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1992-03-23
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KEYCACHE--A TSR WORD PREDICTOR
Keycache is a small TSR program that accelerates keyboard input by looking
at what you have typed and showing you a list of words that start with it.
At the touch of a single key, Keycache will "type" the rest of the word.
Whenever you type a word that Keycache doesn't know about, it will be
stored in memory and displayed the next time you type something that could
match it. Keycache increases keyboard input speed the same way a disk
cache speeds up disk accesses.
Keycache is especially useful for users who
--Have learning disabilities that make spelling and word selection difficult
--Have physical disabilities that slow down keyboard usage
--Are using alternative input techniques like scanning
--Are simply slow hunt-and-peck typists
--Are working with programs that require highly "stereotyped" word input,
such as databases that require field names to be spelled out. Keycache
can be used to add pick-list capability to such programs.
Keycache was designed to work with almost any program that uses keyboard
input. You can create your own vocabulary lists (for example, legal or
medical terms). Keycache takes up only as much memory as you want it to,
and can be used in conjunction with other TSRs like macro programs or
alternative input programs.
To install Keycache, just type KC at the DOS prompt. Keycache will load
itself and check to see if you have a dictionary file in the current
directory. If so, Keycache will load in the words in the file. If not,
Keycache will start with a "clean slate" and accumulate the words that you
type.
Whenever you type some letters that could be the start of a word that
Keycache knows about, a window will pop up and show you a list of numbered
(0-9) choices. If you want to "type" one of the words shown, just press
the appropriate digit key. If you don't want to pick one of the words,
just continue typing. If you want to type a literal digit, press Escape
and the window will clear. Keycache will enter the word in lowercase
unless you have the caps-lock key on, in which case it will enter it in all
uppercase.
Keycache can deal with words up to 32 characters long. If a word has more
than 15 characters, only the first 15 will be shown in the window. If more
than 10 words match, only the first 10 will be shown. Keycache defines a
word as a string of letters. Whenever you type a space, number or
punctuation symbol, Keycache will store the word. The window will position
itself so as to avoid the line the cursor is on, since some word processors
insist on repainting the cursor line continuously.
Since Keycache accumulates the words that you type, you'll need to save
your list of words back to disk before turning off your computer; otherwise
words that you typed for the first time won't be remembered for your next
session. To save your word list, type KC/W at the DOS prompt. This will
replace any existing dictionary file with a new one. You should be in the
same directory you were in when you started Keycache.
You can remove Keycache from memory by typing KC/U or KC/Q. Be sure to
save your dictionary before doing this.
Keycache has a few options that can be invoked when you install it. All of
them are indicated by typing a slash (/) followed by a letter on the
command line:
/2 Record 2-letter words. Normally Keycache ignores 2-letter words since
there would be no keystroke saving for them. Some users with learning
disabilities may find display of 2-letter words useful, however.
/2- Don't record 2-letter words. This is the default setting.
/C fg bg Set the foreground and background colors of the popup window. fg
and bg are both decimal numbers from the following list:
0 black 8 gray
1 blue 9 light blue
2 green 10 light green
3 cyan 11 light cyan
4 red 12 light red
5 magenta 13 light magenta
6 brown 14 yellow
7 white 15 bright white
On most video displays, colors 8-15 can be used for foreground only; trying
to use them for background will result in a blinking display. The default
colors are white on black (7 and 0) for monochrome systems and blue on
green (1 and 2) for color systems.
/F Don't record new words. This is often called "fixed prediction."
/F- Turn fixed prediction off and record new words. This is the default
setting
/H nn Display the window begining at column nn. Acceptable values are 1
through 59. The default value is 55.
/M nn Reserve nn K of memory in addition to whatever is taken up by the
dictionary loaded from the file. This area of memory will hold new words
that Keycache adds to the dictionary as you type them. nn can range from 0
to 60, but Keycache will never use more than 64K total. The default value
is 4K.
/R filename Load the dictionary from the specified file. If the filename
is omitted, Keycache will look for a file called "kc.dic" in your current
directory.
/S Insert a space after any word "typed" by Keycache.
/S- Don't insert spaces. This is the default setting.
/U Uninstall Keycache. /Q is a synonym for this option.
/W filename Save the dictionary to the specified file. If you don't
include a filename, "kc.dic" in your current directory will be used.
You can have more than one option on a command line. Once you have
Keycache loaded, you can subsequently use the /2, /2-, /S, /S- and /C
switches to change its behavior. The /M and /R switches will be ignored if
Keycache is already resident, since resizing a resident program's memory is
not always possible. The /W and /U switches are only available if Keycache
is already resident.
If you are using Keycache in conjunction with another TSR that affects
keyboard input (for example, a program that lets you point to an on-screen
keyboard matrix with a trackball to "type" characters), you should load
Keycache after the other TSR (otherwise Keycache won't see the characters
you enter with the alternate-input program).
Keycache dictionary files are plain ASCII text files with one word per
line. If you create your own dictionary with a text editor, make sure that
words consist entirely of lowercase letters with no digits or punctuation
symbols. Large dictionaries will load faster if all the words are in
alphabetical order (whenever you save a dictionary with the /W option, all
the words will be saved in order).
LIMITATIONS
Keycache will only work with programs that use BIOS services to get keys
(most do, but a few programs insist on reading the keyboard port directly).
Keycache doesn't know much about the context of what you type; if, for
example, you exit Word Perfect, type "N" in response to the prompt and then
type "dir," Keycache will think you typed "NDIR" and add it to its
dictionary.
Keycache tries to do everything it can to make sure that the window isn't
displayed at a time when the application program could overwrite it, but
some programs manage to sneak by it. If this happens, you'll get a lousy-
looking display (when the window does clear, it will be replaced with
whatever was under it at the time it popped up, which may not match what's
currently being displayed); while ugly, this effect is harmless.
If there's no room in memory to add a new word, the current version will
ignore it. Future versions will make room for new words by discarding
infrequently-used words.
LEGAL STUFF
Keycache and this manual are copyright 1991,1992 by OMS Development/Eric
Bohlman. All rights reserved. You may freely copy and distribute Keycache
as long as you include both the executable program and this manual and you
do not alter them in any way. If you distribute Keycache, you may not
charge more than the actual cost of duplication. You may not distribute
Keycache as part of a commercial package without written permission from
OMS Development
Keycache is distributed as shareware. If you decide to use it on a regular
basis, you are required to register it. Registration costs $40 (single
user) or $100 (all users on a single network) and entitles you to
automatically receive any upgraded versions of Keycache. Registered
versions will include at least one default dictionary file to help you get
started. To register, send the appropriate amount in US funds to:
OMS Development
1921 Highland Ave.
Wilmette, IL 60091
708-251-5787
You may also register using your Visa or Mastercard by calling or writing:
Shareable Software International
P.O. Box 59102
Schaumburg, IL 60159
800-622-2793 (708-397-1221 outside the United States)
There is a $5 processing fee for credit card orders. Be sure to include
the name as it appears on the card, card number and expiration date.
When registering, please specify 5.25" or 3.5" disks.
CONTACT INFO
I can be reached by snail-mail at the above address, by Genie Mail at
E.Bohlman, by Fido mail at 1:115/778 and by phone at (708)251-5787. I
would appreciate any suggestions or bug reports. I can usually be reached
by phone between noon and midnight Central time. Ordinarily I can return
long-distance calls from registered users only.
VERSION HISTORY
0.3 Added options for fixed prediction and window positioning
0.2 (10/20/91) Fixed bug that caused garbage to display when dictionary
size was a multiple of 128 characters.
0.1 (7/13/91) Initial release.
ABOUT OMS DEVELOPMENT
OMS Development specializes in the development of custom software and
hardware. Since 1980, we have provided custom programming, hardware
product design and computer consultation to a wide range of clients. Our
services have included designing specialized microprocessor-based
optometric instruments, writing Turbo Pascal database programs for the food
brokerage industry, installing LANs and writing custom DOS utilities.
We also market a variety of shareware programs including Tinytalk, a
powerful and memory-efficient screen reader for blind or dyslexic users who
use speech synthesizers, and Search, a flexible text retrieval system.
Eric Bohlman
March 23, 1992