Category : Science and Education
Archive   : TTALK120.ZIP
Filename : READ.ME

TINYTALK DISTRIBUTION FILES, VERSION 1.20

READ.ME What you're doing right now
TTALK.DOC User guide
TTALK.QRF Quick reference to hotkeys and review commands
ORDER.DOC Ordering information
SYNINFO.DOC Names/addresses of synthesizer manufacturers
SAMPLE.TTK Sample configuration file for WordPerfect
TTCONF.EXE Configuration load/save/view utility
TTACCENT.EXE Tinytalk for Accent synthesizers
TTASP.EXE Tinytalk for the Automated Functions ASP board
TTAUDAPT.EXE Tinytalk for the Audapter
TTBGM.EXE Tinytalk for the BG Micro Computalker board
TTBLAST.EXE Tinytalk for the SoundBlaster
TTBNS.EXE Tinytalk for the Braille 'n Speak
TTDEC.EXE Tinytalk for the Dectalk
TTDEMO.EXE Tinytalk for the PC's internal speaker (not really suitable
for serious use; provided for demonstration purposes)
TTDOUBLE.EXE Tinytalk for the Doubletalk PC

IF YOU ORDERED TINYTALK ON 5.25" DISKS, THE FOLLOWING FILES ARE ON DISK 2:

TTECHO.EXE Tinytalk for the Echo PC/GP
TTINTECH.EXE Tinytalk for the Echo PCII internal card
TTLAPTLK.EXE Tinytalk for the Laptalk or LiteTalk (not to be confused with
the Automated Functions Laptalker, which uses TTASP)
TTPSSA.EXE Tinytalk for the Votrax PSS model A
TTPSSB.EXE Tinytalk for the Votrax PSS model B
TTSONIX.EXE Tinytalk for Sonix-interface synthesizers (Artic, Votalker)
TTSOUND.EXE Tinytalk for the Soundingboard (also compatible with any
synthesizer that supports PortTalk)
TTSTHING.EXE Tinytalk for the Speech Thing
TTTNT.EXE Tinytalk for the Votrax Type&Talk

THE FOLLOWING TWO FILES ARE INCLUDED WITH REGISTERED VERSIONS ONLY:

CVTCONF.EXE Convert version 1.0x configuration files to 1.10 format
(normally included only on upgrade packages)
UPDATE.EXE Transfer registration to unregistered copy

RELEASE NOTES

1.20-Major upgrade 8/5/92
NEW FEATURES
Independent cursor for "modeless review"
User-defined pronunciation of punctuation symbols
Hotkey and review command to read current character
Hotkey to read current form field
Option to specify order for reading multiple watch windows
"Review only" option for case identification
Quarter-second output timeout option (DOS prompt comes back faster)
Graphics characters now announced with ASCII codes
Numeric keypad keys now treated as distinct for remapping
"Indefinite" shutup now truly indefinite
Search windows can search on multiple lines
Warning message when hitting ENTER after selecting window in review
Support for EGA/VGA 40 and 50 line displays
BUG FIXES
Better stack usage to eliminate some crashes
Horizontal-movement delay to avoid some cursor-tracking problems
Watch windows won't get triggered by typing even if you type ahead of
echo
DOCUMENTATION
Yet another substantial rewrite of manual
OTHER CHANGES
CONFIGURATION FILES CREATED FOR 1.10-1.12 REQUIRE CONVERSION

1.12-Maintenance release 5/18/92
BUG FIXES
SoundBlaster driver now works properly when using expanded memory

1.11-Maintenance release 5/5/92
BUG FIXES
Auto popup checking no longer suppresses defined watch windows
SoundBlaster and Speech Thing versions no longer lock up reading long
lines
TTCONF CLONE now puts configuration information in the right place
Window numbering now properly preserved when switching configurations
Lightbar tracking now correctly overrides cursor tracking
SoundBlaster and Speech Thing versions enter review properly now
Changing window type no longer erases lightbar attributes
TTCONF LOAD no longer changes port number

1.10-Major upgrade 4/25/92
NEW SYNTHESIZERS SUPPORTED
Braille 'n Speak now has its own version
Votrax PSS (models A and B)
SoundBlaster
Speech Thing
BUG FIXES
Cursor routing now works in WordPerfect 5.1 when using 101-key keyboards
Configuration files can now be exchanged between synthesizers without
messing up settings
Punctuation now always spoken if reading character at a time
NEW FEATURES
Hotkey remapping
Keyboard labelling
Single hotkeys for window reading
Text search windows
Configuration switch windows
Improved case identification
30 configurations in memory
Independent control of reading and keyboard echo punctuation
Spelling of words with digits now optional
Option for word terminator in word-at-a-time cursor movements
"Indefinite" option for timed shutup
Configurations can be switched by typing partial name
Tone option for Echo GP: pitched or flat
Configuration initially defaults to zero
TTCONF can be given config number or name within library when loading
Beep option for defined and auto-popup windows
DOCUMENTATION
Substantial rewrite of user manual
Quick reference guide
OTHER CHANGES
VIEWCONF no longer exists--use TTCONF VIEW
Registered version includes CVTCONF utility to change old configuration
libraries to new format
Registered version no longer stores user name (old scheme made dealer
distribution awkward)
Executables are stored in archive on 5.25" disks (otherwise they wouldn't
fit on one disk)
CONFIGURATION FILES CREATED WITH PREVIOUS VERSIONS ARE NO LONGER
COMPATIBLE

1.09g-Maintenance release 2/16/92
BUG FIXES
TTINTECH and TTDEMO stuttering fixed

1.09f-Maintenance release 2/8/92
BUG FIXES
TTSOUND now passes punctuation through to take advantage of sentence
delay, etc.

1.09e-Maintenance release 2/3/92
BUG FIXES
BIOS-dependent handshaking problems with Dectalk

1.09d-Maintenance release 1/29/92
BUG FIXES
Loss of words mode echo in 1.09b fixed

1.09c-Maintenance release 1/26/92
NEW SYNTHESIZERS SUPPORTED
Echo PCII internal card
BUG FIXES
Laptalk/LiteTalk baud rate detection now works properly
DOCUMENTATION CHANGES
ORDER.DOC includes schedule of quantity discounts, site license
availability, and information for credit card orders.

1.09b-Maintenance release 12/31/91
BUGS FIXED
Loss of handshaking with Accent SA
Punctuation being pronounced on Accent when it shouldn't be
Spurious characters spoken under MSDOS 5.0 with ANSI.SYS

1.09a-Maintenance release 12/23/91
BUGS FIXED
Improper backspace echo under MSDOS 5.0 when not using ANSI.SYS

1.09-Maintenance release 12/11/91
BUGS FIXED
Automatically read windows will now shut up properly
Typing in watch window won't trigger window even if in insert mode
Scroll windows no longer read outside their boundaries (was fixed in 1.00
and then went bad again somewhere along the way)
NEW FEATURES
Column read option for cursor movement
Video attributes read as color pairs rather than numbers
F9 and shift-F9 keys for direct setting of lightbar attributes
Configuration name command reads current name before prompting for new
one
Can select configuration by typing name as well as number
Watch windows can be told not to shut up before reading
OTHER
Normalized spelling of punctuation (some creative spellings that
sounded good on some synthesizers sounded awful on others)

1.08-Maintenance release
BUGS FIXED
Properly handles cursor tracking when user is on bottom line of editor
and text scrolls but cursor doesn't move
Eliminated mispronunciation of "a" as "uh" when spelling words
Does not pass translated punctuation through to synthesizer for
intonation (this was causing unnecessary pauses)

1.07-Maintenance release
BUGS FIXED
Doubletalk can now be shut up when buffer is full
Spurious echo when keyboard echo turned off has been stopped
BG Micro shutup problem fixed
Removed initialization code that may have been messing up some Accent
synthesizers
Forms mode no longer interferes with review operations
Fixed pronunciation of "colon" and "semicolon" on some synthesizers
Doubletalk now uses uninflected mode
Inactive lightbar windows no longer interfere with cursor tracking
Keyboard input of digit no longer forces window output to spell
Will not disturb user-selected lightbar window attributes
NEW FEATURES
Hot key to switch configurations
Hot key to announce cursor position
Spell windows
Option to shut up synthesizer with any keystroke even when echo is off
Review command to re-initialize synthesizer
Read word command can spell or phoneticize words
Floating windows can now be triggered by cursor movements
Hotkey window read will observe lightbar attributes
OTHER
Improved discussion of configurations in manual

1.06-Maintenance release
BUGS FIXED
Alt-Escape now works properly

1.05-Maintenance release
NEW SYNTHESIZERS SUPPORTED
BG Micro Computalker (and other designs based on General Instruments chip
set)

1.04-Maintenance release
BUGS FIXED
Eliminated keyboard echo of control characters
Added extra space before punctuation to ensure that "a" is pronounced OK
Turning off keyboard echo no longer disables cursor tracking
Hitting any key in words mode echo will shut up synthesizer
PageUp and PageDown keys will no longer trigger cursor movement action
(this was causing premature shutups with some programs using BIOS output)

1.03-Maintenance release
BUGS FIXED
Laptalk version now handshakes correctly

1.02-Maintenance release
BUGS FIXED
Dectalk version no longer requires timeout to speak some prompts

1.01-Maintenance release
BUGS FIXED
Accent version now defaults to LPT3 rather than non-existent LPT4

1.00-First official shareware release
BUGS FIXED
Run-on problem with keyboard buzz
Tone setting for Audapter
Scroll windows reading outside their boundaries
Lockup when using automatic configuration
Shutup problem with Dectalk
NEW SYNTHESIZERS SUPPORTED
Doubletalk PC
Laptalk
Type&Talk
Demo version using internal PC speaker
Sonix synthesizers without Porttalk
NEW FEATURES
Reading any window without going into review
Changes for Paradox: check marks now spoken, additional cursor movement
options, etc.
Output options for horizontal cursor moves
Improved cursor movement detection
Improved forms mode
"Silent" verbosity option
Words without vowels now spelled out on all synthesizers
Lightbar reading works with highlighted letters
Smarter automatic lightbar attribute detection
Allows use of synthesizer number processing if available
Shutup command now works even when speech is backed up
Synthesizer settings now say reference numbers.
User-defined punctuation
Right margin bell
Protected attribute alert.
Environment variable for TTCONF and VIEWCONF
Direct horizontal cursor move in review
Relative horizontal and vertical cursor moves in review
OTHER
Substantial rewrite of manual.
VERSION 0.27 CONFIGURATION FILES ARE NO LONGER COMPATIBLE

Copyright 1992 by OMS Development/Eric Bohlman. All rights reserved. See
TTALK.DOC for conditions of use/distribution.