SECTION 7.0 AUTOKEY

This is the documentation file for Flipper's AUTOKEY
mode.

What is AUTOKEY?

AUTOKEY is a special Flipper function which allows it to
be programmed by keyboard macro programs like
NEWKEY.  You can purchase NEWKEY from:

FAB Software
P.O. Box 336
Wayland, MA 01778

for $45.  Other keyboard programs may also be used to
program Flipper, but NEWKEY is highly recommended
because of the organization of its screen presentation for a
blind user, and its price.  It has also been highly
recommended in reviews for sighted persons.

Caution:

You should be very familiar with the ordinary operation of
Flipper and your other software before attempting to use
AUTOKEY mode.

Flipper is designed to "steal" control of the keyboard away
from any other program, only returning control when it is
done with each keystroke.  This makes Flipper compatible
with a wide range of software which would otherwise not be
usable.  For example, you can always use Flipper to access
memory resident software, no matter which order it is
loaded in.  This means that you can use Flipper in the
ordinary way to access keyboard macro programs.  However,
since Flipper ordinarily only cares about what actually is
typed at the keyboard, it will ignore whatever fake
keystrokes are generated by the macro program. 
AUTOKEY is a special review mode which responds to these
fake keystrokes. Using Flipper in the ordinary way, you can
then program macro sequences using a separately purchased
keyboard macro program, and access Flipper within those
macros by using the AUTOKEY mode.  This allows you to
both program and use macros without rebooting, or even
leaving your application program.  The macros  you write
can control the application program as well as Flipper, so
you can write powerful macros which combine some action
in the application program with Flipper reading something.

How to use AUTOKEY:

To make AUTOKEY available, you must put a capital A on
the command line that starts Flipper in your autoexec file. 
You must load a keyboard macro program (which you have
purchased separately) before Flipper (putting the command
line for the macro program before Flipper's in the autoexec
file).  Repeat; the macro program must be loaded before
Flipper.

After you have done this and rebooted, Flipper will have
one additional command at the input level.  That command
is alt "A", which starts the AUTOKEY mode.  AUTOKEY
mode is like the review mode, with only a few exceptions. 
You would, in general, only use AUTOKEY mode when you
are programming a macro key sequence, and of course, it
would be used when the macro is played back. Remember,
only AUTOKEY is available within a keyboard macro, you
can not program the quick keys.  The quick keys can be
used to read the screen during macro programming,
however, so you can tell where you are without messing up
the macro.  Anything that you can do with the quick keys can be
done with the AUTOKEY mode, and played back in a macro.  Note
that some keyboard macro programs, including NEWKEY, use alt
"equal" and alt "underscore" for their own commands.  You can
change those sequences, or you can bypass them each time you use
them.

What are the differences between AUTOKEY mode and
review mode?

AUTOKEY mode must be left by using the "escape" key. 
The alt "space bar" can not be programmed into a macro. 
There is no help mode available from within AUTOKEY
mode.

What else do I need to know before using AUTOKEY?

AUTOKEY runs in two ways, interactive, and silent.  You
tell Flipper which you want by using the option key alt
control function key one.  When it is in interactive mode,
which you would normally use to write macros, it tells you
all the same things that you hear in the review mode, always
reading the line or word that you are jumping to, for
example.  If AUTOKEY is silent, it only reads what you
specifically ask it to, for example, it won't tell you to enter
a search pattern, or read a line that you jump to using the
rapid motion commands (shifted or preceded by a number). 
This allows you to write macros in which only what you want
to be read is read.


You can select Flipper options from within an AUTOKEY
sequence, define and read blocks, speak the time of day, and
so on.  You should refer to your keyboard macro program
for more advanced use of its features, and the steps needed
to save your macros for later use.

If you want to send something directly to the synthesizer, for
example to prompt the user or configure it in some special
way, you can use the quote command.  After you press the
"quote" key, all subsequent ASCII keystrokes are sent directly
to the synthesizer.  Direct output to the synthesizer is ended
by any non-ASCII key, such as the "end" key.

You can set any of the toggle options to a specific state
(rather than toggling them), by using a number before the
toggle. "1" chooses state 1, and "2" chooses state 2.

Another feature of Flipper which is important during
AUTOKEY mode is the ability to use c or x in response to
a request for a row or column number.  This allows you to
set a block, for example, based on where you were after a
search.

Note that you can enter a search pattern without
immediately searching forward for it by using shift "S".

You can silence the synthesizer from a macro by using the
spacebar in AUTOKEY mode.  This allows you, for example,
to silence the echo from the keystroke used to start the
macro.
