CD ROM Paradise Collection 4/CD ROM Paradise Collection 4 1995 Nov.iso/win/oswdemo.zip/OSWDMO10.ZIP/CHAP-52.TXT

Text File | 1994-10-09 | 19KB | 372 lines

5.2    Naming Icons, Symbols, and Pointers
This section describes outSPOKEN's features for
labeling graphical images such as icons, symbols, and
pointer shapes (Sections 3.1, 3.2). This is all done
through two outSPOKEN dialog boxes, Rename Graphic and
Edit Graphics Dictionary. To change the name of a
graphic, place the pointer on the graphic and bring up
the Rename Graphic dialog (CTRL-KPD PLUS). Type the new
name and press oENTER, or click on the OK button. This
saves the new name to a file on the hard disk called a
graphics dictionary. It is important to note that
naming a graphic names all graphics that have that
image, not merely the individual graphic being named.
Thus naming a single icon automatically names all
identical icons.
A graphics dictionary is a file which contains one or
more graphic images (or bitmaps), along with a user-
defined name for each graphic. Each dictionary has the
file extension ".DIC" and is located in the outSPOKEN
directory (usually C:\OSW). Each graphic and its
associated name are called an "entry" in that graphics
dictionary. Unless otherwise specified, all new graphic
names are stored in the default dictionary,
"DEFAULT.DIC". If you are a beginner, there is no need
to be overly concerned about how graphics dictionaries
operate. It is enough to know that these files contain
the images and names of the graphics you define in the
Rename Graphic dialog. For more information about
dictionaries, advanced users may wish to read the final
sub-section of this chapter, "More About Graphics
Dictionaries."
Whenever outSPOKEN encounters a graphic, it searches
its graphics dictionaries to find a name for that
bitmap. If an entry is found, outSPOKEN speaks the
assigned name when announcing that graphic. If none is
found, outSPOKEN assigns the graphic a unique number,
such as "Icon 7" or "Icon 9." This numbering scheme
serves to distinguish one unnamed graphic from another.
outSPOKEN numbers icons separately from symbols
(Section 3.2). This means that "Icon 7" is not the same
image as "Symbol 7." These numbers are not saved to
disk, but are regenerated each time outSPOKEN is
launched. This means that an unnamed graphic's number
will probably change each time you restart outSPOKEN.
The pointer takes on many forms, depending on the state
of the system and the item under the pointer. As the
pointer changes shape, outSPOKEN announces the new
cursor. Most of the standard shapes have been pre-
defined in an existing dictionary. As with graphics,
any unrecognized pointer is given a unique number. For
more information about renaming pointers, see the sub-
section called "Editing Graphics Dictionaries."
5.2.1    The Rename Graphic Dialog
An icon or symbol can be renamed at any time by placing
the pointer on it and opening the Rename Graphic dialog
(CTRL-KPD PLUS). In this dialog, an edit box contains
the current graphic name in highlighted text, and OK is
the default button. Thus, typing a new name replaces
the old one, and pressing oENTER selects the OK button.
The new name is saved, and the Rename Graphic dialog
closes, returning the pointer to the graphic which has
just been renamed.
In addition to the previously mentioned edit box and OK
button, there are a number of other important features
of this dialog. To the right of the edit box is an
image of the graphic itself. This serves to positively
identify the graphic being renamed. Below the edit box
is a check box labeled Ignore Graphic. If this box is
checked, outSPOKEN will not speak the displayed graphic
when reading. To the right of this check box is a combo
box showing the currently selected graphics dictionary.
This setting determines the dictionary to which the
displayed graphic will be saved. In the lower-right
corner of the dialog is the Edit Dictionary button,
which brings up a sub-dialog from which any graphic in
the current dictionary can be renamed. To the left of
the Edit Dictionary button are the OK and Cancel
buttons.
When the Rename Graphic dialog opens, the edit box
contains the graphic's current name. The name is
highlighted, so any new text typed from the keyboard
immediately replaces the old name. This is a normal
edit box, and standard editing keys, such as RIGHT-
ARROW, LEFT-ARROW, BACKSPACE, and DELETE, can be used to
correct any errors made while typing. A graphic name
can be up to five-hundred and twelve characters long,
but extremely long names may not entirely show in the
edit box.
The Ignore Graphic check box, located below the edit
box, is used to omit specific graphics when reading
with outSPOKEN. To turn off an icon or symbol, check
this control in the Rename Graphic dialog when viewing
that graphic. In other words, to turn off a graphic,
place the pointer on the graphic to be turned off,
invoke the Rename Graphic dialog (CTRL-KPD PLUS), select
the Ignore Graphic check box, and press OK. When this
control is checked, outSPOKEN ignores the graphic, and
neither navigates to it nor speaks it. From within the
Rename Graphic dialog, this control can be toggled with
the hotkey combination ALT-I. This setting can be
overridden by turning on the "Verbose Graphics" option
in the outSPOKEN Graphics Preferences sub-dialog
(Section 5.1.3).
A graphics dictionary is a file which contains a group
of graphics and their names (Section 5.2.3). The combo
box to the right of the Ignore Graphic check box
displays the name of the graphics dictionary where the
current graphic is stored. A status line above the
combo box also indicates the graphic's dictionary. If
the graphic has not yet been saved, the dictionary name
displayed in the combo box is "DEFAULT.DIC", and the
status line reports that the graphic has not yet been
stored. This means that pressing OK will store the
newly named graphic in the dictionary "DEFAULT.DIC".
Another dictionary can be selected by clicking in the
combo box and choosing another name from the list. If
another dictionary is selected, the graphic is filed in
that dictionary when OK is pressed.
Along the bottom of the Rename Graphic dialog are three
buttons labeled OK, Cancel, and Edit Dictionary. The OK
button accepts all the settings in the dialog, saves
them to the selected dictionary, and closes the dialog.
Pressing the hotkey combination ALT-O from within the
Rename Graphic dialog also selects this button. The
Cancel button, which can alternately be selected with
the hotkey combination ALT-C, closes the dialog, but
makes no changes to any dictionary. This button
discards any changes made while in the dialog and
returns to the location of the original graphic.
Selecting Close from the Control menu is equivalent to
pressing the OK button. The Edit Dictionary button,
which produces a sub-dialog, is explained in detail in
the following section. This button can be selected with
the hotkey combination ALT-E.
Please note that the Cancel button only
discards changes made in the Rename Graphic
dialog. If changes are made in the Edit
Dictionary sub-dialog, pressing the Cancel
button in the Rename Graphic dialog will not
undo those changes.
5.2.2    Editing Graphics Dictionaries
The Edit Graphics Dictionary sub-dialog is opened by
selecting the Edit Dictionary button at the bottom-
right corner of the Rename Graphic dialog (CTRL-KPD
PLUS). The dictionary to be edited is selected with the
combo box in the Rename Graphic dialog. The sub-dialog
allows the user to view all of a dictionary's entries,
as well as any graphics that have not yet been named.
From within this sub-dialog, entries can be browsed and
specific names can be searched for. From the Rename
Graphic dialog, a shortcut to this sub-dialog is
provided by the hotkey combination Alt-E.
This sub-dialog contains six significant controls. Two
of these, the edit box and the Ignore Graphic check
box, are similar to those found in the Rename Graphic
dialog (Section 5.2.1). Along the bottom of the sub-
dialog are four buttons labeled Previous, Next, Find,
and Done. A line of text at the top of the dialog
displays the current graphic name, as well as an image
of the graphic itself.
As in the Rename Graphic dialog, the edit box where the
new name is to be typed contains the graphic's current
name. When the sub-dialog is first opened, the text in
the edit box is highlighted, and can therefore be
replaced by typing a new name. This is a normal edit
box and standard editing keys, such as RIGHT-ARROW,
LEFT-ARROW, BACKSPACE, and DELETE, can be used to edit its
contents. A graphic name can be up to five-hundred and
twelve characters, but extremely long names may not
entirely show in the edit box.
As explained in the previous section, the Ignore
Graphic check box, located to the right of the edit
box, is used to omit certain graphics when reading with
outSPOKEN. To turn off a specific icon or symbol,
select this box when viewing that graphic's dictionary
entry. When this control is checked, outSPOKEN ignores
the graphic, and neither navigates to it nor speaks it.
From within the Edit Graphics Dictionary sub-dialog,
this control can be toggled on and off with the hotkey
combination ALT-I. The Ignore Graphic setting can be
overridden by turning on the Verbose Graphics option in
the outSPOKEN Graphics Preferences sub-dialog (Section
5.1.3).
The Previous and Next buttons display the previous and
next dictionary entries, respectively. Which entry is
"previous" and which is "next" is determined by
outSPOKEN according to the bitmap of the graphic. The
Previous and Next buttons can be used to browse through
each entry in the current dictionary, as well as all
entries of unnamed graphics. The Previous and Next
buttons can be selected with the hotkey combinations
ALT-P and ALT-N, respectively.
The Find button in the Edit Graphics Dictionary sub-
dialog is used to locate specific dictionary entries,
or unnamed graphics. When this button is pressed, an
extremely simple sub-dialog is produced. Contained in
this Find Graphic sub-dialog are an edit box, an OK
button, and a Cancel button. From within the Edit
Graphics Dictionary sub-dialog, a shortcut for
selecting the Find Graphic sub-dialog is provided by
the hotkey combination ALT-F.
When the Find Graphic sub-dialog opens, the name of the
graphic to be searched for can be typed into the empty
edit box. To start the search, press oENTER or select
OK. Select Cancel to abort the search and return to the
current dictionary entry.
Find Graphic is only able to locate entries that
exactly match the request. Capitalization does not
matter, but spaces and punctuation must be typed
correctly. If Find Graphic is unable to locate a
request, it behaves as if Cancel had been pressed,
closing the Find Graphic sub-dialog and returning to
the current entry in the Edit Graphic Dictionary sub-
dialog. If the requested entry is located, the Find
Graphic sub-dialog is closed and the newly found entry
is displayed in the Edit Graphics Dictionary sub-
dialog.
When searching for unnamed pointers, icons, or symbols
using the Find Graphic sub-dialog, be sure to include a
space before the graphic's number. As explained in the
introduction to this section, unnamed graphics are each
assigned a unique number until named by the user. When
outSPOKEN assigns a number to an unknown graphic, the
name is of the form Icon-space-number. It is important
to include the space because Find Graphic can only
locate graphics that exactly match the name that is
typed. Since all unnamed graphics are locatable from
the Edit Graphic Dictionary sub-dialog, this is an
alternative to using the Rename Graphic dialog.
To rename a pointer, enter the Edit Graphics Dictionary
sub-dialog and use Previous, Next, or Find to locate
the desired pointer. This is the only way to rename a
pointer, because the usual method of naming graphics
(by placing the pointer on them and invoking the Rename
Graphic dialog) will not work for a pointer. Unnamed
pointers are numbered in the same way icons and symbols
are, but are called cursors (e.g., "cursor 1").
There are two ways to exit from the Edit Graphics
Dictionary sub-dialog. Pressing the Done button closes
the sub-dialog and returns to the Rename Graphic
dialog. When this button is pressed, all dictionary
modifications are immediately saved to disk. Selecting
the Close option from the Control menu discards any
changes made to the current entry and closes the
dialog. This saves all entries except the current one
to the dictionary, and returns to the Rename Graphic
dialog. Effectively, this provides a method of exiting
the dialog without saving changes to the current
dictionary entry. However, when the dialog is closed in
this way, changes that were made to any graphics
besides the current one will be saved.
Please note that pressing Cancel from the
Rename Graphic dialog does NOT undo any
changes made in the Edit Graphics Dictionary
sub-dialog.
5.2.3    More About Graphics Dictionaries
Graphics dictionaries are files which contain
information about a graphic's name, bitmap, and Ignore
Graphic status. Each such set of information about an
individual graphic is called an "entry," and a
dictionary can contain any number of entries. Each
dictionary has the file extension ".DIC", and is
located in the outSPOKEN directory (usually C:\OSW).
Unless otherwise specified, all new graphic names are
stored in the default dictionary, "DEFAULT.DIC". If you
are a beginner, there is no need to be overly concerned
about how graphics dictionaries operate. It is enough
to know that these files contain the images and names
of the graphics you define in the Rename Graphic
dialog. Advanced users may wish to read the following
two sub-sections for more information about graphics
dictionaries.
5.2.3.1    Managing Dictionaries
When outSPOKEN is launched, it searches the outSPOKEN
directory for dictionary files and loads them into
memory. This means that adding or removing a dictionary
is as simple as moving a dictionary file into, or out
of, the outSPOKEN directory. Graphics dictionaries are
saved to disk at several times: when exiting outSPOKEN,
when leaving the Rename Graphic dialog or the Edit
Graphics Dictionary dialog, and when exiting Windows. A
graphics dictionary can be prevented from loading by
deleting it or by changing the file extension to
something other than ".DIC". This can be done from File
Manager or from DOS. Dictionaries can be added simply
by copying a dictionary file into the outSPOKEN
directory. If a dictionary is added to or deleted from
the outSPOKEN directory while the program is running,
outSPOKEN must be restarted before the change takes
effect.
outSPOKEN must have at least one graphics dictionary to
work with. When it launches, outSPOKEN looks for a
dictionary called "DEFAULT.DIC". If this file is not
found, outSPOKEN creates an empty file with that name.
This guarantees that when the user wishes to name a
graphic, there is a dictionary in which to save it.
This file is also offered as the default dictionary
when naming a graphic which has not yet been saved.
The best way to create a new graphics dictionary is to
remove or rename the current default dictionary and
restart outSPOKEN. outSPOKEN automatically creates a
new default dictionary. A group of new graphics, such
as from a new application, can then be defined and
stored in it. Once these new graphics have been saved
in the default dictionary, the dictionary can be
renamed (in File Manager or DOS) to some other
dictionary name. The next time outSPOKEN is launched,
an empty default dictionary will again be created.
Following this procedure, groups of related icons and
symbols from specific applications can be kept in
individual graphics dictionaries and shared with other
outSPOKEN users. For example, we provide a dictionary
called "WORD.DIC", which is a file containing all of
the graphics found in Microsoft Word. Although we
provide graphics dictionaries for some applications, it
would be impossible to support all of them. For this
reason, we encourage the sharing of dictionaries via
electronic bulletin boards, anonymous FTP, and any
other means available.
5.2.3.2    Dictionary Restrictions
A graphic can be stored in only one dictionary at a
time, and a particular image can have only one name.
When loading dictionaries, if outSPOKEN comes across a
graphic that has been defined in an earlier dictionary
(i.e., a dictionary loaded earlier in the startup
process), the definition in the later dictionary
replaces the older entry. The next time outSPOKEN makes
a change to the dictionaries on disk, it deletes the
entry from the earlier dictionary. This ensures that
only one definition exists for any given graphic.
For this reason one should be careful when adding new
dictionaries to the outSPOKEN directory. If a new
dictionary is added which has definitions for graphics
that are defined in previously existing dictionaries,
any graphic names defined in dictionaries which load
earlier than the new dictionary will be replaced by the
new definitions. If you then quit outSPOKEN, the
previously defined names will be permanently removed
from the original dictionaries. This makes it a good
idea to make regular backups of all important graphics
dictionaries.
Graphics dictionaries are loaded by outSPOKEN in their
order of appearance in a DOS directory list. From DOS,
typing the command "DIR C:\OSW\*.DIC" will display the
dictionary file names in their loading order. If you
have installed outSPOKEN to a directory other than
"C:\OSW", substitute the proper drive letter and path
name in the command line above.
Although a graphic can have only one name, there can be
any number of different graphics possessing the same
name. This means that several different graphics (even
graphics which look completely different) can have the
same label. For example, suppose there were two icons,
one of a dog and one of a cat. If the user labeled both
icons "Dog," outSPOKEN would have no objection, even
though one of the icons is, in fact, a cat.
It is important to note that when outSPOKEN assigns a
name to a graphic, it is doing so for a specific bit
depth (number of colors). When the bit depth is
changed, a previously named graphic appears to
outSPOKEN as a new image. outSPOKEN has not forgotten
the previous label, it simply needs a label for the new
bitmap. Because outSPOKEN allows multiple graphics to
share the same name, renaming the bitmap in the new bit
depth solves the problem. When you return to the
previous bit depth, the previously assigned name
returns. It is often a good idea to maintain different
dictionaries for different bit depths. This allows the
flexibility of removing unused high bit depth
dictionaries to make more memory available and to speed
up outSPOKEN's startup process.