Updated JAWS scripts for Visual Studio 2005 or 2008
- From: Jamal Mazrui <empower@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: jawsscripts@xxxxxxxxxxxxx, programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx, program-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 5 Oct 2008 17:50:40 -0400 (EDT)
Executable installer
http://EmpowermentZone.com/msenv2005.exe
Zip archive
http://EmpowermentZone.com/msenv2005.zip
Reading by word (Control+RightArrow or Control+LeftArrow, or the
equivalent of JAWSKey+RightArrow or JAWSKey+LeftArrow) now uses default
JAWS scripts, which read smartly when punctuation or math symbols are
embedded in a word.
Fixed the Toggle Punctuation script, JAWSKey+GraveAccent so that it works
with JAWS 10 as well.
Fixed the executable installer so that it should correctly associate the
scripts with either VS 2005 or 2008.
Added a tutorial on building a "fruit basket" program in C# using the
scripts. I wrote the tutorial a couple years ago and have now included it
as the last section of the HTML documentation, msenv2005.htm, which is
opened automatically at the end of the installation process. I included
it, not to teach C#, but to give someone a jump start on understanding how
VS can be used with the scripts to layout a GUI form. The scripts include
several layout helper commands for positioning or sizing controls. Given
recent interest in this topic, I am also pasting the tutorial below.
Please understand that I was no expert on either VS or C# when I wrote the
tutorial, but wanted to help others with the knowledge I had gained by
then.
Regards,
Jamal
Tutorial on Building a Fruit Basket Program in C#
By Jamal Mazrui
October 5, 2008
CONTENTS
Introduction
Starting the Project
Adding Controls to the Form
Completing Layout
Creating Event Handlers in Code
Running the Program
----------
Introduction
Note that this tutorial assumes that JAWS scripts for Visual Studio have
been installed, either with the executable installer at
http://EmpowermentZone.com/msenv2005.exe
or manually with the zip archive at
http://EmpowermentZone.com/msenv2005.zip
On the Blind Programming list,
ProgrammingBlind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
we developed specifications for a sample program with a graphical user
interface (GUI) that could be implemented in various languages. It became
known as a "fruit basket" program. The purpose is to help teach people
how to code a GUI program in a particular language. Someone considering
the language can examine the code and evaluate the syntax and other
development steps involved in accordance with his or her own knowledge,
skills, and preferences. By running the program, one can also make
observations as an end-user, evaluating such aspects as the size, speed,
and accessibility of the program.
By consensus, the specifications for a fruit basket program may be stated
approximately as follows. The program is a dialog box with at least a
textbox, listbox, and two buttons. The user can type the name of a fruit,
e.g., "apple", in the textbox. When the Add button is activated, the
fruit is copied into the listbox and the textbox is cleared to be ready
for another entry. When the Delete button is activated, the currently
focused fruit in the listbox, or basket, is removed.
For accessibility, static labels should be associated with the textbox and
listbox, since these controls do not have captions like buttons. Keyboard
users will also appreciate a unique hot key for each control. Making Add
the default button allows a fruit to be added by simply pressing Enter
after typing its name. An error message alerts the user if Add is pressed
without a fruit in the textbox or Delete is pressed without a fruit in the
listbox.
----------
Starting the Project
Let us create a fruit basket program with C# 2005 or 2008. Launch the
Visual Studio (VS) development environment through the Windows
Start/Programs menu. Close the Start Page with Control+F4. Begin a new
project with File/New Project or Control+Shift+N.
After VS creates an initial folder and files for the project, it will
probably leave focus in the Form Designer. If not, you can get there by
first invoking Solution Explorer from the View menu. Another method is
the two chord sequence of Control+W (for window) followed by the letter s
(for Solution Explorer). Down arrow to the form1.cs file and press Enter
to load this file into the Code Editor and activate the Form Designer for
defining the controls through menu choices. The View menu lets you
navigate between the Form Designer and Code Editor. Also, F7 goes to the
Code Editor and Shift+F7 goes to the Form Designer.
----------
Adding Controls to the Form
We will add controls to the form, set properties for each, and then
complete the layout in a subsequent round of development. Press Control+W
followed by x to invoke the Toolbox. Press Control+Home to go to the
first item and then down arrow to Label and press Enter. A label control
is placed on the form and focus moves there. Press F4 to invoke the
Properties Window. Focus is probably in the Text property. If not, press
Control+Home to go to the first item and down arrow to Text. You may need
to press right arrow to expand the Appearance related properties in order
to get to Text. Press Tab to go to the textbox for changing the value
from the "label1" default. Replace it with the "&Fruit:" string. The
initial ampersand will make Alt+F a hot key to go to the textbox to be
associated with this label. You may notice that the SayLine command,
JAWSKey+UpArrow still reads the previous value. This is erroneous. Press
Shift+Tab to return to the property list, and you should then hear the new
value spoken as the current value of the Text property.
Press Escape to dismiss the Properties Window. Invoke the Toolbox again
with the sequence Control+W, x or with another hot key, Alt+X, which lets
you pick from a standard listbox that supports initial character
navigation. Choose the Textbox control, e.g., by pressing the letter t
until you get there if you used the Alt+X hot key. You do not need to
change any of its properties from the default values.
Now place another label control on the form and change its text to the
"&Basket:" string. You can get to the Properties Window with F4 again, or
use another hot key, Alt+Enter, which lets you pick from a standard
listbox. Choose a listbox control to be placed on the form. Finally, add
three button controls, making their Text property "&Add", "&Delete", and
"&Quit", respectively. You have now placed all the controls on the form.
----------
Completing Layout
Let us adjust the layout in accordance with Microsoft user interface
guidelines. Tab until you hear label1 as the focused control. a padding
of 14 pixels should exist between the controls and the inside borders of
the form. So, press right arrow until you hear "Left 14" as the
horizontal coordinate of the upper left corner of this label control.
Then press down arrow until you hear "Top 14" as the vertical coordinate.
You can review the current position by pressing the Center key on the
numeric keypad, which should say "Left 14, Top 14."
Press Tab once to set focus to textBox1. A control should be 6 pixels to
the right of its label. You can go back to label1 and press Alt+Center to
hear the coordinates of the lower right corner of the control. The
textbox should be positioned 6 pixels further in the horizontal direction.
Tab back to textBox1 and press right arrow until you hear a value equal to
the right coordinate of label1 plus 6. Now press down arrow until 14 is
the top coordinate. label1 and textBox1 have the same top coordinate.
This is actually not the optimal alignment, however, because the text
entered into textBox1 will be lower than the text of the label, i.e., the
"&Fruit:" string. Through experience, we can tell you that label1 should
be moved down 3 pixels in order for the baseline of its text to be the
same as characters entered into textBox1. So, Shift+Tab back to label1
and press down arrow 3 times until you hear "Top 17."
Now tab a couple times to set focus to label2. Press down arrow until it
has a top coordinate of 17 like label1. A control other than a label
should be separated by 8 pixels if it is within the same group of
controls. A keyboard shortcut is available that saves you from doing the
arithmetic and incremental positioning to achieve this. Press
Alt+LeftArrow to set the separation between the current control and the
previous one to its left. JAWS prompts for the number of pixels for
separation and offers a default value of 8. Press Enter to accept this.
label2 is moved to the right until it is separated by exactly 8 pixels
from textBox1.
Now press Tab to set focus to listBox1. Its text will be aligned with
label2, i.e., the "&Basket:" string, if its top coordinate is moved to 15,
that is, 2 pixels above its label. Do this with the up and down arrow
keys. Then press Alt+LeftArrow to position listBox1 horizontally.
Replace the default of 8 with 6 since that is the recommended distance
between a label and its associated control.
Tab to button1. Press Alt+UpArrow as a shortcut for setting the distance
between this control and the previous one above it. Press Enter to accept
8 pixels below listBox1. Use the left and right arrow keys to set the
left coordinate of button1 to 14 so it is against the left border of the
form except for padding. Since button1 is now directly under label1, more
separation exists between these controls because the listbox has a grater
height than a label.
Tab to button2. Press Alt+LeftArrow and Enter to separate it by 8 pixels
from button1. Press Alt+Shift+UpArrow as a shortcut to set its top
coordinate to the same as the previous control, button1. Similarly,
position button3 8 pixels to the right and with the same top coordinate.
Tab to form1. Its left and top padding is 14 pixels, but its right and
bottom padding is probably more than that. Press Alt+End and then Enter
to accept 14 as the right padding. Similarly, press Alt+PageDown and
Enter to accept 14 as the bottom padding. These shortcut keys can be
reviewed in the virtual buffer by pressing Insert+H for hot key help.
We are nearly done with layout. Press F4 or Alt+Enter for the Properties
Window of form1. Set Text to "Fruit Basket", which will be the title of
the dialog. Set StartPosition to CenteronScreen, a choice in a list of
possible values. Set AcceptButton to button1 and set CancelButton to
button3. The AcceptButton of the form is activated by pressing Enter on
any control except another button. The CancelButton is activated by
pressing Escape. So, Add will be the default action, and Escape will
cancel the dialog, and thus, the fruit basket program.
----------
Creating Event Handlers in Code
We still need to add code so the buttons do something. Tab to button1.
Press Enter to edit the event handler code for the default event, which is
the Click event. Enter the following code within the button1_Click
method:
if (textBox1.Text.Length == 0)
{
MessageBox.Show ("No fruit to add!", "Alert");
}
else
{
listBox1.Items.Add (textBox1.Text);
listBox1.SelectedIndex = listBox1.Items.Count - 1;
textBox1.Clear ();
}
The code adds a fruit to the basket or presents an alert if no fruit had
been typed in the textbox. The textbox is cleared so another fruit can be
added.
Press Shift+F7 to invoke the Form Designer again. Tab to button2 and
press Enter to edit its default event code, inserting the following:
int i = listBox1.SelectedIndex;
int iCount = listBox1.Items.Count;
if (iCount == 0)
{
MessageBox.Show ("No fruit to delete!", "Alert");
}
else
{
listBox1.Items.RemoveAt (i);
iCount = listBox1.Items.Count;
if (i == iCount) i--;
if (i >= 0) listBox1.SelectedIndex = i;
listBox1.Focus ();
}
The code deletes the currrent fruit in the basket or presents an alert if
the basket is empty. Some commands ensure that another fruit will become
focused in the basket.
Now go to the code for the button3 event, and insert the following:
Application.Exit();
----------
Running the Program
Press Control+Shift+S to save all changes. Run the program by pressing
F5. Try adding a fruit to the basket. Add a couple more. Then tab to
the basket and delete a fruit by pressing Alt+D. Try pressing Alt+F to
jump to the textbox or Alt+B to jump to the basket. Press Escape or Alt+Q
to quit the program.
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