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SECTION EIGHT
POP UP WINDOWS, VIDEO ATTRIBUTES AND LIGHT BARS

8.1:  INTRODUCTION

So far we've shown you several ways to access the information displayed on
your PC's screen.  In the last section of this manual we showed you how to
make use of Vocal-Eyes' 10 user definable screen windows to locate and read
the information you want.  Earlier, we introduced you to a number of hot keys
to read units of text such as characters, words, lines, sentences and
paragraphs.  We even showed you how to set hot keys to read everything on
your PC's screen above, below, to the left or to the right of your
applications cursor.  Well, unfortunately, not all of the screen information
you will need to work effectively with your various applications software
packages will always be displayed in the same screen location (to be read
with windows) or near your applications cursor (to be read with the various
read hot keys.)  Often, important information has a tendency to "pop up" in
unpredictable screen locations, or appear in an altered video state such as
blinking characters, reverse video or different colors.  Also, with
increasing frequency in the newer software packages, important information
and menu choices are displayed in light bars, which are difficult or
impossible to read using the standard read hot keys.  But never Fear!
Vocal-Eyes has a number of special features designed specifically to aid in
the voicing of such difficult-to-access screen information.  In this section
we'll talk about three of them:  the "read box" hot key, a group of hot keys
you can use to detect and read special video attributes, and, a feature we're
quite proud of, the ability of Vocal-Eyes to perform light bar tracking.

8.2:  THE READ BOX HOT KEY

Many memory resident programs, such as the Turbo Lightening spell checker,
have an unfortunate habit of displaying their information in unpredictable
screen locations.  Every time the program's "pop up" window appears, it's as
likely as not to have moved to a different corner of your PC's screen.
Unfortunately, you can't create a window to read a moving target.  Which is
why we've created one for you.

Do you have a memory resident program such as Turbo Lightening that displays
information in "pop up" windows?  If so, why not load it in now.

Go to the Hot Keys submenu in the Vocal-Eyes Voice Control Panel.  Select
menu option 30.  This is your "read Box" hot key.  Notice that this hot key
is currently undefined.

Select a hot key to assign to the read box function.  How about CTRL-B for
box.  No, we can't use that key.  It's already assigned as our read previous
character hot key.  Well then how about ALT-B?  Or, if yours is a 101 key
keyboard, the F11 or F12 key?  Go ahead and press the hot key you'd like to
assign.

Now, return to your applications program and do whatever you need to do to
cause your memory resident program to produce a "pop up" window.  Press your
read box hot key.   Did it read the information you wanted to hear?  Try it
again.  Press your read box hot key as many times as you like.

Most "pop up" windows use the same set of extended graphics characters to
draw the top and bottom corners of their "pop up" windows or boxes.  Pressing
the read box hot key instructs Vocal-Eyes to search for these characters.  If
it finds them, Vocal-Eyes constructs a sort of temporary window using these
graphics characters as the upper left and bottom right coordinates.  It then
reads the box the same as it would any normal screen window.

We can't guarantee that your particular memory resident program's box will
use the standard graphics characters to mark out their display box, but most
do.  Give this feature a try with your favorite "pop up" windows.  We think
you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Vocal-Eyes will search the entire screen for a box.  If a box is not found,
Vocal-Eyes will beep indicating it could not find a box to read.

As you can see, the Read Box hot key can be of great help.  However, why not
make it even easier yet.  Remember Turbo Lightning?  If you wish to pop up
the alternatives for the currently misspell word, you would press ALT-F10.
Then to hear the box, you would have to press the Read Box hot key.  How
about setting the ALT-F10 key as a cursoring key and assign it to read the
current box on the screen?  Now when you press ALT-F10, Vocal-Eyes will allow
Turbo Lightning to pop up its box and then read the entire contents of the
box for you.  All with one keystroke!  Who needs macros?!  Even though
ALT-F10 is not technically a cursoring key, Vocal-Eyes does not care.  Any
valid keystroke can be defined as a cursoring key.

Feel free to use the Read Box feature either or both ways.  As a cursoring
key or simply as a hot key.  Both methods will save you valuable time.

8.3:  AUTOBOX READ

We talked briefly about the autobox read earlier in this manual.  This
feature is located in the screen menu, option 13.  You can toggle the autobox
read on or off.  The default is off.

If enabled, Vocal-Eyes will constantly monitor the entire screen for a box to
popup.  Once it detects such a box, it will automatically be read.  If
something is currently being spoken when a box is popped up, Vocal-Eyes will
silence the current text and start speaking the contents of the box.

The box will only be read once.  However, if another box pops up on top of an
existing box, the new box will be read.  If the new box is removed revealing
the original box, Vocal-Eyes will than re-read the original box.  If you
would like to hear the box read again, you can simply issue the read box
hotkey described above.

If several boxes are displayed on the screen at once, Vocal-Eyes will use
some intelligence to figure out which box is of most importance.

If you are using an unfamiliar program, it is suggested you turn this feature
on.  It may make a totally silent program come to life.

8.4:  SCREEN ATTRIBUTES

Although there are a wide variety of display screen types and video adapters,
most can be grouped into three broad categories:  monochrome, composite black
and white and color.

A monochrome monitor is a screen that displays in two colors:  a background
color and a foreground color.  Occasionally these colors are black and white,
but more commonly they are two different shades of green or amber.
Differences in character style can be achieved, however, to highlight or
otherwise accentuate portions of the monochrome display.  Portions of the
display can be intensified, or brightened.  Portions of the display can
blink, or appear underlined, or in reverse video--dark on light instead of
the other way around.

A color display is one that can display its information in a variety of
colors.  Portions of the display can also blink, appear highlighted, or in
reverse video.

A composite black and white monitor is much like a black and white television
set.  It receives a color signal, but then displays the various colors as
different shades of gray.  The display screen on your Small Talk laptop
computer is such a monitor.

Every character displayed on any of these video systems also contains an
associated attribute character.  This attribute contains the information on
what the actual character should look like.  For example, green on blinking
red or white underlined, etc.  On color systems, the attribute contains both
what the background color of the character is as well as the foreground
color.  Monochrome systems contain information such as if the character is
blinking or is underlined etc.  Many times, it is important to you what these
attributes are.  Vocal-Eyes goes to great pains in order to make your life as
easy as possible.

Vocal-Eyes offers several features to help you in determining and voicing
text that appears on your PC's display screen in many of these different
video modes.  Here's how they work.

8.4.1:  THE ATTRIB-ASCII HOT KEY

Would you like to know the video attributes--color, intensity, etc.--of your
current screen position.  Select the Attrib-ASCII option, which is option 37
on the Hot Keys submenu.  Assign a hot key to this voice function.  Now,
return to DOS or your applications program and try pressing this latest hot
key.  Notice that Vocal-Eyes announces the ASCII value of your current cursor
position and then follows by describing the video attributes.  It might say
"black on white," or "underlined on black," or even something like "blinking
green on bright blue."

Notice that if you're using a black and white monitor the video attributes
will be announced just as though you were using a color display.

Cursor around your screen, either in applications or Review Mode, and check
out the video attributes in a variety of locations.  Notice how certain
groups of information, such as menu choices, bold-face text, etc., appear
with similar attributes.

8.4.2:  READING NORMAL, REVERSE, BLINKING, UNDERLINED AND HIGHLIGHTED TEXT

Would you like to have Vocal-Eyes voice all of the normal, reverse, blinking,
underlined or highlighted video text?  Well, Vocal-Eyes provides you with hot
keys to read all of these and more!

Select the Hot Keys submenu in the Voice Control Panel.  Examine options 32
through 36 and you'll discover that you can assign hot keys to read any or
all of these special video attributes.

Try using these hot keys with your favorite piece of applications software.
Here's what will happen:

Option 32:  Normal - This hot key will read all "normal" text that appears on
your PC's screen, which is to say all text that appears with a black
background.  It doesn't matter what the foreground color is.

Option 33:  Reverse - This hot key will read all "reverse video" text that
appears on your PC's screen, which is to say all text that appears with any
background color other than black.

Option 34:  Blinking - This hot key will read all blinking text that appears
on your PC's screen.

Option 35:  Underlined - This hot key will read all "underlined" text that
appears on your PC's screen.  Depending upon your particular monitor and
graphics adapter, your screen may or may not be able to display underlined
text.

Option 36:  highlighted - This hot key will read all "highlighted" text that
appears on your PC's screen, which is to say any text which appears in a
highlighted, or "bright" condition.  In other words, the foreground must be
any bright color and the background can be any color at all.

Set the hot keys that will best serve your purposes.

8.4.3:  THE USER DEFINABLE ATTRIBUTE READ HOT KEY

Perhaps your software displays important information in a way not covered by
any of the above read attribute hot keys.  Perhaps you're using a program
that displays important information such as menu choices using red text on a
brown background.  The choices lay scattered about the entire screen display,
so you can't construct a window to read them.  Nor can you use one of your
read attribute hot keys to accomplish this task.  This is where Vocal-Eyes'
user definable attribute read hot key comes in quite handy.

The user definable read attribute hot key works exactly like any of the other
read attribute hot keys, such as read normal text or read underlined text,
which we've already discussed.  The difference is, with this hot key you get
to select the video attributes Vocal-Eyes looks for when the hot key is
pressed.  Here's how it works

First, go into the Hot Keys menu and select the 38 "User Attrib" option.
Assign an appropriate hot key.  Are you using ALT-U for anything?

Now, after you've exited the Voice Control Panel, try pressing your new hot
key.  Did anything speak?  The user attribute defaults to all reverse text.
Remember, that is text which contains any foreground color on any background
color except black.  If all of the characters on your display are the
standard white on black, the user attribute hot key will not speak anything.
However, it will beep to let you know it could not find any character which
matched the user attribute.  Also, like many of the other commands, this will
only search within the currently active window.  There very well may be text
which matches the user attribute displayed on the screen but if it is not
within the currently active window, Vocal-Eyes will ignore the characters.

If you wish to change the user attribute from the default of any foreground
on a not black background (reverse), read on.

Enter Review Mode.  Press the "A" key.  Did you hear Vocal-Eyes say "User set
for" and then announce the video attribute of the character under the Review
cursor?  There--you've just defined your user definable read attribute.  Exit
Review Mode and press your User Attrib hot key.

But wait a minute.  That wasn't the attribute set you wanted Vocal-Eyes to
voice for you.  The attribute set you wanted is the one your program uses to
display that menu selection way up on screen line 1.  No problem.  Reenter
Review Mode and move your cursor to the menu choice that is displayed in your
desired attribute set and press the "A" key again.  Exit Review Mode and try
your User Attrib hot key again.

You can redefine the attribute Vocal-Eyes will look for when you press the
User Attrib hot key as often and as many times as you like.  Of course saving
your .SET file will also save your User definable attribute set, making it
the startup value for this hot key the next time you load that particular
.SET file.

8.4.4:  THE F1 COLOR PALATE

What if you want to set the User Attribute to an attribute which is not
currently displayed on the screen?  Or what if you want to set it to
something like "Any Bright on a Not Black background?" or "Any Blinking on
Any Background?"  Has Vocal-Eyes finally met its match?  Not even close!

There is another way to select the colors and other video attributes
Vocal-Eyes will use with your User Attrib hot key.  It's the F1 Color Palate,
and you can use it not only to select your User definable attribute set but
also, as you'll learn about soon, to set your light bar.

Enter Review Mode and press the "A" key.  Now, instead of accepting the
announced value, press the F1 key.  Notice that Vocal-Eyes responds, "Select
Foreground - 1 Black."  Is black the foreground color you'd like to assign to
your User Attrib hot key?  If it is, simply press ENTER now.  If black isn't
your desired foreground color, press the ARROW keys, SPACE BAR or BACKSPACE
key to move through the various selections until you find the color you want.
When you've found it, press ENTER.  If you wished to completely abort the
command simply press the ESCAPE key.  You will be returned to Review Mode
just as if you had never issued the F1 command.

Now Vocal-Eyes prompts: "Select Background - 1 Black."  Is black the
background color you want?  Press ENTER if it is, or as before, use your
ARROW keys, SPACE BAR or BACKSPACE key to move through the selections until
you've found the color or video attribute you want.  Press ENTER to complete
the selection process or if you wanted to abort, press the ESCAPE key.

As you become increasingly familiar with Vocal-Eyes' color palate you may
recall the number of your desired color or attribute setting without having
to cursor down to find it.  If you do, feel free to simply type in the number
and then press ENTER to complete the selection.

When you first started up Vocal-Eyes, it took an inventory of what your
system had to offer.  One of those items is the type of video adapter.  A
Monochrome adapter is not capable of displaying color and a color adapter is
not capable of underline a character.  Therefore, depending on what type of
video adapter your system contains, the available options will change.  Below
are the complete lists which are available for both the foreground and
background for both types of video adapters.

Color system foreground:

          1 Black
          2 Blue
          3 Green
          4 Cyan
          5 Red
          6 Magenta
          7 Brown
          8 White
          9 Dark Gray
          10 Bright Blue
          11 Bright Green
          12 Bright Cyan
          13 Bright Red
          14 Bright Magenta
          15 Bright Yellow
          16 Bright White
          17 Anything
          18 Not White
          19 Any Bright

Monochrome system foreground:

          1 Black
          2 White
          3 White Underline
          4 Blinking Black
          5 Blinking White
          6 Blinking Underline White
          7 Bright Black
          8 Bright White
          9 Bright Underline White
          10 Bright Blinking Black
          11 Bright Blinking White
          12 Bright Blinking Underline
          13 Anything
          14 Not White
          15 Any Blinking
          16 Any Bright
          17 Any Underline

Color system background:

          1 Black
          2 Blue
          3 Green
          4 Cyan
          5 Red
          6 Magenta
          7 Brown
          8 White
          9 Blinking Black
          10 Blinking Blue
          11 Blinking Green
          12 Blinking Cyan
          13 Blinking Red
          14 Blinking Magenta
          15 Blinking Brown
          16 Blinking White
          17 Anything
          18 Not Black
          19 Any Blinking

Monochrome system background:

          1 Black
          2 White
          3 Anything
          4 Not Black

As you can see, the options very depending on the type of video adapter being
used.  If you are sighted, you will notice that each option is displayed
using the attribute it is describing.  This makes for a very colorful
display.

Did you notice some of the settings such as Anything, Not White, Any Bright,
Not Black, Any Blinking etc.  These settings give you much more flexibility
than having to select an exact color.  Sometimes the exact color settings are
not what you want.  What if you wanted to speak every character on a Magenta
background but you did not care what the foreground color was?  No problem,
simply select Anything for the foreground and Magenta for the background.

The Anything means just that, anything.  If it is selected for the
background, it would match every possible background possibility.  If
selected for the foreground, it would likewise match every possible
foreground possibility.

If you pick Not White for the foreground, it would match every character that
did not have a white foreground.  Any Bright foreground will match any
character that contains any of the bright colors for the foreground using a
color adapter or any bright setting on a monochrome adapter.  All of the
other settings work in a similar fashion.  This gives you the most
flexibility when working with the wonderful world of attributes.

Notice the F1 key is also used to display the Review help information.  The
color palate will only be displayed if you press F1 immediately after
pressing 'A', 'B' or 'W'.  We have already talked about the 'A' option.  The
others will be discussed later.

8.4.5:  READING SCREEN ATTRIBUTES AS THEY CHANGE

As you can see, Vocal-Eyes provides you with many powerful attribute read hot
key functions.  But what if you need to keep track of ongoing color and/or
attribute changes in your screen display?  Or what if you're exploring a new
program, and you want to "scope out" the way the program integrates color and
attribute changes into its command set?  Well, Vocal-Eyes hasn't let you down
yet, and it's not about to start now.

Hot Key menu selection 55 "Attr On/Off" controls Vocal-Eyes' Attribute read
on/off feature.  Assign a hot key to this feature, exit the Voice Control
Panel and give this feature a try.  Notice that pressing your Attrib on/off
hot key once causes Vocal-Eyes to voice: "Read attribute change on."
Pressing it a second time turns the feature back off.

With the "read attribute change" feature turned on, Vocal-Eyes will announce
any and all changes in color and/or video attributes, such as blinking,
bright, underlined, etc.  Turn this feature on and then press your read line
hot key.  Are there any attribute changes on your current line?  How about in
your current window?

Are you working in DOS or some other applications program that uses DOS
screen service?  Notice that each change in color or video attribute is
announced "on the fly," the same as if you'd used one of your read hot keys
to hear the screen text.

Remember, you can also set this feature on and off by using option 12
(Attribute Changes) in the screen menu.  Feel free to use either or both the
hotkey and the menus for switching this feature on and off.

8.4.6:  MAKING GOOD USE OF READ ATTRIBUTE HOT KEYS

Most applications software packages come with some sort of installation
program or default options menu.  Almost always you can use this feature to
set or modify the colors and other screen attributes used to display text,
menu choices, menu default values, etc.  You could, for instance, instruct
your word processor to display all underlined text as underlined text and all
bold faced text as highlighted text.  Then you could use your read underlined
and highlighted hot keys to tell at the press of a key which text is
underlined or bold faced.

Perhaps you have a set of pull down menus that use light bars to display the
default menu choice.  You could define your user definable attribute read hot
key to read the color set your program uses to display the menu choices.  But
wait--we've got a better idea.

8.5:  LIGHT BAR TRACKING

These days it's increasingly common to find new software that is being
written, as well as new releases of old favorites, that use light bars to
display important program information, such as menu choices.  To date, most
screen reading programs have been cursor oriented, which is to say they rely
on cursor placement to direct them as to which text should be voiced.  The
trouble with light bars is that quite often they remove the cursor from your
PC's screen altogether.  Which leaves you with the difficult task of
attempting to determine exactly what is going on here.

Vocal-Eyes has solved this problem with a feature called light bar tracking.
With it you can follow, or track, the progress of a light bar as it moves up,
down or sideways across your PC's screen display.

8.5.1:  WHAT IS A LIGHT BAR?

Actually, a light bar is nothing more complicated than a portion of your PC's
screen that displays information in a different color, or using a different
video attribute such as highlighted, underlined, etc., than other information
presented on the same screen.  In its most basic form, you could have a PC
screen that displays most of its text using white letters on a black
background and a light bar that displays using black text on a white
background.

For the sighted user, light bars are a convenient means to display important
information, such as menu selections.  You might be presented with five
choices, one of which is displayed using a light bar.  Pressing one of your
cursor keys would cause successive menu choices to be similarly highlighted.
When you have moved the highlight, or light bar, to the menu choice you wish
to select, usually a simple press of the ENTER key is all that's needed to
complete the selection.  In fact, you may not be aware, but Vocal-Eyes' Voice
Control Panel uses light bars.

The trouble comes when a program that uses light bars decides to remove the
cursor from the screen altogether in order to form a "cleaner" display.
Since most screen readers rely on the cursor to one degree or another to help
delineate the text to be voiced, all you're likely to hear when you try
reading a word, line or sentence when a light bar is on the screen is a beep
to tell you there isn't any text to be found.

As you've already seen in previous parts of this section, Vocal-Eyes doesn't
limit itself to cursor-oriented voice features.  We've already described a
number of hot keys that seek out different colors or video
attributes--including one user definable attribute read hot key that you can
set to look for any combination of colors or attributes.  Well, using light
bar tracking is sort of like using the user definable attribute read hot
key--only much, much better!

8.5.2:  HOW IT WORKS

Do you have a program that uses light bars to display menu choices or other
important information?  Go ahead and load it in now.

Before you can try light bar tracking, you need to go into the Hot Keys menu
and assign two hot keys.  The first is to be found at Option 47 "Read Bar."
When pressed, this hot key looks for a light bar and, if it finds one, reads
it to you.  Option 57 "Bar Toggle" is the hot key you will use to turn light
bar tracking on, off, or put it into automatic drive.  Go ahead and assign
both of these hot keys now.

Now that you've assigned your bar track hot keys and returned to your
applications program, do this.  First, press your Bar toggle key enough times
to turn the feature on.  (Note:  by default, bar tracking is in the "off"
mode.  For now, put bar tracking in the on mode.)

Now, press your read bar hot key.  What happened?  Either Vocal-Eyes read
something or beeped at you.  Here's why.

Vocal-Eyes is pretty smart, but light bars come in a lot of different color
and attribute combinations.  By default, Vocal-Eyes will search for a light
bar consisting of any foreground color on any background color except black.
If your program uses these colors for its light bars, great.  If not, you'll
have to tell Vocal-Eyes what to look for.

You can also toggle the status of the current lightbar mode from the general
menu.  Option 5: Bar Track.  Pressing ENTER while on this option will also
toggle between off, on and auto.  Feel free to use either or both approach
for toggling the lightbar status.

8.5.3:  SETTING LIGHT BAR TRACKING

Setting a light bar is as easy as setting the user definable attribute read
feature.  You can do it two ways.  First, enter Review Mode.  Place your
cursor somewhere within the light barred text.  Vocal-Eyes will even help you
out a little here.  If you have light bar enabled when you enter Review Mode,
Vocal-Eyes will check if there are any characters which match the current
Light Bar attribute.  If there is, the Review Cursor will be moved to the
first character with the correct attribute and Vocal-Eyes will say "Cursor
Moved."  If there are no characters on the screen which match the current
light bar attribute, the Review Cursor will be positioned at the applications
cursor as always.

Is your review cursor somewhere within the light-barred text?  If so, simply
press B for bar.  Vocal-Eyes will announce your light bar's colors, and it
will also remember these colors so that now whenever you press your read bar
hot key Vocal-Eyes will read the bar for you.

With light bar enabled, you don't always have to press the Read Current Light
Bar hot key to hear each new option.  Instead, Vocal-Eyes will automatically
speak the light bar when you press any of the four arrow keys, HOME, END,
PAGE UP or PAGE DOWN keys.  If there are no characters with the light bar
attribute in the currently active window, you will hear a beep.  This simply
indicates nothing was found.  Regardless of how you may or may not have these
keys defined in the cursoring menu, Vocal-Eyes will override your settings as
long as Light Bar tracking is enabled.

Does your program use light bars to display menu choices?  If so, press your
ARROW keys, HOME, END, PAGE UP or PAGE DOWN keys.  Use whichever keys work
with your applications program.  Notice that each time you press these keys
the light bar moves to a different menu selection and the new section is
automatically spoken for you.  When you find the selection you want, press
ENTER.  Your program will act on your choice and the light bar will likely
disappear in favor of your program's work area, or be replaced by another set
of light bars that mark a submenu to the first.

When there are no longer any light bars on your screen, be sure to toggle
your bar toggle hot key to the off position.  Otherwise your cursoring keys
will keep looking for a bar every time you press one of them, and, since
there are no bars to be found, Vocal-Eyes will beep to let you know it can't
find one.

8.5.4:  USING THE COLOR PALATE

Earlier, when we showed you how to set the user definable attribute hot key,
we introduced you to Vocal-Eyes' color palate.  We showed you how to call it
up by pressing the F1 key immediately after pressing "A" for user attribute
set.  Well, you can use the color palate to set light bar tracking, too, and
it works exactly the same way.

To use the color palate to set the colors or attributes for your light bar,
enter Review Mode and press "B" to begin the bar set procedure.  Now, instead
of accepting the colors currently beneath your cursor, press the F1 key.  The
color palate will display exactly as it did when you used it to set your
attribute read hot key.  As before, cursor down to the color you want and
press ENTER, or, alternatively, type in the appropriate foreground and
background numbers and follow each with a press of ENTER.

8.5.5:  TRACKING 10 DIFFERENT LIGHT BARS

You can set a different light bar track for each of your 10 standard screen
windows.  Whichever window is the currently active one warrants what light
bar attribute to use.  Perhaps your program displays a menu along the right
edge of your screen.  Why not define a window to encompass that portion of
your screen and then set a light bar to track the menu choices.  Do you have
a TSR "pop-up" program that uses light bars?  Why not select one of your
full-screen windows and then define the bar tracking to work with that
program?

Not only is a unique lightbar color stored with each of the 10 windows,
Vocal-Eyes also stores the status of the lightbar with each window.  This
means by selecting a particular window, you can instruct Vocal-Eyes if
lightbar mode should be on, off or auto and setup the actual lightbar color.

For example, lets say window 5 is active with lightbar mode on and a color of
red on blue.  Now you switch to window 3.  The current lightbar mode and
color will be reset to the status saved with window 3.  If you switch back to
window 5, lightbar mode will be on with a color of red on blue - just like
you left it.

Remember, you can setup a cursoring key to active a different window.  Later,
you will see a hotkey has been supplied which allows you to very quickly
select any of the 10 windows.  Also, once we get into hyperactive windows,
you will see simply by a particular event occurring on the screen, a
particular window can become active automatically.  And of course by becoming
active, the current lightbar status and color will be effected as well.

To set light bar tracking and status to any of 10 different windows, first,
enter Review Mode and press F3.  Select the window you want the bar track
setting to be associated with.  Of course, if you have assigned a keystroke
to the "Select Window" hot key, you could use that in place of the F3.  Now,
either press "B" alone to choose the color set currently beneath your cursor
or follow up by pressing F1 to use the color palate.  Now that the color for
the lightbar is setup, you should make sure the lightbar status is set for
off, on or auto depending on your particular needs.  This can be set using
either the Bar Toggle hotkey or the Bar Track option in the General menu.
Follow this procedure for as many windows as you'd care to have light bars
associated with.  Be sure to save your .SET file to retain your settings for
the next time you run Vocal-Eyes.

8.5.6:  THE READ BAR HOT KEY

You don't have to have light bar tracking turned on in order to use the read
bar hot key.  You can use this key anytime.  It will look for any text the
color of which has been set for the currently active window.  If Window 0 is
currently active, pressing the read bar hot key will look for a bar with the
colors and attributes you've set for Window 0.  It will of course only look
within the coordinates of Window 0.  If there's no light bar in the current
window, Vocal-Eyes will beep to let you know none was found.

If there was text in the current window matching the light bar attribute,
notice Vocal-Eyes spoke the text.  If you press the Read Bar hot key a second
time in a row, Vocal-Eyes will spell the text.  If you again press the hot
key a third time, Vocal-Eyes will spell the text phonetically.  Each time you
press this key in succession, Vocal-Eyes will either speak, spell or spell
phonetically all text which matches the specified attribute.  This works just
like the read current word hot key.  When it is spelling or spelling
phonetically, Vocal-Eyes will drop the screen voice rate by 2.  This means if
your screen rate is setup at 5, the spelling would be pronounced at a speech
rate of 3.

8.5.7:  SETTING LIGHT BAR TRACKING TO "AUTO"

If you've been working along with us, you've noticed an "Auto" setting in
your light bar toggle.  With light bar tracking set to "Auto," Vocal-Eyes
will watch your applications cursor closely.

With a setting of auto, and you press any of the lightbar keys (left, right,
up and down arrows, pageup and pagedown) Vocal-Eyes will look to see if a
lightbar is being used.  If it is, the new option will automatically be
spoken.  If Vocal-Eyes determines a lightbar is not being used, the normal
cursoring key definition for the key will be issued.

Therefore, if you believe a lightbar is being used but do not know exactly
where or what color is being used, give the auto setting a try.  The auto
setting is by no means 100% correct but will make an extremely good effort.
For example, Vocal-Eyes may not think a lightbar is being used when in fact,
one is being used.  Or Vocal-Eyes may think a lightbar is being used when one
is not or it may think a lightbar is being used when it really is but read
the wrong information.  With today's application programs being so extremely
complicated on the screen, Vocal-Eyes can not possible be 100% accurate.
However, feel free to give it a try.  We feel it will definitely be correct
more times than not.  It is an excellent technique especially for new and
unfamiliar programs.

Normally, if you have Vocal-Eyes set for auto lightbar and the applications
program is not using a lightbar, there will be no interference.

If you have setup the lightbar for auto and Vocal-Eyes finds the lightbar
correctly and speaks it, the color used will automatically be updated for the
currently selected window lightbar setting.  This means, you can use the auto
setting if you wish to determine the color and than turn on or off lightbar
manually or automatically as needed.  Basically, the auto setting tries to
automatically determine if a lightbar is being used, determine it's color and
speak the new setting.  If you set lightbar to on, Vocal-Eyes assumes the
color is on the screen and speaks anything with the specified color.

By default, Vocal-Eyes comes up with bar tracking in the "Off" mode.  If you
are using an applications program which switches between using light bars and
using the cursor, you may want to give the Auto setting a try.  For
unfamiliar programs, turning on the autobox read and auto lightbar can make
a world of difference.

8.6:  SUMMARY

Again, we covered many of Vocal-Eyes commands.  We started by talking about
the handy Read Box hot key and autobox read.  We talked about the different
types of video adapters and monitors and discussed the idea of attributes.
You learned about the many built in hot keys to read special characters
directly from the screen or even setup your own user attribute read key.

The idea of Light Bar tracking was discussed and you learned how Vocal-Eyes
makes these programs speak.  You were shown the color palate for both the
user and light bar attributes.  Finally, you were told about the very
powerful auto lightbar option.  This is great for complicated programs which
use lightbars on and off.  This is especially great for new and unfamiliar
programs.

Believe it or not, there still is much more to Vocal-Eyes.  When your ready,
continue on with the next section.