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Speak Action

Declaration

<AMSPEAK TEXT="text" VOICE="text" PITCH="number" SPEED="number" VOLUME="number">

See Also

CD Player, Play Audio

Description

Speaks the specified text using the Windows speech synthesis engine and the voice you have selected. You must have the SAPI 4 speech engine installed to use this action (included with Windows 2000 and higher).

Practical Usage

Used to make tasks created in AutoMate "talk". Common uses would be to create a blind-accessible system to read text data from the screen, create audible reminders and notifications, and web/document reader applications.

Parameters

General Tab

Text to Speak
Text, Required
MARKUP: TEXT="Everything is running smoothly"

Specifies the text that should be spoken. The Windows speech synthesis engine will resolve the text and synthesize it into a "voice" that says the text specified. If specifying text for a language other than English, it is advisable to select the appropriate speech engine (in the Voice [VOICE] parameter) for the language used so that the words are "pronounced" correctly. If you do not have an engine installed for your language they are available for download from http://www.unisyn.com/automate/user/download/engines/.

Advanced Tab

Voice
Text, Optional
MARKUP: VOICE="stop"

Specifies the voice engine that should be used to render the text into speech. If the text specified in the Text to Speak [TEXT] parameter is a language other than English, it is advisable to select the appropriate speech engine for the language used so that the words are "pronounced" correctly. If you do not have an engine installed for your language they are available for download from http://www.unisyn.com/automate/user/download/engines/.

In visual mode, a dropdown is provided is provided for convenience displaying a list of currently installed voice engines.

Pitch
Number, Required
MARKUP: PITCH="100"

Specifies the pitch that should be used for the selected voice. Certain voice engines will restrict the pitch that can be used to a certain range and some may not allow any customization of this parameter at all.

Speed
Number, Required
MARKUP: SPEED="100"

Specifies the speed at which the text should be spoken. Certain voice engines will restrict the speed that can be used to a certain range and some may not allow any customization of this parameter at all.

Volume
Number, Required
MARKUP: VOLUME="60"

Specifies the percentage of the system volume at which the text should be spoken.

Notes

Standard Error Handling Options
This action also includes the standard "Error Causes" and "On Error" failure handling options/tabs

More on Error Handling Options

Variables and Expressions
All text fields allow the use of expressions by surrounding the expression in percentage signs (example: %MYVARIABLE%, %Left('Text',2)%). To help construct these expressions, a popup expression builder is available in all these fields by pressing F2.
More on variables...
More on expressions...
More on the expression builder...

Example

<AMSPEAK TEXT="Hello I am AutoMate. I am at your service.">

<AMSPEAK TEXT="Hello I am AutoMate. I am at your service." VOICE="Adult Female #2, American English (TruVoice)" PITCH="168" SPEED="219" VOLUME="65">