robertj@tekgen.bv.tek.com (Robert Jaquiss) (05/13/91)
Index Number: 15534
PC Tools and Speech
by Mitchell Lynn
PC Tools Deluxe (from Central Point Software) is an extremely
powerful collection of hard disk utilities and personal
management tools. Unfortunately, like most MS-DOS software,
these programs do not come up talking right out of the box. It
is up to you and your screen reader to add speech to PC Tools.
This article will help you get PC Tools up and talking. Along
the way, I will show you some tricks that will make the PC Tools
programs work more effectively with your speech software.
What is PC Tools?
PC Tools is an indispensable collection of utility programs. The
programs in PC Tools can be divided into four groups: hard disk
backup and restore, desktop manager, disk utilities, and a DOS
shell.
PC Backup is a fast and flexible substitute for the DOS backup.
The backup program allows you to set various options and save
these selections to a configuration file. PC Backup provides a
compression capability that reduces the number of required disks
by about thirty percent. You also have the option of setting
error correction, subdirectory inclusion exclusion, file
inclusion and exclusion criteria, date range selection criteria,
and formatting options.
The desktop manager contains programs designed to increase
productivity. These include a macro editor, a word processor, a
data base, several calculators, and an ASCII table. Perhaps the
most powerful feature of the Desktop is the resident clipboard
which allows you to cut information from one DOS application to a
second DOS application. The disk utilities include programs to
unfragment files, recover deleted files and repair damaged disks
both hard and floppy.
Finally, PC Shell is a program that sits on top of the DOS
environment and simplifies the user's interaction with DOS and
other applications. With PC Shell, you will still have access to
all the usual DOS commands. In addition, PC Shell provides many
capabilities for which DOS makes no provision. For example, with
PC Shell you can locate specific files and then view those files
in their native format. That is if the file is a WordPerfect
file, it will be displayed in WordPerfect's format. PC Shell
also allows you to launch the program that created a particular
file. When you launch an application, you have the option to
have the selected file automatically loaded when the application
is run. Other enhancements include the ability to copy, rename,
delete, and move files either singularly or in groups.
Installing PC Tools
To install PC Tools, make whatever drive contains your
distribution disk the default drive. If you are using 5.25 inch
disks, this probably will be drive A:. If you are using 3.5 inch
disks, this probably will be drive B:. To change the default
drive, at the DOS prompt, type [drive:] where drive: is the
letter of the drive you wish to make the default.
Now that you have logged onto the appropriate drive, you are
ready to start installing PC Tools. Begin the installation by
typing "pcsetup." PC SETUP automatically decompresses the PC
Tools package and steps you through the process of installation.
For the most part, the setup does not use DOS screen service, so
you must keep up with prompts by reading the screen. You will
have the option of installing all or just some of the PC Tools
programs. The setup program also provides you with the option of
installing several programs in your autoexec.bat file. The setup
program will prompt you to press "i" to install or "c" to
continue without installing at each program. For the memory
conservationists among you, PC Shell requires less than 10k when
running in "resident mode." However, if you choose to run PC
Shell in "shell mode," you are looking at 210 k of RAM. Note:
regardless of what programs you choose to install, the original
copy of your autoexec.bat file remains unchanged. It will be
saved as autoexec.sav.
Important
The setup program allows you to set passwords and "user levels"
for both PC Shell and PC Backup. To accept the defaults (no
passwords and advanced user level) press enter at the prompts.
It is important that you accept the "advanced option" for the
user level. The following discussions may not work as detailed
if you accept anything other than the advanced user level. The
reason is that the advanced user level makes available options
that are not available in the beginner and intermediate levels.
Getting Started
PC Tools is a collection of programs, and the secrete to getting
the package to talk is to treat each program as a separate
entity. PC Tools presents the same "user interface" throughout
all the programs. In other words, the on screen look and feel of
the programs is consistent. So, our job of making the programs
talk is largely one of modification. We will modify our first
speech environment to fit the other programs in the PC Tools
package.
Let's get started. First, if you have not already done so,
examine the autoexec.bat file in a text editor. It is imperative
that you load your speech software before any of the PC Tools
programs. If you make changes, be sure to save the file as an
ASCII text file. Second, when you have finished examining (and
when necessary modifying) the autoexec file, reboot the computer.
This will force any changes to your autoexec.bat file to take
effect.
At the DOS prompt load PC Shell. If you allowed the setup
program to install PC Shell in your autoexec.bat file, you can
hot key into PC Shell by pressing [ctrl -escape]. If you did not
install PC Shell "RAM resident," type "pcshell" at the DOS
prompt. For those diehard DOS command-line commandos who have no
use for a DOS shell, read on anyway. Much of what you learn here
will be applicable to Diskfix, Compress, Desktop, PC Secure and
PC Backup.
Now that you have loaded PC Shell, enter your screen reader's
review mode and examine the PC Shell main screen. When you run
PC Shell for the first time, the screen will appear exceedingly
busy. Yet, at least some of that screen should look familiar.
The main screen can be divided into roughly three parts. The top
line contains a group of menu headings and the current system
time. This line reads "files, disk, options, applications,
special, and help." This "horizontal menu bar" is present in all
PC Tools programs. Immediately below the horizontal menu bar PC
Shell displays the current drive and the user level. PC Shell
shows the active drive by highlighting the appropriate letter.
The middle of the screen consists of three windows. You should
see a file list, a tree list, and a view window. We will talk
more about these windows shortly. Finally, the bottom line of
the screen serves as the PC Shell status line, or "message bar."
Usually, this line contains a group of function keys.
The key to getting PC Shell to talk is to reduce the on screen
clutter. Each of the aforementioned windows can be toggled off
and on singly or as a group. . In this case, we want to toggle
all three windows off simultaneously. First, open the options
menu by pressing [alt -o]. Immediately follow the [alt -o] with
a press of [w]. This will remove all windows from the screen.
If you look at the screen now, you should see only the horizontal
menu bar and the function key commands on line 25.
The Background Mat
Normally, PC Shell allows you to see part of the underlying
application's screen when you remove one or more of PC Shell's
windows. Unfortunately, this has the annoying habit of getting
in the way of our screen access software. PC Shell does allow
you to turn on a background mat that effectively masks the output
of the underlying application. You can toggle the background mat
with the following sequence. The escapes at the end return you
to the main screen: they exit you from all menus. To toggle the
background mat, press [alt -o], [c], [b] [escape], [escape]. The
background mat, when on, will hide the information remaining from
the underlying application or DOS screen.
Now that we have removed the various windows from the display,
take a second look at the screen. You can bring back each
element of the PC Shell screen by first pressing [alt -o]
followed by either [f] for the file list, [t] for the tree list,
or [v] for the view window. The file list shows the files in the
current directory. This should be the root directory of your
boot-up drive. The tree list shows all the directories on the
current drive. Both the file list and the tree list will scroll
if the lists are too large to fit in the window.
Finally, the view window displays a portion of the currently
selected file. "Selected" is PC Tools' nomenclature for the
highlighted (or marked) files. If there is more than one
selected file, the files will be highlighted and numbered.
Now that we have explored the components of the PC Shell main
screen, let's begin designing our speech environment. First,
define a window that reads only the bottom line (line 25) of the
screen. Most of the time, this line displays function key
shortcut commands. However, PC Shell frequently displays status
information, messages, prompts and explanations on this line.
This is true of all PC Tools programs. Until you are more
familiar with PC Shell, you should closely monitor this window.
If your screen reader has a hyperactive capability, I highly
recommend that you use it with this window. For those of you who
use Vocal-Eyes, you can use the accompanying set file. Window 5:
reads the status line. I have defined [ctrl -s] in the hot key
menu to read this window.
Before we can use PC Shell to manipulate files and directories,
we must define windows that encompass both the file list and the
tree list. First, make sure that the file list is visible. If
you do not see files on screen, open the options menu with [alt
-o] and press [f] to toggle the file list back on. Use the
following coordinates to define a window that encompasses the
file list. The coordinates for the file list window are: left
column 30, top line 4, right column 80, and bottom line 24. When
you read this window, you should see only a list of files for the
current directory.
To set up the tree list, follow the steps enumerated above. Use
the [alt -o] [t] to toggle the tree list. The coordinates for
the tree list are: left column 1, top line 4, right column 17,
and bottom line 24. In the accompanying Vocal-Eyes set file,
window 8 reads the file list, and window 9 reads the directory
list.
The next step is to set up the speech so that you can track your
movements in the file list and the tree list. While PC Shell
allows multiple lists on screen, only one list can be active at
any given time. The easiest way to determine which list is
active is by turning off the list you are not currently working
in. Succinctly put, if you want to manipulate files, you turn
off the tree list. Similarly, if you are working with
directories, you turn off the file list. Whether you choose to
have the view window on screen is purely a matter of preference.
You can access this window by pressing [alt -o] [v].
PC Shell indicates your position in the active window with a
light bar (sometimes called a highlight bar or cursor bar). To
ensure that your screen access software is tracking properly,
first turn off the tree list--if it is not already off. Now
press [home]. This will move the highlight bar to the top of the
file list. The first file in the list is now highlighted. If
you are using a color monitor, the light bar will be bright white
on blinking red. For those using a monochrome monitor, the
attribute is black on white. To set bar tracking up for the tree
list, follow the same steps above. Be sure to remove the file
list and switch to your tree list window.
Thus far, we have defined separate windows for both the file list
and the tree list. We can simplify things considerably by
defining a window that encompasses both lists. Now, we need only
swap active lists. For example, I have defined window 0 as a
full screen window, and it is my default start up window. I have
also set bar tracking up for the appropriate attribute (bright
white on blinking red). Whenever I want to work on files, I swap
the tree list for the file list. Similarly, if I want to work
with directories, I swap the file list for the tree list. This
eliminates the need to switch windows within Vocal-Eyes. It also
gives me the ability to read the entire screen if the need should
arise.
Before we continue, save the speech configuration to disk. You
also should save any changes that you may have made in PC Shell
to a configuration file. In fact, anytime you have made changes
in PC Shell and attempt to exit, PC Shell will prompt you to save
the changes to PCSHELL.CFG. This message appears on line 25. To
save any changes you have made, open the options menu [alt -o]
and press [a] to save. Note: not all of the hot key assignments
under the pull down menus are pneumonic.
PC Shell and the DOS Command-Line
PC Shell allows you to turn on a DOS command-line from which you
can run, or use, any standard DOS command. You also can run any
stand alone program from within PC Shell when this command-line
is active. To turn the DOS command-line on, open the options
menu [alt -o] and press [c] change operating arguments, and press
[c] command-line on/off. To exit the menus, press [escape]
twice. When the DOS command-line is active, the current path
appears on line 24. Vocal-Eyes users can read this window with
[ctrl -p]. This window will contain nothing when the
command-line is not active.
The Final Touches
Thus far, we have covered the essentials of the PC Shell screen.
There are, however, a few fine points still to be discussed. The
remaining windows to be defined are specialty windows; they are
not essential.
The first of the two remaining windows is what I call my view
window. This window allows you to examine files when using the
[f -2] quick view in PC Shell. The view window (window 7 in the
Vocal-Eyes set file) has the following coordinates: left column
1, top line 3, right column 80, and bottom line 24. Control V
will read this screen in the Vocal-Eyes set file.
The last window is designed to track the topics in the help menu.
Start by setting the window to read the entire screen except the
top and bottom lines. Now remove any lists you may have on
screen. Finally, press [f -1] to call up the contact sensitive
help. You must now set up light bar tracking. The highlight bar
is at the top of the list. The selected topic is "help on help."
On a color monitor, this light bar has the attribute of cyan on
black. On a monochrome monitor, the attribute is white on black.
When you are ready to exit the help, press [escape] or [f -3].
Finally, PC Shell typically displays status information, prompts,
and error messages in two places. The first is in the message
bar on line 25. The second place does not lend itself to static
definition. The information changes in volume, and it usually
appears along with, more frequently among, other information.
Consequently, setting a window is not useful. However, this
information always appears in the same attribute. Vocal-Eyes
users can take advantage of the "user attribute" hot key. In the
accompanying set file, this is [alt -u]. For those using color
monitors, the attribute is the ubiquitous cyan on black. On a
monochrome monitor, the attribute is black on white.
You can get a good idea of what these pop-up messages look like
by pressing [f -7] (locate) from the main PC Shell screen. Now
enter review mode and track down the lines that says "file
locate." In all likelihood, you also will see a group of
applications that looks suspiciously like the programs on your
hard disk. This list has the target attribute. If your screen
reader has the ability to track a user defined attribute, use it
here. You will find that it is indispensable in many of the PC
Tools programs.
You now have the foundation to make many of the PC Tools programs
talk. Remember that much of what we established in PC Shell is
applicable to Compress, Diskfix, Desktop, PC Backup and PC
Secure. Each of these programs retains the same basic user
interface. The top line of each of these programs is the same
horizontal menu bar as in the shell. The choices listed will be
different, but you access the items listed in exactly the same
way. Compress, Diskfix, PC Secure, Desktop, and PC Backup all
employ the status line to display prompts, messages and menu
selection explanations. Finally, remember that [f -1] (help), [f
-3] (exit), and [f -10] (menu) are the same in all PC Tools
programs.
A Few Advanced Options
The following tips and tricks are for the more daring among you.
If you are not familiar with PC Tools and PC Shell, I do not
recommend changing function key assignments.
If you have used the shell for any length of time, you are
probably wondering if there is an easier way to toggle the file
and tree lists on and off. Well! There is. Before we start
changing function key assignments, we must define another window.
The coordinates for this window are: left column 45, top line 2,
right column 65, and bottom line 24. Light bar tracking is again
necessary, and the attribute is the omnipresent cyan on black.
To change the function key assignments and to set bar tracking
follow these steps. First, consider carefully which keys you
want to redefine. I suggest [f -5] and [f -6]. Since you will
want one of these keys to toggle the file list and the other to
toggle the tree list, you will want them close together. This
will make it easier to tag them both at the same time. Second,
turn all PC Shell windows off. The less that is on screen the
better. Third, open the option menu by pressing [alt -o] and
press [c] to select "change operating arguments." Finally, press
[f] to select "change function key assignments." At this point,
you must set bar tracking for the proper color. The highlight
bar is resting on "copy file." Once you have set bar tracking,
you are ready to begin.
PC Shell is currently prompting you to supply the function key to
be reassigned. Press that key now. You cannot change [f -1], [f
-3] nor [f -10]. When you have selected the key to be changed,
use the up and down arrow keys to scroll through the list of
available functions. The "file list window" and "tree list
window" selections are nearer the bottom of the list. Therefore,
it is easier to press the [end] key and use the up arrow from the
bottom of the list. When you have highlighted "file list
window," press [enter]. PC Shell now prompts you to enter
another key to be redefined; press that key now. Again, move the
highlight bar to the new assignment. This time, we want "tree
list window." The highlight bar will remain where you made your
first selection, so just press the up arrow once. When you have
made both selections, press [u] to update. Be sure that you
monitor line 25 throughout this process. If you make a mistake
in the reassignment, you can reset the function keys to their
default by selecting [r] for reset. Finally, do not forget to
save the configuration changes with the [alt -o] [a] save
command. Before you save the configuration, try out the new
function key assignments. Remember that we toggled both lists
off before we actually redefined the function keys. You probably
will want one of these on screen whenever you start PC Shell.
PC Tools is a complex and powerful package, and I am constantly
finding new ways to make speech work more effectively with the
programs. If you have any questions, or are having difficulties
making the programs talk, fell free to contact me at (913) 271-
5369. Sorry, I cannot take collect calls, nor can I provide
technical support for the PC Tools programs themselves.
PC SHELL SHORTCUT COMMANDS
File Oriented Functions
The files in this list act against a file or a group of selected
files. You can access commands in the files menu by typing [F]
if the shortcut keys are on or by typing [alt -F] if the shortcut
keys are off.
Attribute Change [B]
Clear File [A]
Copy Files [C]
Compare File [O]
Delete File [D]
Edit File [E]
Exit [X]
Hex Edit File [F]
Launch Application [H] [ctrl enter]
Locate Files [L]
More File Info [I]
Move Files [M]
Print Files [P]
Print File List [T]
Quick View [Q]
Rename Files [R]
Search Text [S]
Undelete Files [U]
Verify Files [V]
Disk Oriented Functions
The commands in the following list act against disks--either hard
or floppy. Commands in the disk menu can be accessed by typing
[D] if the shortcut keys are on or by typing [alt -D] if the
shortcut keys are off.
Change Drive [D]
Compare Disk [O]
Copy Disk [C]
Directory Maint [M]
Directory Maint Sub Menu
Add a Sub [A]
Delete a Sub [D]
Modify Attribute [M]
Prune and Graft [P]
Rename a Sub [R]
Disk Info [I]
Format Data [F]
Format System Disk [Y]
Park Disk [P]
Rename Volume [R]
Search Disk [S]
Verify Disk [V]
View Edit Disk [E]
Options Menu
The options menu is used to modify PCSHELL setup configurations.
These options can be saved to a "config" file, so that they are
the default the next time you run the program. The options menu
is accessed by typing [O] if the shortcut keys are active or by
typing [alt -O] if the shortcut keys are off.
File List [F]
Modify Display [O]
Re-Read Tree [D]
Save Config [A]
Setup Config [C]
Show Windows [W]
Size or Move Window [S]
Tree List [T]
View Window [V]
Zoom Current Window [Z]
Special Menu
For the most part, commands under this menu provide information
about the system. The exceptions here are "directory sort" and
"undelete file." The commands in the special menu are accessed
by typing [S] if the shortcut keys are active or by typing [alt
-s] if the shortcut keys are off.
System Info [S]
LapLink /QC off [L]
Undelete Files [U]
Directory Sort [D]
File Map [F]
Disk Map [M]
Memory Map [E]
Remove PC Shell [R]
If you are using Vocal-Eyes, you can find a set file and the
documentation for that configuration in the directory VOCALEYES
in the SOFTWARE section of the magazine.