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Using Typinator as a clip collection

Here is a cool trick that you can use to quickly store and recall arbitrary text fragments without any scripting. This is actually a combination of variables and the {clip} marker.

Let's assume that you wish to use "qq" as a quick shortcut to recall a clip that you saved earlier. As clip storage, we will use a Typinator variable of the same name "qq". The central shortcut for inserting a saved clip would therefore be: abbreviation: qq
expansion: {{qq}}

In fact, you can use multiple expansions that contain {{qq}} in a different context. For example, you could create a variant of this expansion that produces the clip, enclosed in quotes.

To quickly store the contents of the current clipboard, define an abbreviation "stqq" for "store qq". The expansion contains nothing but:
{{qq={clip}}}

This assigns the current content of the clipboard to the variable qq. This "expansion" actually does not create any replacement, so "stqq" will simply disappear when you type it.

Now use this pair of abbreviations as follows:

  1. Copy some text to the clipboard, then type "stqq" to store it in the "qq" clip.
  2. Type "qq" to recall the clip.

This is great for temporary items that you need repeatedly, without storing them in a permanent abbreviation.

When you are done with a certain fragment, just reuse the clip for a new purpose.

Note that "qq" was just an example. You can use as many such clip variables as you wish.