Doug.Geoffray@f8.n369.z1.fidonet.org (Doug Geoffray) (09/20/90)
Index Number: 10488
[This is from the Blink Talk Conference]
TB> I know that the Echo-PC will not respond very well to the silent
TB> key when large volumes of data are being sent. At times
TB> it hakes "forever".
TB> Are there any new developments or techniques which reduce
TB> the impact of this situation.
TB> Vocal Eyes is a great screen read. Thank you for a great job.
Tom,
First of all I am glad to hear you are enjoying Vocal-Eyes. It really
gives me a good feeling to know it is apreciated.
As for the Echo PC slow to respond to the silence command, well, let me
explain what is happening.
All external synthesizers have a buffer which accepts the data from the
computer. The problem is the buffer can fill faster than the synthesizer
can speak the data. This is where handshaking comes into play. The
Synthesizer must tell the computer to stop sending so it has a chance to
speak some of the data in the buffer. Once there is enough room for more
characters, the synthesizer then tells the computer to go ahead and send
more characters. This process is repeated as needed.
The problem you described only occurs while the computer is waiting on the
synthesizer to say go ahead and start sending again. Lets say you tell
Vocal-Eyes to shut up the speech while in this mode. Vocal-Eyes has to
wait until the synthesizer says ok to send before it can send the silence
command to the synthesizer. This is the delay you are getting.
Some synthesizers this handshaking can be overridden and the silence command
can be sent out even if the synthesizer told the computer to stop sending.
This is true for the Audapter and Braille 'n Speak. This means you always
get an instantuanous reponse to the silence command. I tried this with
the Echo PC and it would not work. It did strange things. So unfortunatly,
there is nothing that can be done. However, newer synthesizers can fix
this problem if they plan ahead!!!
Hope all this babling helps!
Regards,
Doug
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