look, mum, no hands!

Categories: Other discoveries, Native Dragon features

Here are some great tools/techniques to use in non-Select-and-Say applications.

Note: Select-and-Say applications are programs where you are able to dictate freely, and select phrases on command.  Non-Select-and-Say applications are programs where it is much more difficult to dictate and select text, i.e. many of the applications not listed in the Dragon compatibility charts.

Enable That for editing formatted text
Enable That is a great add-on that works with all editions of Dragon NaturallySpeaking 5-8.  Works best with the Professional edition, but I have tested it in Standard and was able to use it to edit text.  I mainly work in Microsoft Publisher, and found that Enable That was able to edit text without any issues, but I lost my pictures.  From what I hear, it will possibly become redundant with the improved dictation box in Dragon NaturallySpeaking 9?  Great if you work mainly with text and seems to have loads of features.

Dictation Box for dictating long phrases
The dictation box is a standard feature of Dragon NaturallySpeaking.  To use the dictation box:

1. Move the cursor to the point where you want to insert your text


2. Say "show dictation box"


3. Dictate the required text


4. Say "okay"

Your text will be inserted into the document.  
The dictation box is great for inserting long sentences or paragraphs.  Commands using the Vocola variable <_anything> is quicker for dictating short phrases.

Edit All for editing plain text
"Edit All" is a native Dragon command that grabs plain text from a window and displays it in the dictation box where you can use standard editing command before reinserting the edited text into the original window.

Vocola commands using <_anything> for quickly dictating short phrases
I found this tip on the speech wiki web site.  Very simple, but very effective.
If you create a Vocola command using the special variable <_anything> (which I believe is unique to Vocola..?) to capture your dictation, you can get great accuracy in non-Select-and-Say applications.

My command looks like this:
Dump <_anything> = $1

So to dictate a single word or a short phrase, I will say "dump <the phrase>”.  

Commands for editing text on-the-fly
The biggest frustration with using non-Select-and-Say applications is editing while you work.  Commands like "select next four words" and "delete line" become extra useful in non-Select-and-Say areas.

Because I tend to work mostly in columns of text in Publisher, I like to be able to select groups of words on the same line.  For example, I might edit a line like this:

Contact the Directorate of Social Services for more help.

Let’s say I wanted to change "more help" to “further assistance”.  I would then want to select those two words and then dictate over them.  There are many ways to do this, but I like selecting the words by number.  In this example, I would select words 7 and 8.

I use the following Vocola command to select a specified number of words from a given word:
Select 1..10 from 1..10 = {home} Repeat($2, {Ctrl+right}) {ctrl+left} Repeat($1, {shift+Ctrl+right}) ;

So in the above example, to select words 7 and 8, I would select two words from the start of word 7 by putting the cursor anywhere within the line say "select two from seven".  

Other commands which I find quite useful are:
Repeat select up
Repeat select down
Repeat select left
Repeat select right
(all of these use the Natlink repeat keystrokes script)
Select 1..20 previous words / lines
Select 1..20 next words words / lines
(found in Speech wiki’s general editing command collection)