SECTION TEN
THE VE CURSOR

10.1:  INTRODUCTION

You have already learned the power of Vocal-Eyes' review mode.  Once
you enter review mode, your underlying applications program is
suspended while you review the screen or make certain settings.  Once
you exit review mode, your applications program is resumed exactly
where you left it.  You have no fear of disturbing your applications
program while in review mode.  We have added an additional means of
reviewing your screen.  This method is known as the VE cursor.

10.2:  VE CURSOR VERSUS REVIEW MODE

The VE cursor allows you to review the screen without suspending your
underlying applications program.  Also, if you press a keystroke which is
not a VE cursor command, it will be passed directly to your applications
program.  This means you do not have to exit review mode once you find
what you are looking for.

Which approach is better?  Since Vocal-Eyes contains both approaches,
we obviously believe both methods have their advantages and
disadvantages.  In other words, Vocal-Eyes once again, gives you the
best of both worlds.

This manual will not go into a comparison of both types.  However, the
remainder of this section is dedicated to the VE cursor.

10.3:  THE VE CURSOR

As we said before, review mode itself will shut down the underlying
applications program while you review the screen or setup windows, etc. 
While in review mode, you have no fear of affecting the underlying
applications program.  Once you exit review, the applications program will
be exactly were it was when you left it.

The VE cursor, on the other hand, is an interactive review.  This means
you can review the screen like review mode but the underlying application
is still running.  If you type a keystroke which is not a VE command,
Vocal-Eyes will allow the keystroke to pass to the applications program. 
You can control the VE cursor through the numeric keypad.  All with one
hand.  If the VE cursor is enabled, the numeric keypad is dedicated to VE
cursor commands.  If you disable the VE cursor, the underlying
applications program can use the numeric keypad.

You may have noticed option 53: VE cursor in the hot keys menu.  This is
the keystroke to toggle the numeric keypad from the VE cursor to the
applications program.  The default for this hot key is the gray dash on the
numeric keypad.  Feel free to change this to whatever keystroke you
wish.  If you press the VE Cursor hot key (gray dash by default) Vocal-
Eyes will toggle between the VE cursor and the applications cursor.  Once
the VE cursor is enabled, the numeric keypad can be used to review the
screen as long as the numlock is disabled.  If the numlock is on, the
application program will receive the keystrokes.  Only if the VE cursor is
active and the numlock is off will the VE cursor keys respond.  If you
have a 101-key keyboard, the dedicated cursor pad (inverted T) and "six-
pack" (INSERT, HOME, PgUp, PgDn, DELETE, and END) will never be
affected by the VE cursor.  Your applications program will always have
control of these keys regardless of the VE cursor state.

When you enter the standard review mode, the review cursor is located at
the same point as the applications cursor.  When you first activate the VE
cursor, the VE cursor position will be at the top left of the screen.  From
that point on, the VE cursor will be at the point it was last.  This position
is even saved with the .SET file.  If you find a location you always want
the VE cursor to start at, simply move the VE cursor to that position and
save the .SET file to disk.  Now when you load the .SET file back from
disk, the VE cursor will default to your new location.

Unlike the review cursor, the VE cursor is not visible on the screen.  Since
the VE cursor is interactive, a large cursor cannot be displayed on the
screen as this might interfere with the underlying application.

The VE cursor can be used anytime during your session with Vocal-Eyes. 
You can use it while in review mode, in the voice control panel, or in the
help screens.  The VE cursor may be especially helpful if you wish to
review the help screens a line, word or even character at a time instead of
the standard screenful.

Using the VE cursor while in review mode means you actually are tracking
three different areas on the screen.  You have the applications cursor
position, the standard review cursor position, and the VE cursor position. 
Although this would rarely happen, Vocal-Eyes gives you the opportunity
for those occasions.

10.4:  VE CURSOR COMMANDS

As we said, in order to use the VE cursor, you must first enable it by
pressing the VE cursor hot key.  By default this is the gray dash located
on the numeric keypad.  This key will toggle between the applications
cursor and the VE cursor.  Press this hot key to activate the VE cursor.

Now, make sure the numlock key is off.  If numlock is on, the numeric
keypad can be used as normal with the applications program even with
the VE cursor active.  Assuming you have the VE cursor active and the
numlock off, press the down arrow key, which is also labeled the number
two.  Keep pressing this key.  Notice Vocal-Eyes is reading the screen
from the top down.  Remember, the first time you enable the VE cursor it
will start at the top left of the screen.

If you press any of the standard hot keys such as read current word or
line, Vocal-Eyes will read relative to the applications cursor.  Keeping this
distinction allows for less confusion.  With the VE cursor active, you
effectively have two points on the screen you can read very quickly.  For
example, the standard hot keys are relative to the applications cursor and
the numeric keypad is relative to the VE cursor position.  Before we
continue further, lets discuss the first set of VE cursor commands. 
Remember, these are only active if the VE cursor is active and the
numlock is off.  Also, remember the VE cursor commands are relative to
the full screen regardless of the currently selected window coordinates.

- 7 or HOME will move the VE cursor to column 1 of the current line.

- 1 or END will move the VE cursor to the first space after the last
printable character on the current line, i.e. the end of the line.

- 8 or UP arrow will move the VE cursor to the previous line and read it. 
If you prefer to speak the new character or word instead, you can use the
"V" command in review mode to setup your choice.  The VE cursor also
follows this setting.

- 2 or DOWN arrow will move the VE cursor to the next line and read it. 
As for the up arrow, you can use the "V" command in review mode to
change this to read the new character or word instead.

- 9 or PgUp will move the cursor to the top left of the screen.

- 3 or PgDn will move the cursor to the first column of the last line.

- 4 or LEFT arrow will move the cursor left and read the character.

- 6 or RIGHT arrow will move the cursor right and read the character.

- 5 or CENTER key will read the character currently under the VE cursor. 
If pressed a second time, the character will be pronounced phonetically.

- Period or DELETE will speak the current VE cursor position.

- Gray plus key will route the application cursor position to the VE cursor
position.  The routing technique used here is just like the technique used
in review mode.  If the application program supports the four arrow keys
and will allow you to move the application cursor to the position of the VE
cursor, Vocal-Eyes should have no problem routing the cursor.  Just like
routing the review cursor, you may have to adjust the route delay value
using option 17 in the general menu.

Notice how these keys are laid out on the keypad.  This should help you
remember what each key does.

All of these commands are nice, but there are even more.  We have setup
the 0 or insert key as a sort of shift key.  If you hold this key down and
press any of the keys just described, you will get new results.  The
following list describes each of the keys again assuming you are holding
down the 0 or insert key.  This is a very handy key to press and hold
using your right thumb while pressing the desired key with your right
fingers.

- 7 or HOME will read the text from the beginning of the line up to the VE
cursor.

- 9 or PgUp will read the text from the VE cursor to the end of the line.

- 8 or UP arrow will read the current line.

- 4 or LEFT arrow will move the VE cursor left by word and read the
word.

- 6 or RIGHT arrow will move the VE cursor right by word and read the
word.

- 5 or CENTER key will speak the word currently under the VE cursor. 
Pressing it twice will spell it and three times will spell it phonetically.  As
always, while it is spelling, the speech rate will be lowered by a value of
two.

- 1 or END will read the first line of the screen

- 3 or PgDn will read the last line of the screen

- 2 or DOWN arrow will read everything from the VE cursor to the end of
the screen.

- period or DELETE will read the applications cursor position.

- Gray plus will route the VE cursor to the application cursor position.

While in VE cursor mode, you have access to the full screen.  You are not
limited by the current window coordinates.

10.5:  EXAMPLES OF THE VE CURSOR

With a few examples, the usefulness of the VE cursor may become clear.

Example 1:

Suppose you are downloading information via a modem and your
communications software.  What if you wanted to review the screen
during the downloading?  If you enter review mode, your download would
probably be aborted because the communications software would be
suspended.  But, if you activate the VE cursor, you can cursor around the
screen during the download without fear of interfering with the download. 
However, if you have the visual tracking enabled, even the VE cursor can
tie up the machine long enough to abort a download.  Because Vocal-Eyes
needs the total attention of the machine while highlighting each word, the
application program may be suspended for a short time.  Therefore, if you
want to use the VE cursor with programs that should not be suspended,
you may want to make sure the visual tracking is disabled which is the
default.

Example 2:

What if you have to locate something on the screen often but you don't
want to enter and exit review mode each time?  Once you find what you
are looking for, you want to continue on with your applications program. 
This would be a good case for using the VE cursor.  Simply move the VE
cursor to the point of interest.  With the VE cursor still active, you can
type to the applications program and use the standard hot keys to give
you information relative to the applications cursor.  You can also use the
numeric keypad to give you information relative to your VE cursor
position.  This means you can be looking at two totally different areas of
the screen at the same time as well as being able to directly communicate
with the applications program.
