Hello!
Welcome to the 1.1 version of MacSpeech's ListenDo!(TM),
the best way to control your Macintosh(TM) through
speech recognition! ListenDo! uses Apple's PlainTalk(TM).
Recognition therefore has both the advantages and disadvantages
that come with PlainTalk.
What you are getting:
- ListenDo! version 1.1
- ListenDo! User Manual
- TypeKey Helper
- Finder, SimpleText, and Stickies vocabularies
- AppleWorks ScriptPak
What you need:
- A Power Macintosh computer with a 604 processor
(or better) running at 200mhz (or better)
- 48mb of RAM (64mb or more recommended)
- 5 MB of hard disk space
- Mac OS 8.5.1 or later
- Apple PlainTalk 1.5.4 or later
- A PlainTalk compatible microphone
Getting Started:
1). Make sure Apple's PlainTalk 1.5.4 or later is installed
on your computer. If it is not, download and install
it from: http://www.apple.com/macos/speech/.
2). Double-Click the ListenDo! Installer. Some virus protection software may interfere with installation. If you encounter problems, start up with extensions off and try to reinstall.
3). Restart your computer.
4). Double-Click ListenDo! and have fun controlling your computer with speech recognition!
What you can do with ListenDo!:
You can pull down a menu by saying the name of the menu,
followed by the word "menu" (eg, "file
menu"). You can then choose an item from a menu
you've pulled down by speech by saying the name of
the item (eg, "new folder").
You can open any item in a folder called "Speakable Items" inside the Apple Menu Items folder by saying its name. (This replaces the speakable items feature supplied with some versions of PlainTalk. ListenDo! is incompatible with that feature.)
You can open any item in the front-most Finder window by saying "open" followed by the name of the item (see Speakable Items in the User Manual).
You can run AppleScripts installed in ListenDo! by saying their names. You can create AppleScripts using ListenDo!'s built-in script editor, or you can use your favorite script editor and paste the scripts into ListenDo! You can also create your own application-specific AppleScripts that are available only when that application is front-most (you would want to do this to limit the number of commands the recognizer has to choose from). ListenDo! AppleScripts can click the mouse, type text, or do anything other AppleScripts can do.
You can create words that will be typed (this gives you very limited dictation capabilities--note that PlainTalk is recommended for use with only a few dozen commands, and the automatic menu, button, and Speakable Items commands may already be using quite a few). You can also create text macros that type as much as 32 pages of text with one speech command.
Commands you create (and those we provide) are stored in files called "vocabulary" files. Any vocabulary file can be exported into a text file. You can then edit it using your favorite text editor or word processor and import it back in to create a new vocabulary. This is extremely useful when creating vocabularies for similar applications.
What you cannot do with ListenDo!:
You cannot dictate more than a few dozen different words
because of PlainTalk's limits. ListenDo! is not for
dictation.
Bug Reporting:
Please send bug reports to <listendobugs@macspeech.com>.
Known Limitations:
- ListenDo! uses Apple's PlainTalk for its speech
engine. One attribute of PlainTalk is that all the
things you can say are kept in memory at one time.
As the number of things you can say increases, PlainTalk's
accuracy decreases. If you run into problems, try quitting
and relaunching ListenDo!. If you have added a number
of phrases, try deleting some of them.
- ListenDo! is incompatible with PlainTalk's implementation of Speakable Items. Symptoms include the inability to recognize menu items when a menu is pulled down by speech. You must disable PlainTalk's version by using the Speech control panel, but you can use our equivalent implementation of the feature by enabling it in ListenDo!'s preferences.
- Hierarchical or popup menus are not speech enabled.
- Modal dialogs in ListenDo! itself cannot be controlled by speech.
- Use with PowerSecretary is possible, but limited. We can't completely interoperate because we can't control PowerSecretary. If we detect PowerSecretary, we turn off speech. This is strictly so that people with PowerSecretary scripts can copy and paste them into ListenDo!.
MacSpeech and ListenDo! are registered trademarks of MacSpeech, Inc. Macintosh and PlainTalk are registered trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc.
This page was created using TextToHTML. TextToHTML is a free software for Macintosh and is (c) 1995,1996 by Kris Coppieters