[duxuser] Re: Learning to use Dbt win - Codes & Styles.
- From: "Foxworth, Ann" <Ann.Foxworth@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <duxuser@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 8 Jul 2004 08:46:34 -0500
Very nice, George. Keep going.
Ann Foxworth, Braille Consultant
Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services
Division for Blind Services
Criss Cole Rehabilitation Center
4800 North Lamar BLVD
Austin, Texas, 78757
PH: (512) 377-0353
E-mail: ann.foxworth@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
-----Original Message-----
From: duxuser-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:duxuser-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of George Bell
Sent: Thursday, July 08, 2004 8:47 AM
To: duxuser@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: RE: [duxuser] Learning to use Dbt win - Codes & Styles.
Hi all,
I'm unashamedly going to use you all as guinea pigs to some extent.
(Although you are free to hit the delete key now if you wish) Your
reaction will have a direct influence on what I write into the Help
files. I was about to "re-engineer" this Help section anyway, so the
list question has come up at the right time.
I want to try and explain Codes and Styles. However, I must absolutely
stress that what is below is principally for the new 10.5, although it
should give you all an insight into what they are. Experienced DBT
users will spot the obvious changes in 10.5 as the third and fourth
questions below are answered.
I would also stress that the principles here are specifically NOT
exclusive to DBT. They are used in every popular Word Processor
produced today - only the terms and how things are applied may differ
slightly.
What is a Code?
A Code is actually a special instruction which tells DBT to do something
specific, usually at or just after the point at which the Code is placed
in the text. A Code can be something as simple as telling DBT to go
onto a new line, skip a line, or quite complex such as where and how
page numbering is to appear in our document. There are over 100 codes
in DBT, but in the majority of cases, we may only need to use a small
number of them in any one document - if at all.
What is a Style?
A Style is nothing more than two groups of one or more Codes, which in
turn appear at the beginning of a section of text, and also at the end
of a section of text. Styles are especially useful if you need to
perform two or more actions on text which would require the use of a
number of Codes.
Remember also that Braille differs in many ways from print, and indeed
differs in some very special ways.
An example of a Style is one of DBT's Headings. Here we might begin
with a Code which tells us that the lines of our heading must be kept
together on one page. We might then want to start centering the text.
Finally, we might want to tell the braille reader that the text is on a
bold font.
Having begun the Style, we must also say where it ends. Consequently in
our example above, a series of codes effectively says, "Stop keeping
lines on one page, stop centering the text, and tell the reader that it
is no longer in bold."
How can we view Codes and Styles?
Normally you do not see these Codes or Styles when you are editing text
in DBT because they are usually hidden. We can however view codes in
DBT's editing screen in one of two ways. The long way is to open the
"View" menu, and select "Codes" from the list. If viewing codes is
turned on, you will see a tick against the "Codes" menu item. This is
what is called a "toggle" operation, so if you select Codes again when
it is ticked, they will be turned off.
The short way is to hold down the Alt key, and press the F3 key once to
turn Codes on. Again, this is a "toggle" command, so pressing Alt + F3
will turn them off.
When you turn Codes on, you will see additional text appear which will
be enclosed in either greater than or less than signs like these < >, or
square brackets like these [ ].
How can I tell the difference between a Code and a Style?
A Code is enclosed in Square Brackets, for example [sk1] which tells DBT
to Skip one line.
A Style is enclosed between greater than and less than signs, and there
is also a Beginning Style and an Ending Style. For example, <h1.>My
Heading</h2.> (Those who are familiar with the Code behind web pages
will recognise the similarity.)
How do I enter a Code into my text?
First, make sure that your cursor, or insertion pointer, is located
where you wish to insert your Code. You now have two ways to insert the
Code. The long way is via the Layout Menu, then select the Code Group
such as say, "Line Codes", and finally perhaps the "Skip Line" code.
Note while you are looking at the menu here that where there is a
keyboard command, it is listed beside the name, eg, Skip Line ...
Ctrl-k. The short way in this instance (but not all cases) is therefore
to use the keyboard command Ctrl + k.
How do I apply a Style to my text?
Remember that a Style applies to a section of text, and so before we can
apply a Style, we need to highlight the text to which that Style will be
applied. [see highlighting text elsewhere for instructions] Let us
suppose for this example, we want to apply a Heading Style to a line of
text to make it a Heading in braille.
Having highlighted the text, the long way is to open the Layout Menu,
choose Apply Style, and then navigate through the list of Styles to say
"h1.", which is equivalent to Heading 1 in Word for Windows. The short
way is to press the F8 key, which immediately brings up the list of
Styles. As the list of Styles is in alphabetical order, we can press
the letter h, and we will be positioned at the beginning of h section.
Up or down arrow if required to reach the Style required, and press
Enter.
If you now examine your document, you should see the Beginning and
Ending Style embracing your selected text.
How am I doing so far folks?
George Bell.
* * *
* This message is via list duxuser at freelists.org.
* To unsubscribe, send a blank message with
* unsubscribe
* as the subject to <duxuser-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>. You may also
* subscribe, unsubscribe, and set vacation mode and other subscription
* options by visiting //www.freelists.org. The list archive
* is also located there.
* Duxbury Systems' web site is http://www.duxburysystems.com
* * *
Other related posts:
