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AUTOKEY.DOC
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1989-08-11
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SECTION 7.0 AUTO KEY
This is the documentation file for Flipper's autokey mode.
CAUTION:
You should be very familiar with the ordinary operation of
Flipper and your other software before attempting to use AUTOKEY
mode.
What is AUTOKEY?
AUTOKEY is a special Flipper function which allows it to be
programmed by keyboard macro programs like NEWKEY. You can
purchase NEWKEY from:
FAB Software
P.O. Box 336
Wayland, MA 01778
for $30. Evaluation disks are also available for $10. Other
keyboard programs may also be used to program Flipper, but
NEWKEY is highly recommended because of the niceness of the
screen presentation for a blind user, and its price. It has
also been highly recommended in reviews for sighted persons.
Flipper is designed to "steal" control of the keyboard away from
any other program, only returning control when it is done with
each keystroke. This makes Flipper compatible with a wide range
of software which would otherwise not be usable. For example,
you can always use Flipper to access memory resident software,
no matter which order it is loaded in. This means that you can
use Flipper in the ordinary way to access keyboard macro
programs. However, since Flipper ordinarily only cares about
what actually is typed at the keyboard, it will ignore whatever
fake keystrokes are generated by the macro program. AUTOKEY is
a special review mode which responds to these fake keystrokes.
Using Flipper in the ordinary way, you can then program macro
sequences using a separately purchased keyboard macro program,
and access Flipper within those macros by using the autokey
mode. This allows you to both program and use macros without
rebooting, or even leaving your application program. The macros
you write can control the application program as well as Flipper,
so you can write powerful macros which combine some action in the
application program with Flipper reading something.
How to use AUTOKEY:
To make AUTOKEY available, you must put a capital A on the
command line that starts Flipper in your autoexec file. You
must load a keyboard macro program (which you have purchased
separately) before Flipper (putting the command line for the
macro program before Flipper's in the autoexec file). Repeat,
the macro program must be loaded before Flipper.
After you have done this and rebooted, Flipper will have one
additional command at the input level. That command is alt a,
which starts the autokey mode. Autokey mode is like the review
mode, with only a few exceptions. You would, in general, only
use autokey mode when you are programming a macro key sequence,
and of course, it would be used when the macro is played back.
Remember, only AUTOKEY is available within a keyboard macro, you
can not program the quick keys. The quick keys can be used to
read the screen during macro programming, however, so you can
tell where you are without messing up the macro. Anything that
you can do with the quick keys can be done with the AUTOKEY mode,
and played back in a macro.
What are the differences between AUTOKEY mode and review mode?
AUTOKEY mode must be left by using the escape key. The alt
space bar can not be programmed into a macro. There is no help
mode available from within AUTOKEY mode.
What else do I need to know before using AUTOKEY?
AUTOKEY runs in two ways, interactive, and silent. You tell
Flipper which you want by using the option key alt control
function key one. When it is in interactive mode, which you
would normally use to write macros, it tells you all the same
things that you hear in the review mode, always reading the line
or word that you are jumping to, for example. If AUTOKEY is
silent, it only reads what you specifically ask it to, for
example, it won't tell you to enter a search pattern, or read a
line that you jump to using the rapid motion commands (shifted
or preceded by a number). This allows you to write macros in
which only what you want to be read is read.
Example using AUTOKEY:
Reading a pop up window. If a window is popped up surrounded by
a box drawn with forms characters, you can write a simple macro
to read the window. Note that some of the special keys may be
captured by the keyboard macro program, for example, the control
left and right square bracets in the case of newkey. You must
either turn off the macro programs use of the keys, or bypass
them one at a time. To create the macro, you would:
start the macro recording with an alt equals
select the key to be programmed, for example, control w
press return, to give the macro no label
enter autokey with an alt a
jump to the top of the screen with a shift j, then a shift u
start a search pattern with an s.
enter a control left square bracket to search for an upper left corner.
press return to do the search.
press 1 x to mark the upper left corner.
start another search with an s.
enter a control right square bracket to search for a lower right corner.
press return to do the search.
press 2 x to mark the lower right corner
define a block by pressing d, then 5 to use block 5.
reply 1 x for the top row and left side, and 2 x for the
bottom row and the right side.
read the defined block with an alt 5.
leave the AUTOKEY mode with an escape.
After you have finished, you can read a pop up window with a
control w.
You can select Flipper options from within an autokey
sequence, define and read blocks, speak the time of day, and so
on. You should refer to your keyboard macro program for more
advanced use of its features, and the steps needed to save your
macros for later use.
If you want to send something directly to the synthesizer, for
example to prompt the user or configure it in some special way,
you can use the quote command. After you press the quote key,
all subsequent ascii keystrokes are sent directly to the
synthesizer. Direct output to the synthesizer is ended by any
non-ascii key, such as the end key.
You can set any of the toggle options to a specific state
(rather than toggling them), by using a number before the toggle.
1 chooses state 1, and 2 chooses state 2.
Another feature of Flipper which is important during Auto Key
mode is the ability to use c or x in response to a request for a
row or column number. This allows you to set a block, for
example, based on where you were after a search.
Note that you can enter a search pattern without immediately
searching forward for it by using shift s.