IVSTOOL for Windows, Beta version ================================= Preface ------- This file explains how to use IVSTOOL for Windows. It does not describe the IVS compiler for DOS, which is the complimentary tool to the Windows tool. Nor does it explain what IVS is, or what the concepts of IVSTOOL are. All these important issues are required to understand the operation of IVSTOOL for Windows, and are covered in detail in "The IVS Users's Manual". You must, therefore, read that manual first, to be familiar with terms like SpeechPro, vocabulary, word, sentence, sentence table, translation table, number table, and configuration file. What is IVSTOOL for Windows --------------------------- IVSTOOL is a graphical Windows utility that enables you to listen to, browse and edit your sentence table. You can easily see the list of sentences, listen to each one, change sentences, and add, delete or modify sentences from the list. With IVSTOOL you can prepare the sentence table, and quickly verify that it is correct, without having to burn the vocabulary to EPROM and play it on a SpeechPro. Note, however, that IVSTOOL plays the your original WAVE files, as recorded, and not compressed/decompressed files. Thus the effect of compression/decompression can not be sensed using the tool. Hardware and Software Requirements ---------------------------------- IVSTOOL runs on a 386/486/586 PC, with Windows 3.1 or later, and a sound card + software that support playing wave files at 8 kHz. Preparations ------------ Before you run IVSTOOL for the first time, you must manually prepare the following files (using a text editor): Configuration file, translation-table file, number-table file(s) and an initial sentence-table file containing some sentences. You also need to prepare the wave files for all the words you want to use in the vocabulary. Getting Started --------------- After IVSTOOL installation (see below), and after preparing the above files, run IVSTOOL. The IVSTOOL window opens, no sentences are displayed. In the "File" menu, select "Open Configuration". This opens a dialog box in which you specify the path and name of the configuration file (default ivs.ini). When you have made the selection, IVSTOOL reads the configuration file, and all the table files referenced by it, and displays your sentence table. Sentence number 0 is displayed as the current sentence. Click the "Say Sentence" button to play the sentence. Click on any other sentence in the table, and that sentence becomes the current sentence. Using the menu, you can play, modify or delete the current sentence; you can add new sentences; and you can save the changes you have made to the sentence table file (see below). Listening to a Sentence ----------------------- The "Say Sentence" button, or the "Sentence->Say" menu command, plays the current sentence, as displayed in the "Current Sentence" text box. The contents of the current sentence may be either a sentence selected from the sentence table, or a modified such sentence, or a new sentence you are typing in. Adding a New Sentence --------------------- The "Sentence->New" menu command clears the contents of the "Current Sentence" text box. Type in the new sentence, and after listening to it and finding it satisfactory, use the "Sentence->Add" menu command. This appends the new sentence to the end of the sentence table. Modifying a Sentence -------------------- Select (click) an existing sentence from the "Sentence Table" list box. The sentence becomes the current sentence. Edit the sentence in the "Current Sentence" text box: Add, delete or change words. Some keyboard keys may be useful during editing: the Home and End keys take the cursor to beginning or end of the sentence respectively. Control-C, Control-X, and Control-V copy, cut or paste the selection, respectively. When you have completed the editing, click "Sentence->Modify" menu command. You are prompted to verify that you do, indeed, want to replace the contents of the sentence in the sentence table. Alternatively, at this stage you can select "Sentence->Add", which (like with a new sentence) appends the current sentence to the end of the sentence table as a new sentence, and does not change the sentence you originally selected from the sentence table. Deleting a Sentence ------------------- Select (click) the sentence you want to delete from the "Sentence Table" list box. Do not edit the sentence. Use the "Sentence->Delete" menu command. You are prompted to verify that you do, indeed, want to delete the sentence. This is crucial, because when you delete a sentence from the table, all the sentences thereafter are allocated new indices, thus affecting any code written for the microcontroller on the SpeechPro. Saving Your Work ---------------- There are two levels of saving changes: saving the current sentence and saving the whole sentence table. (1) To save the changes you made in the "Current Sentence" text box, use either the "Sentence->Add" or the "Sentence->Modify" menu commands, as explained above. These commands change the contents of the "Sentence Table" list box, but do not change the sentence table file. (2) To save the updated sentence table into the sentence table file, use the "File->Save Sentence Table" menu command. You can also choose to save the sentence table to a different sentence file using "File-> Save Sentence Table As". This opens a dialog box in which you specify the path and name of the new sentence file. What if you didn't save ----------------------- If you try to select a sentence in the sentence table, while there is an unsaved sentence in "Current Sentence", you may lose the changes made in the current sentence. A message box prompts you to confirm this action. If you try to exit IVSTOOL, while there are unsaved changes in "Sentence Table", you may lose these changes. A message box prompts you to confirm this action. Saving Comments --------------- IVSTOOL does not enable you to insert comments in the sentence table file. However, comments can be manually inserted in the file (using a text editor) while IVSTOOL is not running. These comments are read by IVSTOOL, and are usually saved by "File-> Save Sentence Table". In only one case is a comment lost; if both a sentence and a comment occupied the same line in the original sentence file, and that sentence has been modified with IVSTOOL before you save the sentence table back to the file. Thus, always put comments in separate lines to ensure that they are not lost. Specifying an Argument ---------------------- When playing an argumented sentence (e.g. "you have <n> messages"), you must specify the integer value of the argument in the "Argument" text box (to the right of "Current Sentence" text box). You can type in a positive decimal value, or you can use the adjacent spin button to increment or decrement the value in the text box. Specifying Day and Time ----------------------- When playing a sentence that contains day/hour/minute (e.g. "control_day word_monday opt_hour_12 opt_minute control_am word_am"), you must specify the values of day/hour/minute in the "Set Day and time" group of controls. There are two sets of day+time parameters: Message day+time (for sentences with OPT_MSG_TIM), and system day+time (for sentences with OPT_SYS_TIM). Click "Message Time" if you want to display or specify the message day+time. Click "System Time" if you want to display or specify the system day+time. Then: - To set the day of the week - use the spin button to the right of "Day" text box to increment or decrement the day. - To set the hour - click inside the hour text box, then either type in a number in the range 1-12, or use the spin button at the right, to increment or decrement the hour. If you want to move from AM hours to PM hours (or vice versa), you must use the spin button. - To set the minutes - click inside the minute text box, then either type in a number in the range 0-59, or use the spin button at the right, to increment or decrement the minutes. Note: The time is always displayed in a 12 hour format. This does not prevent you from announcing the time in 24 hour format in a sentence (using OPT_HOUR_24). Editing Input Files ------------------- In IVSTOOL you cannot directly edit the configuration file, the translation-table file, and the number-table file(s). However, since it is very likely that while working on the sentences, you will want to make changes in these files (e.g. correct the translation table), a convenient way to edit these files is provided: Use the "File->Edit Input File-><file name>" menu command to edit any of these files using your favorite text editor (default - NotePad). IVSTOOL launches the editor with the selected file. When you have finished making the changes in the file, and saved them, select the "File-> Refresh All Input Files" menu command. IVSTOOL rereads the configuration file and all the table files referenced by it, thus putting these changes into effect. If you wish to change the text editor used to edit the input files, use the "Options->Customize Text Editor" menu command. This opens a dialog box in which you specify the path and name of the new text editor. Editing Wave Files ------------------ In IVSTOOL you cannot directly edit the wave files used to compose the sentences. However, since it is likely that while working on the sentences, you will want to make changes in these files (e.g. change the volume, or cut the head or tail of a file), a convenient way to edit the wave files...
Kot_Maciek