ProfitPress Mega CDROM2 Shareware Freeware (MSDOS)(1992)(Eng)

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Text File | 1991-12-16 | 19.0 KB | 382 lines

AutoBraille Version 1.1A Another Sound Alternative Copyright (c) 1991 by KANSYS, Inc. 1016 Ohio Lawrence, KS 66044 Telephone: 913-843-0351 or 800-279-4880 December 1, 1991 User Guide The AutoBraille program is an "EMS aware" memory resident program that converts text into grade one, grade two, or grade three braille. It operates automatically in the background, enableing any application package capable of putting text on the screen or generating ordinary print output to produce grade one, grade two, or grade three braille without user assistance or intervention. AutoBraille accepts its input from parallel port LPT1, LPT2, LPT3, or from a user defined "text window" on the screen. It translates and formats its input into grade one, grade two, or grade three braille, and delivers it to port LPT1, LPT2, LPT3, COM1 COM2, or to a user defined "braille window" on the screen. It can be used in a "port to port mode," in a "screen to screen mode," or in a "screen to port mode." Requirements. AutoBraille uses 48K of conventional memory, or less than 3K of conventional and 48K of expanded memory, using the Lotus-Intel-Microsoft 3.2 or later standard. It requires MS- DOS or PC-DOS 3.0 or later version. AutoBraille emulates a simple "draft" or "standard" printer, produceing braille output in the standard ASCII character set supported by most popular braille embossers currently available. Files. AutoBraille consists of two critical files: ABRL.COM, the TSR translator program; and ABC.EXE, the AutoBraille Commander user interface. The KanSys, Inc. software installation program, KINSTALL.EXE, is also supplied with AutoBraille. The same set of translation rules used by Turbo Braille is built into AutoBraille. Installation. AutoBraille assumes that it should use expanded memory if available, and conventional DOS memory if sufficient EMS memory is not available. If this assumption is incorrect, it may be changed by including the switch "/C" on the command line when ABRL.COM is executed. The command line would look like one of the following: ABRL ABRL /C If ABRL.COM is not in the current device and directory, nor in one that is on the DOS path, the correct device and path should also be included with the name of the program, as follows: A:ABRL \MAIN\ABRL D:\SUBDIR\ABRL The Auto Braille Commander. Once AutoBraille has been properly installed, the user communicates with it by means of ABC.EXE, the Auto Braille Commander. There are also three "hot keys" to process a text window on the screen, take a SnapShot of the screen, or to activate or bypass AutoBraille processing, which may be set to nearly any desired keys by the ABC program. This program should therefore be copied to a directory that is always available on the DOS path. Typing "ABC" at any DOS prompt provides a two screen command summary for the program. Any number of AutoBraille commands may be included on the ABC command line, and will be executed in the order in which they appear there. Capitalization is disregarded by the Auto Braille Commander. Except for the "STATUS" command and the "WINDOWS" command, no messages result from successful execution of a command. Error conditions will always be reported. "STATUS" displays all the current settings of the Auto Braille program. "WINDOWS" invokes a menu and prompts for definitions of the text window, the braille window, and the three hot keys. The Auto Braille Commander is used to select the computer output port or ports to be used for input and output by AutoBraille, to set braille page margins, page numbering and running header information, and other AutoBraille features. When AutoBraille has been successfully configured, the Auto Braille Commander "SAVE" command may be used to preserve all current selections. They may be restored later with the "ABC RESTORE" command. Thus, AutoBraille may be loaded and initialized in a batch file, e.g. AUTOEXEC.BAT, with the two lines: ABRL ABC RESTORE Any changes made to AutoBraille may thus be made "permanent" by following the information on the ABC command line with the "SAVE" command. Without adding "SAVE" to the command line, any changes will remain in effect only until the computer is restarted. All original AutoBraille default values may be recovered with the "ABC RESET" command. Some ABC commands are familiar to Turbo Braille users, since they follow the dot commands employed in that program. Note however that if an ABC dot command is to include an imbedded blank, the dot command and all its associated information must be surrounded by quotation marks (" "). That will often be the case with the ".RH" Running Header command, as in: ABC ".RH Multiple Word Header" To use the Auto Braille Commander from within your word processor or other application, check the application program's manual to learn how to run a DOS command (or "shell to DOS") without leaving the program. To produce braille output from your application, simply select an appropriate printer driver and use the application's standard print commands. If you have installed AutoBraille successfully, it will intercept the output produced by your application, translate and format it, and deliver it to the specified output port. The Simulated Printer. The interface between DOS (or your application) and AutoBraille resembles a simple "draft" or "standard" printer. Your application may: (1) send standard ASCII characters, having decimal values between 32 and 127; (2) send a CR code (ASCII 13) to return to the left margin without advancing to a new line, then overprint all or part of the line to achieve line-by-line boldfacing or underlining; (3) send a BSP code (ASCII 8) to back over one or more characters on a line, then overprint them to achieve character-by-character boldfacing or underlining; (4) terminate a line normally by sending a CR/LF combination, or by sending just an LF code (ASCII 10); (5) send up to 140 consecutive characters before sending a CR or an LF code to terminate the line. Auto Braille Commander Synonyms. There are many ways to say the same thing in the Auto Braille Commander language. Here is a list of synonyms: (1) LPT, LPT:, LPT1, LPT1:, PRN, and PRN: (2) SCREEN, VIDEO, CRT, and CRT: (3) HOTKEY, HOTKEYS, WINDOW, and WINDOWS (4) IN=LPT, IN=LPT:, IN=LPT1, IN=LPT1:, IN=PRN, and IN=PRN: (5) IN=LPT2 and IN=LPT2: (6) IN=LPT3 and IN=LPT3: (7) AUX, AUX:, COM, COM:, COM1, COM1:, OUT=AUX, OUT=AUX:, OUT=COM, OUT=COM:, OUT=COM1, and OUT=COM1: (8) COM2, COM2:, OUT=COM2, OUT=COM2: (9) OUT=LPT, OUT=LPT:, OUT=LPT1, OUT=LPT1:, OUT=PRN, and OUT=PRN: (10) OUT=LPT2 and OUT=LPT2: (11) OUT=LPT3 and OUT=LPT3: Dot Commands. Several Turbo Braille dot commands are available to Auto Braille. However, they are not placed within the file to be translated. Instead, they are placed on an Auto Braille Commander command line. The dot commands affect only the background conditions of the requested translation, and do not permit intervention in the translation process. The dot commands available on the Auto Braille Commander command line are: (1) .BL -- the bottom line; (2) .TL -- the top line; (3) .DV -- page divider lines; (4) .PL -- page length; (5) .PO -- page offset; (6) .RM -- right margin; (7) .RH -- running header. Braille translation level. The grade of braille translation may be set by one of the following commands: GRADE=1 GRADE=2 GRADE=3 In version 1.1 of AutoBraille, only grades one and two are implemented. Grade two is the default. YES or NO Commands. The Auto Braille Commander recognizes four commands that may set features on or off. The commands are: (1) FORMFEED=YES, FORMFEED=NO -- issue a standard FF code (ASCII 12) after the last line of each page; (2) FILLING=YES, FILLING=NO -- Form braille paragraphs by treating CR/LF codes as "soft returns" except for obvious exceptions; (3) CLEARFIELD=YES, CLEARFIELD=NO -- If a braille window is defined in an area smaller than the full screen, the area outside the window can be cleared to blanks, or can be allowed to retain its original contents; (4) WATCHDOG=YES, WATCHDOG=NO -- An audible indicator informs the user when Auto Braille is busy working on something. Hot Keys. The AutoBraille hot keys are set by default to Alt-1, Alt-2, and Alt-3. These assignments may be changed if desired by the AutoBraille Commander program, ABC.EXE. At a DOS prompt, type: ABC HOTKEY or ABC HOTKEYS To translate text shown on the screen, AutoBraille must FIRST be activated, and hot key #1 (Alt-1) must be pressed. If the braille output is directed to a parallel or serial port, the screen remains unchanged. However, if the braille translation is displayed on the screen, then the same hot key must be pressed a second time to restore the screen before any further processing can be performed. With braille displayed on the screen, the keyboard cannot be used for normal DOS or application functions. Your screen review software will operate correctly, but no other keystrokes will be acknowledged until you press hot key #1 a second time to restore the screen and return the keyboard to normal processing. To obtain a map OR "snapshot" of the current screen, the braille printer must be capable of printing 40 cell lines and 25 line pages, output must be directed to a port and not to the screen, AutoBraille must be activated, hot key #2 (Alt-2) must be pressed, and the number '1' or the number '2' must be pressed to select the type of snapshot desired. A "type 1" snapshot produces two pages showing the screen contents; a "type 2" snapshot produces the same two pages and four additional pages showing the screen attributes. Six pages result: the first three pages show the left half of the screen, and the next three pages show the right half of the screen. Pages one and four may be placed side- by-side to show an 80 by 25 display of the contents of the screen. All text on the screen is shown in one-cell symbols, and graphics characters are converted to full braille cells. Pages two and five may be placed side-by-side to show an 80 by 25 display of the background attributes. Each cell of this double page contains a braille digit from 0 to 7 representing the background attribute of that cell. Pages three and six may be placed side-by-side to show an 80 by 25 display of the foreground attributes. The same codes are used for foreground attributes as for background attributes, except that braille dot three is added to the braille digit 0 to 7 to represent brightness, and dot six is added to represent blinking. Brightness and blinking apply only to the screen foreground and not to the background. Since adding dot three or dot six to a braille digit converts it to another symbol, the complete set of resulting symbols and their interpretation for a CGA display is given below. 0 -- black. 1 -- blue. 2 -- green. 3 -- cyan. 4 -- red. 5 -- magenta. 6 -- brown. 7 -- white (light gray). T -- bright plus black (dark gray). K -- bright plus blue (light blue). L -- bright plus green (light green). M -- bright plus cyan (light cyan). N -- bright plus red (light red). O -- bright plus magenta (light magenta). P -- bright plus brown (yellow). Q -- bright plus white. W -- blinking plus black. * (star) -- blinking plus blue. < (less than) -- blinking plus green. % (percent) -- blinking plus cyan. ? (question) -- blinking plus red. : (colon) -- blinking plus magenta. $ (dollar) -- blinking plus brown. ] (right bracket) -- blinking plus white (light gray). ) (right parenthesis) -- blinking plus bright plus black (dark gray). U -- blinking plus bright plus blue (light blue). V -- blinking plus bright plus green (light green). X -- blinking plus bright plus cyan (light cyan). Y -- blinking plus bright plus red (light red). Z -- blinking plus bright plus magenta (light magenta). & (ampersand) -- blinking plus bright plus brown (yellow). = (equals) -- blinking plus bright plus white. To activate AutoBraille after it has been installed, press hot key #3 (Alt-3). A second press of the same hot key deactivates or bypasses AutoBraille. This key operates like an ordinary A-B Switch, with A=Activate and B=Bypass. A rising or falling triple tone is heard in the PC speaker to provide audible confirmation of the action of hot key #3. Hot keys #1 and #2 are not recognized unless hot key #3, the AutoBraille A-B Switch, is activated. A single tone for hot key #1 and a double tone for hot key #2 also provide audible confirmation of their operation. Limitations. Some of AutoBraille's limitations are matters of design, while others are matters of incomplete implementation. The former type may or may not change; the latter type will be corrected with revisions and future releases. (1) You may not direct output to the screen unless input also comes from the screen. Auto Braille therefore works "port to port," "screen to screen," and "screen to port," but it does not permit "port to screen" processing. (2) Auto Braille accepts input from a screen window, or from a parallel port, but not from a serial port. It delivers output to a screen window (see the comment above), to a parallel port, or to a serial port. Serial ports therefore may only be used for AutoBraille output, and not for input to the program. (3) Version 1.1 of Auto Braille leaves several important functions incompletely implemented. These include: automatic centering, page numbering, and running headers. In addition, only grades one and two braille translation are provided. Compatibility. Auto Braille accepts printer output from WordStar, WordPerfect, the DOS PrintScreen command, the external DOS PRINT command, and many other sources. It is compatible with a broad range of other TSR and EMS programs, including the HumanWare ALVA software, the Reader Project software, and print spoolers. To use Auto Braille with a print spooler, be sure to load the print spooler first, then load Auto Braille. AutoBraille can be configured to take its input from LPT1 (the standard DOS printer port) and send its output there as well; the print spooler, if loaded first, can then accept input from AutoBraille output. Specific Tips. Version 1.0A did not run on older computers that used INTEL 8088/8086 processors; it required NEC V20/V30 processors, or INTEL 80186/286/386/486 processors. Version 1.0B corrected this limitation. Good news for Toshiba 1000 and 1200 users, Leading Edge Model D, and Zenith 158 owners. Note that the INDEX braille embosser includes a hardware grade I translator that inserts composition signs and converts digits to standard braille numbers. That translator must be defeated if software translation is used, e.g. with AutoBraille or Turbo Braille. When using a 386 memory manager such as the DOS 5.0 EMM386 or QuarterDeck's QEMM386, AutoBraille may safely be loaded high. The 2k program base will then be located in upper memory by the memory manager, and the larger 48k part will still use EMS memory if available.