[Promotion-technology] Fwd: Tips on JAWS scripting with TextPal

[David Andrews]

>
>http://www.EmpowermentZone.com/palsetup.exe
>
>I want to let fellow JAWS scripters know that the TextPal editor may now
>be a practical alternative to JAWS Script Manager.  To clarify, if you are
>fully satisfied with the script editor supplied with JAWS, there is little
>point in switching to another editor with differences to learn.  Also, if
>you rely on features specific to the JAWS scripting language, such as the
>ability to insert a built-in function, then a more general code editor
>like TextPal would probably not suffice.  On the other hand, if you are
>generally familiar with the JAWS scripting language and would appreciate
>more convenient ways of coding it, TextPal may offer advantages.
>
>As you may be aware, I have been developing a file manager application
>called FileDir, an alternative to Windows Explorer, using the C# language:
>http://www.EmpowermentZone.com/dirsetup.exe
>
>All its coding has been done with TextPal rather than Visual Studio.  For
>development of TextPal, itself, I sometimes use NoteTab Pro rather than
>TextPal because I need to be frequently closing and reloading TextPal in
>order to test new features.  Lately, I have been working on an update to
>the JAWS script library I call Homer, this time coding and debugging with
>TextPal rather than JAWS Script Manager.
>
>Here are some tips on using TextPal for JAWS scripting:
>
>*  After installing TextPal, press Control+Shift+F5 to pick JAWS Script
>from the list of compilers.  If you are using a JAWS version other than
>8.0, press Alt+Shift+M for Manual Settings, and do a global replace, e.g.,
>press Control+R, enter 8.0 for the Find string and 6.20 for the Replace
>string.  Press Control+S to save, then exit and reload TextPal to ensure
>that all new settings are loaded at start up.  Press Alt+S for the
>Settings dialog to further review or adjust settings as needed.
>
>*  To open a JAWS script file, press Control+O for the open dialog and
>then Control+I to insert the path to the personal script folder (or
>Control+Shift+I for the All Users folder).  Then enter the file name,
>e.g., test.jss, after the path.
>
>*  To compile a script, press Control+F5.  The ToolCommand setting should
>invoke the command-line compiler, scompile.exe.  The AbbreviateOutput
>setting should remove the word "compiling" and "test.jss" before each
>error.  The ErrorPosition setting should capture the location of the first
>error, if any, and move focus to that point in the code.  These settings
>are regular expressions that I have tweaked for different compilers.  If
>you find ways of improving them, let me know, so I can incorporate them
>into subsequent TextPal releases.
>
>*  Another regular expression, NavigatePart, enables Control+DownArrow to
>go to the beginning of the next script or function definition, and
>Control+UpArrow to do the reverse.  This is equivalent to F2 and Shift+F2
>in JAWS Script Manager.  (Reading by paragraph in TextPal is done with
>Alt+Down/UpArrow, and reading by sentence with Alt+Right/LeftArrow.)
>
>*  General editing conveniences include the following.  Press F8 to mark
>the start of a selection, navigate to the end point by whatever means, and
>then press Shift+F8 to complete the selection.  Text in between the points
>is selected, after which you can press Control+C to copy, Control+X to
>cut, Alt+C to copy and append, or Alt+X to cut and append.
>
>*  Press Control+F to search forward or Control+Shift+F to search
>backward.  Press F3 or Shift+F3 to search again.  The Replace command,
>Control+R, works either on all text or on just selected text if text is
>selected.  Control+Shift+R replaces using regular expressions.  TextPal
>announces the number of replacements made.
>
>*  Press Control+J to jump to a line number or to a line, column position.
>You can also place a plus or minus sign before a number in order to jump
>forward or backward that number of lines.  Press Alt+J to repeat the Jump
>command.
>
>*  Press Control+Y to repeat the current line of text on the next line
>below.  I often use this after inserting a comment character (;) at the
>beginning of a line and then trying a syntax variation without losing the
>previous code.  The Yield command, Alt+Y, announces the number of bytes,
>words, and lines in the file.  Alt+Delete says the line, column, and
>percentage position of the cursor in the current file.
>
>*  Press Alt+Shift+C to create a code snippet based on all or selected
>text.  Press Alt+Shift+V to pick a snippet to paste at the cursor
>position.
>
>*  TextPal, like JAWS Script Manager, is an MDI (multiple document
>interface) application, so you can open any number of windows at a time.
>Control+Tab cycles among them or F4 lets you activate one from a list.  I
>sometimes load a text version of JAWS documentation in another window,
>e.g., contained in the archive at
>http://www.EmpowermentZone.com/jfw80doc.zip
>An option in the Settings dialog causes TextPal to reload files that were
>open at the end of the previous session.
>
>Many other TextPal features can make editing, navigation, or reading tasks
>more efficient and pleasant to perform.  The Alternate Menu command,
>Alt+F10, offers a complete, alphabetized list of TextPal commands.
>Alt+Shift+H opens a hot key summary in a new window.  Alt+Shift+f1 (also
>on the Help menu) opens the TextPal tutorial by Jim Homme (our moderator).
>Feel free to ask questions and provide feedback.
>
>Jamal
>

David Andrews and white cane Harry.