Is there a keyboard shortcut (which I can then use by voice, by preceding it by: Press) for opening attachments to messages in Outlook Express 6?

Graham,

It all depends on which window you are using to view the message with the attachment. When you highlight the message in the upper right window you can view it in the lower right window. Alternatively, once it is highlighted you can say "press enter" and you will then view the message in its own window (much smaller).

If you are viewing the message in its own window you can say "press tab" to move down until the attachment is highlighted and then say "press enter".

Rather than beginning your macro with the word "press" I would use the word "view" to avoid confusion.

Let me know which window you are using to view the message.

John Wickett
Dictated with DNS Professional 8.1
John.Wickett@vac-acc.gc.ca
902-368-0141
JWickett@auracom.com
902-651-2152

John:

Many thanks for the advice. I had already tried what you suggested and it did not seem to work. I have now tried again and it does work. The reason why I could not make it work was that I was not saying the word Tab often enough for the cursor to come into view. It seems that I have to say Tab quite a lot of times, because there are a lot of positions for the Tab to move through. But if I do that, it does work. Thanks again.

Runnalls, I used to have a problem with trying to operate the tab key by voice.

I now use a simple macro "tab right"/tab left" and it moves every time, I have even added a few numbers to save repetition.

John and Snoekie:

Thanks for the suggestions. I find now that saying: Press Tab seems to get an immediate response, although I need to say it about four times to bring the cursor down to the filename of the attachment.

I notice that John talked about my " macro". I often wondered what macros were, since so many experts on the various forums that I use talk about macros very freely, and I have never really understood what they were. I presume, from what John says, that they must be sequences of voice commands, which you either do yourself in a labourious ordered way, or else find a simple shortcut to achieve the same effect.

(I am always disturbed to see that DNS UK English insists on spelling labourious like this; in order to get it spelled correctly, according to my own education -- laborious -- I have to correct it.)

Anyway, I now realise that I have been using some kind of macro, without knowing it. I am just like Moliere's character, Monsieur Jourdain, who discovered, to his pleasure and surprise, that he had been speaking prose all his life.

Runnals, I am assuming that you have pro. If preferred then you need to hunt down vacola etc to increase (macro) capability.

Graham,

You still haven't told us which window you are working in. If you are working in the small individual window then the following macro will move the cursor to the attachment and then bring up a box where you have a choice of either opening or saving the attachment. Just say "open" or "Save". To get from the large-screen to the small individual window just say "Open Mail"

This is assuming that you have the professional edition.

Tab 6 happens to be what I called the macro. I made it Global and used Advanced Scripting. The number of "Tab" commands happens to work for me. If you require more or less just alter the name of the macro and the number after the word "tab".

Sub Main
SendDragonKeys "{Tab 6}"
SendDragonKeys "{Enter}"
End Sub

In case you don't have the professional edition you can create a "step-by-step" macro that would simply look as follows:

Press Tab
Press Tab
Press Tab
Press Tab
Press Tab
Press Tab
Press Enter




John Wickett
Dictated with DNS Professional 8.1
John.Wickett@vac-acc.gc.ca
902-368-0141
JWickett@auracom.com
902-651-2152

As you will see from the information provided about me in the left-hand column of my messages, I only have DNS Preferred 7, not Professional. I am aware that the Professional version is superior in many respects and allows creating one's own macros. But I do not propose to buy the Professional version, firstly because my computer is not really powerful enough to handle it, secondly because I do not really need it, as my present system works very satisfactory for me (and I can usually find workarounds for any difficulties I have, as can be illustrated by the case in point) and, thirdly, to be blunt, I do not know how much longer I'm going to be capable of using any kind of computer.

In reply to John's repeated question, I normally read my Outlook Express mail in the smaller, lower right-hand, preview window, but if there is an attachment, I now open the message, which I read in its own complete window. It is in this window, that I start saying: Press Tab, in order to highlight the attachment file. I can see that John's macro would work fine, but saying: Press Tab four times is probably cheaper and simpler than upgrading to Professional.

Runnalls

>but saying: Press Tab four times

John gave an easier solution. See the macro he provided, which is step by step, and cuts out the need for the pause required between each 'press tab'.

As step by step is slower than advanced, you will see each pressing of the tab key.

So, if you name your macro, say, 'tab right 4' (your choice, of what you want it to be- easier for you to remember), it will press the tab key 4 times, and probably work faster than saying 'press tab' 4 times.

[quote=snoekie,Feb 26 2006, 11:09 AM]
Runnalls

> So, if you name your macro, .....

Runnals already said he uses DNS preferred, so unless he uses something like KB2005 or Vocola, he won't be doing any macros at all.

Stu