Import Autocomplete list into another project

Scrivener Scrivener for Windows
1

I’m writing a series, so I want to use my autocomplete list in more than one project.

  1. How to I import/export the Autocomplete list from one project to another one?

  2. Same with my Custom Spelling dictionary.

  3. Same with my Autocorrect, aka Substitutions.

2

AFAIK, these dictionaries are Scrivener-wide, not project-specific. They should already be available in any new project in Scrivener.

3

The autocomplete box is not scrivener-wide. If you start a new project with the same names you have to input them all into the new project manually. You can’t even drag and drop the names from one project to another. I flagged this problem up in January.

4

My bad, I was thinking of the personal spelling dictionary. Evidently autocomplete is one of the Scrivener features I haven’t yet made use of! Can you tell me where it is set up in the program?

5

I need this too. Is there a solution?

6

I have a very long list of words that I need for several projects. Typing them out and adding manually is going to be tedious. It would be simpler to import a text file or even edit it in the source/project files to paste the list in.

Anyone know how to do this?

7

Two solutions (neither of them ideal):

  • Open the old and new project side-by-side, showing the two autocomplete lists, click in the old one, ⌘A to select all the entries, then drag/drop them to the other project.
  • Save the project as a template and use it to create new projects with the same list.
8

I have a solution if you’re willing to back up your original project (.scrivx) files then edit them. Keep in mind that the following is not endorsed by L&L, but it worked when I did it.

The Auto-Complete list is kept in the project’s .scrivx file, and that file appears to be just an XML text file. The AutoComplete information is kept near the bottom of the file and looks like this:

    <AutoCompleteList>
        <Completion Scope="-1">JJDDIKL</Completion>
    </AutoCompleteList>

If you are willing to live on the edge a bit instead of retyping all of your words, you can do this:

  1. Close all Scrivener projects.
  2. Make backup copies of all .scrivx files involved in copying AutoComplete lists. If something goes wrong, you can copy or rename the backups and be back where you began with no harm done.
  3. Using a normal text editor, like Notepad (not MSWord), open the source .scrivx file, scroll to near the bottom and find the AutoComplete section. Highlight the lines you want to copy, press Ctrl-C to copy them to the clipboard, then close Notepad (instead of closing Notepad, you can open another instance of it; just be careful to note which file is source and which is target).
  4. Open the target .scrivx file in Notepad, find the AutoComplete section and use Ctrl-V to paste the other file’s contents into the AutoComplete section.
  5. If you want the list sorted in any way, that has to be done manually, but now is the time to do it.
  6. Make sure you have not deleted or interfered with any of the XML syntax items, such as “<”, “/”, etc.
  7. Save the modified .scrivx file and exit Notepad.
  8. Open the .scrivx file in Scrivener and check your AutoComplete list. If it all looks good, there’s nothing more to do. If Scrivener complains/crashes/etc., close Scrivener and restore your .scrivx file from the backup you made in step 2.

This should work if you are careful. If you make a mistake and want to try again, copy your backup file(s) and use those fresh copies to try again.

1 Like
10

Thank you @BClarke!

Text editors are my native language. If this can be done, it will be done :smiley:

That won’t work for me, @drmajorbob - I don’t want to enter them the first time itself. I have hundreds. :frowning:

But noting this for the future - then I’ll already have many of the words in the autocomplete of the first :smiley: