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34 MacSpeech DictateChapter 6 — Controlling Your Mac
this if there is an application on your hard drive
stored outside the Applications folder that you
would like to open by voice.
• Bookmark: A Bookmark command opens a web
page when it is spoken.
• File or Folder: A File or Folder command will open
a File or Folder when it is spoken.
• Menu Item: Chooses an item from the designated
application’s various menus.
• Shell Script: You use this to run Shell Scripts by
voice. Shell Scripts are scripts created to run in
Mac OS X’s Terminal application.
• AutomatorWorkow:Thiscommandwillrunthe
referencedAutomatorWorkowwhenitsnameis
spoken.
Creating and Modifying Commands
Most commands are written in AppleScript, Apple’s
system-wide scripting language. An AppleScript tutorial
is beyond the scope of this manual. You can learn more
about how to write AppleScript from Apple’s web site, at
http://www.apple.com/applescript/ .
All the commands built-in to MacSpeech Dictate are open
source, which means their source code is available for you to
view, or copy and modify. Commands can be Automatically
or Manually Created. When you create or modify a com-
mand, MacSpeech Dictate automatically saves it for you, and
it appears in the Command list for the Command set in which
it was created.
Creating Commands Automatically
To create an Automatic command, follow these steps:
Turn off MacSpeech Dictate’s microphone.
1. Switch to MacSpeech Dictate by clicking the
MacSpeech Dictate icon in the Status window, or
using the Dock.
2. Choose “Commands…” from the Tools menu. The
Commands window opens (Figure 6-3). Individual
command sets are listed in the left sidebar. For
this example, we will create a new global com-
mand in the Global command set.
3. In the Commands window, select the command
set into which you want the command to be
stored from the “Context” menu.
4. Click the Plus Sign, or select “New Command”
from the File menu. A new command is created
and is ready to be edited, as shown in Figure 6-4.
Figure 6-4
5. Drag an existing AppleScriptle,bookmark,
textortextclipping,leorfolder,orAutomator
Workowintotheeditingareaforthenew
command.
When creating a bookmark command, you can
dragtheaddressfromtheaddresseldinmost
browsers directly into the Automatic area of
MacSpeech Dictate’s command window.
6. A suggested name will be entered in the Command
Name Field. Leave it as is or enter a new name.
TIP:
If you are creating your own commands, you will
need to give them unique names that are speakable.
Command names should be two or more words and
composed of words only -- i.e. do not use abbrevia-
tions, numerals or punctuation.