---
title: "Substitution Behavior with STABLETEXT  (Direct Text)"
slug: "administrator-help-substitutions-direct-text"
updated: 2024-06-19T14:40:53Z
published: 2023-02-21T00:10:02Z
canonical: "support.nvoq.com/administrator-help-substitutions-direct-text"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://support.nvoq.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Substitution Behavior with STABLETEXT  (Direct Text)

Substitutions behave differently when using STABLE TEXT versus HYPOTHESIS TEXT because of fundamental differences in the way these dictations work.

- In nVoq Voice HYPOTHESIS TEXT is always enabled.

In the API these modes are referred to as "`STABLETEXT`" and "`HYPOTHESISTEXT`".

## Substitutions are More Powerful in HYPOTHESIS TEXT Mode

**In HYPOTHESIS TEXT Dictation substitutions are applied at the end, when the dictation is complete.**

In HYPOTHESIS TEXT mode, substitutions *have access to* the entire transcript and *are applied to* the entire text of the transcript. Because of this, they can do things like modify the beginning of the transcript based on something that might appear at the end of it.

**In STABLE TEXT Dictation substitutions are applied to the current section of text being processed and transcribed when there is a pause in the dictation.**

The fundamental difference here is that in STABLE TEXT mode, substitutions only see one chunk of text at a time, and they cannot see what comes before or after it. Post-processing RegEx substitutions *don’t have access to* ALL of the text in the dictation. So something like modifying the beginning of a transcript based on the end of the transcript may be impossible. This means that substitutions are more powerful in HYPTHESIS TEXT mode and can do things that may not be possible in STABLE TEXT mode.

## Troubleshooting Substitutions in STABLE TEXT

Because substitutions are applied differently in STABLE TEXT vs. HYPOTHESIS TEXT mode, it is possible to write substitutions that work fine in HYPOTHESIS TEXT mode, but that don't work as desired in STABLE TEXT mode. If you are having trouble with a substitution in STABLE TEXT mode, delete (or disable) that substitution.

## Related

- [Admin: Substitution Types](/administrator-help-substitution-types.md)