I'm not sure why HW got lazy on this one, but space with z (z-chord) is a Blazie Notetaker command for exitting stuff, like the file command menu. That command should be switchable along with the b-chord command for backspace through compatibility
mode.
Speaking of modes, I have another idea for a new keysoft release. Has anyone on here used a Blazie notetaker in the past, as I have? If so, you might remember macros. I absolutely LOVED those things! You'd hit n-chord, (we'd have to change this
to something like space with dots 2 4 6 because space with n is find next occurrence of string) a braille symbol you wanted the macro sequence to be under, then you'd be able to record up to sixty-three consecutive keypresses (two of which could
possibly be the command sequence for calling another macro), then the recording would end. Of course, you could always end the recording earlier by hitting n-chord again.
Let's say you wanted macro e to do a pronunciation dictionary switch so you could change from Keynote Gold over to Eloquence speech, and have that other dictionary load so kng's pronunciations wouldn't mess up eloquence speech. That macro might go
as follows:
Space with dots 2 4 6. Bn says: "Enter a character", so you decide e for
"eloquence switch". After pressing e, the bn might say: recording.
You could then go through the command sequences for doing this:
Go to main menu (all dots-chord)
f for file manager, d for directory, f for the flash disk, space for the
folders list, d for the dictionaries folder, enter to select, p for
pronunciation dictionary
Then backspace with m for move file, f for the flash disk as destination
drive, the word none for the folder, enter.
Now you'd be back in the file list for the dictionaries folder, so e for the file "eloquence pronunciation dictionary", backspace with r for rename, then dot 5-chord twice to get to the word "pronunciation", then backspace with dot 2 for delete
previous word, then enter to finish renameing.
We're still only at 21 keypresses for this macro, so we're still good! So, go
to main menu again, backspace with enter with r for review voice, space four
times to the synth choice, then e for eloquence, and finally e-chord to exit.
We could now hit space with dots 2 4 6 again to end recording keys, and the bn would say: "macro end". This new macro only took 29 steps. Now macro e would be ready to use. All we'd have to do whenever we wanted to switch to the eloquence
synthesizer from now on would be to hit something like enter with j (remember space with j is already jump to place marker) for execute macro, at which point the bn might prompt "macro to run?". So we'd hit e, and the bn would do all that stuff for
us in something like less than two or three seconds, and eloquence would be loaded when all was done.
Incidentally, a couple things could be added to this. First, you might remember that k-chord and v-chord were the commands for silence and speak macros respectively. This would turn speech off or on respectively while a macro was running.
Silencing the voice would speed things up since the unit wouldn't be speaking the prompts and stuff while things were happening.
So if we implemented those commands, we'd have to use enter instead of the spacebar, since enter with k and v are still available to us. Also, a Nemeth 8-chord was the command to have a macro speak a message (or just braille it, if macro execution
was silenced before the message sequence). This command possibility is still available to us, so we wouldn't have to use enter for this one.
So, using our previous example, enter with k before the start of the recording, and enter with v after exitting review voice would bring the recording to 31 characters. We still have enough room to have the macro speak a message, so we could still
add this:
Space with dots 2 3 6 (speak and/or display a message), then the string of text (without quotes) "eloquence loaded" before hitting space with dots 2 4 6 to end recording. This new and improved macro is still only 48 keypresses. I don't remember,
but I think you had to hit space with e (Blazie enter) to end a message, so that would bring the macro to 49 characters.
So here's what would happen after hitting enter with j, then e. You'd see the braille display do some very quick refreshes, then a slight freeze after the macro hits space with e to exit the review voice menu while eloquence loads, then you'd
probably see
eloquence loaded
on your display, as well as hear it spoken. This is why I think macros would be a great idea to bring back! They would make procedures like this one much easier! Sorry for the long message, but I felt nostalgic about macros, and figured I'd
tantalize you with this new possibility.
Oh, and before I forget, if we created this macro, we'd need to create a reverse macro (maybe k for keynote gold) which would silence speech, go to the dictionaries folder, rename "pronunciation dictionary" to "eloquence pronunciation dictionary",
find "pronunciation dictionary" in the none folder, move it back to dictionaries, exit file manager, review voice, switch back to keynote gold, exit, turn speech back on, then display the message "keynote gold loaded". My brain hurts from counting
the steps in that other macro, so I'm not going to count this other hypothetical recording sequence. I think it would fit within sixty-three characters if things were done efficiently, though. If not, we could easily not put in the message
sequence.
Anyway, have a good day.
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