Contents
 PAM - A Personal Assistant & Appointment Manager

Version 2B

If you can remember the computer HAL from "2001", then you can appreciate that PAM is the first step toward that type of application. PAM uses a sophisticated speech synthesizer to communicate in a natural way with you. It will work invisibly in the background while you are in another application. It can function like a simple PIM, an alarm clock, a reminder program, a file/text reader, a time manager, and a background music player.

PAM's HOT KEYS:

"Pause" - activate PAM's main window.

"Shift+Pause" - speak any text on the Window's(tm) clipboard.

"Alt+Pause" - speak the time and list any pending appointments.

These keys should work from any Window's(tm) application, but  if you run into a conflict, you will have to change the hot key in the other application, as PAM's hot keys are not modifiable.

While PAM is reading text:

       "P" pauses the reading for 10 seconds.

       "Q" or "Pause" - Aborts the reading.

While the main window is active:

       "X" key - Closes PAM and returns to Windows.

       "F1" - get this help screen.

CONTENTS:

Main PAM Window

Appointment Window

Note Entry Window

Keyboard Interface

Full Verbal Interface

Configuration Window

Other Features


 PAM's Main Window

The Main window displays a block of your appointments beginning at the current hour. This display is configured for the time intervals selected in the configuration window.

Buttons:

"View/Edit/Add Appointments" - for entering appointments - see the help topic "Appointment Window"

"View/Edit/Add Notes" - for entering notes and messages - see the help topic "Note Entry Window"

"Run Appl./Read File" - This button will allow you to run other  applications from within PAM, or to read a text file without using Drag and Drop. You can also run another application at a preset time unattended, see the "Other Features" help topic.

"Date Buttons" - Controls the data shown in the Appointments and Note displays. This means that the appointments shown are for the date shown on this button and not necessarily the date shown on the window title line. After you enter appointments or notes for a date other than the current date, you should return the date button to the current date. Double arrows change the date back or forward one month. Single arrows change the date back or forward one day.

If you click on the button that shows the date, PAM will run a freeware program called POPCAL.EXE which displays a calendar.

"File Manager" - This button runs the Windows(tm) File Manager Program. It first reduces PAM to an icon, and makes it a topmost icon which means it is displayed over all other windows. This makes it convenient to drag and drop files onto the PAM icon for reading text,  playing MIDI music files or playing sound clips (WAVE files). Of course, you can still do any other functions you would normally do in File Manager if you wish.

After you are finished with the File Manager, you should press the Pause key to activate PAM's  main window again.

"Train PAM" - This button runs the trainer utility, which is a utility for PAM that allows you to improve the way PAM speaks a word. This training can become quite detailed using phonetic symbols if you wish.

"Configure PAM" - for configuring PAM, see the help topic "Configuration WIndow".

"REGISTER PAM" - this button displays the screen used to enter the  password that will register PAM. This in turn will allow PAM to run after 30 days, and eliminate the reminder message on startup. To get the  password and register, print, complete, and mail the file "REGISTER.TXT", or send an EMail note to: tslemko@islandnet.com and include your Visa card number, Visa card expiry date, your name, and your EMail address, and don't forget to include the Serial Number of your copy of PAM.

"Hide PAM" - this button only shows when you have registered. Clicking on it will completely hide PAM including the icon. That way when PAM's message are read, the icon will not show temporarily as it will prior to registering.

"System" - this button will cause PAM to check the system and report on Percentage of User Resources Available, total Windows(tm)  system memory available, and the names of all programs currently running in Windows(tm).

"Phone" - this button displays a selection box of clients/friends and their phone numbers. You can select any entry by double clicking on it, or clicking on the SELECT button when the item is highlighted. PAM will speak the phone number associated with the selection, and load  this number onto the Clipboard. If you have ClipDial running, you can then dial the number by pressing Ctrl+Shift+P.

The phone database file is PHONE.LST. This is a plain text file that you must create and maintain yourself in PAM's directory.   The required format is a name followed by a comma, then the phone number. One client per line. The list is not sorted and it will display 15 names at once, so you could create the file with the 15 most commonly phoned clients first, and then list the rest alphabetically. It is up to you as to how you organize the file.


PAM's Appointment Window
 Adding/Editing Appointments

The Add/Edit Appointments window is the main editing window for PAM. The date and time default to the current date and the time that was highlighted on the main window appointment list.  You can change either of these by clicking on the arrow buttons.  Time segments are controlled by the Time Interval variable that is set on the configuration window.

The editing fields are self explanatory.  You would normally enter the name of the person with whom you have an appointment or the name of the group you are meeting with, but if you want PAM to speak the  daily notes at a particular time of the day, enter "Note" in the name field and click on the Save button.

To have PAM automatically read a file at a particular time, select the correct time slot from the main window, go to Add/Edit appointments, and enter "READ:filename" where filename is the text file including path that you want read, in the 'Name' field. If you want PAM to automatically run another application at a particular time, enter "RUN:filename" for the correct time slot, and PAM will launch the application at that time. In both cases, don't put in any blanks in the path or filename, even at the beginning. DON'T FORGET the colon after "RUN or READ"

None of the fields are saved until you click on the Save button. To delete an appointment, simply blank out the name field and click on Save.

The Alarm section is a little different.  It doesn't matter if a particular appointment is displayed, but you would usually use this feature to manage a particular appointment by having PAM make a verbal announcement at a preset time interval.  You may select a time of 20 minutes and then put in a message that sounds like PAM's regular appointment alarm message, such as "Remember (yourname), you have an appointment in 15 minutes". Then as the person or persons arrive for the appointment you can click on the From Now button, and 20 minutes later PAM will make the announcement, which will be heard by all those present. You could also use this feature to remind yourself about a point you want to raise at the meeting/appointment. The message might be "Remember to ask John about the new widgets he is selling.". This alarm is set from the time you click on the button, and it doesn't matter if an active appointment is displayed, and you don't need to click on the Save button to activate this alarm.

You can have some fun with PAM using the time's up message. You could enter a message like: "Don't forget to mention to Harry that you liked his new car. . your welcome, boss.". The periods separated by spaces, will cause PAM to pause (more periods=longer pause). You could then say something like "Thanks PAM" during the pause.  Other people present will think you are having a conversation with PAM. Of course, this could be done with any of PAM's messages or reminders.

The Report button causes PAM to print out a report showing all appointments for the month shown in the date field.


PAM's Notes Window
 Adding/Editing Notes/Reminders

The daily notes are read by PAM at startup if you have selected this option in the configuration window. The daily notes are also read at selected appointment times if you have entered "Note" in the name field for an appointment. When PAM is scanning it's data once per minute, and the word "Note" is found in an appointment name field for that time, PAM will read the daily notes out loud. You could do this several times a day if you wanted to hear the daily notes more than once. And, of course, you can change the daily notes throughout the day. Only one note alarm can be set at one time.

The closing messages/reminders are read by PAM when you close PAM or close Windows(tm).  PAM will hault the closing procedures, read the reminder to you, then allow Windows(tm) to continue closing.  Use this feature to put in reminders for something you want to do after work, or later in the day.

To enter notes/messages for another day, simply click on the arrows on both sides of the date field.  Single arrows move the date one day at a time, and double arrows move it one month at a time. Enter your notes and select click on the Save button

Messages of both types are only stored for use if you click on the  Save button.


Using the Keyboard to run PAM
   Using the Keyboard

PAM is configured to use the keyboard as well as the mouse.  The keyboard interface is actually faster in most cases.  From the main window (and any other window if a text input field is not highlighted) you can click a button by simply pressing the key underlined on the button name. As an example, to run the trainer, simply press 'T'. The only exception is the Phone button which must be activated with Alt+P, to prevent conflicts with the Clip Dialer program, and the 'P' key is used to pause reading.

If you are in a secondary window (such as the appointments entry window), you must press the 'Alt' key and the letter  underlined at the same time, to click a button, otherwise PAM thinks you are entering text. The basic rule is when a button won't activate with a single keystroke, add the Alt key.

While in the configuration window, appointment entry window, or the note entry window, you can hear PAM speak the value in any input field by pressing Alt+F.

If you are visually challenged, you will probably want to use the keyboard interface and set the verbal interface On in the configuration window.

With the keyboard interface, you can activate the popup calendar by pressing 'D' in the main window.  To activate the date changing buttons, use the following keys:

Move date forward one day     - Right Arrow Key

Move date back one day        - Left Arrow Key

Move date forward one month   - PageDown Key

Move date back one month      - PageUp Key

Move time one timeslot forward- Down Arrow Key

Move time one timeslot back   - Up Arrow key


Using the Full Verbal Interface
   Using the Verbal Interface

PAM can be configured to respond verbally to most selections by setting  the Full Verbal Interface to On in the Configuration Window.  This setting will cause PAM to verbally tell you what action is taking place, and it will tell you what input field the cursor is on if you are entering text. If you press a key to activate a button, PAM will tell you what is happening. This feature is intended for use by visually challenged individuals

With the verbal interface, even more requests are made of the sound card, so it is important to not rush PAM.  Wait until PAM is finished talking to select the next action.  PAM will usually ignore action request while it is talking, but just in case, have patience!. If this interface is on and PAM does not say anything when you activate a button, it should mean that PAM is ignoring you because speech is in progress.  In this case, the action is not taken, and you will have to make the selection again.

PAM is not designed for a visually challenged user from scratch, so it should be installed by a sighted person, and the configuration windows should be set up by a sighted person, as they have no verbal interface. The trainer application also has no verbal interface, but there are only two input fields so a visually challenged person should be able to work everthing with the possible exception of phonetic text modifications.

Another program called "reader.exe", (Isn't that orginal!), is being developed and will be releases shortly. Look for it on my web page or ftp site.  It is designed for visually challenged people, and will read any text file. For information, send EMail to tslemko@islandnet.com.


PAM's Other Features
   PAM's Other Features/Options.

1.  File Reading

    Drag and Drop file reading:

Make sure that any file you drag and drop on PAM's icon is a *.WAV, *.MID, or text file. Any other type of binary file may cause a system crash.

From within the File Manager you may highlight and drag a text file and drop it on PAM's icon.  PAM will then read the file (maximum size 63K) out loud. You can interrupt this reading by pressing the Pause key  and bringing up PAM's main window.  If a file has an outrageously long sentence with no concluding period, the speech synthesizer may crash. And you will need to restart Windows. PAM will sometimes spell rather than  try to pronounce an uppercase word as it thinks it is an abbreviation.  If you have text where the author has used uppercase words to emphasize things, it may be difficult to follow PAM's reading of the text.

Another anomally I have found with the speech synthesizer is you must have a space after punctuation (such as a  period) for it to recognize it as punctuation, so there will be no pause in the phrase "the file name is readme.txt". Also, a capitalized word at the end of a sentence will fool PAM into thinking it is an abbreviation, and the period will be ignored with no pause. If you are composing text to be  spoken by PAM, don't bother with paragraphs, as they have no effect on PAM anyway. Insert multiple commas and spaces for lengthy pauses. You should also avoid the use of capitalized words.

    Other File reading:

To read a text file from within PAM without calling up File Manager, just click on the Read File/Run Appl. button in the main window, and enter the file name to read. Include the path if the file is not in the current directory or not in the DOS Path. If you don't know the file name, press enter or click on Read with a blank file name, and PAM will display a file selection dialog box.  Make sure you only select a text file.

The second input field is for entering the name of an application that you wish to run from within PAM immediately.

When reading files or reading long text passages from the clipboard, you can abort the reading by pressing the 'Pause' key.

2. Drag and Drop *.WAV file playing or *.MID file playing.

From the File Manager you can select from one to ten WAVE files or MIDI  files and drag & drop them on PAM's icon. PAM will then play these files in the background.  You can halt this playing sequence by pressing Shift+Pause or Alt+Pause. This allows you to set up a sequence of background music by selecting a series of MIDI files. The volume will have to be  controlled by the speaker volume controls, or from the sound card's control panel.  You can lower the volume of the MIDI section of your sound card without lowering the volume of the part that PAM uses. PAM will speak right over MIDI file playing unless you press the hot keys mentioned. The MIDI files that came with my Sound Blaster(tm) software makes a nice easy listening background, and there are many more MIDI files available on the Internet.

3. Reading Clipboard Text:

From any application that contains an edit window or field, you can highlight a section of text, press Ctrl+C to put it on the clipboard, and then press Shift+Pause to make PAM read this text from the clipboard. Some applications have an Edit menu item, and you can put the highlighted text on the clipboard by selecting Copy from this menu.

This feature may be useful for proof reading a letter you are composing, or reading a section of text from another document, while you continue doing whatever other chore you want. You could also use it to read a section of text to everyone present in your office.  As with other PAM verbalizations, PAM does the reading in the background, so you can continue with your work while it is reading.

Using this feature, you can virtually turn any other application into a talking application. You can have PAM speak cells in a spreadsheet,  or fields in a database, or text in a word processor. The only requirement is that the application must be a Windows(tm) application.

With Drap and Drop and clipboard reading you will notice a difference in the quality of speech if you have downloaded the high quality 16 bit Speech Font. With short sentences or single phrases, the lower quality 8 bit Speech Font included with the shareware version, does a pretty good job of speaking, but with larger sections of continuous text, the 16 bit voice is more understandable and clearer. This font is available from my  anonymous ftp site: ftp.islandnet.com in the /jts directory, and the file is called: font16.zip.  It is 2 megabytes, so it will take some time to download.

4. Other Text Reading Capabilities:

From any application that can act as a DDE Client, PAM can be initiated as a DDE Server.  This means that the other application can initiate a conversation with PAM by calling the server name: "PAM" and setting a topic of: "SPEAK". The application can then POKE a message to PAM, with a size limit of 510 bytes. PAM will pick up this broadcast message and speak it out loud. This is implemented asynchronously, so it should be possible to carry on with the other application while PAM is speaking the text.  Be wary of applications that also use the WAVE out device, as conflicts could develop in Windows.

5. Reading Your Pending Appointments:

From any application or window, you can press Alt+Pause to make PAM announce the current time, and then advise you of any appointments remaining for the day. PAM always displays or speaks appointments from the current time, so past appointments are not spoken. This message is also spoken in the background, so you can continue with your work.

6. Training PAM:

When you click on the Train PAM button, the trainer module is run.  This module lets you add words that PAM mispronounces into an exception dictionary that PAM will use.  You will probably have to add quite a few proper names. This dictionary ("PAM.DIC") is limited to 64K in size, so don't add words that PAM says reasonably well. Depending on the size of the words, you should be able to add an additional 1000 - 2000 words.

While in the trainer module, you can enter any word and hear how PAM pronounces it. (Use lower case words or mixed case words such as proper names, PAM treats upper case words differently.) You can then build a  sounds-like version of the word and test it until PAM says the sounds-like word correctly. The sounds-like word does not have to be spelled correctly, and does not even have to be one word. When you are satisfied, click on the  Insert Entry button to put it in the dictionary.  Click on  Save Changes to make the changes permanent. It may be necessary to restart PAM for the changes to take effect. If you enter a word that is already in the dictionary, or you double click on it in the list of words, the word plus a phonetic representation of the word on the sounds-like line will be displayed.  You can then modify the  phonetic representation of a word to fine-tune the pronunciation even more, using the phonemes and commands found in the file PHONETIC.TXT.

You can search for a word by entering it in the original word field, then click on the Find Entry button. To make more room in the dictionary, you may delete a word by clicking on Delete Entry. Once a word is in the dictionary, PAM will say the sounds-like word every time it encounters the original word in a text string. (Note: although PAM's dictionary word list is in upper case, the words are actually case sensitive, and should be entered in lower case mostly.)

7. Deleting Files:

Although PAM has no utility for deleting old appointment and note files, you can use the File Manager to delete any files you no longer want. The files are all identified by month ie: 06_1995.APP is the appointment database for June, 1995, and 06_1995.NOT is the note database for that month. Both appointment and note files are stored in an efficient manner using variable length fields, so they will consume a  minimum of disk space.

8. PAM's reading priorities:

To allow PAM to speak more than one message in a time slot, the time's up and note reading alarms are implemented synchronously, which means that Windows(tm) will be tied up for those few seconds if either or these alarms are set.  This means that for any time slot, times up, note alarms and appointment alarms can be spoken.  Time announcements (time clock) will be superseded if appointment alarms are set.

9. General:

To conserve memory and reduce PAM's demand on system resources, a number of size limitations have been imposed, and the time display  and timer alarms are only updated once per minute rather than many times per second like some monitor applications. This means that the time could be out by as much as 59 seconds.

PAM checks the date format in your version of Windows(tm) and uses this  format to display dates. Only the following formats are supported at this time - MM/DD/YY, DD/MM/YY, YY/MM/DD.  If the format in your WIN.INI file is different than these, PAM will revert to MM/DD/YY format. PAM also adjusts it's time format to a 12 hour clock or 24 hour clock, depending on the settings in Windows(tm). The speech font is specifically for a North American english dialect, so it doesn't speak the 24 hour clock completely correctly.

NOTE: a couple of times I noticed that PAM went into a permanent pause while reading a file, after much consternation, I came to the conclusion that my screen saver program was the culprit. If this happens to you, try removing the screen saver by setting it to "none" in the desktop window, and see if that corrects the problem.

To register PAM, you need to enter a Registration Password when you click on the REGISTER PAM button.  This password must be obtained from JTS Micro Consulting Ltd. by sending us the serial number of your copy of PAM and arranging for payment. After you have used PAM for sixty days the speech synthesizer will be disabled and nagging messages will appear. This intolerable situation can be eliminated by registering, and anyway, it is illegal to use PAM after sixty days without registering.

Use your imagination in configuring and operating PAM.  It should help you  manage your daily activities in a natural way like a real assistant. Use the  built-in alarms and announcements to help you remember items thoughout the  day, and to read messages to everyone present in your office at any time. PAM could reduce the number of photocopies you need as some documents could  be read out loud to everyone present. There may be occasions when you would  prefer to have a document or portion of a document read rather than copied. This may also solve some Copyright restrictions.

If you had an application that could output current stock market prices as text to a file, you could have PAM read these prices in the background while you attend to other duties. etc.

Upgrades are free with PAM, and registered users can download uploads free from my web site or ftp site.

It would be a good idea to backup your data files once in awhile, in case something happens to corrupt them. These files are: PAM.DIC, PAM.CFG, PHONE.LST, *.APP, *.NOT.

This software is not warranted in any way, including compatibility with  other applications. The author will not accept responsibility for any damage that may arise from the operation of PAM. The user is not authorized to copy any of the files, with the exception of the original zip file. The technologies contained in the files are copyrighted and patented and to use them for any purpose other than operating PAM is illegal.

Good Luck!

JTS Micro Consulting Ltd.

10931 Lytton Road, RR#4,

Ladysmith, B.C.

Canada

V0R 2E0

FTP SITE: ftp.islandnet.com  directory: /jts

WEB SITE: http://www.islandnet.com/~tslemko/

Windows(tm) is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation.

Sound Blaster(tm) is a trademark of Creative Labs Inc.


PAM's Configuration Window
   Configuring PAM

The configuring window lets you set most of the variables that control the way PAM functions. Pressing Alt+F while in any field will cause PAM to speak the value that is in that field.

The first item "Appointment Time Intervals" controls the way PAM displays appointments and also when time and appointment alarms are made. You can select 15, 30 or 60 minute intervals.

"Verbal Appointment Alarms?" - Selecting Yes will cause PAM to announce an appointment at the selected time prior to the appointment. If you have an appointment at 2:00 PM, and you have selected "Yes", and you have entered 30 minutes, PAM will announce at 1:30 PM that you have an appointment in 30 minutes. If you select "Yes" for the next item Include Names, PAM will include the appointment name in the announcement.

"Include Names?" - Discussed above, can be Yes or No"

"Speak appointments at Startup?" - Selecting Yes will cause PAM to scan all appointments later than the current time, and announce them when you first start PAM.  This would be when you first start Windows(tm) if you have installed PAM in the Startup Program Group as recommended.

"Speak Daily Notes at Startup" - Selecting Yes will cause PAM to announce your previously entered daily note/reminder at startup. Use this feature to remind yourself to do something that day, when you don't have a particular time set aside to do it.

"Regular greeting at Startup/Shutdown?" - Selecting Yes will cause PAM to say "Good Morning, Good Afternoon, or Good Evening on startup, and say "See you later, Boss" on shutdown of PAM or Windows(tm) if PAM is active when you quit Windows(tm).

"Show PAM's Icon above all Windows?" - Selecting Yes will make the PAM icon show over any other application's window, so you will be able to see it from any application. Since you can control PAM using Hot Keys, there is probably little need to have the icon showing at all times, although the icon does function like a calendar/clock with the time updated every minute.

"Full Verbal Interface?" - Selecting Yes will make PAM verbally confirm what action is underway whenever you activate a button. Pam will also announce which edit field is active if you are entering data. Also see the Full Verbal Interface help topic.

"Verbally announce time" - Selecting Yes and then entering a time interval will cause PAM to behave like a talking clock.  The time intervals are limited to every 15, 30 or 60 minutes. This feature will be disabled by PAM if you have also selected Yes for Verbal Appointment Alarms. This was necessary once again to prevent more than one request for speech at one time.

"Synthesizer" You can select to use or not use the synthesizer, and you can change the volume of PAM's speech, speed up or slow down PAM's speech,and vary  the pitch of the voice. It seems that some people can understand PAM better when it is speaking faster, while others hear it best when speaking slower, and still others understand it best when the pitch is lower or higher than the default. Please experiment. I like to use a pitch setting one below default when  PAM is reading text files. If you downloaded the 16 bit font, you would enter 16 in the font field.

To save these settings, you must click on the Save button on this screen.

You can return to the main window without saving any changes by clicking on the Return to Main button.

FTP SITE: ftp.islandnet.com  directory: /jts

WEB SITE: http://www.islandnet.com/~tslemko/