Keyboard Shortcut macros for inserting special characters

[slr55]

I am a student of philosophy and law, and I frequently use special characters
when taking notes or writing papers, such as logical operators (arrows,
horseshoes, tridots, dots, vels, universal quantifier, existential
quantifier), and the legal section symbol. Pretty much, you name it, I use
it-- and often. But I use too many characters to memorize the codes for
each, and who has the time to or wants to type all those numbers, anyway?!

In Word, you can memorize keyboard shortcuts (macros) for inserting special
characters as you type, just by assigning the shortcut in the window that
pops up after you click <insert>, <special character>. This memorization
process is a onetime process, and the keyboard shortcut that you choose
(macro) is forever yours.

In OneNote, however, you must manually enter each character, each and every
time you need it, and after you do then you must change the font back to the
original font you were typing with.

Why hasn't OneNote incorporated this very useful macro assignment tool?
Is there a patch out there to fix this problem??

HELP!!!!

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[Erik Sojka (MVP)]

You can use AutoCorrect to do this. I'm not sure if this is the same
feature you are talkling about in Word.

Go to Tools | AutoCorrect Options and fill in the keystroke and
corresponding special character it should replace, and click the "Add"
button.

 

[slr55]

Erik Sojka (MVP),
Thank you for your response. While it was somewhat useful, it does not
entirely address my issue. When you auto-correct, you have to use unicode
fonts-- at least that is what I think they are called. The problem is that
these fonts are only for some symbols and many of the symbols I need are not
included. Also, you cannot assign using non-printing character keys like
alt,Fn,Ctrl.

For instance, the existential quantifier used in symbolic logic is an
upper-case LEFT facing "E". This symbol is found in only the "Symbol" font
and a few others, but when you memorize them using auto-correct, they
translate into the font you are using, and that changes the character into a
different symbol. Additionally, I would like to match my shortcuts between
programs; I use Alt-Shift-E in Word, but using auto-correct, you can only
correct actual printing characters, so my shortcut turns into Shift-E, which
is clearly unacceptable (I don't want every capital E to turn into the
symbol, even if I could actually get the symbol!)
This is just ONE example of the many symbols I can't memorize using
auto-correct.

I did take your suggestion for the ones I could, and I thank you. It will
save me quite a bit of time. However, I still think that Microsoft needs to
fix this problem.
______________________________

 

[YouBetcha]

I can't solve the original question, but as far as the second paragraph, i've
found it efficient to use autocorrect by picking an "otherwise extremely
rare" set of symbols to precede the shortcut symbol.

So in the autocorrect, I use "comma comma" -- for example:

,,d is autocorrected to a delta symbol
,,r to a right arrow
,,$ to a "section" symbol

etc.

I realize this doesn't entirely address your question, but may be helpful in
"converting" the symbols you can from your old system in word to OneNote.
You just use ",," instead of "alt-shift" when you are in OneNote which
reduces your adjustment.

 

[Scott Bieniek]

I have actually been looking for a similar feature. I'm a law student, and I
love OneNote for taking my notes. I think it leaves everything more
organized, and for the few exams that I can actually use an "unlocked"
computer, the search function is much quicker, and efficient than a Ctl+F in
Word.

The one drawback, and it is pretty serious, is that I cannot come up with a
simple way to insert symbols, such as the "section" symbol quickly and
efficiently. Like the previous poster, I use macros in Word to program a
"Ctl+Alt+Shit+S" to insert the "section" symbol.

While the "auto-correct" feature is wonderful for OneNote, I too am hesitant
to convert to something such as ",,$" I want to avoid using different
commands between Word and OneNote. I also don't want to start using
autocorrect in Word because that could lead to some really embarrassing
mistakes in actual documents. Although uncommon, an error resulting from the
use of Autocorrect could be quite embarassing. This might not be a problem
when taking notes, but it surely is a problem when handing in a motion to
dismiss or something of the sort.

I simply do not understand why this feature is not included in OneNote. It
has been a staple of Word for as long as I can remember.

-Scott