Chapter 30. Speech Listener and SpeakableItems Extension
Mac OS 9 offers three different ways
to use AppleScript to control how the computer responds to verbal
commands and "speaks" back to the
computer user. Using combinations of these methods, you can create
complex and useful speech-related scripts:
The listen for
AppleScript command, which controls the computer's
response to spoken commands. The options that control how the
computer listens for commands, such as the key on your keyboard that
will toggle this technology on and off, can be controlled with the
Speech control panel (see Figure 30-1).
The
SpeakableItems technology allows the user to execute a script inside
the SpeakableItems folder (which is located in the startup
disk:System Folder:Apple Menu Items folder) just by
speaking the script's filename into the
computer's microphone.
The
say command, a scripting addition that has been
part of the Standard Additions osax since Mac OS 8.5 (See Appendix A). As long as the Speech Manager extension is
enabled, the computer will speak any text or string that you specify
in an AppleScript with say, as in:
say "It's nice to hear text rather than read it sometimes."
Figure 30-2 shows the three extensions that have to
be installed with Mac OS 9 to use the three speech-related
technologies with AppleScript.
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