1.5

Table Of Contents

117WindowsMacSpeech Dictate 1.5

dragtext,MacSpeechDictatechoosestheTextMacrotypeandcopiesthe

textintotheTexteld;if youdragamiscellaneousleorfolder,MacSpeech

DictateswitchestotheFileorFoldertypeandpointstothedraggeditem;and

soforth.

imPLementation.If animplementationwasnotautomaticallyprovidedby

thepreviousstep,provideanimplementationforyourcommand.

Providingacommandimplementationisgenerallystraightforward,becausethe

useof acommandtypeimpliesthatyoualreadyunderstandthatcommandtype.

Forexample,aShellScriptimplementationrequiresaknowledgeof shellscripts.

TheAppleScriptcommandtypeisthemostexible,andthereforethemostin-

volved.TeachingyouAppleScriptisbeyondtherangeof thismanual(youcan

learnthelanguagefromanyof anumberof books,suchasAppleScript: The Deni-

tive Guide,publishedbyO’ReillyMedia).Youcanstudythebuilt-inAppleScript

commandstogetanideaof howtheyareimplemented.ExceptforGlobalcom-

mandsdirectedatMacSpeechDictateitself,thebuilt-incommandstendnotto

talkAppleScriptatanapplication,evenwhenitisscriptable;rather,theyuseGUI

scripting,bywayof SystemEvents,tomanipulatethetargetapplication’sinter-

face.Wheneverpossible,theMenuItemtypeisthepreferredapproach.This,

however,shouldnotdiscourageyoufromwritingyourowncommandsthatdotake

advantageof thetargetapplication’sscriptability.

Asaconvenience,MacSpeechDictateletsyoueasilycreateanAppleScriptcom-

mandthatissuesmodier-keystrokecombination.(Forexample,youmightcre-

ateaLogOutThisUsercommandthattypesShift-Command-Q.)SettheType

toAppleScript,click“Clicktorecordshortcut”,andtypethemodier-keystroke

combination.ThescriptwillbeautomaticallycreatedintheSourceeld.

Ingeneral,themoreyouarmMacSpeechDictatewitharepertoryof user-dened

commandscorrespondingtoyourfrequentlyexecutedtasks,themoreusefulMac-

SpeechDictatewillbeasaspeech-drivenassistant.