Snippets
Snippets allow you to save a significant amount of time by providing smart text substitutions.
Using Snippets
- A snippet is comprised of an abbreviation and a substitution
- Substitution is done after typing the abbreviation and pressing the
Tabkey - Each snippet needs to have a unique abbreviation
- Abbreviations cannot contain spaces
Snippets Variables
In order to be even more powerful, snippets can contain variables. There are three predefined variable types:
Dates
iA Writer provides 2 different date variables:
$DATE$inserts the current date and time$DATE("d")$where a custom format can be specified
The full list of possible date formats can be found here.
Clipboard
Replaces the $CLIPBOARD$ variable with the clipboard content if the clipboard contains text.
Caret Position
Sets the caret position at $CARET$ after applying the substitution.
Placeholder Sections
If you include a variable with internal text other than DATE, CLIPBOARD or CARETa placeholder section will be added to your snippet. These sections will be written out in the Editor with the internal text as the placeholder.
Placeholder sections can then be overwritten at the time of writing. Jump between placeholders with the keyboard using the Tab key. If you’ve ever added a table in iA Writer for Windows, you’ll recognize these placeholders and how easy they make adding text.