Sometimes I want to have the option to not use replacements that I’ve defined in the compile window. Currently, the only way I can see to do this is to save my custom compile settings as a preset, then delete those replacements, and later re-load the saved preset. If I want to make changes to my other compile settings too, it gets to be kind of messy to manage.
It would be very nice if there was a way to disable each replacement without deleting it (via enable/disable check-box?), much like the built-in options for straightening smart quotes, converting em dash to --, and so-forth. In fact, you might even merge those options into the Replacements tab (making them impossible to delete)… obviously, that’s not necessary to this request.
Think a templated document. Like say a server build doc, software spec, or legal doc where it is substantial boilerplate. I’d use it to put the raw template in front of someone with then seeing “real data”.
Why I want to hide real data isn’t critical but there it is.
Mr Obscure’s reasons are probably much better than mine.
The em-dash and smart quote transformations were put there because a lot of people might need them. A side-benefit of them being implemented as they are is that they’re easy to turn on or off. I feel that replacements should work as a customizable transformation, especially now that we have RegEX matching, which enables some powerful stuff. But having to delete a replacement that I just want to turn off temporarily is really tedious. Adding a on/off switch gives me that flexibility. For that matter, it gives presets a good deal more flexibility–I can create a preset with an optional replacement, much like the NaNoWriMo obfuscation code; it could be present but disabled in all the novel & short-story templates without affecting anyone who doesn’t want that feature.
You can effectively nullify the replacement by giving it a garbage prefix. A replacement looking for “%%OriginalPattern” will end up doing nothing. If you want it back, just remove the percentage signs.
