[j-say list] Technical tip, selecting text in Word
- From: "Brian Hartgen" <brian.hartgen@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <j-say@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 26 Mar 2006 12:04:34 +0100
Hi
There is one difficulty visually impaired people have when using Dragon
NaturallySpeaking and this relates to selecting text for manipulation:
A. Using the Dragon commands, the person has ideally to know how much text
to select prior to doing so, in order that the correct command can be
executed. For many people who cannot see the screen this is more difficult
than it sounds.
B. As and when text is being selected, it is vulnerable to the point that,
if you make a mistake, Dragon of course erases it with the incorrectly
dictated words. Naturally there are ways of rectifying that mistake,
however doing so just takes time.
Here then is a much more accurate method of being able to select text using
Microsoft Word. The idea here is that we are going to create two Word
macros to mark the start and end points of the text we want to select. This
means that, when we are through with doing this, you will be able to execute
a command at the desired starting point of the selection, move to the end
point using any of the navigation commands, then mark the end point. The
text between the start and end points will then be selected ready for
manipulation. Note that these macros are in the public domain.
STAGE 1 CREATING THE STARTING POINT
1. Launch Microsoft word.
2. Begin recording a new macro by pressing "ALT+T M R" for
tools/macros/record.
3. Give the macro a one word name of eight characters or less, such as
"Begin".
4. "TAB" over to the "Keyboard Assign" button and press "SPACE".
5. As invited to do so, press a shortcut key of your choice. I recommend
"ALT+CONTROL+COMMA".
6. Press "TAB" to the "Assign" button and press "SPACE".
7. Press "TAB" to the "Close" button and press "SPACE".
8. We now need to stop recording keystrokes, so press "ALT+T M R" again to
stop recording.
9. Now copy the below text to the clipboard. Ensure that all of it is on
the clipboard.
on error resume next
ActiveDocument.Bookmarks.Add Range:=Selection.Range, Name:="Start"
10. Press "ALT+F8" to move into the list of macros available.
11. Arrow down until you find the macro name you have just created and press
"ALT+E" to edit.
12. In the editor with which you are presented, if you arrow through, you
will find a statement "END Sub".
13. Press "HOME" to get to the beginning of the line, and press "ENTER" to
create a blank line.
14. Arrow up to the blank line and paste in your code which is on the
clipboard.
15. Press "CONTROL+S" to save then "ALT+Q" to quit.
STAGE 2 CREATING THE END POINT
1. Begin recording a new macro by pressing "ALT+T, M, R" for
tools/macros/record.
2. Give the macro a one word name of eight characters or less, such as
"EndPoint".
3. "TAB" over to the "Keyboard Assign" button and press "SPACE".
4. As invited to do so, press a shortcut key of your choice. I recommend
"ALT+CONTROL+FULL-STOP (PERIOD)".
5. Press "TAB" to the "Assign" button and press "SPACE".
6. Press "TAB" to the "Close" button and press "SPACE".
7. We now need to stop recording keystrokes, so press "ALT+T M R" again to
stop recording.
8. Now copy the below text to the clipboard. Ensure that all of it is on
the clipboard.
Dim rngRange As Range
On Error Resume Next
ActiveDocument.Bookmarks.Add Range:=Selection.Range, Name:="End"
Set rngRange = ActiveDocument.Range( _
Start:=ActiveDocument.Bookmarks("Start").Range.Start, _
End:=ActiveDocument.Bookmarks("End").Range.End)
rngRange.Select
9. Press "ALT+F8" to move into the list of macros available.
10. Arrow down until you find the macro name you have just created and press
"ALT+E" to edit.
11. In the editor with which you are presented, if you arrow through, you
will find a statement "END Sub".
12. Press "HOME" to get to the beginning of the line, and press "ENTER" to
create a blank line.
13. Arrow up to the blank line and paste in your code which is on the
clipboard.
14. Press "CONTROL+S" to save then "ALT+Q" to quit.
You can now find some text in word, move to the start point, press the
keystroke to begin the marked block, move to the other end of it and press
the keystroke to create the end part of the block. The text should
automatically be selected and announced by JAWS.
STAGE 3 CREATING THE DRAGON COMMANDS
1. If J-Say Pro is installed, press "F9" to turn off echo mode, then
"CONTROL+SHIFT+F12" to activate the Dragon Bar menu.
2. Press "T N" for tools/new command.
A quicker route of getting to this point is to say "create new command" into
the microphone.
3. Type in a command name, such as "start Selection".
4. Press "TAB" four times to reach the Command Type combo box.
5. Down arrow twice until you reach "Step By Step".
6. "TAB" four times until you reach the "Insert" button and press "SPACE".
7. As invited to do so, press the keystroke you originally assigned to the
Word macro which will mark the start point of the selection. In our
example, this was "ALT+CONTROL+COMMA".
8. Press "ESCAPE". You will be prompted to save the changes. Press "Y" to
accept.
9. If J-Say Pro is installed, press "CONTROL+SHIFT+F12" to activate the
Dragon Bar menu.
10. Press "T N" for tools/new command.
A quicker route of getting to this point is to say "create new command" into
the microphone.
11. Type in a command name, such as "End Selection".
12. Press "TAB" four times to reach the Command Type combo box.
13. Down arrow twice until you reach "Step By Step".
14. "TAB" four times until you reach the "Insert" button and press "SPACE".
15. As invited to do so, press the keystroke you originally assigned to the
Word macro which will mark the start point of the selection. In our
example, the keystroke was "ALT+CONTROL+full-stop (period)".
16. Press "ESCAPE". You will be prompted to save the changes. Press "Y" to
accept.
Now go ahead and locate some text in Word. However this time, you will use
the command you just created to mark the start point of the selection. In
our example, this was "start selection".
Then, move to the end point with any of your navigation commands, and use
the command you created to mark the end point of the selection. In our
example, the command was "End Selection".
With any luck, the text will be selected. However, note that J-Say will not
automatically echo back the text which has been selected. The "Speak
Selected Text" command must be used. This is good because otherwise
selecting a large chunk of text would only result in you having to use the
"Be Quiet" command if it was read automatically.
Brian Hartgen
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