In order to fully understand this topic, you should be familiar with DBT Codes as described in the Codes topics. To use the AutoText method mentioned here, you should also be comfortable with working in Microsoft Word.
It can be an additional convenience and time savings to insert DBT Codes directly into Word Documents. All that is required is that you enter the Code into the Word document between a double left square bracket and an asterisk, and an asterisk and a double right square bracket, like this: [[*code*]]
For a real example, the Code used in DBT to skip one line is [sk1]. To enter this Code in Word instead of entering it in DBT later, you insert [[*sk1*]] at the appropriate place for the line to be skipped. When you then import your file into DBT, you will find the Code you typed in Word has become a regular DBT Code. In this example, that code will skip a line on the braille page.
This method works fine for relatively basic coding, although it may have one or two minor drawbacks. First, you may consider the code input syntax cumbersome to type, and second, it does change the appearance of the Word document, including that the pagination may be altered.
You can address both of these issues if you like. First, you can use Word's AutoText feature to create a list of DBT codes you wish to use on a regular basis, which gives you a shorthand method to insert them. Second, you can "Hide" the embedded codes text to preserve the print appearance of your document.
The sub-topics in this section provide you with a longer example of inserting DBT codes in a Word document, instructions on using Hidden Text, and a discussion of using AutoText to define a set of DBT codes to insert into a Word document.