Expand shorthand and hot codes while captioning

Use code replacements for repeated names and phrases, and hot codes for supported file/camera/editorial variables. Begin with an accurate source table and a test caption. Expansion saves typing; it does not verify a player's identity or the event facts.

Load and review a replacement table

1. Open the app's Code Replacements manager through its metadata tools.
2. Import the supported text or spreadsheet table, or paste rows into the manager. Choose the intended delimiter and case behavior.
3. Review import issues, duplicate/conflicting codes, and alternate columns. Fix the source or edit rows before enabling the table.
4. Search for a known code and confirm its full replacement. Enable the table you intend to use; disable irrelevant tables to reduce conflicts.
5. Return to a caption field and type one known code using the configured replacement delimiter. Check the expanded text, spacing, punctuation, and any alternate-column selection.
6. Save the caption only after reviewing the final sentence and the intended photograph.

Maintain the table

When a roster changes, edit the table and use Reload to read the source again. Automatic source-file watching is not implemented; saving the source file alone is not a guarantee that the app loaded the new version. Keep the authoritative roster and your replacement table as ordinary backed-up files.

Hot codes resolve supported variables from current context. Test them on files from each camera or photographer if the assignment contains mixed metadata. A missing alternate replacement is not silently substituted with column one; unresolved text needs review.

Verify and recover

Test a common code, an alternate-column code if used, and an unknown code before a live deadline. Reopen the saved caption and confirm the result. If expansion fails, check the active table, delimiter, letter case, conflicts, and whether that replacement column exists. If unrelated review shortcuts fire while writing, record the field and shortcut as a bug; caption fields should retain normal typing, selection, paste, and native editing behavior.

For reusable shared fields use IPTC templates. For final batch preparation and readback use Metadata. Table configuration and loaded replacements are separate from the captions already written to photographs; correcting a table does not automatically rewrite old captions.

Shoot phrases and Photo Mechanic conversion

Open Typing shortcut tables from Photo Information Templates, or the existing Code Replacements manager. Shoot Setup adds named phrases, optional typing shortcuts and shared assignment answers without replacing existing tables. Click a search result or named Hot Code to insert resolved text at the cursor. Native selection, spellcheck, paste and undo remain available.

Use Import from Photo Mechanic with TXT/TSV, confirm delimiter and case behavior, and review counts and source-line issues. Test with a photo displays actual metadata, lookup matches, output and errors. Supported rules include ordered alternatives, generated keys, named columns, defaults and selected filename/metadata lookups. Unsupported rules are reported; this is not complete Photo Mechanic compatibility. You can retain unsupported source for review, but affected lookups remain blocked.

Use CSV to edit compatible rows. Export for Photo Mechanic and Export compatible phrases report omissions or partial results. Substituting shoot/photo values freezes them into literal text. Download original source recovers the imported source. A conversion or table save does not write photographs by itself.