After rushing to release version 1 of ExcelTalk I have taken a bit more time over version 2, producing something both easier to use and more powerful. The main changes are:
1) it now checks the Speech Manager is available, and that it is running on a Mac
Note: even if these checks fail, the sheet is still open and you could still call the speech routines from your own macros: if you do this expect Excel to bomb fairly drastically.
2) a 'SpeechBusy' call has been added
3) it now will work if the macro sheet is renamed
4) able to read out cells either synchronously or asynchronously
5) routines to read cell notes, any range, the selection or the whole sheet added
6) Useful commnads added to menu
7) a nice 'Auto_Open' routine to take care of this
8) Macros more like the quality of Microsoft's Macro Library
Notes on the routines in detail
Auto_Open
Checks for the availability of speech, adds commands to the 'Options' menu and announces itself
Speak(<String>)
Speaks the supplied string asynchronously using default voice of Apple's Speech Manager
Can_Speak()
Test for presence of Speech Manager: returns TRUE if the Speech Manager is present
Speech_Busy()
Check to see if Speech Manager still speaking: returns number of active voices (1 or 0, unless another app is talking)
Sync_Speech(<String>)
Like Speak, but does not return until has finished speaking
format_from_code(<Code>)
returns format of cell given code from CELL(,) call
Cell_Speak(<Ref>)
Reads cell specified by Ref asynchronously
Sync_Cell_Speak(<Ref>)
Reads cell specified by Ref synchronously
Speak_Cell()
Reads current cell ("Read Cell" in menu)
Speak_Range(<Ref>)
Reads cells in range given by Ref, cell by cell
Speak_Selection()
Reads cells of current selection("Read Selection" in menu)
Sheet_Speak()
Selects whole sheet then reads it cell by cell ("Read Sheet" in menu)
Speak_Note()
Reads text of note for current cell (if any) ("Read Note" in menu)
all the above can be used in your own Macros: you will find them under 'User Defined' in the 'Paste Function' dialog. Or just use the menu commands to impress Windows users of Excel.
I have not tested this with Excel 3, and have no idea whether anything I have used requires it. Obviously it requires the Speech Manager (aka MacInTalk II) and whatever version of the system that requires (6.0.6 I think).
This is about as far as I think I will go with this. I could try adding control over the voice and aspects of it, but that would mean a lot more messy C coding, which I don't have much time for right now. Still, if I get enough e-mail and postcards for my effort I might re-consider.
This is free, and can be given away or uploaded anywhere as long as the documentation is included. The only exception is commercial shareware/freeware collection, e.g. CD-ROMs: please contact me for distributrion on these.
Any feed back is appreciated: let me know of any problems you have. I would also like to hear from anyone that finds a practical use for my code; I can't think of any real use for it. If anyone wants copies of the source code, again just send me some mail.
