More Java Questions Was RE: MAGic and COM
- From: "Homme, James" <james.homme@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 24 Feb 2011 09:26:50 -0500
Hi,
I have so many holes in my programming knowledge. This idea of wrapping things
also came up in my Java book yesterday, and they didn't satisfy my curiosity. I
may not be re-phrasing it exactly the way they did, but it went something like
this.
The Int class is a wrapper for the int primitive type.
I immediately went to the Java documentation and looked up the Int class. When
I did that, it left me with more questions than answers.
Here are my uneducated impressions to this point. Are they anywhere in the
universe?
The int primitive type is somewhere inside the Int class. That's why it's
called a wrapper. Are they trying to say that the thing called int.value
actually is a primitive type? Int.value is inside the Int class.
When you use the term wrap in the context of this original message, how are you
able to get one programming language to understand that it can use a piece of
code and do something in another language? Can you put this in terms a 10 year
old can understand? <grin>
Why is a primitive type not a class? What does it need to make it a class? Is
there some advantage to it being a primitive type as opposed to being a class?
I can conceive of having a class with only data and no methods. Is that
something that happens very often? I would think that a class like that should
have setters and getters for the pieces of data that it wants to let other
classes use.
Thanks for your indulgence.
Jim
-----Original Message-----
From: programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Andreas Stefik
Sent: Thursday, February 24, 2011 8:46 AM
To: programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: MAGic and COM
Haden,
Yes, that's what we've been building, is a C-wrapper to screen readers
that you can connect to through Java. We haven't publicly released yet
our JAR wrapper libraries, but the current build is used in the
Sodbeans 2.0 trunk build. For example, to connect using our libraries,
on windows, mac, or linux, using either JAWS, NVDA, Voice Over
(Carbon), ORCA with Speech Dispatcher, Apple Say, or Microsoft SAPI,
requires the following Java code:
TextToSpeech speech = TextToSpeechFactory.getDefaultTextToSpeech();
speech.speak("Hello, World!");
You can also request, from Java, a particular speech engine. For
example, you can request that you connect to JAWS, etc.
We're planning on releasing that publicly in July or so, although the
trunk build is actually pretty stable. For now, we're working to add
pitch shifting of the TTS, better priority support for complicated
streams of auditory cues (as we have on the Sodbeans project), and
we're doing lots and lots of testing.
Stefik
On Wed, Feb 23, 2011 at 8:23 PM, Haden Pike <haden.pike@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> That's what I was referring too. It's under the MIT license. Correct me if
> I'm wrong, but if this library was written in C, could you write a wrapper
> to call it in java?
> Haden
>
> On 2/23/2011 4:54 PM, Andreas Stefik wrote:
>>
>> Interesting, our libraries work very similar to accessible_output (it
>> appears), and for that matter, SayTools, as well, although we all seem
>> to support slightly different systems (our tools allow call-downs from
>> Java and our language, Hop).
>>
>> I assume this is what you are referring to:
>> http://pypi.python.org/pypi/accessible_output/0.5.5
>>
>> What License are you under?
>>
>> And yaa, I will have to look into screen magnifiers as well.
>>
>> Stefik
>>
>>
>>
>> On Wed, Feb 23, 2011 at 3:40 PM, Haden Pike<haden.pike@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>>
>>> That could work. We really need to rewrite at least the core of
>>> accessible_output in C or C++, so we can write bindings for other
>>> languages...
>>>
>>> I don't know much about magnification myself. That's something I'd have
>>> to
>>> research prior to writing this.
>>> Haden
>>>
>>> On 2/23/2011 3:58 PM, Nathaniel Schmidt wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Hi,
>>>>
>>>> This might not be very useful, but if there is such an API for magic,
>>>> would
>>>> it make things easier to include it in a package like accessible_output?
>>>> I
>>>> suppose then it would be limited to python, but it would be simple to
>>>> use
>>>> the magnification package, magnifier.magnify()? Of course I am writing
>>>> this
>>>> knowing not much at all about magnification, just throwing the
>>>> suggestion
>>>> out there.
>>>>
>>>> Nathaniel
>>>>
>>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>>> From: programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:programmingblind-
>>>>> bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Haden Pike
>>>>> Sent: Thursday, 24 February 2011 7:09 AM
>>>>> To: programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>>>> Subject: Re: MAGic and COM
>>>>>
>>>>> Maybe someone could write a cross-platform wrapper for the different
>>>>> magnifiers. Magtools, anyone?
>>>>>
>>>>> I'd do it myself, but it would have to wait until July at the
>>>>> earliest...
>>>>> Haden
>>>>>
>>>>> On 2/23/2011 1:59 PM, Andreas Stefik wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> James,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> For example, really quick, what we would REALLY like to do is have a
>>>>>> cross-platform bolding, highlighting, and magnification
>>>>>
>>>>> infrastructure
>>>>>>
>>>>>> built into Sodbeans, so that users can magnify certain parts of the
>>>>>> tool and that the magnification flexibly adjusts to whatever the user
>>>>>> is doing (e.g., it follows you as you type, it focses when you hit a
>>>>>> menu). So far as we can tell, so far, however, it seems like we'll
>>>>>> need some kind of complicated wrapper API in C on each system, like
>>>>>> how we connect to screen readers right now (which works, but is
>>>>>> complicated).
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Anyway, maybe that puts our actual goal into context. Who knows,
>>>>>
>>>>> maybe
>>>>>>
>>>>>> such an API already exists ...
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Stefik
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Wed, Feb 23, 2011 at 12:48 PM, Andreas Stefik<stefika@xxxxxxxxx>
>>>>>
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I'm not sure. We definitely know about, and have looked at SayTools.
>>>>>
>>>>> I
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> forget, but I think it connects to JAWS, but not MAGic. I'll have to
>>>>>>> ask download and look again to make sure.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> If anything, what we really want to do is make magnification
>>>>>>> easier/better in Sodbeans, as we're finding that Sodbeans is working
>>>>>>> great for the kids that are non-sighted, but there are a number of
>>>>>>> ways that we think we need to improve for the visually impaired
>>>>>>> community.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Another possible route we could take is to bypass MAGic altogether
>>>>>
>>>>> and
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> roll our own magnification system, although I've heard that this is
>>>>>>> difficult. Hmm ...
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Stefik
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> On Wed, Feb 23, 2011 at 11:21 AM, Homme,
>>>>>
>>>>> James<james.homme@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Hi Stefik,
>>>>>>>> I wish that wasn't the case. Do you think that maybe SayTools or
>>>>>
>>>>> the other thing whose name I forget that Jamal created would help you
>>>>> at all?
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Thanks.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Jim
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>>>>>> From: programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>>>>
>>>>> [mailto:programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Andreas
>>>>> Stefik
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Sent: Wednesday, February 23, 2011 11:08 AM
>>>>>>>> To: programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>>>>>>> Subject: Re: MAGic and COM
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Kind of sort of, and I appreciate it. This is basically what we do
>>>>>
>>>>> now
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> to connect to JAWS, but because there is basically no
>>>>>
>>>>> documentation, I
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> was hoping folks knew of a library out there that we could just
>>>>>>>> "connect" to, instead of figuring it all out again for this
>>>>>
>>>>> particular
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> set of DLLs.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Sounds like we'll just have to slog through it, though.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Stefik
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> On Wed, Feb 23, 2011 at 5:51 AM, Homme,
>>>>>
>>>>> James<james.homme@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Hi Stefik,
>>>>>>>>> This is just a guess. I'm thinking that Magic has a dll like JAWS
>>>>>
>>>>> does. It may even use a copy of that dll to talk. Are you also talking
>>>>> about enlargement? I'm also thinking that you can get a demo of Magic
>>>>> to find out what's in it. I know that it uses the same scripting
>>>>> language JAWS does. That language can do some stuff like get at other
>>>>> applications like IE, Word, Excel, and so on.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Does any of this rambling help?
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Thanks.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Jim
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Jim Homme,
>>>>>>>>> Usability Services,
>>>>>>>>> Phone: 412-544-1810. Skype: jim.homme
>>>>>>>>> Internal recipients, Read my accessibility blog. Discuss
>>>>>
>>>>> accessibility here. Accessibility Wiki: Breaking news and accessibility
>>>>> advice
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>>>>>>> From: programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>>>>
>>>>> [mailto:programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Andreas
>>>>> Stefik
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Sent: Tuesday, February 22, 2011 4:56 PM
>>>>>>>>> To: programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>>>>>>>> Subject: MAGic and COM
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Hey folks,
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Anyone have any experience connecting to Freedom scientific's
>>>>>
>>>>> MAGic,
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> either through Java or COM? Any existing libraries out there to
>>>>>
>>>>> make
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> this easy?
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Stefik
>>>>>>>>> __________
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