10.0

Select-and-Say™, non-standard windows, and the Dictation Box

Commands such as ‘correct <xyz>’ and ‘insert after <xyz>’, which quote from the active text field work

thanks to a Dragon functionality called Select-and-Say. This functionality requires the text field to let Dragon

be aware of its content—such as where words (and sentences) begin and end, so that Dragon can automatically

apply spacing between words, and capitalization at the beginning of sentences...

Many popular applications build most (if not all) of their text fields in a standard way, and as a result Dragon is

always aware of the text content. However, you may sometimes encounter a text field from which Dragon

cannot constantly get information—and therefore cannot always apply its normal capabilities. You may not

notice anything if you just dictate, but if you take actions like correcting or inserting text within a sentence,

Dragon may not be able to execute its <xyz> commands and to apply spacing as it usually does.

When the insertion point is in such an area, the DragonBar displays the message “Dictating in a non-standard

window” and its Select-and-Say indicator (a large bright green dot on the DragonBar next to the

NaturallySpeaking menu) will turn grey.

Even in “non-standard windows”, one can use Dragon efficiently, knowing the following:

1. Many users, if dictating short entries, just apply what does work everywhere: they dictate normally, and, if

necessary, say ‘spacebar’ or press the spacebar, say ‘Cap’ to force capitalization, say ‘move

<left|right|up|down>’ commands or reposition the insertion point by hand, etc.

2. You can use Dragon’s Dictation Box,

an intermediary in which you can

create, modify, and correct text as

usual; you can even use boilerplate

custom commands to paste text.

When the text is ready, just say or

click the T

ransfer button: Dragon

closes the Dictation Box and transfers

your text to where you had the

insertion point.

To open the Dictation Box, you can:

• Say a command such as ‘Open

Dictation Box’

• Use the DragonBar’s Tools menu

• Use its hot key: Ctrl+Shift+d

There is a lot of flexibility around the Dictation Box. In addition to changing its hot key in the Options

dialog, you can:

• Give its command one or more alternate names (from the Command Browser: to find the command,

you can filter for the word box in the Context “Global Commands.”)

• Modify its appearance and behavior, via its S

ettings button: default font size, positioning (anchored, or

near the cursor), whether it shows how many characters it contains…