AppleScripts for Macspeech Dictate

Question

OK I’m a major rookie ... But I have MacSpeech dictate and it is lacking any real commands (compared to Dragon 10, it just *****) but I hate using a pc ... So there are no commands available for MS word but in Dictate I can create them using applescript ... Now I managed to create a voice command to open the print window and even one to “press cancel” but I had found a script for that function in another app ... And it had a key code.
tell application "MacSpeech Dictate Medical"
tell process _currentAppName
try
key code 53
end try
end tell
end tell
This actually worked .... I said “press cancel” and it canceled the print window!!! I’m getting somewhere! I would assume that the script would be similar but with a different key code to press the print button ... But I have not found anything that I could copy or even a list of key codes ...
Is there documentation that lists all of the key codes?
Hope you can help
Thanks, Rick

Answer 1

Before you build everything with custom commands, make sure you've looked at what's built into MacSpeech Dictate. The "Global" commands in MacSpeech Dictate will work with any application, including Microsoft Word. These won't do everything you want, but many of them are useful. For example, when you speak "Save This Document" it does the equivalent of Cmd-S on a keyboard. At the very least, many of the pre-configured commands are useful examples (which it looks like you're already using).
Here are some other things to try:
You can also say "Press OK" for the default button (highlighted in blue, for examples "Print") and "Press Cancel" for a "Cancel" button.
For keyboard entry you can say something like "Press The Key Delete" (presses the 'delete' key) or "Press The Key Combo Command Shift Option V" (presses keyboard combo Cmd-Shift-Opt-V, which is 'Paste and Match Style' in some apps). You get the idea from these examples.
Finally, just as you are already doing, you can build and customize your own Voice commands fairly easily. Open up the "Commands" Editor (Tools > Commands). Look through the commands that are pre-configured in MacSpeech Dictate. You'll see examples of commands built with the different methods that Dictate supports. The main ones are:
*Menu Item* - no coding necessary--just pick from a pull-down menu that shows the application's menus and menu items.
AppleScript - duplicate existing AppleScript-based commands and change them for you needs. (If you really get into AppleScript, you can use the Script Editor to open applications and look at their AppleScript dictionaries.)
*Text Macro* - inserts a block of pre-configured text, such as an email signature, or form letter.
You can also make Commands that run Automator workflows, open Applications by name, open Bookmarks by name, open Files or Folders.
Give your spoken commands names that are 3 to 5 words long. Best practice is probably 3 or 4 words long, a combo of simple/unique/memorable words. For example, "Print This Document" or "Print Window Open" or "Print For Me Baby". If you want to call the spoken command "Beam Up My Print Job" and launch an AppleScript that plays a teleporter sound, be my guest...but at that point you probably don't need much help anymore.
The end result is that you can control Mac applications, with custom spoken commands.
twitter.com/macspeech