Anyone using a keyboard macro/text expansion program with Dragon? Compatibility?
Submitted by snsok on Tue, 02/09/2010 - 14:40.
There was a short discussion about this a few years ago.
Is anyone successfully using a keyboard text expansion/macro program such as ActiveWords or Macro Express? I have been using ActiveWords but it seems to bog down when it's active at the same time as Dragon and I get occasional freezes. There are many of these programs out there. I tried Macro Express a few years ago but it didn't work with a previous version of Dragon.
(currently DNS 10.1 Medical, ThinkPad T60 w 3 GB RAM andWin XP SP3)
Stan
I vaguely remember that
I vaguely remember that discussion, as well as my skepticism that that kind of program and DNS could work together. Actually, my skepticism is not so much about the apparent technical incompatibilities you've come across as the cognitive load for the user when the keyboard expander intercepts keyboard strokes from DNS and acts on them. However, I wonder if I'm confused because SFAIK MacroExpress is in fact a macro program rather than a keyboard expander -- that is, it scans the keyboard input for a specific key combination that is unlikely to be generated in normal text and substitutes or runs the script you've written rather than the key combination itself. As I understand it a keyboard expander monitors the text that you are typing and then guesses the word you intend to type, but maybe I'm wrong about that too.
Bruce
PS: Okay ActiveWords is apparently a keyboard macro program on steroids rather than a keyboard expander as I defined it. It seems to be both powerful and complex.
I've used AutoHotkey
I've used AutoHotkey successfully with Dragon. I only use it currently for triggering actions that Dragon can't perform easily.
Caveat: AutoHotkey doesn't see Dragon dictation or normal Vocola keystrokes, only keystrokes sent via SendSystemKeys. Also, the active window is not what you expect because of the Dragon results window (this can be countered via AutoHotkey scripting).
Thanks for the replies. I
Thanks for the replies. I tried AutoHotKey a while back. I guess I should go dust it off. ActiveWords is both powerful and versatile because you can go from simpele (expand abbreviations) to complicated (scripting commands as in DNS). I am not clear mdl means about the window not being the one I expect, but I do expect I will find that out quickly.
AutoHotkey has a notion of
AutoHotkey has a notion of the "active window". If you send keys, they go to the active window. Unfortunately, when using Dragon, the active window is the results box, not the application you think you are using, so SendKeys doesn't work. Some black magic is required to first activate the actual application in order to make SendKeys work.
Look Out for ActiveWord Demo!!!
Look out for the ActiveWord demo link I posted. I can't get rid of that link now -- every time I open Firefox that demo is pulled up. I've tried clearing all traces of where I've been today and the damn thing won't go away -- I'll figure out how to expel it eventually, but in the meantime I consider it a virtual viral site. Hope anyone who picked this infection up from my link will forgive me
Bruce
I use a very old version of
I use a very old version of macro express (2.1E) with the latest DNS preferred. I have about six keyboard macros I use all the time that work fine. They are all for Microsoft Word 2003 which is basically the only thing I dictate into.
Mitch
Thanks. I wound up using
Thanks.
I wound up using AutoHotKey. It plays nicely with Dragon and takes up very little memory. There are many available scripts, including one that automatically creates a new autohotkey text expansion shortcut from any highlighted text. It's a nice companion to Dragon's voice shortcuts.