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- IN CUBE Voice Command
- for MS-Windows
-
- Release Notes
- Version 1.13
-
- November 22, 1994
-
-
- Release Notes:
-
- These release notes describe the expanded features of IN CUBE and serve
- to supplement the documentation.
-
- The release notes, in "Write" format, are installed with the sample
- lexicons as the file "release.wri". An ascii text version is installed as
- the file, "release.txt". The release notes are also now available within IN
- CUBE's on-line help system.
-
-
- Microphone Connections
-
- Microphone connections vary among audio boards. Check the board
- manufacturer's documentation. Listed below is some information on popular
- boards.
-
- SoundBlaster - Dynamic and electret (self-powered) microphones with 2 or 3
- conductor plugs will work.
-
- Microsoft Sound System- Dynamic microphones don't work with this audio board.
- This board uses a uniquely wired condenser microphone which is powered from
- the jack.
-
- MediaVision - The Pro Audio Basic board has mono microphone input. A 3
- conductor plug will not work. If you are using a microphone with a 3
- conductor plug like the Audio-Technica PRO 8 supplied by Command Corp., use
- a stereo to mono adapter. Radio Shack Cat. No. 274-368.
-
- Logitech Soundman - Same as MediaVision.
-
-
- Command Keystrokes:
-
- When entering key sequences into the "keystrokes" field, keep in mind
- that the characters associated with control keys are case sensitive. For
- instance, entering a "{Ctrl}b" results in a lower case "b" with the control
- key depressed. Upper case characters are expressed as shifted characters.
- Entering a "{Ctrl}B" results in a "b" with BOTH the control and shift keys
- depressed. Some applications will perform different actions for these two
- different cases.
-
- The "Other keys" scroll list in the lexicon edit windows contains three
- options for executing an "Enter". The "Enter" selection chooses the keypress
- for the "Enter" key adjacent to the "qwerty" keys. The "Num Enter" selection
- chooses the keypress for the "Enter" key located on the numeric key pad. The
- "Return" selection enters the code for an ascii "Carriage Return". This
- "Carriage Return" is also equivalent to a "{Ctrl}m". Use the "Return"
- selection to perform a carriage return for applications running in a DOS
- command shell window.
-
-
- Class Identifiers:
-
- Class identifiers are defined when an application registers one or more
- "window classes". Class identifiers are used by the "class" command in
- command mode for locating windows to be raised or opened.
-
- To determine the class name of a window, click the left mouse button on
- the "Window Class" button located in right side of the "New Command" and
- "Update Command" dialogue windows. The cursor will then change to cross-
- hairs. Move the cross-hairs to the title bar or icon of the desired window.
- Clicking any mouse button will then enter the class name of the window into
- the keystroke line. See the IN CUBE on-line help entry on "Window Class" for
- more information.
-
-
- Audio Device Drivers:
-
- Some device drivers and audio subsystems provided by various
- manufactures do not permit opening the audio wave input device immediately
- after closing the audio wave output device without yielding the processor in
- between. IN CUBE has been enhanced to work with these drivers by avoiding
- the conditions which cause these drivers to fail.
-
- Some audio device drivers introduce an inordinate amount of time when
- switching directly from input mode (record) to output mode (playback). This
- can introduce an unacceptable delay associated with the microphone "beep" as
- the voice operated microphone switched is turned on and off. To work with
- these audio drivers, the audio beeps may be disabled from the menu selection
- "options->beeps->microphone". The status of the microphone switch can be
- determined by observing the color of the lips icon.
-
-
- Audio Device Access Contention:
-
- Most audio device drivers do not permit "sharing" the audio device.
- Also, due to hardware limitations on most boards, the audio input (record)
- and audio output (playback) are mutually exclusive. The standard access
- arbitration convention to such exclusive devices normally follows an "acquire
- and hold" methodology which means that an application acquires or opens the
- audio device and holds it while in use. Other applications requesting
- service from the device get an error when trying to open indicating that the
- resource is already allocated.
-
- IN CUBE now utilizes a "yield on demand" convention for arbitrating
- access contention for the audio devices. When another application requests
- service from either the audio input or audio output device, IN CUBE
- voluntarily surrenders the audio device. This occurs transparent to the
- other application, requiring no specialized protocol or knowledge on the part
- of the other application. When the other application is finished with the
- audio device and returns the resource to the system, IN CUBE then reacquires
- the audio device for it's own use once again.
-
- This has the effect of permitting any arbitrary system module or
- application, unrestricted access to the audio input (wave-in) and audio
- output (wave-out) devices while maintaining the operation of the speech
- recognition subsystem. When the audio input is allocated to another
- application, the recognition subsystem is in a stand-by mode and recognition
- is disabled. For boards and device drivers enforcing mutual exclusion of
- audio input and audio output, this also applies when the audio output is
- allocated to another application.
-
- When the audio input is not enabled for IN CUBE to utilize, the
- microphone disappears from the lips on the IN CUBE icon. If the system uses
- the audio board to "beep" or if another application requests the audio device
- for playing sounds or recording messages, the microphone disappears and
- recognition is disabled until the audio device becomes available for IN CUBE
- once again.
-
-
- Copyright(c) 1994 Command Corp. Inc.
-