1. Overview
Smart Abbreviator is a Word add-in that automatically extracts the abbreviations that appear in a Microsoft Word document, reviews and repairs how their full terms (official names) are written, and outputs them into the document as an abbreviation table. Abbreviations can be managed centrally in an abbreviation dictionary on SharePoint, enabling consistent abbreviation practices across the organization.
1.1 Main features
Extracting abbreviations
The add-in automatically extracts, from the document body and text boxes, both the abbreviations registered in the abbreviation dictionary and those that match regular-expression patterns. You can also exclude tables, text boxes, specific paragraph styles, and heading levels from extraction.
Full-term check and repair
For the extracted abbreviations, the add-in detects deviations from notation rules such as the following and helps you repair them:
- The full term is not written.
- The full term does not match the abbreviation dictionary.
- The full term is not written at the first occurrence (it is written elsewhere).
- Only the full term is written, without the abbreviation.
- The full term is written in duplicate, in two or more places.
- The abbreviation is used only once in the document.
Managing abbreviations
You can check abbreviations to select which ones to output, or register abbreviations you do not want detected as exclusions. The abbreviation dictionary is managed centrally on SharePoint and used as a merge of the Master, Project, Personal, and auxiliary layers.
Creating an abbreviation table
The selected abbreviations are output into the document as an abbreviation table, with the formatting (style, column width, column titles) of your choosing. For an existing table, you can also update only the differences.
1.2 Main changes from the VB edition
This product is a renewal of the previous Smart Abbreviator (a COM add-in / VB edition) onto Office.js (a web add-in). The main changes from the user's perspective are as follows.
| Item | VB edition | Office.js edition |
|---|---|---|
| Delivery | Installed individually on each client (setup.exe; .NET / VSTO required) | Manifest deployment only (no individual installation) |
| Abbreviation dictionary | A hierarchical dictionary in a Windows folder or on SharePoint | A hierarchical dictionary on SharePoint (Master / Project / Personal / auxiliary) |
| Product information | Backstage view | The [About] dialog in the task pane |
| Undo | The add-in's own undo | Word's standard undo (Ctrl+Z) |
About undo: In the Office.js edition, changes to the document can be undone with Word's standard undo (Ctrl+Z), but the state in the task pane (the abbreviation grid, edits, and check states) is not restored. To start over, run [Load] again.
1.3 Prerequisites
- Using this add-in requires license authentication (10. License and support).
- Referencing and saving the abbreviation dictionary requires SharePoint access permissions.