Help for Reader. Version 2B.

After Reader has been started, you can activate it's window
from any other windows application by pressing the Pause key.

You can copy text to the clipboard from another application 
( by pressing CTRL +'C'), then have Reader read it
by pressing Pause, then 'B' after Reader is active.

You can launch Reader with a file name as a parameter. This usually works 
best if Reader has been run first. Use this feature to read a text file
from within another application that supports file launching.  You can set
up a speaking web page in Netscape or Microsoft Explorer with this feature,
by setting up Reader as a helper application. This may be useful for salespeople
such as realtors. See webpage.txt for more information.

 Only one file name can be named with each launch (include the path if 
necessary). This reading is done in the background so you can continue 
with other activities, but the navigation keys are not available.  
Use Pause to quit the reading, a second Pause activates Reader's window.

You can launch multiple file reads using Drag & Drop from the File Manager.

When the main window is active, the following hot keys apply.
  To read the clipboard type B.
  To configure Reader type C.
  To hear the date type D.
  To register reader (or get the serial number), type G.
  To switch hot key information, type H. ( When the main window hot key
     info is displayed the read file hot keys are then displayed and 
     vice versa.)
  To hear the time type M.
  To read a file type R.
  To start the trainer & Talker type T.
  To clear a bookmark type 0.
  To close reader completely, type X.

When the configuration or trainer window is open.
  Tab moves to next input field.
  Shift+Tab moves to previous input field.
  Alt+F speaks the contents of the current input field.
  Buttons are activated by pressing Alt+Button Letter.
 
When reading a file sentence by sentence or line by line.
  The P key pauses the reading. Press the space bar to start again.
  The Q key aborts the reading.
  The left arrow gos back back and repeats the previous sentence or current line.
  The right arrow moves forward and skips a sentence or line.
  The up arrow goes back two or three sentences.
      Reader now remembers the previous 20 sentence locations.
  The down arrow goes ahead and skips two sentences or lines.
  The PageUp key allows you to search for a word or phrase from the
      beginning of the file, and begin reading from that point.
  The PageDown key allows you to search for the next occurrance of a
      word or phrase in the rest of the file, and read from that point.
  The S key stores a bookmark of the current location if the bookmark
      variable is zero, otherwise Reader goes to the bookmark location 
      identified in the bookmark variable.
  The Zero key clears the current bookmark entry to zero.
  The E key will make Reader extract the current sentence and the next one 
      and store the text to a file named "extracts.txt". 
      Text is always appended to this file so it could become big, you 
      must manage the file independent of Reader. You may also have to 
      add carriage returns later, as the text that is formatted for Reader to 
      read has control characters removed.
   
NOTE: Reader won't act on a hot key until it is finished
reading the current or next sentence (depending on when the key
is pressed), so be patient and wait for two sentences to be 
spoken before any action is taken. Pressing more hot keys
before Reader has time to act on one, may cause problems.

A new feature with this version is designed for our Reader customers 
who are not visually challenged. As Reader reads a file
it will display the current sentence being spoken in the top half of
its display window, and the next sentence that has been loaded into 
memory in the bottom half. Generally, Reader will need to speak the 
bottom sentence as well before a hot key is acted upon.

You may find this display feature useful for studying or proof reading.
You can adjust Readers speaking speed to match your comfortable reading
speed.
 
For Version 2B we have implemented Drag and Drop file reading at the
request of some of our users. From the File Manager you can highlight 
up to 10 text files and drag them to the Reader icon or window, and
Reader will read them sequentially. Hot keys are operational because the
main window is displayed during the readings. It is minimized following
the readings. 

Also in Version 2B we have implemented text searches using the PageUp
and PageDown keys while reading. The search key is case sensitive and
spaces do count.

In Version 2C we have implemented parameter checking so Reader can be
launched with a file name as a parameter.  Subsequent launches work best
as Reader is already loaded and will read the file immediately. On 
subsequent launches Reader will detect that it has already been loaded, so
it will activate the existing module and read the file immediately.

While reading a file you can save the current file position by
pressing the S key.  This saves a bookmark. The next time you press
the 'S' key, Reader will go to that position in the file, after it finishes
reading the current sentences. It will then reset the bookmark to zero.

It is your responsibility to remember which text file
has a bookmark for it. Only one bookmark can be saved at any one time.
If you know you will not use a bookmark, or want to save another before using an
older one, press the Zero key at any time. This will clear the bookmark.
It is the only way to clear an unwanted bookmark.

The bookmark is saved to the configuration file, so it will be valid even
if you stop reading a file, and/or quit Reader.  The next time you run
Reader and ask it to read that same file, you can press 'S' to go to the 
bookmark. The bookmark is then reset to zero.

While in the configuration window, you can move through the edit fields
by pressing the Tab key, or Shift+Tab to move back one. While in any
input field, you can press Alt+F, and Reader will speak the value that
is in the field, IF YOU HAVE THE VERBAL INTERFACE TURNED ON. 
You can then type in a new value and press Tab to move on. 
Press Alt+S to save the configuration and return to the main 
window, Press Alt+R to return without saving.

If you don't want READER to speak some printable characters, (such as the
'=' character used to underline text sometimes), enter that character and
any others you want in the Ignore character field. Reader will ignore these
character during a read. The '=' character is the main problem, and if you
read formulas and other math frequently, you will want to remove that 
character from this list so Reader will correctly say 'equals' when it sees
this character.

To read a text file if you don't know the file name and path, in
the Read a File window, press Enter or click on the Read button with
a blank file name.  A file selection dialog will appear as in other
Window's applications. Be careful to select a text file only.

If you do know the file name, enter it in the read file edit field.
You can then press Alt+F to hear the name.
Press tab to get to the read mode field.
Enter W, S, L or G if you want to change it, then press Alt+F to here what it is.
Press Alt+R or press Enter to read the file, press Alt+C to cancel.
If you select read mode W, the whole file is loaded into memory and spoken 
in the background. You can carry on with other activities. But, the file size
is limited to 64,000 bytes. Suitable for plain text and some control codes are
tolerated.

If the file has some uppercase words (which may confuse the synthesizer)
clicking the checkbox will convert all text to lowercase, but it will leave
the file intact.

If you select read mode S, the file can be any size, and it can include some
control characters. No other activities can be performed during the reading.
In this mode, READER detects if a file name ends in .htm or .html and
will attempt to strip out all the html tags, so that it will read
web pages quite well. This may be useful for reading electronic books
published as web pages, such as the excellent pages at Ziff Davis. Simply
save the html file from the browser file menu, and some time after 
you quit the browser, start READER and type in the file name of the 
saved file including the path where it is located. This option means you don't
have to save a web page as a text file to read it, so it can still be viewed
by your web browser as well.

If you select read mode L, the file can be any size, but it should be a plain
text file.  No other activities can be performed during the reading. This 
mode is suitable for unusual files with no sentences, or extremely long
sentences.

If you select read mode G, a special text file that you must create is read.
This file has a first line that says "Reader Group File" beginning at the
left margin. Each line after that can contain the path and file name of
a text file.  Reader will begin by reading the first file then pause until 
you press the space bar key, then read the next file, etc.  This is designed
for presentations where you may want to have Reader read passages 
between segments of your presentation. If you wanted Reader to read a
number of files, you can do it this way instead of typing-in the file
name each time.  After the last file is read, press the space bar again
to activate Reader's main window. See the file sample.grp to see how
this file is structured.  You can use any name or extension.

While in the trainer, use the TAB key to move between the two input fields.
The first one is the original word you want to train, and it is ready to 
accept inputs when the trainer is loaded, and the second one is
the field where you enter a sounds-like word, words or phrases. When you get
a combination of sounds-like syllables that work right, press Alt+I to
insert the word and sounds-like phrase into the dictionary, then Press Alt+S
to save the changes to the dictionary.
The following hot keys apply in the trainer:
           Tab   - move to the next input field.
           Alt+O - say the original word.
           Alt+L - say the sounds-like word/words.
           Alt+I - insert this word into the dictionary.
           Alt+D - delete this word from the dictionary.
           Alt+S - permanently save the changes to the dictionary.
           Alt+Q - quit the trainer.

If you are ambitious enough to want to fine-tune Reader's pronunciation
of a word, you can insert phonetic symbols on the sounds-like line. The best
way to do this is to first insert the word even though it is pronounced
wrong, then Find it.  This puts the Reader internal phonetic codes on the
sounds-like line. You can then amend the phonetic codes.  See phonetic.txt.

TYPE AND SPEAK

You may have discovered that you can use the Trainer window to type and 
read text immediately.  Using the Original Word field, type in a sentence.
Then press Return or click the 'Say Original' word button (or press Alt+O), and reader 
will speak the sentence. The field will scroll for longer sentences ( up
to 256 characters).
You can clear the field for the next sentence by
pressing the Backspace key after hearing Reader speak the phrase or, you
can just start typing a new sentence as this clears it automatically. If
you want to retain the text and amend it, use an arrow key to de-highlight
the text, then make any changes.
This feature, together with the next one are designed for people who
have difficulty speaking.

NOTE:You shouldn't try to save a sentence to the dictionary. The dictionary
is for single words only that Reader doesn't say correctly.

TALKER AID

A new feature with this version is the addition of a talking aid for users
who are unable to speak. Click on the Talking Aid Inactive button to
change the trainer into the talker. 
You can create a text file called phrases.txt that contains any phrases 
you want to speak, one phrase or word per line (up to 300 lines).
Type in the first few characters of a phrase (enough letters to identify
the phrase), click on Find/Speak Phrase button or press Alt+P. TALKER
will find the first occurrance of that partial phrase, and speak the whole
phrase. After you hear the speech, you can clear the field by starting to
type a new partial phrase, or press the Backspace key. 
Although this is similar to typing in a sentence with the Trainer, 
it allows faster responses since only a few letters or just one 
letter needs to be typed.

Click on the Talk Aid Active button to return to the Trainer window.

NOTE:  I discovered after much consternation that the Window's screen
saver function can interfere with the Speech Engine and cause Reader
to freeze, making it necessary to reboot your computer.  Turn off the
screen reader by selecting 'none' for a screen reader under the desktop
window in the Window's Control dialog, when using Reader if you experience
this problem.

For your free upgrades - go to the following web site:

http://www.islandnet.com/~tslemko/reader.htm

If you have questions, Email me at: tslemko@islandnet.com


End of help.

