Re: JAWS and ViEmu for Visual Studio 2008
- From: "RicksPlace" <ofbgmail@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 3 Jun 2010 11:52:10 -0400
Have you ever tried VS with Windoweyes? The more I hear about the JAWS UI the
more I think WindowEyes might be a better choice. I tried JAWS once and did not
care for it. I only spent a few days with it and that was a long time ago. That
said, most things are pretty accessible with WindowEyes without a script. It is
just a thought after reading so many posts about tweaks to make JAWS work with
VS better.
Rick USA
----- Original Message -----
From: Kerneels Roos
To: program-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ; programmingblind
Sent: Thursday, June 03, 2010 10:15 AM
Subject: JAWS and ViEmu for Visual Studio 2008
Hi folks,
Before I begin this message I would like to thank everyone on this list and
others related to programming while being visually disabled. Not only do people
take out the time to read and respond to queries on the list, but some
individuals have even taken the time to respond with much information off list.
This is incredible to me and it really encourages me to find solutions and help
where I can as well.
Now let me get into the topic of this post. The ViEmu add on for VS 2008 is
really more than an add on, it integrates with VS 2008 on a package level --
you find it's options under Tools > Options and then one of the entries in the
tree selection after installing it of course. It transforms the VS native code
editor into a vim-like editor that can perform an impressive array of classic
vim functions.
At this stage it looks like a very good option to increase productivity while
editing code in VS. For starters, JAWS actually reads line contents (as apposed
to no speech on gvim text editor alone -- at least on my system that is). The
contents of a line is read right after a motion with the arrow keys or a key
combo like JAWS key + Numpad 8.
To prevent JAWS from repeatedly reading the character under the block cursor
while in vim normal mode, one has to change the JFW config file for VS to turn
off screen echo since the vim normal mode is a blinking block cursor -- JFW
thinks it has to read it each time it blinks. For the vim insert and vim visual
modes things seem ok since those use a thin cursor positioned just before where
the next character will appear.
In vim normal mode one can jump around the text with key sequences like these:
5j will jump down 5 lines, 7k will move up 7 lines, 3w will move 3 words
along the same line etc. Unfortunately JFW does not read the line just after a
move command while in vim normal mode. To hear the contents of the line the
cursor is on one has to do JFW key + Numpad 8 or Up, Down arrow quickly.
And that brings me to my actual question; is there a way of instructing JFW
to read the contents of a line as soon as the cursor changes line? It happens
perfectly when one changes lines with the arrow keys, but not with the vim
movement commands, which tells me JFW doesn't look at if the cursor changed
position but rather if an arrrow key was pressed.
Secondly, while on the same line, if the cursor moves JFW should ideally:
1. read the char just before the cursor if the movement was one char,
2. read the next word if the cursor lands on the first letter of a word,
Note that it is possible to move N number of words forward with a vim normal
mode keystroke of something like Nw where N is a number.
So basically one would want to instruct JFW to read the cursor line as soon
as it changes, or otherwise, as soon as a vim normal mode move command was
issued, which can be fairly complex, for example:
gg moves cursor to top of file,
G moves cursor to bottom of file
fx will search for the next occurance of x, which can be any character (for
example, to find the next ',' comma character you simply issue the command f,
(that is the key f and the key , right after each other)).
I guess this question could be summarised as follows:
1. Where would one enter code or perform a customisation to cause JFW to
treat special keystrokes as if they were some other known key stroke?
2. How complex is the JFW key recognition system -- does it for example allow
you to use regular expressions to identify key sequences?
3. Vim normal mode is entered by pressing the escape key while in any other
vim mode (for example, while in vim insert mode if you press escape you enter
vim normal mode). Would it be possible to toggle some JFW variable depending on
if escape was pressed, and can that variable then be read by the other keyboard
intercept code?
4. Alternatively, is there a way to instruct JFW to echo the contents of a
line as soon as the cursor changes lines -- even if that change jumps the
cursor several lines further?
This question is quite a technical complex one. Yes it relates more to
customising JAWS than to general programming issues, but it also relates to
programming while being visually impaired. My apologies if it is the wrong list
/ too much off topic.
Best Regards,
Kerneels
--
Kerneels Roos
Cell/SMS: +27 (0)82 309 1998
Skype: cornelis.roos
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2. LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/kerneels
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