Some ideas

[Siutsch]

Hi,

after some more experiments with Voxcommando I have some questions / suggestions. I use version 0.791

- Would it not make sense to allow actions ({1} etc.) in the field "max loops"?
  You can pass the number how often you want to scroll (for example "scroll right x times")

- Is the field "MustConfirm" active? Nothing happens if activated.

- Right mouseclick - execute isn't working. Or am I too stupid?

- It would be much easier if you can disable a group or command with right mouseclick - disable (or so).
  (I do not mean the possibility with "disablegroup:nameofgroup", this is a beginning, but not very practical for me) 

- Can you make it possible to change the TTS engine? I've installed free ScanSoft Steffi and can use ist with Eventghost.
  Unfortunately you can not select them in the Windows7 own TTS but maybe it works even with Voxcommando.

- Is it actually possible to select more than one language for speech recognition?
  I have german version of Windows7 and a lot of words we use are colloquial English.
  It is for example almost impossible to use the Search for Artist or Album in XBMC since almost every artist is in English.
  Perfect would be if we could choose what text recognition is active (if more than 1 possible) or if the system recognizes
  English words themselves and use english speech recognition then.

- The use of XBCM Album oder Artist Grammer is not yet solved perfectly in my opinion.
  Starting VoxCommando takes a long time, cause I have a fairly large music collection.
  Is it not possible to determine the collected data into a database-file?

- Will it be possible to use the search even for movies?


More is not once occurred to me. 

Great piece of software!

Siutsch.

[jitterjames]

Lot's of great ideas there.  Pretty much all of them fall into the "It's on my list" or "I've thought about it but I'm not sure how to do it" category.

I'll go through them all:

- Would it not make sense to allow actions ({1} etc.) in the field "max loops"?
  You can pass the number how often you want to scroll (for example "scroll right x times")
>>>yes, I though about that.  It would be pretty easy for me to do, but I was thinking it would make more sense if it could be applied directly to an action in stead of the whole macro.  You might for instance want to make a command that goes down 5 and then hits enter all in one shot (just an example) so it would be better if each command could have a 3rd column for # of repeats, and that number could use a payload if you want.  What do you think?

- Is the field "MustConfirm" active? Nothing happens if activated.
>>>not yet.  I should probably make it grey / uncheckable for now

- Right mouseclick - execute isn't working. Or am I too stupid?
>>>bug, left over from previous version.  I may remove this actually.  Or if I leav it in, it will not play well with payloads.

- It would be much easier if you can disable a group or command with right mouseclick - disable (or so).
  (I do not mean the possibility with "disablegroup:nameofgroup", this is a beginning, but not very practical for me) 
>>> yes, I'd like to do this in order to set the default state of groups when Vox starts.  But it would not effect the currently running version of VC since the editor is separate from the Active Grammars.  That is why VC needs to be restarted after edits.

- Can you make it possible to change the TTS engine? I've installed free ScanSoft Steffi and can use ist with Eventghost.
  Unfortunately you can not select them in the Windows7 own TTS but maybe it works even with Voxcommando.
>>>I'm not sure how to do this.  It *may* be possible, but i don't currenlty consider this to be a priority, simply because there is so much critical stuff I want to do first.

- Is it actually possible to select more than one language for speech recognition?
>>>I think this is actually impossible, with the tools I am using.

  I have german version of Windows7 and a lot of words we use are colloquial English.
  It is for example almost impossible to use the Search for Artist or Album in XBMC since almost every artist is in English.
  Perfect would be if we could choose what text recognition is active (if more than 1 possible) or if the system recognizes
  English words themselves and use english speech recognition then.
>>>just as a note, I have used a whole bunch of german (from Matt's xml) commands while in english mode and they usually work well.  I guess it is because I am using an english accent, and also the vocabulary is much smaller with straight commands than with artist etc.

- The use of XBCM Album oder Artist Grammer is not yet solved perfectly in my opinion.
  Starting VoxCommando takes a long time, cause I have a fairly large music collection.
  Is it not possible to determine the collected data into a database-file?
>>> yes this is planned.  I would like to have a function to request music from xbmc and store it in an xml file similar to the ones I use with EventGhost and MediaMonkey.  There will still be a delay however because the process of creating the grammar (mostly handled by the microsoft apis) will still take some time.  But I hope that it will be faster, and also you won't have to worry about having xbmc open when you start VoxCommando.  That still leaves the question of the best way to trigger the "scan" to xml that will be simple for newbies, but still offer control for more seasoned users.  Suggestions welcome here...

- Will it be possible to use the search even for movies?
Yes, and TV Shows.  Movies will be easier though.  Tv shows are more complicated.

If you want instant gratification, you can currently do movies, but you would have to create your own payload.  See the attached for an example payload file.  You would have to enter the movie names and the correct paths for your setup.  Assign an xbmc action like this:
PlayFile({1})

I will automate this when I have time though...

[Siutsch]

- Would it not make sense to allow actions ({1} etc.) in the field "max loops"?
  You can pass the number how often you want to scroll (for example "scroll right x times")
>>>yes, I though about that.  It would be pretty easy for me to do, but I was thinking it would make more sense if it could be applied directly to an action in stead of the whole macro.  You might for instance want to make a command that goes down 5 and then hits enter all in one shot (just an example) so it would be better if each command could have a 3rd column for # of repeats, and that number could use a payload if you want.  What do you think?

I think this is a good idea. Although I have not understood anything.
The tutorial videos are very helpful, perhaps you can make some more. 
Specifically, the functions with "action", but as I currently have vacation, I'll deal with it too ...

- Is the field "MustConfirm" active? Nothing happens if activated.
>>>not yet.  I should probably make it grey / uncheckable for now

OK. I'm waiting for this. It could be usefull for commands like "Send PC into standby",
although I have not said it.

- It would be much easier if you can disable a group or command with right mouseclick - disable (or so).
  (I do not mean the possibility with "disablegroup:nameofgroup", this is a beginning, but not very practical for me) 
>>> yes, I'd like to do this in order to set the default state of groups when Vox starts.  But it would not effect the currently running version of VC since the editor is separate from the Active Grammars.  That is why VC needs to be restarted after edits.

Would be a useful function.

- Can you make it possible to change the TTS engine? I've installed free ScanSoft Steffi and can use ist with Eventghost.
  Unfortunately you can not select them in the Windows7 own TTS but maybe it works even with Voxcommando.
>>>I'm not sure how to do this.  It *may* be possible, but i don't currenlty consider this to be a priority, simply because there is so much critical stuff I want to do first.

Maybe it works even at some times ...

- Is it actually possible to select more than one language for speech recognition?
>>>I think this is actually impossible, with the tools I am using.

Pity, but not so important.

  I have german version of Windows7 and a lot of words we use are colloquial English.
  It is for example almost impossible to use the Search for Artist or Album in XBMC since almost every artist is in English.
  Perfect would be if we could choose what text recognition is active (if more than 1 possible) or if the system recognizes
  English words themselves and use english speech recognition then.
>>>just as a note, I have used a whole bunch of german (from Matt's xml) commands while in english mode and they usually work well.  I guess it is because I am using an english accent, and also the vocabulary is much smaller with straight commands than with artist etc.

Other way around, it seems hardly to be as simple.
Maybe Matt can sometimes tell of his experiences with that.

- The use of XBCM Album oder Artist Grammer is not yet solved perfectly in my opinion.
  Starting VoxCommando takes a long time, cause I have a fairly large music collection.
  Is it not possible to determine the collected data into a database-file?
>>> yes this is planned.  I would like to have a function to request music from xbmc and store it in an xml file similar to the ones I use with EventGhost and MediaMonkey.  There will still be a delay however because the process of creating the grammar (mostly handled by the microsoft apis) will still take some time.  But I hope that it will be faster, and also you won't have to worry about having xbmc open when you start VoxCommando.  That still leaves the question of the best way to trigger the "scan" to xml that will be simple for newbies, but still offer control for more seasoned users.  Suggestions welcome here...

I will try this iif it works so far.

- Will it be possible to use the search even for movies?
Yes, and TV Shows.  Movies will be easier though.  Tv shows are more complicated.

If you want instant gratification, you can currently do movies, but you would have to create your own payload.  See the attached for an example payload file.  You would have to enter the movie names and the correct paths for your setup.  Assign an xbmc action like this:
PlayFile({1})

I will automate this when I have time though...

I had looked at the movies.xml. But on the amount of movies I have, it's a lot of work.
I hope that will work automatically too, as with the artists and albums as well.


I am very excited about the future versions. 

Siutsch.

[skylive]

My wishes in the next Versions:

- users can change the size and the color of the OSD Font in the options
- users can adjust the volume of the tts in the options
- a Checkbox : TTS Talkover
  activated: The Music mutes for the time, when TTS speaks
  

What do you think about it?

[jitterjames]

OSD:  ya I hear you.  Being able to position it would be good too.

Volume of TTS: yes, but note that it is currently set to 100% so you will only be able to turn it down, not up.  If it is currently not loud enough you need to turn your other stuff down.

Talkover is a good idea, but I can't really create a universal command for this since you could have sound coming from any number of sources depending on how you are using VC.  You can currently modify the volume yourself in the command builder if you want,  If you use the tts.speaksync command, you can then restore the volume.  The problem here is that there is currently no way to know the volume in order to restore it, so that is something I would have to work on, for each program that VC controls.  In the mean time you should be able to do with with the mute / unmute commands.  Which program are you using mostly?

[skylive]

Mostly I am using MediaMonkey.

I was inpired by this Video on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQGwmXQLQ4Y
At 2:18 when you say "what album is this?"
The computer mutes the music for the time, when TTS talks.


How did you do that?

[jitterjames]

Wow.  that was a long time ago!  I can't believe that was a year ago.

At the time VC was VERY simple and I was using EventGhost.  All I did was pause mediamonkey, do the tts and then unpause.  You can do the same thing now directly in VoxCommando.

It is time to learn how to use the command builder if you don't already know how!  Do you want to take a shot at it, or do you want step by step instructions?

I could also send you an xml file, but that is less fun and you won't learn as much...
 

[Kalle]

Hi James,

i need a step by step instruction, so i can learn to use the command builder.

Thanks Kalle

the wishes from Skyline, my wishes too 

[skylive]

I am pretty familiar with the command editor now.
Learning by doing.  

Some youtube Tutorials helped me a lot.

But I can´t find some important commands in it.
For example:
- quit a program
- minimize a program


__________________

I started a new Topic for this in the MediaMonkey Section. So we can stay here on Topic 

[jitterjames]

Hi James,

i need a step by step instruction, so i can learn to use the command builder.

Thanks Kalle

the wishes from Skyline, my wishes too  

Right-click any command icon (lightning icon) to open the command builder for that command.

Look here:
http://voxcommando.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Command_Builder

I'm sorry I dont' have time to offer more at the moment, but I will later.  

just make a copy of your voxcommando folder in case you break something, and then experiment!

[jitterjames]

But I can´t find some important commands in it.
For example:
- quit a program
- minimize a program

I started a new Topic for this in the MediaMonkey Section. So we can stay here on Topic 

this is the bug reports thread... oh well.  This is hard to avoid.

to quit you can use sendkeys with the parameters as follows:

%{F4}

minimize I will add to a future version...