Example Six – How to Reuse Common Text in Multiple Snippets

Now we are going to look at how we can build more complex snippets, by using nested snippets.  Nesting is nothing more than using a snippet inside another snippet.  We will continue using the example text from example five.  We need to include a disclaimer on all our emails, so they should be included in this snippet and any other ones we create for emails.  While we could just paste the text directly into each snippet, this is pretty unwieldy if you need to make a change to the disclaimer and now need to remember everywhere that needs to use the new text.  Solution, make the disclaimer a snippet itself and then include it in other snippets.  Then you only need to update the disclaimer snippet when there is a change.  Ok, enough talk let’s create a new snippet to include our disclaimer.  Give it a name and abbreviation.

1. For the snippet, we are going to use the following text.

This email, including any attachments, is intended for the exclusive use of the addressee(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any review, use, dissemination, distribution, or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email in error, please notify the sender immediately by reply email and delete all copies of the original message.

Please be aware that email transmission cannot be guaranteed to be secure or error-free, as information could be intercepted, corrupted, lost, destroyed, arrive late or incomplete, or contain viruses. ACME Accounting does not accept liability for any errors or omissions in the contents of this message which arise as a result of email transmission. If verification is required, please request a hard-copy version.

Tax advice provided in this communication (including any attachments) is not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, for the purpose of (i) avoiding penalties under the Internal Revenue Code or (ii) promoting, marketing, or recommending to another party any transaction or matter addressed herein. Consult your own legal or tax advisor regarding your specific situation.

2. Now, we don’t need to use any macros, so the next step is to open the snippet from the previous example.
3. Navigate to the end of the snippet, select a location for the disclaimer, and then click on the Keyboard Macros button.
4. Select Insert Snippet.
5. In the window that appears, enter the abbreviation for your disclaimer snippet and then click OK.
6. Test out your snippet and now you should see the additional text added when you expand the snippet.

So this ends a brief journey on examples of automation using TextExpander.  There is a lot more you can do with TextExpander, such as snippets for medicine names.  Additionally, if there is something missing from TextExpander it allows you to use code to expand the capabilities.  While how to write the code needed is outside the scope of this discussion, there are plenty of examples out there you could use without having to know how to code.  TextExpander has Public Groups where you can browse different snippets and code.  I would start here to see how to use those features if you need them – https://TextExpander.com/learn/using/public-groups.  If you need help, have a question, or just want to get snippets done for you then reach out to me.  

Explore the other examples in the series:

1. 1. Example 1 – Simplifying Boilerplate Text
   2. Example 2 – How to Prompt Users for Input
   3. Example 3 – Working with Dates and Times
   4. Example 4 – How to Automate Keyboard and Cursor Actions
   5. Example 5 – Making Snippets Interactive with Fill-ins