

                          DECtalk Software for 
                          Digital UNIX V4.4


                             Release Notes 


This document summarizes the enhancements, performance considerations,
known problems, and restrictions for the DECtalk Software for Digital UNIX
Version V4.2A product.

Revision/Update Information: Revised  October 1997

Operating System and Version: Digital UNIX V4.0 and 3.2G

Software Version: DECtalk Software Version V4.4 for Digital UNIX

Digital Equipment Corporation 
Maynard, Massachusetts




October 1997


The information in this document is subject to change without notice and
should not be construed as a commitment by Digital Equipment
Corporation. Digital Equipment Corporation assumes no responsibility for
any errors that may appear in this document.

The software described in this document is furnished under a license and
may be used or copied only in accordance with the terms of such license.

No responsibility is assumed for the use or reliability of software on
equipment that is not supplied by Digital Equipment Corporation or its
affiliated companies.

Restricted Rights: Use, duplication, or disclosure by the U.S. Government
is subject to restrictions as set forth in subparagraph (c)(1)(ii) of the
Rights in Technical Data and Computer Software clause at DFARS
252.227-7013, or in FAR 52.227-19, or in FAR 52.227-14 Alt. III as
applicable.

Copyright Digital Equipment Corporation 1997.

All Rights Reserved. Printed in U.S.A.

The following are trademarks of Digital Equipment Corporation: DECtalk,
DECnet, DECterm, DECwindows, DECwrite, VAXstation, VMS and the DIGITAL
logo.

Motif is a registered trademark of Open Software Foundation, Inc.


     Contents
     1.1 PREFACE	
     1.2 NEW FEATURES	
     1.3 SOFTWARE DEPENDENCIES	
     1.4 KIT INSTALLATION	
           1.4.1 KIT LOCATION	
           1.4.2 INSTALLATION PROCEDURE	
           1.4.3 POST INSTALLATION PROCEDURES	
           1.4.4 DE-INSTALLING DECTALK SOFTWARE	
     1.5 RESTRICTIONS	
     1.6 DOCUMENTATION UPDATES	
     1.7 KNOWN PROBLEMS	


1.1 Preface

   This document contains release notes for the Runtime subset of the DECtalk
   Software Version 4.4 for Digital UNIX. DECtalk Software is a Text-To-
   Speech program used to create digitally synthesized speech from ASCII text
   files.
    
   This document is for all users who want to use applications provided with
   the DECtalk Software Runtime kit to produce synthesized speech on Digital
   UNIX.
    
   In addition to these release notes, the DECtalk Software documentation set
   also contains the DECtalk Software for Digital UNIX Installation Guide.  The
   Installation Guide provides comprehensive information on invoking and using
   DECtalk Software applications to produce synthesized speech from text.
    
   Other related documents include:
    
   Multimedia Services for Digital UNIX Installation Guide: This document
   contains information relevant to the multimedia extensions for Digital UNIX
   which enable your programs to playback audio on sound boards.  You will
   need this software to playback synthesized speech on the sound boards in
   your system.
    
   DECtalk Software for Digital UNIX Programmer's Guide: This document
   contains information relevant to the Development subset of the DECtalk
   Software.  Install this if you are going to develop your own DECtalk
   Software applications.  

1.2 New Features

   DECtalk Software V4.4 has the following new features:
   
   You can now run one copy of any DECtalk Software application without
   requiring a license.  You will need a license to run more than one copy of
   a DECtalk Software application concurrently or to run several different
   DECtalk Software applications concurrently.

   DECtalk Multi-language is now supported.  You can have one application speak
   in any DECtalk supported language. You have to have as many licenses of
   DECtalk Software as languages that you want to use concurrently. I.E. if
   you have three licenses, you can run three instances of english, or
   one english, one spanish, and one latin american.
   
   One unsupported sample program is included:

   Emacspeaks is an unsupptorted program in DECtalk, but becasue a small set 
   of customers already have them in use with DECtalk, we have provided this
   unsupported program as a sample.
   
   Emacspeak uses text-to-speech extensively to provide emacs with access for
   the visually impaired. Emacspeak is a context sensitive emacs extension
   that intelligently reads the contents displayed on a screen rather than
   just scanning the screen and literally reading characters off the screen.
   
   Information on how to use emacspeak is provided in the
   /usr/opt/DTKRT440/emacspeak/docs subdirectory and in the emacspeak man
   page.
   
   Support for CDE desktop environment: To access DECtalk Software with CDE
   icons install the subset DTKRTCDE440 your Digital Alpha workstation.
   DECtalk Software sample programs are installed in the Multimedia folder in
   the Application Manager.
   
   Documentation for DECtalk Software is provided in HTML format.  You can use
   the Netscape browser to read the document.  HTML files are installed in
   the /usr/opt/DTKRT440/docs/html if you choose to install the DTKRTDOC440
   subset.  You can invoke the document by opening the file:
   	   /usr/opt/DTKRT440/docs/html/DtkUsersGuide.html
   
   The audio device will now automatically be opened when there is audio to 
   play and will automatically be closed when there is no audio to play.
   
   The in-line play command, that is used to play wave audio files, will now
   play audio files that contain audio data in formats supported by both the
   Multimedia Services software and the system's audio hardware option.
      
1.3 Software Dependencies
   
   DECtalk Software V4.4 requires Digital UNIX V4.0 or 3.2G and Multimedia 
   Services for Digital UNIX V2.0.  DECtalk Software V4.2A also requires that 
   the Real-time shared library be installed.  Please make sure that these 
   subsets are present before installing DECtalk Software.  
   
1.4 Kit Installation 

   1.4.1 Kit location
      
     The kit is released as a part of Digital UNIX V4.0 and 3.2G, the DECtalk
     subsets can be found on UNIX's Associated Products CD-ROM.
      
     DECtalk Software is also released as part of the UNIX Consolidated 
     Distribution CD-ROM.  
      
   1.4.2 Installation Procedure
      
     To install DECtalk Software Runtime subset use the following instructions:
      
     Check to see if you have any previous versions of the DECtalk Software
     Runtime subset.  To do this log into the root account and type:
      
     # /usr/sbin/setld -i | grep DTKRT
      
     De-install any previous versions of DECtalk Software installed on your
     system.  To de-install DECtalk Software, type:
      
     # /usr/sbin/setld -d <DECtalk Runtime subset component name>
      
     where valid DECtalk Software Development subset component names are:
      
     	  Component name 		Description          
     	  DTKRT440          		Runtime Kit.
     	  DTKRTDOC440       		Runtime Users Guide.
     	  DTKRTRELNOT440    	        Release Notes.
     	  DTKEMSRT440       		Emacspeak.
     	  DTKRTCDE440              	CDE Integration subset.
     
      
     Make sure that all pre-requisite software is installed. Make sure that
     mmeserver is running.
      
     Install the kit by typing:
      
     # cd <dectalk_runtime_subset_root>
     # /usr/sbin/setld -l .
      
     Answer the questions regarding the installation of the various
     components and pick the ones you wish to install.
      
     The installation procedure creates a subdirectory called DTKRT440 in
     /usr/opt directory tree. All the files installed by DECtalk Software
     runtime subset can be found in this subdirectories. The installation
     procedure creates soft links to these files.
      
   1.4.3 Post Installation Procedures
      
     After installing DECtalk Software successfully, you may choose to run
     the Installation Verification Procedure (IVP). In order to run the IVP,
     login into the root account and type,
      
     # /usr/sbin/setld -v DTKRT440
      
     and listen on the audio device for the audio message indicating a
     successful installation. Make sure a headphone or amplifier and speakers
     are connected and that the software volume control is set. The application
     "audiocontrol" that is part of the Multimedia Services kit is used to set
     the volume.

   1.4.4 Deinstalling DECtalk Software
      
     To de-install DECtalk, log into a root account and type:
      
     # /usr/sbin/setld -d <dectalk_runtime_component_name>
      
     Valid DECtalk Software Runtime component names are:
      
     	  Component name Description.
     	  DTKRT440 Runtime Kit.
     	  DTKRTDOC440 Runtime Users Guide.
     	  DTKRTRELNOT440 Release Notes.
     	  DTKEMSRT440 Emacspeak.
     	  DTKRTCDE440 CDE Integration subset.
     	   
1.5 Restrictions

   DECtalk Software most closely resembles the DECtalk family of Hardware 
   Products called DECtalk PC DTC07. There are some behavioral differences 
   between DTC07 and earlier versions of DECtalk - DTC01, DTC03, and DTC05. 
   As a result of these differences in behavior some of the in-line commands 
   from older scripts will need to be modified. These changes are outlined 
   below:
   
   Due to differences between versions of hardware DECtalk, the following
   command does not work as it would on the DTC03.
   
   	[:phoneme arpabet speak on] [:nh_<200>r]
   
   To get the same functionality, use a space to separate the DECtalk voice-commands.
   For example:
   
   	[:phoneme arpabet speak on] [:nh _<200>r]
   
   Due to differences between versions of hardware DECtalk, the following
   command does not work as it would on the DTC03.  The old alternate
   pronunciation control character was '/'.  This no longer is used and is 
   not needed.
   
   Use a [:pron alt] to obtain an alternative pronunciation for a word listed
   in the Homograph table of Appendix C. For example, the primary
   pronunciation of the word wind is w'ihnd, as in 'the wind is blowing'. The
   secondary pronunciation, denoted by [:pron alt]wind, is w'aynd, as in 'wind
   up the top'.
   
   The in-line voice control command [:phoneme on] is equivalent to [:phoneme
   arpabet on].
   
   The escape sequences which were used to control previous hardware versions
   of DECtalk will NOT work in DECtalk Software. These escape sequences will
   not be spoken and will be discarded.
   
   The following voice control commands which are provided in previous
   hardware versions of DECtalk are not supported in this release of DECtalk
   Software. They will be reported as command errors.
   
   	      [:flush]
   	      [:enable]
   	      [:timeout]
   	      [:digitized]
   	      [:remove]
   	      [:type]
   
1.6  Documentation Updates
   
   Use a [:pron alt] to obtain an alternative pronunciation for a word listed
   in the Homograph table of Appendix C.
   
   For example, the primary pronunciation of the word wind is w'ihnd, as in
   'the wind is blowing'. The secondary pronunciation, denoted by [:pron
   alt]wind, is w'aynd, as in 'wind up the clock'.
     
   Unlike previous versions of DECtalk Software products, the in-line pause
   command is a synchronous command. This means that all text processing which
   occurs after the pause is not processed until the pause time is exceeded.
   
1.7 Known Problems
   
   1. Problem in in-line synchronization:
   
     Synchronization around digits does not work properly.  So, for example, the
     following string:
   		      [:volume set 0] speak this 1 2 3 [:volume set 99] 4 5 6
     test.  will be spoken as:
   		     1 2 3 4 5 6 test.  Instead of:
   		     4 5 6 test.
   






















