running at the same time (i.e. if DocQScribe comes with an expander, make sure you turn off the DocQScribe expander).
This is the recommended Shorthand setting for EditScript:
Microsoft Word, by default,automatically adds an extra space after the first character of expansions if you select the "Simulate Clipboard Paste if Text Only" as the Shorthand text transfer method.
To disable the automatic spaces in Word 2010:
To disable the automatic spaces in Word 2007:
For older versions of Word:
A Shorthand user told us that Inscribe EMDAT has a word expander which can interfere with Shorthand and cause Shorthand not being able to track BACKSPACEs; you should disable the built-in expander in Inscribe EMDAT.
Another Shorthand user told us the following Shorthand setting may also fix the BACKSPACE problem:
Please note that the above setting will cause Shorthand to expand at full speed and may cause problems using Shorthand with other word processors.
Below is a tip we got from a Shorthand user (the solution is to reduce the size of your GEMMS application window so it is not occupying your full screen):
"There is a little tool bar at the top of the screen, in the center, when you first log in to GEMMS. This is the tool bar I was using to minimize the client's desktop so I could see my own. Click on the 2 boxes next to the minimize ("-") to reduce down to a window. After that, Shorthand was able to work correctly."
Internet Explorer has "protected mode" enabled which prevents Shorthand from tracking your keystrokes while typing in an Internet Explorer window.
Here's how to make Shorthand work with ALL web pages:
Running IE with protected mode disabled may display a message stating that "your computer may be at risk". As long as you don't visit any questionable web sites you should be ok. Another option would be to use the free FireFox web browser (http://www.firefox.com)
which is much faster and more secure than IE and works much better with Shorthand.
This fix requires Shorthand v10.11 or later (choose ABOUT from Shorthand’s HELP menu to see what version of Shorthand you have).
NOTES:
This fixes the vertical line and track cursor problems in IE but a side-effect is that Shorthand may no longer work correctly with applications running under a different user context (but this usually can be fixed by running Shorthand as administrator).
MDinTouch InScribe and TouchType 2
If MDinTouch comes with its own word expander (not Shorthand), please disable the MDinTouch expander.
Also see: Running Shorthand as "administrator".
You usually can "paste" text from the clipboard into Meditech using the ALT+V keyboard command. If so, you may want to try using Shorthand's "Simulate Clipboard Paste" to more reliably expand text using a clipboard transfer instead of simulating each keystroke:
Now, whenever you type a Shorthand abbreviation, Shorthand first simulates backspaces to delete the abbreviation followed by an Alt+V to simulate the clipboard paste command to paste your long form.
Here's another suggestion:
One Shorthand user told us she doesn't type directly in Meditech (Meditech was just too slow);
instead she types her reports in WordPad then transfers (copy and paste) the final report to Meditech. If you want to use Shorthand in WordPad, this is the recommended Shorthand setting for WordPad:
A Shorthand user has informed us that she was able to make Shorthand work
with Medrite XL by disabling the Medrite glossary. This is what she told us:
it appears Microsoft Edge does not have an option to turn off protected mode so Shorthand cannot track your keystrokes in Microsoft Edge. The work around is to use another browser such as Internet Explorer, Firefox or Google Chrome.
NOTE: Internet Explorer is still available in Windows 10:
Internet Explorer , by default, has "protected mode" enabled which
prevents Shorthand from tracking your keystrokes while
typing in an Internet Explorer window.
Here's how to make Shorthand work with ALL web pages:
1. Open Internet Explorer.
2. Click the TOOLS menu (the gear icon on the upper right corner) and select INTERNET OPTIONS.
3. Click the SECURITY tab.
4. Unselect (uncheck) the "Enable Protected Mode" box.
5. You will need to restart Internet Explorer for the settings to
take effect.
Shorthand may not always expand an abbreviation in some applications (notably Microsoft Excel) if the abbreviation was the FIRST word you type in the window. The reason is that Excel creates and switches to an invisible window right after you type the first character and, for safety reasons, Shorthand automatically resets its internal buffers whenever you change a window. If you need to type an abbreviation as the first word in a cell, the workaround is to either type a SPACE or press F2 (Excel's edit command) before typing the abbreviation.
See the section on “Recommend Shorthand Setting” for the suggesting Shorthand setting for Microsoft Word.
Microsoft Word, by default,automatically adds extra spaces if you select the "Simulate Clipboard Paste if Text Only" as the Shorthand text transfer method.
To disable the automatic spaces in Word 2010 and later:
To disable the automatic spaces in Word 2007:
For older versions of Word:
Also see: Running Shorthand as "administrator".
This fix requires Shorthand v10.11 or later (choose ABOUT from Shorthand’s HELP menu to see what version of Shorthand you have).
Support Different User Context
Use non-zero playback scancode
(The above two boxes should be CHECKED.)
Open Start/Stop.
At top of window select CONFIGURE.
Select Hot Keys.
In the upper right corner SELECT DISABLE HOTKEYS.
Click OK.
Reboot the computer.