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Text File | 1993-11-17 | 19KB | 352 lines

This chapter describes new features that have been added to Tinytalk since
the release of the previous version of this manual.

                              MOUSE TRACKING

Tinytalk can now track the movement of a mouse or other pointing device
(such as a touch-screen or tablet) and read the text pointed to with the
device.  This feature is especially useful for people who can see the
screen but have difficulty understanding the text.

When mouse tracking is turned on (see "SECONDARY MENU" below), Tinytalk
will monitor the movements of the mouse cursor.  As soon as the mouse
cursor stops moving, Tinytalk will read the text it has landed on.  If the
mouse cursor has been moved from one line to another, Tinytalk will read
whatever text is specified by the "vertical mouse move output" option
(line, column, etc.).  If the mouse cursor has moved to another spot on the
same line as before, Tinytalk will read the word it lands on (if it has
moved from one word to another) or the character it lands on (if it hasn't
moved outside the word).

If the mouse-tracking option is set to "with sounds" Tinytalk will generate
cuing sounds through the computer's speaker whenever the mouse cursor
moves.  You will hear a long 500HZ tone when the mouse cursor moves up a
line, a long 400HZ tone when it moves down a line, a short 200HZ tone when
it moves left a character, and a short 250HZ tone when it moves right a
character.  If you move the cursor rapidly, the number of tones you hear
will not necessarily be an accurate count of the number of characters or
lines you have moved.  If you inadvertantly move diagonally, you will hear
only the vertical-movement tones.

If you can see the screen, you may want to force the visible mouse cursor
to display.  The cursor is normally hidden (which does not affect
Tinytalk's ability to track it) unless you are running a mouse-aware
application program.  If you set the "force visible mouse cursor" option to
"on," Tinytalk will turn on the cursor display as soon as you load it.
Some application programs will turn the cursor off when you exit from them;
if this happens to you, you can force the display back on by going into
review and pressing F.  You can set the mouse cursor's video attributes by
pressing Alt-F in review and using F9 and Shift-F9 to set the foreground
and background colors (mouse-aware application programs will usually set
the mouse cursor attributes to their own values; Tinytalk's setting applies
to cases where you aren't running a mouse-aware application).

You can arrange to have Tinytalk's independent cursor follow the mouse
cursor, and you can have Tinytalk move the mouse cursor to follow the
independent cursor (you should not do the latter if you're using an
absolute pointing device like a touch-screen or a tablet; with these types
of devices, the mouse cursor is defined to be the last spot that you
pressed and moving it is meaningless).

Tinytalk pays no attention to mouse clicks; they will be processed by your
application program if it's mouse-aware.  In order for mouse tracking to
work, your mouse driver must be loaded BEFORE running Tinytalk; Tinytalk
disables mouse tracking if it can't find a mouse driver present when it's
first run.

                             POINTER TRACKING

Some programs (Quicken and PFS First Choice are typical examples) use
"pointer characters" for selecting menu options.  Instead of highlighting
options as you use the cursor keys, they draw a triangle or an arrow next
to the selected option.  Tinytalk can track these pointers and read what
they're pointing at.

To use Tinytalk's pointer-tracking facility, you have to tell it 1) what
character is used as a pointer and 2) what to read when the pointer moves.
To do this, the first thing you have to do is determine what one or two
character sequence is being used as the pointer (some programs build a
pointer out of two characters, such as a dash followed by a greater-than
sign).  The best way to find this out is to bring up the menu in question,
go into review and read the first line of the menu.  Move over to the first
character of the line (which should be the currently selected choice) and
then move left character-by-character until you hear the pointer character
announced.  This will frequently be a graphic character (graphic 16, which
displays as a triangle pointing to the right, is a common one (and is the
one used in Quicken's menus)).

Once you've got your cursor on the first character of the pointer, you can
tell Tinytalk to track it.  Each configuration can have one defined
pointer, and you can also define one pointer globally (so that it gets
tracked regardless of your configuration).  If you want the pointer to be
global, press Control-T; if you want it to be local (configuration-
specific), press Alt-T.  Tinytalk will say "pointer."  Press ENTER and
Tinytalk will say "first" meaning that you've told it what the first
character in the pointer is (if your cursor isn't on the first character of
the pointer, move it there before pressing ENTER).  If the pointer is only
one character long, press ENTER again; otherwise move the cursor to the
second character and press ENTER (Tinytalk will say "last").  If you move
the cursor by more than one space, Tinytalk will say "illegal."

Option 5 on the secondary menu (see below) selects what Tinytalk will read
when the pointer moves.  The default value is "columns" which is usually
appropriate for reading menu choices.

Tinytalk properly handles cases where there is more than one pointer
character on the screen.

                       CONFIGURATION-SWITCH HOTKEYS

You can define hotkeys that let you quickly switch to a configuration of
your choice.  To define one, go into review, press Ctl-K and then press the
hotkey you want to define.  Tinytalk will give you the "switch to config"
prompt, at which point you can select the desired configuration by typing
its name or number or stepping through with the space bar.  Press ENTER
when you've picked the one you want.  To delete a hotkey, press ESC at the
prompt.

                             TASK-SWITCH KEYS

If you're using a task-switcher program or you have background pop-up
programs that you activate with a hotkey, you can have Tinytalk monitor the
key sequences that you use to switch between programs and change its
configuration when it detects those sequences (if you've loaded multiple
programs with a task switcher, Tinytalk can't use its normal auto-loading
feature to detect task switches because the program isn't actually being
loaded from disk at switch time.

Tinytalk can look for task-switch sequences that are up to five keys long
(you may need this many keys if your task-switcher is the kind where you
press a hotkey and then cursor through a menu of programs).  To define one,
go into review, press Alt-K and press up to 5 keys (keys with Control, Alt
or Shift modifiers count as only one key).  If your sequence has fewer than
5 keys, end it by pressing Esc.  Tinytalk will then give you the "switch
to" prompt; select the configuration you want the sequence to switch to in
the usual way.  Pressing Esc at the prompt deletes the sequence.

What's the difference between task-switch keys and configuration-switch
hotkeys?  It's that Tinytalk passes task-switch keys through to the rest of
the system (so that your task-switcher or popup program can respond to
them), whereas it "swallows" configuration-switch hotkeys.


                         TIMED CONTINUOUS READING


You can now have Tinytalk continously read a document and stop after a
number of minutes that you specify.  This is especially useful when taping
scanned-in text.  A timed continuous read works just like a regular
continuous read except that instead of using Alt-downarrow, you use
Control-downarrow (unless you remap this hotkey, you must use the downarrow
on the numeric keypad, just as with the regular continuous read.  Tinytalk
will ask you how many minutes to read for; enter a number from 1 to 99 and
press ENTER (if you don't enter a time, Tinytalk will read for 30 minutes).

You can stop a timed continuous read at any time by pressing the Alt key
(or whatever you've remapped your shutup key to).  If your synthesizer does
not support indexing, or if you don't have indexing turned on, Tinytalk may
read for a few minutes more than you specified (without indexing, Tinytalk
has no way of knowing how much text is sitting in your synthesizer's buffer
when time is up).  If your synthesizer doesn't support indexing, allow a
few extra minutes for catch-up if you're taping.

                          CAPITALIZATION BY PITCH

Tinytalk can now announce capitalization by changing the synthesizer's
pitch.  You can select the pitch in which Tinytalk will read capitalized
words by using Control-F3 (to raise it) and Alt-F3 (to lower it) in review
mode.  You'll also need to set the menu option for Caps ID to "pitch"
rather than "verbal." (You can still use verbal announcement if your
synthesizer doesn't support pitch changes, you need to know whether whether
words are all caps or mixed case, or you simply prefer verbal announcment.)

                     SEPARATE SPEED FOR KEYBOARD ECHO

Tinytalk now maintains a separate synthesizer speed for keyboard echo.  You
can set this using Control-F4 (to raise it) and Alt-F4 (to lower it) in
review mode.  By default, the two speeds are identical.

                        NEW CURSOR TRACKING OPTIONS

Three new cursor-movement output settings have been added for use with
applications that move the cursor more than one line at a time.  Bible
programs, for example, typically move the cursor from verse to verse rather
than from line to line.  The three settings are "paragraphs," "verses" and
"verses without numbers."  If any of these are selected, Tinytalk will read
from the current cursor position until 1) a blank line is encountered 2)
the indentation changes after the second line of the paragraph or 3) the
bottom of the screen is reached.

If either of the "verses" options is selected, Tinytalk will also stop
reading when it encounters a line, other than the first, that appears to
start with a Biblical verse number (defined as one of the first four words
on the line containing a colon with digits on either side).  If "verses
without numbers" is selected, Tinytalk will skip reading the verse number
unless the digit before the colon has changed from the last verse read
(meaning a new chapter or new book).

All of these settings assume that the APPLICATION PROGRAM is moving the
cursor more than one line at a time.  Tinytalk has no INTERNAL command that
will read a paragraph and move the cursor over it, or that will cause an
ordinary word processor to move the cursor by paragraph.

                                SLEEP MODE

Tinytalk now has a "sleep mode" in which it does nothing except watch for a
"wakeup" key which restores it to normal operation.  This mode is useful if
you're sharing the computer with someone who doesn't use speech or if you
need to perform time-critical tasks (such as high-speed direct-connect file
transfers) where you do not want Tinytalk to take up any processor time.

You can put Tinytalk into sleep mode by pressing Alt-S in review mode.  You
can also force Tinytalk to come up in sleep mode when you load it by using
a "s" parameter on the command line.  The "s" must be the last parameter;
for example, TTECHO C1 S.  You wake Tinytalk up by pressing Control-Alt-T;
there is currently no way to remap this keystroke.

                               MISCELLANEOUS

The Dectalk version now supports numbers processing (set using Control-F1
and Alt-F1 in review).  Level 1 causes numbers to be read as digits (this
is the default setting).  Level 2 lets the Dectalk use its own rules for
reading numbers.

If typeover alert is turned on, the bell will ring whenever you get within
three characters of an attribute change (which usually means you're about
to run off the edge of a form field).

The review-mode keys for setting synthesizer parameters now announce the
name of the parameter the first time you press them.

You can unload Tinytalk from memory by using the "U" option on the command
line, for example "ttalk u" (this was added in version 1.47 but was not
documented).

"Keystrokes" echoed to the screen by macro programs are no longer spoken
(if you find that they still are, make sure you load your macro program
BEFORE Tinytalk).

You can restrict the independent cursor to the most recently read auto-
popup window as well as to a defined window.  Simply enter "a" for the
window number at the prompt.

If you press your shutup key (default is Alt) twice within half a second,
Tinytalk will ignore your next keystroke and pass it through to your
application, just as if you had used the passthrough hotkey (default is
Alt-Escape).  This is the preferred method of passing keys through; the
passthrough hotkey will eventually be eliminated in later versions of
Tinytalk.

When you set up a window with a "what" type of SEARCH, the "search for"
text will default to whatever is currently displayed on the first line of
the window.  If you want to search for something else, you can still type
it in.

If you hit the top or bottom of the screen when in review mode or using the
independent cursor, Tinytalk will read the top or bottom line as well as
saying "top" or "bottom."

See the next section for information on a few more new features.

                     NEW AND CHANGED MAIN MENU OPTIONS

There are a few new choices for several of the main menu options, and one
new option.

OPTION 0: KEYBOARD ECHO
Available choices now include "words no interrupt."  If this is selected,
Tinytalk will echo the words you type, even if you start typing the next
word before the first one has been spoken.

OPTION E: CAPS IDENTIFICATION
Available choices are now "off," "verbal," "verbal review only," "pitch"
and "pitch review only."  The "verbal" choices correspond to the choices
available in previous versions.  If one of the "pitch" options is selected,
Tinytalk will change the synthesizer's pitch setting to the "caps pitch"
setting whenever it reads a word that has any capitalization.

OPTION N: INDEXING
Available choices now include "sentence."  At the present time, indexing by
sentence does not work very well with the Speech Thing and Sound Blaster
versions of Tinytalk.

OPTION S: CR AT END OF LINE
This new option controls whether Tinytalk sends a carriage return character
to the synthesizer at the end of each line.  Some synthesizers will not
speak output until they receive a carriage return.  With others (such as
the Dectalk), carriage returns at the end of each line break up the cadence
of the speech.  The default is on (in previous versions, a carriage return
was always sent).  Some synthesizers may lose speech with this option
turned on.

                              SECONDARY MENU

In addition to the main options menu (M in review mode), there is now a
secondary menu for less-frequently used options (brought up by Alt-M in
review mode).  There are currently 8 options:

OPTION 0: MOUSE TRACKING
This controls whether Tinytalk tracks mouse movements.  Options are on, off
and "with sounds."  The default is off.

OPTION 1: FORCE VISIBLE MOUSE CURSOR
If this is turned on, the visible mouse cursor will be turned on when
Tinytalk is loaded (the cursor is normally invisible until you run a mouse-
aware program).  The default is off.

OPTION 2: VERTICAL MOUSE MOVE OUTPUT
This controls how much text gets read when the mouse cursor moves from one
line to another.  Options are the same as for vertical or horizontal cursor
moves.  The default is "lines."

OPTION 3: INDEPENDENT CURSOR FOLLOWS MOUSE
If this is turned on, moving the mouse cursor will also move Tinytalk's
independent cursor.  The default is off.

OPTION 4: MOUSE FOLLOWS INDEPENDENT CURSOR
If this is turned on, Tinytalk will move the mouse cursor whenever you move
the independent cursor.  The default is off.

OPTION 5: POINTER TRACKING OUTPUT
This controls how much text gets read when a pointer character moves.
Options are the same as for vertical or horizontal cursor moves; the
default is "columns."

OPTION 6: PASS PUNCTUATION TO SYNTHESIZER
If this is turned on (the default for most synthesizers), unspoken
punctuation will be passed through to the synthesizer for intonation.  This
option is provided because some synthesizers (such as the Artic Transport
emulating a Soundingboard) insist on speaking any punctuation sent out.

OPTION 7: ANNOUNCE CONFIGURATION CHANGES
If this option is turned on in a particular configuration, Tinytalk will
announce "switching to config" followed by the configuration's name or
number whenever it automatically switches to that configuration.  The
announcement will not occur when manually switching.  This option is
intended for debugging complex configuration setups; you'll usually turn it
off once you've verified that you have everything set up properly.  The
default is off.

You can define shortcuts for secondary menu options the same way you define
them for main menu options.

                        KNOWN BUGS AND LIMITATIONS

1) INTERNAL DECTALK
     a) Words-mode indexing sometimes takes a few minutes to get in sync.
     b) Internal buffer overflows during long BIOS outputs, causing words
        to be dropped.
     c) The Dectalk will always pronounce punctuation that isn't adjacent
        to a letter, even when punctuation is turned off.
     d) Removing Tinytalk from memory will sometimes cause a lockup.
2) SPEECH THING AND SOUND BLASTER
     a) Indexing by sentence does not work reliably.
     b) Removing Tinytalk from memory will sometimes cause a lockup.
3) INTERNAL DOUBLETALK
     a) When the speed is set to the fastest value (10), words will
        sometimes get repeated with newer versions of the Doubletalk.

                                LEGAL STUFF

Copyright 1993 by OMS Development.  All rights reserved.