VoiceAttack launches browser tabs while in DCS

[Gyster]

Hello, one of the commands in DCS is "\" to bring up a menu.  Whenever I execute this command using VA, it also launches a browser window.  When I eventually leave DCS, there are several browser tabs open.  There's a setting in VA something like execute commands in active window and I have that selected.  Is there a way to suppress this behavior?

[Pfeil]

If you execute the command without DCS running, does the same thing happen?

What content are these browser tabs showing?

If you execute the command while DCS's control settings are open, which control is highlighted?


To be clear: VoiceAttack itself does not open browser tabs by default.
If you have it send an F1 keypress to itself, VoiceAttackHelp.pdf would be opened in the default PDF reader application as configured in Windows, which may happen to be a browser, but then you'd see VoiceAttackHelp.pdf in that browser window.
Otherwise, you'd need to either send a keypress to an application that opens a browser tab/URL in response, or explicitly configure a command to open a URL/launch a browser, E.G. using the "Run an Application" action.

[Gyster]

Hi Pfeil and thank you for taking time to reply.  The webpage that's opening is the VA default page - voiceattack.com and all tabs are the same.  It's definitely not the .pdf.

The DCS control that is activated is the Communications Menu.

I'm not giving it a url...the command is simply \

Thanks again for taking time to help!

[SemlerPDX]

Could you please export your profile and attach it to this thread?  Perhaps we can identify what is occurring when you issue this command.

[OldDog72]

I'm having the same issue with / opening the browser in DCS.  Is there a fix for this?

[Pfeil]

Are you using a command you created yourself, or from a user-created/third-party profile?

[OldDog72]

 I have created my own profile.  A few examples,
Command phrase “Return to Base” is as follows:

Press \ key and hold for 0.1seconds and release, Press F1 key and hold for 0.1 seconds and release, Press F2 key and hold for 0.1seconds and release

\ calls a menu from within DCS (this is fixed within DCS), F1 calls a sub menu and F2 calls an action 
VA recognizes my command and implements it but it also opens the browser to support.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-edge on the Microsoft Edge help  on the Microsoft Edge help & learning page. This happens even if DCS is not running in the background so it appears to be tied to the \ key.

Command phrase “Two” and is as follows:

Press \ and hold for 0.1 seconds and release, Press F1 and hold for 0.1 seconds and release
\ calls the DCS menu, F1 is a submenu

VA recognizes my command and implements it but it also opens the browser to VoiceAttack/VoiceAttackHelp.pdf and leaves it running in the background. As I composed this message from within Word I found that each time I say the word Two…\ shows up in my message and opens the help screen within Word. Again the happens even without DCS running in the background.

[Gary]

What is happening OldDog72 is that you are invoking a command that presses F1.  Most Windows apps will launch their help system if you press F1 while the app is in focus, and VoiceAttack is no different (in fact, press F1 now while you're looking at this and you'll see that your browser will display some sort of help (probably opens another tab)).

To get around this, you can either avoid having VoiceAttack in focus, or you can select the option 'Disable F1 Help' on the Options screen > General tab.  Just note that if you do press F1 while VA is in focus going forward, the help file will not be displayed.

Hope that helps!

[OldDog72]

Thanks for the reply.  I found the "disable F! help" in the General Options page.  I'll work with it tomorrow and see if that fixes my profile.  I'm a little fuzzy on what VA "focus" means.  But sure enough F1 tales me to the Help page in windows or VA Help when VA is open.  Does focus mean open?

[Pfeil]

"focus", in this case, refers to keyboard focus. This is not a VoiceAttack concept.

If you type something on the keyboard Windows will send that input to one specific window, that window being the one that has keyboard focus, which will normally be the one in the foreground (usually the one with a line instead of a dot under its icon in the taskbar, and if it's using a standard Windows titlebar, said titlebar should have a different color than those of windows not in the foreground)


As you mention that your command is outputting to different applications, its targeting is clearly configured for the active window (I.E. the one that has focus).

To ensure a command's input gets sent to the appropriate window if said window is not guaranteed to have focus when the command is executed, make sure to set a specific target.

If the majority or all commands within a profile should send their input to said target, you'd normally want to configure that in the profile options, using the "Send commands to this target" option, rather than for each command individually.