Help Efficiently/Quickly Editing Commands

[richaardvark]

Hello,

I'm trying to re-create my beloved VoiceAttack profile after stupid Windows Update destroyed my computer with the latest round of updates (is there any way to automatically build Google/cloud profile backup into VoiceAttack, please??).

I'm trying to do something simple:  I would like a dictation command to type each letter of the alphabet, such as "type X" will press the x key for .01 seconds and release.  I really don't want to go through the hassle again of creating a new command, one by one, for each letter of the alphabet (mainly because VoiceAttack is too large for my resolution (I know many others have complained about this) and every damn time I want to edit any command in VoiceAttack, I have to unlock my desktop, move my task bar out of the way/to the side, drag VoiceAttack windows to be as large as possible (since there is no maximize button) then I can barely see the "OK" or "Cancel" button to press it.  Every single time I go through this hellacious process, stupid Windows Explorer freaks the f*ck out that, God forbid, I moved the task bar from the bottom of the screen to the left-hand side and crashes.  So then I have to open Task Manager, relaunch Explorer.exe, and move on). I refuse to go through this stupid routine 26 times. 

So, I created two example commands ("press s" & "press t") and exported my Profile (pleeeeeeease for the love of god at some point build in a simple text-editor to allow us to modify VoiceAttack XML coding manually/quickly... pleaseeeee?  Is there a simple way to do this that I am missing? I've scoured through many forums, the help documentation and can not find this stated anywhere clearly, yet so many forum help responses for VoiceAttack contain code - is there some easy way to manipulate commands quickly as code that I am missing??), and opened them side-by-side in Notepad++ to see if this process would be as simple as copying the first command 26 times and simply changing two lines of code in each (the "type X" spoken command and the actual key press action), but I looked at this coding, I see that each command/action is assigned a unique ID string:




Great :-(  So now I don't believe I can simply duplicate and edit my command 26 times, but will have to go through the hellacious process of manually creating 25 new commands, resizing my screen resolution and battling Windows Explorer every single time.  🤯

Please please please help me learn to use this tool better! 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

Is there an easier way to edit commands?  Is there some easier way I can include all 26 letters of the alphabet in one command, using variables or something??

I love VoiceAttack, am a paid supporter, and want to learn to use it more efficiently.  Thank you for your help!

-Richard

[richaardvark]

Also:  why, half the time I try to write or edit a post using this forum, does it say "the message body was left empty" when it is not empty at all:



Computers are making me want to rip my face off today. 

🤬🤬🤬 😤😤😤 🤯🤯🤯

Please help me... please? 😭😭😭

😥

[Exergist]

mainly because VoiceAttack is too large for my resolution...I can barely see the "OK" or "Cancel" button to press it

In past versions of VA the sizing was a bit more squirrelly, especially with higher resolution monitors. I've only ever used VA in 1080p, so I can't comment much more beyond that.

What resolution are you running at?

I would like a dictation command to type each letter of the alphabet, such as "type X" will press the x key for .01 seconds and release.

Here's an example that you can start with (including the numbered range 1-100). It doesn't use true VA "dictation" (which can have spotty accuracy), but it does the job:

When I Say: Type [a; b; c; x; y; z; 1..100]

Code: [Select]

// Store the spoken command in a text variable
Set Text [~~cmdText] to '{CMD}'

// Extract the character(s) of interest, with a max of 3 characters
Set Text [~~myChar] to '{TXTSUBSTR:~~cmdText:5:3}'

// Output info to event log
Write [Blue] 'Typing "{TXT:~~myChar}"' to log

// Make VA type the character(s) of interest
Quick Input, '{TXT:~~myChar}'

pleeeeeeease for the love of god at some point build in a simple text-editor to allow us to modify VoiceAttack XML coding manually/quickly

Gary would need to comment about an easier way to directly edit VA's profile XML files, though I'm guessing that's low on the priority list (if it's even on his list).

[Pfeil]

pleeeeeeease for the love of god at some point build in a simple text-editor to allow us to modify VoiceAttack XML coding manually/quickly...

XML files are used to export and import data, but internally it's not stored that way, so this wouldn't allow direct editing.

Is there some easier way I can include all 26 letters of the alphabet in one command, using variables or something??

Exergist's suggestion is the way to go here, though if you don't plan to use the variables for something other than typing the letter, you could do away with them:

Code: [Select]

// Output info to event log
Write [Blue] 'Typing "{CMDSEGMENT:1}"' to log

// Make VA type the character(s) of interest
Quick Input, '{CMDSEGMENT:1}'

[Gary]

pleeeeeeease for the love of god at some point build in a simple text-editor to allow us to modify VoiceAttack XML coding manually/quickly

Gary would need to comment about an easier way to directly edit VA's profile XML files, though I'm guessing that's low on the priority list (if it's even on his list).

Sorry... that's not gonna be on my list as it's a little out of this domain :(  As Pfeil stated, XML is only presented as part of an exported profile.  There are text apps out there that will do a way much better job than VA could ever do trying to also be a text editor (or sound recorder or media library, web server or all those other fun things that have been requested over the years lol).  Generally, mass (nebulous) changes for actions are not the norm (and are probably a little dangerous to your profiles), so, there are no facilities to do so.  Things like changing individual keys and pause values can be mass-updated.  For other things that users can come up with (and have the skills to do so), there's using a text editor to edit an exported profile (with subsequent re-import).

Also:  why, half the time I try to write or edit a post using this forum, does it say "the message body was left empty" when it is not empty at all:

The input comes up as seemingly empty because you've got some combination of characters that is making the forum software think it's being cleared.  This is also why half your text is blue ;)  What those characters are (the characters that are making your input box seem cleared), exactly, I have no idea.  You'll want to take that up with the Simple Machines Forum folks, as I don't write the forum software :(  Note:  clicking, 'Preview' will help you see what's going to be displayed and help you figure out what the mystery characters are.

Hope that clears up some stuffs!

[Pfeil]

Also:  why, half the time I try to write or edit a post using this forum, does it say "the message body was left empty" when it is not empty at all:

The input comes up as seemingly empty because you've got some combination of characters that is making the forum software think it's being cleared.

I believe it's the "emoji", in this case. The forum is running SMF 2.0.15, which, despite being the latest stable version, cannot preview emoji.

Though SMF does also have an issue in general with special characters when using the preview feature.