The punc parameters

[pj at pjb.com.au]

I wrote:
> There are five punctuation-related parameters at the speakup level:
> and one at the synth level:
> What do they mean, and how do they interact ?
> For example: punc_all, punc_most and punc_some
> obviously define various different sets of punctuation characters;
> but then punc_level is set not to "all" or "most" or "some",
> but to a number.  Does that number refer to all, most, or some ?

By experiment, I've made some progress on this:

  SPEAKUP PARAMETERS
  The parameters key_echo and no_interrupt are boolean: 0 or 1.

  The important silent parameter is a bitmap, but its bits are not well
  documented; it is known that 7 means silent and 4 restores speech.

  The punc_some, punc_most and punc_all parameters are strings containing
  lists of punctuation characters.  The reading_punc parameter can then
  be set to 0, 1, 2 or 3 in order to select which punctuation characters
  are pronounced when reading (for example with Keypad-8), and the
  punc_level parameter can be set likewise to select which punctuation
  characters are pronounced when the computer writes them to the screen.
  1 selects punc_some, 2 selects punc_most, 3 selects punc_all, and 0
  supresses pronounciation of any punctuation.  For reading prose, you'll
  probably prefer 1, and for a programming languange probably 3.

  The speakup parameter synth is a string, which must exist
  as a subdirectory of the speakup parameter directory.

  The parameter synth_direct is not a parameter, it is a direct input to
  the synthesiser; use this if your application needs to say something.
  The synth_direct input bypasses speakup, and works even if
  the silent parameter is set to 7.  It seems to use punc_some,
  regardless of the settings of punc_level or reading_punc.

  SYNTH PARAMETERS
  The punct and tone parameters may be  set to 0, 1 or 2.

  freq seems to control the expressiveness of the voice
  (the amount by which its frequency varies during speech), whereas
  pitch seems to adjust between a low voice and a high voice.

  The important vol, pitch, freq and rate parameters are 0 to 9,
  default 5.

See:  http://search.cpan.org/perldoc?Speech::Speakup

I haven't discovered any effect that the synth parameter
"punct" might have. For example, it doesn't seem to change
the punctuation level when using synth_direct,
nor when reading_punc and punc_level are both set to zero.

Regards,  Peter Billam

http://www.pjb.com.au      pj at pjb.com.au     (03) 6278 9410
"Follow the charge, not the particle."  --  Richard Feynman
 from The Theory of Positrons, Physical Review, 1949