Using code replacements for quick metadata input

How SmartReplace works

FotoStation offers SmartReplace, a code replacement feature that lets you define short codes for quick input of metadata.

This is especially useful if you cover sports events, for example. Using SmartReplace you can quickly insert a player's jersey number in any metadata field and have FotoStation fill in the player's name and additional predefined information for you.

Code replacement files are regular tab-separated plain text files that can be created from scratch, or you can purchase them online from various vendors, for example from http://www.codereplacements.com.

Importing SmartReplace files

To use SmartReplace, you first need to create or import some code replacement files. Firstly, open FotoStation's metadata editor (Ctrl-T), where you find a SmartReplace menu.

If you have a code replacement file you would like to import and start using, choose Import SmartReplace file... from the menu. If you have a collection of files and would like to import them quickly, choose Manage SmartReplace files... which opens the folder where these should be stored so that you can drag them in from any other folder.

Entering metadata using SmartReplace

Having imported your SmartReplace files, depending on their format they will show up directly under the SmartReplace menu or within the Home Team / Visitor team submenus.

• Home/Visitor team lists - These use numerical abbreviations (typically jersey numbers), and are listed under Home / Visitor team submenus
• Lists that use alphanumerical abbreviations - these will be listed outside the Home/Visitor team submenus.

To start, simply select in the menu the file(s) you want to use replacement codes from. Make sure there is no duplicate data in the files that may cause undesired input.

Having selected a SmartReplace file, you can now enter /<code> to insert content based on the code.

For example, entering /h1 will by insert the entry numbered 1 from the code replacement list you selected as home team. (See the actual syntax of the smartreplace files below.)

Similarly entering /v1 inserts entry number 1 from the visitor team list.

SmartReplace files with several columns

Certain code replacement files have several columns per entries to allow you to choose from several variants of the same entry.

For example, an entry in the code replacement file may look like this:

1<tab>Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny (1)<tab>goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny (1)<tab>Wojciech Szczesny<tab>Szczesny

Assuming this file is defined as your Home team list, you can insert different content by adding a hash to the insert code:

/h1 -  Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny (1)
/h1#2 -  goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny (1)
/h1#3 - Wojciech Szczesny
/h1#4 - Szczesny

Creating your own code replacement files

You can create your own code replacement files yourself using a plain text editor.

The typical syntax of a line of content in a standard code replacement file looks similar to this:

1<tab>Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny (1)<tab>goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny (1)<tab>Wojciech Szczesny<tab>Szczesny

With this syntax, the file you create, after being imported, will be sorted under the Home Team/Visitor Team submenu in the SmartReplace menu in FotoStation's metadata editor. To use it, select it for your home team or visitor team, and then enter /h1, for example, in the text editor to insert the full string Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny (1). To insert content from the other columns, enter /h1#2 to insert content from column 2, /h1#3 to insert column 3, and so on, as explained in the Entering Metadata section above.

You can also create code replacement files that contain codes for oft-entered content, such as copyright strings and other information. Such a file could for example look like this:

cp<tab>Copyright (c) 2014 FotoWare a.s<tab>FotoWare a.s
addr<tab>Bryggegata 7, N-0250 Oslo, Norway

These files cannot be used for entering home/visitor team metadata, as that relies on numerical codes only.

However, by building on the example above, you can create short codes for any information you frequently enter to save work.

Configuring SmartReplace keys

It's possible to configure the keys that are used to trigger SmartReplace in the program configuration.