Macro to make Dasher "talk" From: Margaret Cotts Date: Mon, 23 Sep 2002 23:45:03 -0700 I put together a macro to enable Dasher 1.6.8 to 'talk out loud'. (It's not totally perfect- it takes 4-5 seconds after you type something in Dasher for it to talk out loud. However, when a version of Dasher comes out which will allow you to copy and paste the text from the Dasher window, it will be possible to make the macro shorter (and faster). If you don't need Dasher for communication, you can still use macros to perform other activities. For example, you could type a 2 letter code on your keyboard (or your on-screen keyboard), and it would instantly take what you have written in Dasher, and paste in into Microsoft Word, or an e-mail program. I used a program called Macro Express to write this particular macro. I highly recommend it for anyone who has a physical disability, or for anyone who just wants to be more efficient on the computer. For people not familiar with the term, a macro is a sequence of commands that allow you to perform a specific task. There are certain tasks which might take several steps. With a macro, you can hit 2 or 3 keys, and it will quickly execute all the steps. In order to use Dasher to talk out loud, you will need 3-4 pieces of software (which you can download off the internet.) 1. Dasher (free) 2. E-triloquist (free communication program) http://www.etriloquist.com/ 3. Macro Express ($40.00) (You can download a demo which will work for 30 days.) www.macros.com 4. Click-N-Type (free) (optional) This is a free on-screen keyboard. You will need this if you can't use the keyboard. http://members.ac.net/~lakerat/cnt/ Step 1- Download all of the above software programs. It would be worthwhile to take the Macro Express tutorial, to get a sense of how it works, before you try to make this macro. (This e-mail doesn't explain how to use Macro Express- rather, it just explains what the finished macro is going to look like.) Step 2- Go into Dasher, create a document, save this document as "1" (no quotes) Step 3- In Macro Express, go into Options/Preferences/Shortkeys/Use Prefix Keys. For our prefix key, we are going to use a comma. Note: I wrote this macro specifically for my computer. Because of the nature of this macro, it's not possible to just copy and paste it- you need to have a sense of why each step exists, in order to personalize it for your computer. Here is the what the finished macro is going to look like, step by step. Below is an explanation of the rationale for each step. 1. Activate or Launch: "Dasher" OR "dasher.exe" (This makes sure that Dasher is the active program.) 2. Text Type: (If you are inside Dasher, and you click on "File", F4 is the command which lets you bring up the "Save As" Window) 3. Wait for Window Title: "Save As" (Timing is crucial with Macro Express. Basically, this step is saying, "wait until the window appears before you do anything else.) 4. Text Type: 1 Y (What's basically just happened is that you are titling your new document with the title "1". When you hit the ENTER key, that's just like clicking on the highlighted "Save" Button.) However, you have ALREADY created a document entitled "1". So, a window will appear and say " / /Dasher Docs 1 already exists. Do you want to replace the existing document?". Typing the "Y" is the same as typing "yes". IN STEPS 1-4, YOU ARE SAVING THE TEXT YOU HAVE CREATED IN DASHER. YOU HAVE SAVED IT WITH THE TITLE "1" 5. Open Folder: C:Windows\Desktop\Dasher\Dasherdocs (Note: I happen to keep my Dasher documents on my desktop. You will need to open the folder Dasher Docs wherever it exists on your computer.) 6. Wait for Window Title: "Dasher Docs" 7. Text Type : 1 (Typing "1" selects the document titled 1. (If you had an item title "George", and you type a "G", it will take you to the first document titled with a "G". Hitting the "G" again will take you to other items beginning with the letter "G".) Typing the Enter Key then opens the document up. IN STEPS 5-8, YOU ARE GOING INTO THE FOLDER WHERE YOU KEEP ALL YOUR DASHER DOCUMENTS. YOU ARE OPENING THE DOCUMENT YOU HAVE JUST CREATED CALLED "1". 8. Wait for Window Title: "Open With" (A window is going to pop up, asking, "Open With". It wants to know what program you are going to use to open the "1" Document that you have created using Dasher.) 9. Text Type w (We are trying to open up the document entitled "1" with WordPad. I happen to have 3 programs on my computer that start with the letter "W". You may have more or less programs that start with the letter "W". Basically, I typed the letter "w", and arrowed down until Word Pad was highlighted. 10. Wait for Window Title: "1" (We are waiting for the window with the title "1" to appear) 11. Wait time elapse: 0 Minutes 1 Seconds (Maybe there was a reason I had this step here- if so, it's eluding me right now. You might not need step 11.) 12. Text Type a (Typing Ctrl A selects all the text in Word Pad) 13. Text Type c (Typing Ctrl C copies all of the text in our WordPad document.) IN STEPS 8-13, YOU ARE OPENING THE DASHER DOCUMENT TITLED "1" WITH WORDPAD. YOU ARE SELECTING ALL THE TEXT INSIDE THIS WORDPAD DOCUMENT, AND COPYING IT. 14. Window Close "1- Word Pad" (We have to close this document, in order to be able to use it for "talking" again. Just trust me on this one :-) 15. Window Close: "Dasher Docs" (We have to close the folder for our Dasher documents. If we don't close it, our macro won't work the next time we want to talk out loud.) 16. Activate or Launch "e-trilo" OR "ETRILO~1.Ink" (We want to make sure that Etriloquist is the active program.) 17. Wait for Window title "e-trilo" 18. Text Type: vs v pastes the text from Word Pad into Etriloquist s is the command in Etriloquist for speaking out loud. IN STEPS 14 THROUGH 18, WE ARE CLOSING OUR WORDPAD DOCUMENT, AND OUR FOLDER OF DASHER DOCUMENTS, SO IT WILL BE AVAILABLE TO USE THE NEXT TIME WE WANT TO USE OUR MACRO. WE ARE PUTTING THE FOCUS ON THE ETRILOQUIST PROGRAM. WE ARE PASTING THE TEXT FROM OUR DOCUMENT ENTITLED "1" INTO OUR ETRILOQUIST MAIN SPEAKING MENU. THEN WE ARE TALKING IT OUT LOUD. Note: For my macro, I used something called a "shortkey" macro. This means that my macro is activated by a little "code" I have created. The code I arbitrarily chose was called "tn" (without the quotes.) It stands for "Talk Now". My prefix key is a comma. That means that in order for my macro to work, I have to type a comma, then immediately follow it with the letters "tn" (Thanks to A. Cantor for suggesting the use of a comma as a prefix key.) In order for this Macro to work efficiently, you will have to have a way to quickly get back to Dasher. Create a little macro which will put the focus back onto Dasher. When I type a comma, then D, I instantly go back to Dasher. So, the beauty of a macro is that when you type (comma)tn, in three short keystrokes, it will quickly perform all of the above actions. There are a few things you have to do to make sure this macro works properly: To use the Macro, (once you have created it.) 1. Open up your Etriloquist program. Click in the Main Speaking Window to activate it. (This is a very important step- you have to make sure Etriloquist is open.) 2. Go into Dasher and type the text that you want to speak out loud. 3. Type ,tn You can type the above keystrokes either using your keyboard or your on-screen keyboard (Click-N-Type) 4. The text you created in Dasher will be spoken in Etriloquist. 5. Type your macro to get back to Dasher. A WORD ABOUT ETRILOQUIST AND MACRO EXPRESS. Now that you have Macro Express on your computer, you can use it to create "abbreviation expansions" in Etriloquist. So you can write a 2 letter code which expands out into a longer text. (For example, I can put a macro into Macro Express which states, 'Everytime I type BP, I want it to expand out and say "Please be patient while I type my message."' Then, we I go to Etriloquist, and I type (comma)bp, it will type out "Please be patient while I type my message.") Enjoy! Margaret Cotts Margaret Cotts Assistive Technology Specialist Augmentative Communication for People with ALS The ALS Center at UCSF 350 Parnassus Avenue, #500 San Francisco, CA 94117 Phone: (415) 514-2511 --- Wed 25/9/02 Further information Carl Singer said: I concocted a combination using Key2Speak (similar to E-Triloquist, Read Please, etc.) and MS Excel. The Key2Speak software (look it up for a free 30-day trial - http://www.key2speak.com) verbalizes anything in the clipboard. So if you store a word (or a phrase) in an Excel spreadsheet cell and then Control-C that cell, Excel stores it in the clipboard, and Key2Speak immediately speaks the word. http://myweb.ecomplanet.com/SING4132/ --- Wed 25/9/02 From Gregory Neil Subject: RE: Macro to make Dasher "talk" You could use Microsoft SAPI speech, Version 5. This is free and available from www.microsoft.com Neil Gregory Clinical Engineer Access to Communication and Technology West Midlands Rehabilitation Centre, England