Vocola Information Pages   by Rick Mohr (this page updated June 01, 2003)
 
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Troubleshooting

Troubleshooting Writing Vocola commands is straightforward with a little practice. This page summarizes some potential problems, and how to solve them.

My command doesn't work

You've written a Vocola command but nothing happens when you speak the command. Here are some possible causes:
  1. You didn't save the .vcl file.

  2.  
  3. Your command had a syntax error.
    • Vocola reports errors in the NatLink output window, a small window titled "Messages from Python Macros".
    • Read the error message, correct the problem, save the file, close the NatLink window, and try your command again.
       
  4. You're speaking the command in a different context than you defined it for.
    • Make sure you put the command in the .vcl file for the application you're running.
    • If your command appears within a context statement, make sure the context string matches the title of the current window.

    •  
  5. You changed an include file (.vch) and didn't run the Vocola translator by saying "Load Voice Commands".
     
  6. NatLink didn't load the translated Python file.
    • Look in the NatLink\MacroSystem directory. There should be both a .py file and a .pyc with the same name as your .vcl file.
    • If the .pyc file is older than the .py file, and you really have talked at the correct application, then NatLink has not noticed the .py file. There are two possible reasons:
      • You have created a new global command file (one beginning with underscore, "_"). NatLink does not notice these.
      • NatLink or NatSpeak is in a bad state.
    • In either case, you need to exit and restart NatSpeak.

My command doesn't work right

Your command gets executed, but doesn't work correctly. Here are some possible causes:
  1. Another command is being executed instead.
    • You may have defined a command with the same words using another voice command language. It's a good idea to delete these.
    • You may have defined a global command and an application-specific command with the same words. Usually the application-specific command will be recognized, but occasionally the global command is recognized instead. Usually if you repeat the command the application-specific version will be recognized.

  2. You need to use quotation marks in your Vocola command. Quotation mark delimiters are usually optional in Vocola, but are required in some cases:
    • when whitespace is significant, e.g. "{Left 2}"
    • when keystrokes to enter contain special characters

This page (c) Copyright 2002-2005 by Rick Mohr.