mdl,

In most cases like this it is virtually impossible to locate, understand, and correct the source of any problems without looking through the Dragon log. However, the Dragon log provides some information understandable by the average user, but most of the information is cryptic and relevant only to someone who understands what the various entries and errors actually mean.

The major problem here is that the use of the term corruption is too broad. To a programmer, corruption means damaged files, and file damage results in the inability to execute an application or read a data file. Unfortunately, because the term corruption is used too broadly to describe any number of circumstances, using the term "corrupted user" is not definitive enough, unless the user defines exactly what is occurring in terms of symptoms. A user profile is a collection of files. As long as the files themselves are in tact, the user file is usable even if the performance and accuracy have degraded. I would find it more useful, as a programmer, if these types of problems were defined as corruption (file damage) or user degradation (poor performance, poor accuracy, or failure of the program to execute properly as in the case of command failures). The reason that it's important to distinguish between the two is that resolving each one requires a different approach.

For example, if the DNS program files, or their related registry entries, become corrupted as defined above, then the program malfunctions, produces errors, or fails to load and run at all. In the case of user degradation, this normally refers to problems with the user profile itself. However, you can have a combination of problems wherein the program files or registry entries have problems running properly and the user profile, as a result, degrades in terms of speed, performance, or accuracy.

Fortunately, in this case the problem is user degradation as defined by Andrew. Unfortunately, because there are so many possible reasons for this occurring, the Dragon log is the only way that you can analyzing what is actually occurring. Otherwise you can spend forever trying to track down the cause without ever really finding a satisfactory solution. The most common solution that is posted is to create a new user. Granted, in some cases this may be necessary. However, in other cases it may not be necessary. Regardless, the Dragon log contains information that can discriminate and identify whether or not a particular procedure or solution is necessary or recommended.

What is known is that there are certain things (identifiable in the Dragon log) that can cause this to happen periodically. It is also well known that this is a typical problem with DNS 9-9.5.

The following are examples of "corruption" errors:

SDAPI Error 1: Error: [s:\mrec14\10820\mrecutil\realdf.cpp 2292 mrecutil\realdf 3] SDEnvHolder_Open:

SDAPI Error 1: Error: [s:\mrec15\11114\mrecutil\realdf.cpp 711 mrecutil\realdf 62] SDVoc_OpenGroup: .rbb E:\\current\General_\general.voc

SDAPI Error 1: Error: [s:\mrec15\11114\sdapi\apist.cpp 393 sdapi\apist 24] SDWord_GetName: SDhVoc 0x00000000ffffffff

COM returned an unexpected error: Details are E_FAIL

The vocabulary '' does not exist.

The vocabulary you have chosen ‘’ is incompatible or invalid.

When you see these types of errors, this means that your user profile is hosed and you generally have no alternative but to create a new user because your user profile cannot be loaded under these conditions.

In some cases, such as the E_FAIL, this can simply mean that you ran a repair (DNS 10 SP1) which restores your DNS program files to their original DNS 10.0 version and you simply need to reinstall the SP1 service pack. In the case of the two vocabulary errors (last two) these can either indicate data file or files are missing or that you have attempted to open a user profile that is not compatible with your current version of DNS. An example here would be attempting to open a DNS Medical user profile in DNS Professional, or attempting to open a DNS Professional user profile in DNS Preferred.

User profile performance degradation or loss of accuracy, on the other hand, is usually related to more than simply DNS. It's usually caused by a combination of Windows performance degradation, bloated registry entries, excessive file fragmentation, filesystem errors, the effect of the interaction between DNS and these types of issues, etc., etc., ad infinitum, ad nauseam. These types of issues are not easy to track and the Dragon log is the only way to locate the kind of information necessary in order to diagnose the problem and correct it.

A few final points.

DNS can handle what ever the number of words are in the Active Vocabulary. You cannot overload the vocabulary with an excessive number of words. When you reach the limit, DNS will longer allow you to enter words in the Active Vocabulary. Regardless, and even though it is advisable from time to time to clear out garbage from your custom word list, simply having a very large number of words in addition to the original default Active Vocabulary does not cause DNS to stop performing properly or result in accuracy degradation. What can happen is that you can have certain types of garbage words entered in the vocabulary that interfere with the proper recognition of other words because the underlying phonetic pronunciations in the lexicon may conflict. This can lead to a whole progression of accuracy issues. So, cleaning the garbage out of the custom words can, under some circumstances, fix the problem. Nevertheless, it's not a number of words in the Active Vocabulary it's the collection of words themselves in the custom vocabulary and whether or not any of those interfere with the correct recognition of other words. A very rough example would be something like setting the "Automatically add words to the vocabulary" to on (enabled) might result in adding "katt" to the vocabulary from someone's e-mail address (i.e., someone's name). However, because it's lowercase and because it has the same underlying pronunciation as "cat", this can result in a user every time that they dictate the word "cat" they end up getting the word "katt". An additional consequence may be that there is no adequate reference in the Language Model relative to what contexts are appropriate for "katt". If the word were capitalized (Katt) the consequent behavior relative to DNS recognition might be different. Now, before someone drives a nail into my heart based on this explanation, it's just an example for an analogy and reference. Nevertheless, it's that type of thing that can lead over a short period or along period to gradual accuracy degradation. So, view it as a concept or construct in terms of how accuracy degradation can build, not as an absolute. In other words, it's just an analogy.

As far as performance and speed are concerned, many of the problems that users experience in this regard are related to how well Windows is performing. For example, you can add RAM to your system to bring it up to 4 GB from let's say 1 GB and you notice an immediate improvement in the performance of DNS. Is it because DNS makes more effective use of the RAM or needs more ram, NO. It's because the performance of Windows is improved by adding more RAM, and as goes Windows, so goes DNS. If Windows slows down or starch performing in bizarre ways, then DNS will do the same or respond similarly.

The problem that Andrew is experiencing is not uncommon with regard to DNS 9-9.5. DNS 10-10.1 does not do this to the extent that it occurs in DNS 9.0-9.5. One of the reasons for this is that DNS 10-10.1 gets completely away from using supported processes (CPU) that aggravate latency issues. It also has a number of other performance tweaks that reduce the propensity for both degradation and corruption.

Lastly, a user profile that is used over a very long period of time can become "OLD". Seems like an odd thing to say, but what that basically means is that the user profile can become bloated with acoustic and language model information that simply begins to degrade the overall performance of that user. If you're using one of the Professional versions, you can resolve this issue relatively easy if you consistently export your "vocabulary" using the "Manage Vocabularies" feature. This preserves your current vocabulary (functional) such that when you create a new user you don't lose anything in terms of training, custom words, or properties settings. In addition, there are settings in the DNS Options dialog that can load your user profile over time by adding huge amounts of dra files (Options | Data tab | Advanced button | Always preserve wave data). These are stored in your user profile in the\voice_container\drafiles folder. Normally running the Acoustic and Language Model Optimizer reduces the number of files stored in this folder. However, not everything is eliminated and if you don't regularly run the Acoustic and Language Model Optimizer, you can end up with upwards of 15 or 20 GB of dra files. If you don't want to store the dra files or if you don't want to use the "Always preserve wave data", then you can enable the option "Conserve disk space required by user files (for portability)." This will tend to reduce the overall size of your user profile and can improve performance. There are any number of other options that you can elect or disable that can improve user performance. However, creating a new user will, unfortunately, always be the best way to return DNS to its original level of performance. Equally unfortunately that's not always a viable solution. However, there are ways of creating new users in such a way that you do not lose anything except the excessive bloat that can build up over time.

I hope that everyone finds this useful information. Unfortunately, this whole topic really requires an entire book and I've only provided you with two thirds of one.

Chuck Runquist
GEMCCON - The Choice of Intelligence
Speech Recognition Consulting and Training

It is of interest to note that while some dolphins are reported to have learned English -- up to fifty words used in correct context -- no human being has been reported to have learned dolphinese. - Carl Sagan (1934 - 1996)