Aurora Suite 2005 User's Guide

Introduction

About this Guide

This guide covers the use and features of Aurora Suite 2005 from Aurora Systems, Inc.

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Version 2005.0003

Section 1

Aurora Suite 2005

Aurora Suite 2005 is the first release in Aurora Systems' new line of assistive technology tools. If there is something you need your PC to do, chances are good Aurora Suite can help.

Some of the features in Aurora Suite are:

For detailed information on these and many more features included in Aurora Suite, please browse this guide.

Section 2

Changes for 2005

Aurora Suite 2005 is the first in a new line of products from Aurora Systems. Some of the differences between it and Aurora 3.0 for Windows are:

In order to take advantage of features available on newer platforms, we have deleted support for a few older and lesser used features. If you require any of these features, please consider purchasing Aurora 3.0 for Windows instead.

Section 3

Getting Started

Getting Started

To install Aurora Suite, insert the CD-ROM into your disk drive. If your computer has autorun enabled, it should start the installation program automatically. If it doesn't, open My Computer, then double-click on your CD-ROM drive. On some computers, the installer will start now. If it still hasn't started, find the Setup.exe or Setup Application in the My Computer window to start the installer manually.

Running Aurora Suite

To run Aurora Suite, double click on the Aurora Suite 2005 icon on your desktop. Alternately, click on Start, Programs, Aurora Suite 2005, Aurora Suite 2005.

Starting Automatically

If you would like Aurora Suite to start automatically each time you start your computer, add it's icon to the Startup group in your Programs folder.

Section 4

Welcome

When Aurora Suite starts, if it is not Activated, you will be presented with the Welcome screen.

Select Conversation

Enter Serial Number and Activate Software

If you have already purchased Aurora Suite and have your 12 digit serial number ready, press Enter Serial Number and Activate Software to enter it and activate the software for full operation.

Buy Now

If you are ready to buy your own copy of Aurora Suite, and want to purchase it instantly and securely over the internet, press the Buy Now button.

With Buy Now, you can get access to Aurora Suite while you wait for your CD and Manual to arrive, or you can save a few dollars and purchase Aurora Suite without the CD and Manual.

Tip: Your Aurora Reseller can use Buy Now to instantly purchase and receive a fully activated serial number for Aurora Suite, you don't have to wait for order processing or your software to arrive in the mail.

Demonstration

If you are new to Aurora Suite, choose Demonstration to give Aurora Suite a try for yourself.

Exit Aurora Suite

You can choose Exit Aurora Suite to return to Windows and end Aurora Suite.

Section 5

Enter Serial Number

Once you have received your Aurora Suite serial number you need to enter it in order to activate Aurora Suite for full operation. Serial numbers for Aurora Suite are 12 digits, like 0000-0000-0000. The simplified serial numbers in Aurora Suite are much easier to enter than our previous products.

Aurora Activation sends your serial number along with a special Hardware Code unique to your computer to Aurora Systems servers which provide an Activation Code which enables the software for full operation. You can learn more about activation from our online Activation FAQ.

Please Note: your Aurora Suite serial number is your key to access the software and services you have purchased from Aurora Systems. Aurora Systems is a small company and we rely on the support of customers like you to continue in our mission to produce affordable, effective solutions for people with special needs. Please do not share your serial number with others and be sure to protect it like your Social Security Number (SSN), Social Insurance Number (SIN) or other confidential personal information.

Enter Serial Number Dialog

Enter the serial number you have been provided. If you have purchased Aurora Suite through its Buy Now feature, this should be filled in automatically for you.

Select Users for this Serial Number

Most users will select Use this serial number for all users so that any subsequent Windows users added to the system will be able to use this serial number.

Tip: Network administrators should select to use the serial number for all users so that Aurora Suite will work for roaming users.

If only a single Windows user will be using the software, or if different users are using unique installations of Aurora Suite, choose Use this serial number only for the current user.

Automatic Activation

If your computer is connected to the internet, press Automatic to connect to Aurora Systems servers and activate your software automatically.

Activation Result

If the Activation process is successful, you will be provided with an Activation Code as shown above. If you prefer, you can use this code in the future to activate manually provided your computer has not changed.

Manual Activation

If you do not have access to the internet on the computer you are installing Aurora Suite onto, you can also activate the software for full operation manually. Choose Manual to start manual activation and to view detailed instructions on Manual Activation.

Your Privacy

Aurora Systems respects your privacy. We have a corporate privacy policy that explains what information we collect and what we use it for. If you are connected to the internet, you can click on Your Privacy to view our privacy policy.

Section 6

Register for Support

Registration of your Aurora Systems product provides access to features for registered users such as technical support, fixes and updates, new product notifications and more.

Registration is entirely optional, however to gain access to support resources such as software updates, you need to enter a Technical Support Access Information Password.

We hope you will complete the other fields so we can use it to provide better services.

Automatic Registration

Registration Dialog

Complete the registration form, then if you are connected to the internet, press Next to send your information to Aurora Systems servers. After a few moments, the results of your registration will display.

Registration Result Dialog

Manual Registration

You can also register your software online at www.aurora-systems.com.

Your Privacy

Aurora Systems respects your privacy. We have a corporate privacy policy that explains what information we collect and what we use it for. If you are connected to the internet, you can click on Your Privacy to view our privacy policy.

Section 7

Voice Choice

When you first start Aurora Suite, if you want spoken feedback or if you are using Aurora to communicate verbally with other people, you will need to select a speech synthesizer. If you have never used Aurora Suite before, it will prompt you the first time you start it to select a speech synthesizer.

You can get back to the Voice Options dialog through the menu bar or right-click menu of any Aurora Suite window.

Voice Options

The Voice Options dialog will list all the speech synthesizers that are installed on your computer. Select one of the voice drivers from the list, you can press Try It to hear the selected synthesizer speak. You can try the different voice drivers until you find one you like.

Windows 2000 does not come with any speech synthesizers by default. Windows XP comes with one Microsoft voice. Additional Microsoft speech synthesizers should be installed during the Aurora Suite installation.

Voice Options

Visual Highlighting

If you would like visual highlighting when Aurora Suite is speaking, you should check the box next to Highlight Feedback in the Visual Highlighting box. This will make the Visual Highlighting window appear on your desktop.

Visual Highlighting

Pronunciation

If you find that certain words are mispronounced by your speech synthesizer, you can correct the pronunciation of words in the Aurora Voice Options dialog with Edit Exception File.

More Information...

To learn more about Voice, see What is Voice.

Section 8

Prediction

Prediction appears as a window full of words on your desktop. By default, the Prediction window will stay on top of any application that you want Prediction to help you with. When you go to an application that you don't want help with, Prediction will display a ZZZZzzzzz message and disappear behind any windows you put in front of it.

Aurora Prediction

The first time you start Aurora Suite, it will prompt you to select a dictionary to use for the Prediction window. There are several dictionaries that ship with Aurora Suite, these are:

Aurora Suite also ships with a number of language specific dictionary files you can choose from.

Getting Started

Aurora Prediction is easy to get started with, just start typing in your Word processor or other Windows application. In a moment, either the application is one that Aurora Suite is preprogrammed to work with and word prediction will start working, or it is one Aurora Suite is not familiar with and it will prompt you to see if you want word prediction to help you with this application.

The Prediction Window

The Prediction window lists words it thinks you might be typing or might want to type. To the left of the first nine words is a number. You can type that number to have Aurora Prediction type that word into the program you are working with for you.

Words in the window display in different colors to cue you to special features of those words. Green words are homonyms, blue words are words that are spelled differently, but sound like what you have typed.

Macros also appear in the Prediction window, Text macros display the macro code, a red arrow, and the abbreviation expansion. Speech macros display the macro code, a red S, and the message to be spoken.

Getting into Aurora Prediction's Settings Dialogs

You can get to the Prediction program's setup dialogs from the Prediction window System menu (the square box at the top left corner of the Prediction window,) or by right clicking anywhere on the Prediction window and choosing Prediction Options.

You may want to look through the Prediction Options dialog before starting. There are easy setup buttons on the first tab page of options that will get most people started quickly.

More Information...

To learn more about Prediction, see What is Prediction.

Section 9

Echo

Echo appears as a toolbar at the top of your Windows desktop. Echo offers a number of reading tools, you can read the name of each tool by placing the mouse over the toolbar buttons until the tooltip for that button appears.

Echo

Echo is easy to get started with, just go to any program you like and start writing. Echo will start talking as you type providing spoken feedback so you can hear if you make any mistakes.

Tip: If you didn't select a speech synthesizer during installation or you don't hear any speech, you will need to select a synthesizer in the Aurora Voice Options dialog. You can get to that dialog by clicking the Voice Options icon. You can also get to Voice Options by right clicking anywhere on the Echo toolbar.

Choosing Things to have Echoed

Generally having fewer things echoed in Echo Options is best, especially with faster typists, as the more it has to say, the longer it takes, and the more it can get behind. We recommend having Words, Punctuation and Sentences on to start. You may also need to use the Every N Words option if you don't use punctuation. You can add other options as you use the program.

Stopping Speech

You can stop speech output at any time by pushing the button with the lips with the red stop circle over it.

Run-on Sentence Warning

Aurora Echo can warn writers when they construct a run-on sentence that has too many commas or words. It is not fooled if the person constructs a list of items following a colon.

For information on setting up the Run-on Sentence Warning, see Echo Options.

Punctuation Monitoring

Aurora Echo can also warn writers if they construct a sentence that looks like a question that doesn't end in a question mark.

Choosing Toolbar Tools

Generally we recommend you choose the tools you think you need. You will probably not need the Echo Clipboard, Echo Options, Voice Options, Help!, About Aurora Echo and Close Aurora Echo tools once you have Echo working the way you like. Most of these tools are still available on the Echo Menu if needed.

Changing Echo's Looks

You can also select larger icons if the default icons are too small. If you prefer, the toolbar can be vertical rather than horizontal.

More Information...

To learn more about Echo, see What is Echo.

Section 10

Talk

Talk appears as a window at the bottom of your desktop. The top part of the window features a summary of the defined function keys. Function keys can be programmed either to do actions within the program such as Help or Muting the voice, or as phrases to be spoken. There are a number of actions you can program.

The lower portion of the window allows you to type in phrases which can then be spoken any time you like. Phrases can be repeated any time, just by using the arrows to navigate to the phrase and pressing Enter to speak it.

Aurora Talk

Function Key Phrases

You will want to add your own function key phrases for things like your address, telephone number, favourite expressions etc. You can do this in the Talk Options dialog in the box marked Function Key Phrases, just click on one of the buttons to add new phrases or edit existing ones. If you don't like having part of your screen used to display the function keys, you can get rid of this display in the Talk Options dialog by turning off Show Function Keys Help.

Repeating Phrases

You can repeat any phrase you have typed by placing the caret (the vertical bar) anywhere on the phrase and pressing enter.

Saying Part of a Phrases

If you only want to say part of a phrase you can do that by highlighting the part of the phrase you want to read with the mouse (or by holding the shift key and using the arrows on the keyboard.) If anything is marked, pressing Enter will read it.

Deleting old Phrases

You can delete a phrase by putting the caret at the start of a phrase and holding the Del key until it is entirely deleted, or you can use the mouse or keyboard to mark what you want to delete and then press the Del key once.

Conversations

You might want to organize your phrases into topics called Conversations to make them easier to manage. You can have one for home, one for at school, one for with friends, and so on. Aurora Talk allows you to switch between conversations quickly and easily with F11 and F12. Find out more by reading about conversations.

Speech Problems?

If you didn't select a speech synthesizer during startup or you get an error message when you try to speak, you will need to select a synthesizer in the Voice Options dialog. You can get to that dialog by choosing Options from the Talk menus, then Voice Options... You can also get to Voice Options by right clicking anywhere on the Talk window.

Pronunciation

If you find that certain words are mispronounced by your speech synthesizer, you can correct the pronunciation of words in the Aurora Voice Options dialog with Edit Exception File.

More Information...

To learn more about Talk, see What is Talk.

Section 11

Public Speaking

Public speaking is challenging for some, and a necessity for others. Recognizing this need, Aurora Suite offers a number of tools for public speaking which should give you the comfort and assurance you need when you get up in front of a crowd.

Using Aurora Talk

Aurora Talk allows you to do public speaking from a prepared speech and interact with your audience quickly and easily.

Prepared Speeches

If you have a speech prepared in your word processor, you can put it into Talk quickly and easily by copying the speech to the clipboard, and then pasting it into Aurora Talk with Edit|Paste. (It is best if you do this with a new conversation that you have created with Conversations|New.) This will put your speech into the current conversation and split it into sentences so that you can easily control the flow of your presentation by repeatedly pressing Enter each time you wish to speak the next sentence.

Tip: Before you do the paste, you might want to change the History Lines setting in Talk Options to 512 to make sure that a long presentation doesn't run off the top of the conversation.

Handling Questions

If you receive questions from the audience, you can answer quick yes and no questions with preprogrammed phrases in the function keys. If a question requires a longer answer, switch to a different conversation (again, created with Conversations|New) by using Next! (F12) or Previous! (F11) and write out your longer response with the help of Aurora Word Prediction. When you are done answering, again use Next! and Previous! to return to your presentation.

Using Aurora Echo

Although Aurora Talk is a better solution for public speaking, Aurora Echo will also allow you to do public speaking from a prepared speech.

Prepared Speeches

If you have a speech prepared in your word processor, you can mark sections of it to be spoken and use the Read Marked Block button to read it.

Handling Questions

If you receive questions from the audience, you can answer quick yes and no questions by typing them into another document in your word processor and using Echo to read back what you are typing.

Using Aurora Prediction

Aurora Prediction also offers abbreviation expansions which provide speech output. You can preprogram your presentation, then use the abbreviation expansions and word prediction to give it.

Pronunciation

We strongly recommend going through your presentation ahead of time to make sure that your speech synthesizer pronounces everything correctly. If there are problems, you can correct them in the Aurora Voice Options dialog with Edit Exception File.

Section 12

Demos

Demos

We recommend anyone thinking about purchasing Aurora Suite give it a try before they buy. Aurora Suite offers two types of Demo so you can choose the one that best suits your needs.

Demo Selection Dialog

All-Day Demo

The All-Day Demo allows most functions of Aurora Suite to operate for up to 24 hours or until you quit Aurora Suite. You can continue to request the All-Day Demo for up to 30 days from the first time you request one. Click on More Information About All-Day Demo for detailed information.

Note: The All-Day Demo requires an internet connection so that Aurora Suite can contact Aurora Systems servers to verify eligibility for the All-Day demo.

Standard 20 Minute Demo

The Standard 20 Minute Demo offers limited functionality and a per-run time limit of 20 minutes. You can use the 20 minute demo even if you don't have an internet connection.

Back

Back returns you to the Welcome screen.

Your Privacy

Aurora Systems respects your privacy. We have a corporate privacy policy that explains what information we collect and what we use it for. If you are connected to the internet, you can click on Your Privacy to view our privacy policy.

Section 13

Demo Level

Aurora Suite offers three levels of functionality so that the user can choose features appropriate for their needs at the best price.

Once you select a demo, you will be prompted to select the level of functionality for the demo software.

Tip: Resellers note that your sample software will prompt you for the demo level just as if it was a demo.

Demo Select Level Dialog

Click any of the three buttons to choose the demo level you want.

Don't Ask Again

Check Don't Ask Again and the next time you choose a demo, it won't ask you this question.

Section 14

Prediction

What is Prediction

Aurora Prediction is designed to help two groups of people, people with Learning Disabilities and Dyslexia, and people needing Augmentative Communication.

Aurora Suite's Prediction system is designed to speed typing input and improve spelling and grammar in programs for the Microsoft Windows operating environment.

Word Guessing

Prediction Demo Hello

Aurora Prediction attempts to guess what word you are typing as you type it. If you press H for example, you will see a list of words that start with the letter H in the window like: he, his, had, her, have, him etc. Pressing E will then cause Prediction to offer you a list of words starting with HE. Pressing L will give a list of words that start with HEL. If you were typing "helpless" and you saw it appear in the prediction window, you could then either type the number next to it in the prediction window or click on it with the mouse to have Prediction complete the word for you. So for four keystrokes "HEL4" you get nine keystrokes output, eight for "helpless" plus a trailing space. You've doubled your typing speed.

Grammatical rules and Phonetic Spelling are used to help increase the chance that the word you are typing will appear in the prediction window.

Word Prediction

To improve keystroke savings even more, Aurora Prediction attempts to predict what word will follow the word you have just typed, so after the "helped" example above, you would see words that have been seen to follow "helped" before, the most likely one being "the". In this case, you type 1 to select "the" for a savings of 3 keystrokes. Much better than you can get with guessing alone.

Multiple-Word Prediction

Once you have typed "helped the" a few times using the technique above, you may notice that the phrase "helped the" appears in the prediction window after you have typed "hel". You can then pick the phrase for a savings of 8 keystrokes. Three better than you can get with the word guessing/prediction combination.

As you use Multiple-Word Prediction you can build even longer phrases like "Hello there how are you" for savings of 20 characters or more, plus you don't need to preprogram macros and remember all those codes.

It Learns Your Writing Style

As you use Aurora Prediction, it learns your personal writing style, so the more you use it, the more effective word guessing, prediction and multiple-word prediction will get.

AutoPunctuation

After you press a punctuation character (period, exclamation, question, semicolon, comma) Aurora Prediction automatically inserts the appropriate number of spaces after that punctuation character.

Tip: If you don't need the spaces, you should go back with the left arrow key rather than the backspace because backspace will delete both the space and the punctuation character.

AutoCapitalization

After a terminating punctuation character (period, exclamation, question), Aurora Prediction will automatically set the shift key so that the first character of the next sentence or paragraph will automatically be capitalized.

Tip: If you don't want that character to be capitalized, you should type it, then go back with the left arrow key and type over top of it with the desired lower case letter.

AutoSpacing

You may have noticed that after words and punctuation that Aurora Prediction automatically puts the appropriate number of spaces after the word or punctuation character for you. This is called AutoSpacing.

Tip: If you don't need the spaces, you should go back with the left arrow key rather than the backspace because backspace will delete both the space and the punctuation character.

AutoBackspace

In Aurora Prediction, the backspace key is more of an undo key than a simple backspace. It remembers the last twenty keystrokes and can undo any changes that Aurora Prediction has made to the typed results in your application.

Tip: Pressing any arrow key, delete, PgUp or PgDn will cause AutoBackspace to forget its backspacing information, returning it to regular backspace operation.

Macros

Aurora Prediction also supports preprogrammed text and speech macros that can be used for Logical Letter Coding schemes and are automatically expanded when you hit the expand character. This character defaults to a space, but can easily be changed to any other character using the ExpandCharacter= setting in the AURORA.SET.

There are two types of macros, text and speech. Text macros are typed into the application you typed the macro code into. Speech macros are spoken. After a macro is autoexpanded, the macro code is erased out of the window where you typed it. Text macros are automatically followed by a space. Text macros can be unexpanded by pressing the backspace key, backspacing after a speech macro will return the macro code to the screen.

Word Endings and Suffixes

This is one thing that Aurora Prediction doesn't do since this feature was originally designed to compensate for limited dictionary capacity. With Aurora Prediction's million word capacity dictionary, it can easily contain all variations of words (park, Parker, parking, parked, parks, park's etc.) without the added cognitive difficulty of managing suffixes.

And More...

We recommend you read through the following sections to find more about Aurora Prediction.

Section 15

For Learning Disabilities

Talking Spellchecker

Aurora Prediction helps improve writing with a talking spellchecker that can work as you type to mark or correct words, or help you correct your entire text after you are finished. Advanced phonetic and rule based spell matching make sure the spellchecker makes the right suggestions.

Error Logging

You can log your spelling errors for later analysis. You can even convert your spelling errors into automatic spelling corrections automatically using the Log Spelling Errors feature.

Knowledge of Common Dyslexic Errors

Aurora's talking spellchecker applies knowledge of common dyslexic errors such as confusing b/d/p/q to find the word the writer meant more often than conventional spelling assistance tools.

Automatic Spelling Correction

Automatic correction of commonly misspelled words fixes common mistakes without help from the writer. You can even convert your spelling errors into automatic corrections automatically using the Log Spelling Errors feature.

Homonym and Homophone Selection

Visual and audio cues, definitions and examples help the writer choose between homonyms and homophones.

Definitions, Thesaurus and Usage Examples

Some words include definitions and usage examples, and you can add as many as you like to help you with word selection. You can also enter thesaurus words for vocabulary variety. You can find out more of what it does in the What Does it Do? section and Spelling Aids section.

Section 16

For Communication

Aurora Prediction helps speed typing input or allows you to type longer without tiring by attempting to guess what you are typing and allowing you to complete a word or phrase by pressing the number next to the word or phrase in the prediction window or by clicking on it with the mouse. You can improve your results with Aurora Prediction by using the strategies discussed in Strategies for using Prediction.

Effective Word Prediction

Aurora Prediction contains one of the most effective next word prediction and word completion algorithms ever developed. That means you can type faster or longer than you could with help from other word prediction programs.

Multiple-Word Prediction

Once you have typed "my name is" a few times, you may notice that the phrase "my name is" appears in the prediction window after you have typed "my". You can then pick the phrase for a savings of 8 keystrokes. This also will learn people's names and other handy phrases as you use them. You can also program your own phrases if having prediction learn them isn't fast enough. Multiple word phrases have the added benefit that you don't have to remember macro codes any more.

It Learns Your Writing Style

As you use Aurora Prediction, it learns your personal writing style, so the more you use it, the more effective word guessing, prediction and multiple-word prediction will get. To make sure that it is effective right out of the box, we have trained our dictionaries on several master works of the English language.

AutoPunctuation, AutoCapitalization and AutoSpacing

Aurora Prediction saves you keystrokes by putting the right number of spaces after punctuation, putting a space after a word you choose from the prediction window, and automatically capitalizing the first word of a new sentence for you.

Macros

Aurora Prediction also supports preprogrammed text, speech and WAV (sound effect) macros that can be used for Logical Letter Coding schemes and are automatically expanded when you hit the space bar. There are three types of macros: text, speech, and WAV file. Text macros are typed into the application you typed the macro code into. Speech macros are spoken. WAV macros play the WAV file you name.

Grammatical Rules

Grammatical Rules can be used to make sure that Aurora Prediction doesn't make grammatically incorrect suggestions. Since English is such a complicated language and is impossible to completely define with a limited set of rules, we recommend Grammatical Rules be left off as our statistical algorithms have been shown to be less subject to error in informal testing.

Talking Spellchecker

Aurora Prediction helps improve writing with a talking spellchecker that can work as you type to mark or correct words, or help you correct your entire text after you are finished. Advanced phonetic and rule based spell matching make sure the spellchecker makes the right suggestions.

Error Logging

You can log your spelling errors for later analysis. You can even convert your spelling errors into automatic spelling corrections automatically using the Log Spelling Errors feature.

Automatic Spelling Correction

Automatic correction of commonly misspelled words fixes common mistakes without help from the writer. You can even convert your spelling errors into automatic corrections automatically using the Log Spelling Errors feature.

You can find out more of what it does in the What Does it Do? section.

Section 17

Adult Content

Warning: There may be words contained in Aurora for Windows' dictionary files that some users find offensive. Rather than censoring our dictionary files, we have made a best effort to hide these words from our younger or more sensitive users with our Show Adult Words feature. Unfortunately, what is considered "offensive" varies widely over individuals and we may simply have missed some "adult" words. If you find words you find offensive in our dictionaries that are not marked as "adult," we sincerely apologize, and please be sure to let us know so we can make sure they are marked as adult content in future releases.

Aurora Prediction's Show Adult Words feature is designed to make the use of Aurora Prediction easier for parents of younger users, or in a school setting. Aurora Prediction's vocabulary contains many words that are generally considered "adult." Rather than censoring these words, Aurora Systems has made a best effort to mark any "adult" words so that they will not be shown to users unless specifically enabled by checking the Show Adult Words checkbox in the Dictionary tab of the Prediction Options dialog, and so that they can be easily removed from the dictionary using Dictionary Optimization.

If the Show Adult Words checkbox on the Dictionary tab of the Prediction Options dialog is not checked, words marked as "adult" content will not show up in the prediction window, and will show as asterisks (*****) in the dictionary editor. You also will not be able to edit "adult" content words in the dictionary editor.

If You Find Adult Words We Have Missed

If you find words that you consider "adult" that we have not already marked, you can mark them yourself by editing the words in the Dictionary Editor and checking the word's "Adult Vocabulary Word" checkbox. We would be interested in hearing about any words we have missed.

Removing Adult Content Words from the Dictionary

You can remove all words marked as "adult" content from the dictionary by choosing Optimize Dictionary... from the Aurora Prediction menu, checking the Delete Words Marked as Adult Content checkbox, then clicking on the Start button at the bottom of the Optimize Dictionary dialog. This may take a few hours. Please see Optimizing a Dictionary before starting. Note that this must be done for each dictionary file individually, it cannot be done for all dictionaries all at once.

Displaying Adult Content Words

If you wish to have full access to words that are "adult" content, check the Show Adult Words checkbox in the Dictionary tab of the Prediction Options dialog.

Section 18

Spelling Aids

Aurora Suite contains several features designed to help poor spellers, each of these is discussed briefly below.

Unlimited Dictionary Size

Since the dictionary size is practically unlimited (roughly 1 Million words), nearly any word you might want to spell (roughly 125,000 words including more than 20,000 names and places in the prediction dictionary) will already be in the dictionaries.

Spelling Autocorrection

The standard dictionaries shipped with Aurora Suite contain a number of Spelling Autocorrection text macros. These macros make Prediction correct commonly misspelled words automatically as you type, like "recieve" to "receive". You can even automatically convert your spelling errors into automatic spelling corrections, find out more under the Log Spelling Errors feature.

Talking Spellchecker

Aurora Prediction helps improve writing with a talking spellchecker that can work as you type to mark or correct words, or help you correct your entire text after you are finished. Advanced phonetic and rule based spell matching make sure the spellchecker makes the right suggestions.

Error Logging

You can log your spelling errors for later analysis. You can even convert your spelling errors into automatic spelling corrections automatically using the Log Spelling Errors feature.

Knowledge of Common Dyslexic Errors

Aurora's talking spellchecker applies knowledge of common dyslexic errors such as confusing b/d/p/q to find the word the writer meant more often than conventional spelling assistance tools.

Phonetic Spelling

Prediction has the ability to guess words that sound like a word you are spelling if the word you are typing is not in the dictionary. Typically this helps if you are spelling a word incorrectly by offering you the correct spelling in the prediction window once you have typed most of the word. See Prediction Options for more information. These phonetically similar words appear as blue words in the Prediction window.

Spell Check as you Type

Spellcheck Dialog

Aurora Prediction can check the words you type to see that they are in its dictionary and spelled correctly, and if not, ask you to correct the spelling or add the word to the dictionary as you go. Unlike the spelling checkers in commercial word processors, it can read the selections to you to help choose the correct word. See Prediction Options for more information.

Spell Check Clipboard

Aurora Prediction can spell check any text that you copy to the clipboard so that you can mark a passage in your document, copy it to the clipboard, spell check it, then paste it back into your document to make the corrections permanent. See Prediction Options for more information.

Extra Words

Aurora Prediction allows the user to display up to 6 31 extra words at the bottom of the Prediction window that can only be selected by clicking on them with the mouse. These words can help if a poor speller can get the first two or three letters of a long word by allowing them to see the word earlier than if only the top 6 or 9 words were shown.

You can get more information in the section Spell as you Type.

Section 19

Spell Check While you Type

Spellcheck Dialog

The Aurora Spellcheck dialog appears if you type a word that is not in the current dictionary file. The dialog shows you the word and a number of suggestions and allows you to make any desired changes.

Note: If the Aurora Spellcheck dialog is onscreen in one application, Aurora Spellcheck is disabled in all other applications until the dialog is closed. So if you get a spelling error in one application, take care of correcting it before you go to a different application.

Tip: When the spelling dialog opens, the word in the dictionary that is most likely the word you meant will be entered here. If it is the correct word, just hit Enter and it will go into your document.

The top line of the dialog box contains the context of the word you are correcting. For spell checking as you type, this will just be the misspelled word. For spell checking the clipboard, this will be the part of the sentence after the misspelled word.

Below the context is a text entry box that is where you can enter a correction for the misspelled word.

Below the text entry box, the left side contains a list of suggestions for what the correct word might be. You may double-click on any of the words in this list to move them into the correction text entry box. To see more words, click on the scroll bar to the right of that window (if present.) The words in this list are ordered with the most likely word at the top of the list.

More Suggestions

If the word you are looking for is not in the suggestion list and you have the spell checker set to not give you every possible suggestion right at the start, the More Suggestions button will cause the spellchecker to look further for the correct word. This button will go gray when it has no more suggestions to make.

Replace

The Replace button will put the text in the correction text entry box into the document you are working on, or into the clipboard. The word in the correction text entry box will be added to the Aurora Prediction dictionary.

Was Spelled Right

The Was Spelled Right button will make Aurora Prediction assume the word you typed is correct and add it to the dictionary.

Autocorrect

The Autocorrect button will put the text in the correction text entry box into the document you are working on, or into the clipboard. The word in the correction text entry box will be added to the Aurora Prediction dictionary as an autocorrection so you never have to correct this mistake again.

Say

The Say button will make Aurora Prediction speak the word in the correction text entry box. If you click the Say button a second time, it will spell the word for you. You can click on any of the words in the suggestion list to have them read to you.

Mark

The Mark button will make Aurora Prediction surround the misspelled word with curly brackets {} in the document you are working on, or in the clipboard. The word will not be added to the Aurora Prediction dictionary.

Ignore

The Ignore button will make Aurora Prediction ignore the word in the correction text entry box, and will not add it to the dictionary. This is useful if the word is an unusual or made up one and you just want to get back to your work without making any changes or adding the word to the dictionary.

Alarm Sound

If the Alarm Sound checkbox is checked, Aurora Prediction will make a sound when the Aurora Spellcheck dialog appears.

You can find out more in the section Spelling Aids.

Section 20

Read Prediction Window

Reading All the Words in the Window

Aurora Prediction can read the prediction window to you if you press the ` key (above the tab on 101 key keyboards, it also has the ~ character on it) and have a speech synthesizer attached and configured correctly. You can set up your speech synthesizer in the Voice Options dialog.

Reading Single Words

You can also read single words by placing the mouse cursor over them with the Read the Word Under the Mouse Cursor checkbox on the Window tab of the Prediction Options dialog.

Stopping Speech

If you decide you don't need to hear any more while Prediction is speaking, select Stop Speaking from the Prediction menu or right-click menu.

Pronunciation

If you find that certain words are mispronounced by your speech synthesizer, you can correct the pronunciation of words in the Voice Options dialog with Edit Exception File.

Section 21

Prediction Strategies

Aurora Suite's Prediction system can be used most effectively if you use a few simple strategies which take best advantage of its features.

Remember your Phrases

Aurora Prediction's multiple word prediction feature is designed to maximize the speed of typing input. The way it does that is by offering you longer phrases for selection in the prediction window. In time, the phrases you use often will start to be offered earlier, but until that time, you can often get a phrase you know Prediction has learned by typing one or two more characters of the first word of the phrase after that word appears alone in the prediction window. If you type the whole first word and still don't see the phrase you want, don't worry, the phrase you are looking for probably just hasn't been typed as many times as the other options in the prediction window so it doesn't show up.

Building Longer Phrases

If you don't use two-word phrases, Prediction will never learn longer ones. If "I want" has been learned, you need to select it and "to" to build the phrase "I want to".

Getting Words Spelled Right

With the larger dictionaries, nearly any word you might want to spell should already be in the dictionary. If you do not see the word you are spelling, you may be making a spelling mistake. If you think that might be the case, spell the word out the way you think it is spelled, and if Phonetic Spelling doesn't offer the word you are typing before you press the space at the end of the word and you don't have Spell Check as you Type on, stop! Don't press that space. You might want to check that you have spelled the word correctly before you press the space and Prediction learns the new word.

If you have Spell Check as you Type on, you will not have this problem.

Section 22

Typing Numbers

Prediction Disabled

Prediction allows you to disable prediction temporarily for any window by typing 0 (zero). To turn prediction back on, type ;0 (semicolon, zero). This feature is particularly useful when you want to type numbers where those numbers would usually select words from the prediction box. Note that if you switch to another window, that prediction will come back on for that window, then turn off again when you switch back. This feature only turns prediction on and off for a single window.

Section 23

Prediction Performance

Several options can greatly improve the performance of the Prediction program. These options and their associated tradeoffs are discussed briefly below.

Dictionary Optimization is recommended if you find that your dictionary is slow during prediction, or when you are editing, and you have been using the same dictionary for a long period. Over time as new words are added to a dictionary, it is possible for the dictionary to become fragmented so that it can no longer make optimal use of the available cache memory.

Increasing Cache Memory is recommended if you find your dictionary performance slow even after dictionary optimization. Note that increasing cache memory may affect the performance of other applications. If you increase the amount of cache memory over the size the dictionary is optimized for, we recommend you optimize the dictionary for the new cache size.

Use an Uncompressed Dictionary. Compressed dictionaries are slower than uncompressed dictionaries, this can make a significant difference to the performance of Aurora Prediction on slower computers without enough memory to cache the entire dictionary. Note that uncompressed dictionaries use roughly double the amount of disk space than their compressed equivalents. The standard dictionaries shipped with Prediction are not compressed.

Set the Learning Options to Don't Learn so that new words are no longer added and words' priorities no longer change. Much of the time taken after selecting a word from the prediction window is used up adjusting words' priorities.

Set the Show Phonetically Similar Words option on the Dictionary tab Off so that Aurora Prediction doesn't have to search for phonetically similar words. Much of the time taken when typing is spent searching for phonetically similar words.

If you are not using too large a dictionary, Cache the Entire Dictionary. This will put the entire dictionary file in memory for maximum performance.

Use a smaller dictionary. Several dictionaries are provided with Prediction, smaller ones require less cache memory and will generally perform better than larger ones.

Tip: We do not recommend using smaller dictionaries if you are using the spell checking features.

Section 24

Prediction Options

The Prediction Options dialog allows you to set up Aurora Prediction for your needs. When you are in the options dialog you can move to the next tab by pressing F12, or the previous tab by pressing F11, or click on the tab to go directly to that page.

You can get to the prediction options dialog by right clicking on the Prediction window and choosing Prediction Options from the menu or by opening the System menu for Aurora Prediction and choosing Prediction Options.

Prediction Options Easy Setup

Choose the tab you need help with below for detailed feature descriptions:

Easy Setup
Dictionary
Spelling
Window
More (Window)
Learning

Click on OK to accept changes, or click Cancel to abort changes.

Section 25

Easy Setup

Prediction Options Easy Setup

To quickly set Prediction for the best options for you, you can use the Easy Setup buttons. If these preset configurations do not suit your needs, you may modify the options on the other tabs in the Prediction Options dialog box as you choose.

Best Settings For Spellchecking

This button optimizes Aurora Prediction's settings for a person who is using it for spellchecking while you type only. With this choice, you will usually minimize Aurora Prediction to run in the background. This enables all features of the talking spellchecker and optimizes Prediction to operate most quickly. You may make Aurora Prediction even faster by increasing the Dictionary Cache on the Dictionary tab. You may wish to log your spelling errors for later analysis. You can then convert your spelling errors into automatic spelling corrections automatically using the Log Spelling Errors feature.

Best Settings For Word Prediction

This button optimizes Aurora Prediction's settings for a person who is going to use Aurora Prediction for word prediction and typing speed enhancement, but who is a good speller. If you misspell a word, it will be added to the dictionary unless you check the Spell Check as you Type checkbox on the Spelling tab or the Just Learn my Writing Style radio button on the Learning tab.

Best Settings For Word Prediction with Spellchecking

This button optimizes Aurora Prediction's settings for a person who is going to use Aurora Prediction for word prediction but who needs spelling assistance. This option enables the Show Phonetically Similar Words option on the Dictionary tab which may make prediction performance much slower. You may wish to log your spelling errors for later analysis. You can then convert your spelling errors into automatic spelling corrections automatically using the Log Spelling Errors feature.

Section 26

Dictionary

Prediction Options Dictionary Tab

Show Phrases

Aurora Prediction has the unique ability to learn the phrases that you use to greatly speed up input and reduce the need for preprogrammed macros. So if you type "Fred Jones" several times, eventually it will learn to offer you "Fred Jones" as a single choice in the word prediction window. If you do not wish to have multiple word phrases offered in the prediction window, uncheck this option. Changing this option does not take effect until the next time you open a dictionary

Show Adult Words

Check this checkbox if you wish to have words that are marked as "adult" content presented in the Prediction window and the Dictionary Editor. Please see Adult Content for more information before checking this checkbox.

Show Phonetically Similar Words

Prediction has the ability to offer you words that sound like a word you are spelling if the word you are spelling is not in the dictionary. Typically this helps if you are spelling a word incorrectly. If the Use Color to Indicate Word Type checkbox is checked on the Window tab, these words will be drawn in the Prediction window in blue. Uncheck this if you do not wish to be offered similar sounding words in the prediction window. Changing this option does not take effect until the next time you open a dictionary.

Tip: Aurora Prediction will be much faster when typing if this option is turned off. A larger Dictionary Cache setting can mitigate this slowdown.

Don't Show Grammatically Incorrect Words

Prediction has the ability to apply grammatical rules to reduce the number of inappropriate words it offers in the prediction window. Uncheck this if you do not wish to have grammar rules applied to the prediction window. Changing this option does not take effect until the next time you open a dictionary.

Note: This feature only works for English dictionaries.

Tip: In languages as complicated as English, it is very difficult to cover all cases with a finite set of grammatical rules. Aurora Prediction's prediction and guessing algorithms are very effective at presenting the correct words, you will generally receive best results if this feature is turned off.

Recent Words Priority Boost

If Recent Words Priority Boost is checked, new words added to the dictionary recently will be given an additional priority boost and presented sooner than they might otherwise by the word prediction. Since new words are often used repeatedly, such as when writing a school report, this should save additional keystrokes by presenting such words earlier.

Predict Next Words

Some users have difficulty with next word prediction, but still need word completion. This option allows you to turn next word prediction off.

Activate Prediction Automatically

If this checkbox is checked, Aurora Prediction will ask you if you wish to have Aurora Prediction help you with your typing in a new application when you type a word followed by a space in that application.

Automatic Activation Dialog

If you answer Yes, Prediction will start helping in that application. If you answer No, Prediction will not help in that window unless you use the manual Activate Window feature.

Do Automatic Spacing After Punctuation

Aurora Prediction automatically adds spaces after punctuation characters like .,?! Uncheck this checkbox to turn off the automatic spacing for punctuation.

Dictionary Cache

In general, the cache size of a dictionary should be about 25% of its uncompressed size. So if you have a 2 megabyte compressed .DCT dictionary file (the standard dictionaries shipped with Aurora are not compressed,) you should use 1024K(1M) of cache (2 megabyte dictionary file, double the size because it is compressed, and divide by 4). For a 2 megabyte uncompressed dictionary, you should select at least a 512K cache.

The Professional Edition supports a cache of up to 31744K, the Value and Standard Editions support a cache up to 8192K.

Tip: For systems with 64M of RAM or more we recommend a cache of at least 4096K. If you have 256M or more of RAM, we recommend setting the dictionary cache to its maximum. You may also want to see Optimizing the Dictionary for more information.

You can find out how your cache is performing in Dictionary Info from the Dictionary Editor.

Tip: You are not penalized if you choose a cache larger than the dictionary you are using needs. In that case Prediction will cache the entire dictionary and the balance of the cache will remain free for use by other applications.

Cache Entire Dictionary

Check this option to get maximum performance from a dictionary. With this option checked, the entire dictionary will be loaded at startup. Note that this option may significantly increase the time needed to open a dictionary and if you do not have enough memory, it can make Windows and your other applications very slow.

Tip: If your computer has 64M or less of RAM, we recommend you don't use this feature.

Tip: If your dictionary is smaller than the maximum Dictionary Cache and you set the Dictionary Cache to its maximum setting, you will get a similar performance benefit without the increased time at startup.

Section 27

Spelling

Prediction Options Spelling Tab

Spell check Text in Clipboard

If this checkbox is checked, any time you copy text to the clipboard, you will be offered an opportunity to spell check the text you copied to the clipboard. This feature can be distracting, and you may want to look at Spell Check as you type below as an alternative.

Important: If you make any changes, you must paste the text back into your document to make the corrections permanent in your document and you may lose any formatting you have entered. If you are going to apply formatting, we recommend you write your document first and get it all spelled correctly before formatting it.

Note: We recommend using the SPELL.DCT dictionary if you are using spell checking features.

Spell check as you type

Aurora Spellcheck

If this checkbox is checked, any time you type a word that Aurora Prediction does not recognize, a spelling dialog will appear in your application and allow you to correct the spelling of the word, or tell Aurora Prediction to learn the word. This feature can be distracting, and you may want to look at Spell Check Text in Clipboard above as an alternative. You may wish to log your spelling errors for later analysis. You can then convert your spelling errors into automatic spelling corrections automatically using the Log Spelling Errors feature.

Note: We recommend using the SPELL.DCT dictionary if you are using spell checking features.

Tip: If you are using Aurora Prediction solely for spell checking as you type, we recommend minimizing the prediction window and unchecking Allow Selections when Minimized on the Window tab to allow normal use of the number keys and semicolon.

Only Mark misspelled words

If this checkbox is checked, whenever you type a word that Aurora Prediction does not recognize, it will mark the word by bracketing it with curly brackets like {werd}. The word in brackets will not be added to the dictionary. If you later decide to spell check text marked with the Spell Check Text in Clipboard feature, the brackets will be automatically removed. You may wish to log your spelling errors for later analysis. You can then convert your spelling errors into automatic spelling corrections automatically using the Log Spelling Errors feature.

Ignore Words with Numbers

If this checkbox is checked and you type a word containing a number like "hel3lo", the word will not bring up the spelling dialog, and will not be added to the dictionary. This option is only enabled if you have checked Spell Check as you type above.

Ignore Words with all Capitals

If this checkbox is checked and you type a word that is all capital letters like "HELLO," the word will not bring up the spelling dialog, and will not be added to the dictionary. This option is only enabled if you have checked Spell Check as you type above.

I confuse b/d/p/q

If this checkbox is checked, Aurora's spellchecker will match words where you have confused b/d/p/q example if I typed "Pobe" or "Poqe" for "Pope" the spellchecker would suggest "Pope." If you don't make these types of errors, unchecking this will make the spellchecker faster.

Suggestions

This drop box allows you to choose the type of suggestions offered when the Spell Check as you type dialog box opens. The closer you get to Similar First Letter, the longer it will take for the Spell Check while you Type dialog to appear although it will make the alarm sound as soon as it notices a word it doesn't recognize to tell you the spelling dialog is coming.

We recommend leaving this set to Phonetic Matches as this will make the Spell Check while you Type dialog appear quickest, and often the phonetic match will give you the desired word. Also, you can always click on the More Suggestions button in the Spell Check while you Type dialog box to get more suggestions if they are needed.

Match Quality

This drop box allows you to choose how similar the words in the dictionary must be to the misspelled word in order to be listed in the suggestions list in the Spell Check while you Type dialog box. If you choose Very Close, only words that are very similarly spelled will be listed. If you choose All, then all similarly spelled words will be listed. Your choices are: Very Close, Close, Loose, and All.

Log Spelling Errors

If this checkbox is checked, any time you do an action in the Aurora Spellchecker the action will be logged. The default log file is ERRORS.TXT in your \Documents and Settings\%USERNAME%\Application Data\Aurora Suite 2005 directory. You can change the name of the log file with the SpellingLogFile setting in the aurora.set.

Changing Spelling Errors into Automatic Spelling Corrections

If you have corrected errors with the Aurora Spellchecker and have had Log Spelling Errors on, you can import those corrections using the Dictionary Editor and its Import feature to make them into automatic spelling corrections so that your specific spelling errors are corrected automatically. To convert your spelling errors into automatic corrections, do the following:
  1. Open Aurora Prediction.
  2. Choose Edit Dictionary from the Aurora Prediction menu.
  3. Choose Import Vocabulary from the Edit Dictionary window menu.
  4. Click on the Import Aurora Vocabulary File from Disk radio button.
  5. Click on OK.
  6. Choose ERRORS.TXT from the file selection dialog and click on OK.

Importing will then begin. When it is complete, you can close the Edit Dictionary window and your new automatic corrections will be entered.

Section 28

Window

Prediction Options Window Tab

Always Bring Prediction Window to Top

If this option is checked, the prediction window will always stay on top of other applications when prediction is on. When Prediction goes to sleep (displays the Zzzzzz message) it will sink to the bottom to allow the full screen display for the application which doesn't require word prediction.

Use Semicolon for Selection

If this option is checked, the semicolon key will be used to select the first word from the prediction window allowing ten words to be directly selectable from the keyboard. This keeps a fast typist on the home row more. To type a semicolon with this option checked, turn word prediction off by pressing 0 (zero) then ; then ;0 (semicolon zero) to turn prediction back on.

Show Selection Numbers

If this option is not checked, the Prediction window will not show numbers next to the words in the window. This is generally done when words are going to be picked from the prediction window exclusively by clicking with the mouse. If this option is unchecked, we recommend changing the Number/Word Separator on the More tab to nothing.

Allow Selections when Minimized

If this option is checked, the Prediction window will allow you to choose words from the prediction window using the numbers and semicolon keys even when it is minimized. Regardless of this setting, when the Prediction window is minimized, the number and semicolon keys will work as they are set with the Use Semicolon for Selection option above and with Words in Window on the More tab.

This option is primarily intended for use when Aurora Prediction is being used as a spell as you type system. See Spell Check as you Type on the Spell tab for more information.

Read the Word Under the Mouse Cursor

If this option is checked, any time you put the mouse cursor over a word in the Prediction window it will be highlighted in red (if you have Use Color to Indicate Word Type checked) and spoken. You need to have selected a speech synthesizer in Voice Options for this to work.

Use Color to Indicate Word Type

If this option is checked, words in the Prediction window will be color coded to indicate additional information about them.

Blue words sound like the word you are typing but are not spelled the same.
Green words are Homonyms.
Red words are currently being spoken.
All other words are Black.

Prediction Window Tracks the Cursor

When turned on, this causes the Prediction window to follow the Cursor (Caret) in many applications. If there is insufficient room for the Prediction window between the Caret and the edge of the screen, the Prediction window will move to an alternate position where it can fit.

Note: This feature does not work in all applications, it only works in those that use the Windows standard Caret. If it does not work in the application you want to use, check if the application has any accessibility options, as often such applications give you the choice to enable updating of Windows standard Caret.

Show Homonyms

If this option is checked, words that have homonyms information will be displayed with the additional information. If you have Use Color to Indicate Word Type checked, homonyms will appear in green. Also, any time you type a word that has homonyms information, a bell sound will occur. Homonyms usually include the word's homonyms plus an example of correct usage. For example:

their - they're, there; ex. it is their cat.

Edit Word

You can add your own homonyms entries using the Dictionary Editor.

Show Definition

If this option is checked, definitions will be displayed for words that have them. Definitions are usually short and only list the main definition for words that mean more than one thing for example:

their - belonging to them

You can add your own definition entries or edit existing ones by using the Dictionary Editor.

Show Thesaurus

If this option is checked, thesaurus words will be displayed for words that have them. For example:

frill - addition,adornment,amenity,beading,beauties,bedizenment

You can add your own thesaurus entries using the Dictionary Editor.

Show Note

If this option is checked, notes you have entered about a word will be displayed. You can add your own notes using the Dictionary Editor.

Choose Font

Press this button to choose the font that will be used in the prediction window. The Prediction Window's text and background colors are controlled by Windows and will match what you have chosen for your other applications' windows.

Select Font

Section 29

More Window

Prediction Options More Window Tab

Spacing

The prediction window can single, 1.5 or double space the words in it to help individuals with visual acuity problems. When the prediction box is wider than it is high or Horizontal List presentation is selected, this option allows you to adjust the horizontal spacing between words.

Words in Window

This option allows you to control the number of words that are offered in the prediction window. Although only 10 words can be picked by typing a number or semicolon (if enabled), up to 40 words can be displayed. These extra words can be picked using a mouse, or just used as a cueing system for poor spellers to tell what words are coming.

Note: The Value Edition can show 9 words, the Standard edition can show 15 words and the Professional Edition can show 40 words.

Tip: If you are using the alternate sorting features and have resized the prediction window to show fewer words than specified by Words in Window, it is important that you change the Words in Window setting to make sure you are presented the words in the proper order.

Longest Word to Show

This option allows you to limit the length of words suggested in the Aurora Prediction window. If this option is set larger than 0, words longer than that number of characters will no longer appear. Note that longer words that were in the list when you went into Prediction Options will remain in the Prediction window after you leave the Prediction Options dialog. This number must be greater than or equal to the value for Shortest Word to Show below. Set this option to 0 and Shortest Word to Show below to 0 to disable this feature.

Shortest Word to Show

This option allows you to limit the length of words suggested in the Aurora Prediction window. If this option is set larger than 0, words shorter than that number of characters will no longer appear. Note that shorter words that were in the list when you went into Prediction Options will remain in the Prediction window after you leave the Prediction Options dialog. This number must be less than or equal to the value for Longest Word to Show below. Set this option to 0 and Longest Word to Show above to 0 to disable this feature.

Number/Word Separator

This option allows you to change the character or characters that separate the numbers from the words in the prediction window. This defaults to a single right parentheses character ), but can be set to one or more other characters.

When Predicting

The prediction window can be sorted by priority, alphabetically or by length when it is predicting next words for you.

Research into the effectiveness of word prediction has shown that the traditional approach of showing the "most likely" (sorting by priority) word first in a list of words is not the best way of presenting a list of words for selection in some cases. Research has found that lists sorted by length, or alphabetically are much more efficiently searched. Since spelling words and predicting words are two different activities, we allow you to choose the sorting method for each activity individually. This allows Aurora Prediction to offer the most likely word when it is predicting the next word, and offer the quickest to scan list when you are spelling out a word and searching for it in the Prediction window word list.

Tip: We have found that when predicting next words that Sort By Priority is generally the best option.

Note: If you are not sorting by priority, it is important that if you have resized the prediction window to not show some of the offered words, you change the Words in Window setting to match the number of words actually visible in the window.

When Spelling

The prediction window can be sorted by priority, alphabetically or by length when it is spelling words for you.

Tip: We have found that when spelling words, that Sort by Length, Shortest First is generally the best option.

This setting is always set the same as When Predicting above.

List Presentation

The words in the prediction window can be displayed either in a vertical list or horizontally. If you want the list to be presented a specific way, you can choose Vertical, Horizontal or Automatic display here. Automatic determines the list presentation based on the dimensions of the Prediction window.

Section 30

Learning

Prediction Options Learning Tab

Learn new Words and my Writing Style

This is the normal setting if you want to have the dictionary learn your writing style and new words as you type them. If you are a poor speller, you may want to turn on Spell Check as you Type..

Just Learn my Writing Style

Use this setting if you just want Aurora Prediction to learn your writing style, but not new words. Note that words that are specifically added through the spell checking features are added regardless of this setting.

Don't Learn my Writing Style or New Words

Use this setting if you want maximum performance from the Prediction system while not learning your writing style or new words. Note that words that are specifically added through the spell checking features are added regardless of this setting.

Tip: Performance of Aurora Prediction will be much better if this radio button is selected.

Length of Shortest Words to Learn

To reduce the number of nonsensical words learned by Prediction, set this to the number of letters a word must contain before Prediction will learn it. If you have Spell check as you type on, this setting is not used.

Tip: To disable learning new words and phrases at all (with the exception of words added in the spellchecker,) set this to 1000.

Section 31

Activate Prediction

Activate Prediction

Before Prediction will work with a Windows application, the Windows application's window must be activated. This tells Prediction to pay attention to what is typed in that window so that it can guess what you are typing and finish words for you.

This can be done automatically, see the Dictionary tab in Prediction Options for the Activate Prediction Automatically for New Applications checkbox. Once this is on, whenever you type a word and a space in a new application, Prediction will ask you if you want help in that application.

Many programs come preconfigured to work with Aurora Suite. These include Microsoft Word, WordPerfect, Microsoft Works, Write, WordPad, Microsoft Excel, Lotus Ami Pro, Corel Draw, Borland C++ and Borland Pascal.

To activate an application's window, for example a word processor:

  1. Open the application you wish Prediction to work with.
  2. Open a document, or the dialog box where you want prediction to work.
  3. Make sure the document portion of the application's window is visible.
  4. Select Activate Window from Prediction's system menu.
  5. Click on Yes in the Activate Window dialog box.
  6. Click on the document. Make sure you click on the document, on the cursor is usually a good spot, not on the scroll bars or window frame. The ZZZZZzzzzzzz. message should immediately disappear from the prediction window.

Prediction Awake

Note: Some applications, like Microsoft Word, need to be clicked twice to activate them before the ZZZZZzzzzzzz. message will disappear.

Important: If you are having trouble activating an application, make sure you click on or near the cursor, because sometimes Windows programs have hidden status windows that you may activate by accident. In this case it will appear that Aurora Prediction hasn't activated, even though it has - on the wrong window. Or use the Activate Prediction Automatically for New Applications on the Dictionary tab.

If your application supports multiple views of a document, ie "Draft", "WYSIWYG", "Preview" you may need to repeat the Activate Window procedure for each view.

If you later decide you do not want Aurora Prediction to help you in that application, use Deactivate Window to make Aurora Prediction not work with it.

Section 32

Deactivate Prediction

Deactivate Prediction

If you no longer wish to have Prediction work with a Windows application, you must deactivate the application's window.

To deactivate an application's window, for example a word processor:

  1. Open the application you wish Prediction to work with.
  2. Open a document, or the dialog box where you want prediction to not work.
  3. Make sure the document portion of the application's window is visible.
  4. Select Deactivate Window from Prediction's system menu.
  5. Click on Yes in the Deactivate Window dialog box.
  6. Click on the document. Make sure you click on the document, on the cursor is usually a good spot, not on the scroll bars or window frame. The ZZZZZzzzzzzz. message should immediately appear in the prediction window.

Prediction Sleeping

Note: Some applications, like Microsoft Word, need to be clicked twice to deactivate them before the ZZZZZzzzzzzz. message will appear.

Important: If you are having trouble deactivating an application, make sure you click on or near the cursor, because sometimes Windows programs have hidden status windows that you may deactivate by accident. In this case it will appear that Aurora Prediction hasn't deactivated, even though it has - it just hasn't deactivated the window you hoped for.

If your application supports multiple views of a document, ie "Draft", "WYSIWYG", "Preview" you may need to repeat the Deactivate Window procedure for each view.

You may also deactivate windows by deleting their corresponding WATCHn= lines from the aurora.set file.

Section 33

New Dictionary

Aurora Prediction allows you to create a new, empty, dictionary. To create a new dictionary, choose Open from the Prediction system menu, then type in the name of the new dictionary file.

Prediction New Dictionary Name

If the file doesn't exist you will be prompted if you wish to create it. If you do wish to create a new dictionary, choose Yes and you will be placed in the Create New Dictionary dialog where you may enter a description and copyright information for the new dictionary.

Prediction New Dictionary Copyright

After you have entered your description and copyright information, press Enter to create the dictionary or click Cancel to not create it.

To get your dictionary set up with your vocabulary and writing style quickly, see Import Vocabulary in the Dictionary Editor.

Section 34

Open Dictionary

Open Dictionary

Select the dictionary (.DCT) file you wish to open. If you wish to create a new dictionary file, type in the name of the new dictionary file.

Important: If you open an Aurora 2.x or 3.x for Windows dictionary with Aurora Suite, it will NO LONGER BE ACCESSIBLE from those previous products. Please see Old Aurora Dictionary Files for more information.

There are four dictionaries included in the CD-ROM edition of Aurora Suite, they are:

To get your dictionary set up with your vocabulary and writing style quickly, see Import Vocabulary in the Dictionary Editor.

Section 35

Old Format Dictionaries

Aurora 2.x and 3.x for Windows Dictionaries

Aurora Suite will load Aurora 2.x and 3.x for Windows dictionaries, however when it does so, it converts them to Aurora Suite format. They will no longer be accessible from Aurora for Windows. We recommend making a backup copy of the .DCT file before you open it if you plan to use it with Aurora for Windows in the future.

Aurora for DOS and Aurora 1.0 for Windows Dictionaries

Aurora Suite will not load Aurora for DOS, or Aurora for Windows 1.0x dictionary files. We had to sacrifice absolute backwards compatibility in order to take best advantage of many of the advanced new features when we introduced Aurora for Windows 2.0. To make sure your investment in Aurora 1.0 for Windows and Aurora for DOS isn't wasted, words and macros that have been added to these dictionaries may be imported into any Aurora 3.0 for Windows dictionary and then opened with Aurora Suite to convert it to Aurora Suite format. This is done using the Import program which may be obtained from Aurora Systems Technical support. Import includes Version 3 format dictionary files.

Section 36

Optimize Dictionary

Optimize Dictionary

Dictionary optimization may need to be done from time to time to improve performance of the prediction system. If you notice long delays when selecting words from the prediction window, or if scrolling in the dictionary editor is slow, you should consider dictionary optimization. Dictionary optimization will only have a limited benefit if you are using a large dictionary with a small dictionary cache.

Note: For optimization to complete, you will need enough free disk space to hold the new dictionary. If you have not chosen to Compress Dictionary, you will need roughly double the amount of disk space free than the dictionary used before optimization. The dictionaries distributed with Aurora Suite are not compressed.

Tip: When you plan to optimize your dictionary, you should consider doing this overnight as it can take a very long time for large dictionaries to be optimized. If you are using a laptop, it is a good idea to plug it into the wall to prevent its batteries from dying in the middle of optimization.

Repair Damaged Dictionary (will not Optimize)

If you receive error messages that there was Internal damage detected in dictionary or you find that the Prediction program is hanging while you are using it, or regular optimization fails with an error message other than a segment load failure and you are sure you have enough free disk space, you should check this checkbox to repair the dictionary rather than optimize it. Dictionary repair takes roughly the same time as optimization and should repair most damage or internal inconsistencies in the dictionary. We strongly recommend you make a backup copy of your dictionary before using this option.

Note: Words which were damaged or that you have deleted using the dictionary editor will be included in the Words in original dictionary count as well as the Deleted and damaged words removed count. These words will be removed from the repaired dictionary, as well as any prediction information that is invalid. If you find that the bulk of the words in the dictionary have been lost, or hundreds of fixes made, you might consider contacting Aurora Systems Technical support before continuing. It is possible that the dictionary will be irreparable, in which case, we recommend contacting Aurora Systems Technical Support or restoring from a backup.

Note: The repaired dictionary is not optimized so you might want to run dictionary optimization on the repaired dictionary.

How much Memory should optimization use?

This value should be set to at least 8192K. The larger the value here, the faster optimization will proceed. This value may not be set less than twice the Cache Size target value.

Compress Dictionary

This feature controls the use of compression on dictionary files. Dictionary performance can be improved on slower computers by not checking this checkbox. Note that not checking this checkbox will roughly double the disk space needed for the dictionary (.DCT) file being optimized. The standard dictionaries are not compressed.

Save Backup Copy of Dictionary File

If you do not want to save a backup copy of your unoptimized dictionary, you may uncheck this option. It is generally a good idea to save a backup copy when optimizing. Note that you will need enough free disk space for the optimized dictionary while optimization is running, even though the old one is to be deleted.

What Cache Size should we Optimize For?

This should be the same as the Dictionary Cache setting under the Dictionary tab of the Prediction Options dialog. Dictionary Optimization attempts to build a dictionary that will work best with this amount of cache memory.

In general, the cache size of a dictionary should be a minimum of about 25% of its size. So if you have a 2 megabyte compressed dictionary on disk, you should use 1024K of cache (2 megabytes, double it because it is compressed, and divide by 4). For a 2 megabyte uncompressed dictionary, you should select at least a 512K cache. If you have lots of RAM, you can only get better performance by choosing a larger cache. A minimum 1024K cache is recommended.

Delete unused Words

If checked, dictionary optimization will delete all words with a 0 priority value. Generally words with a 0 priority value are ones that the prediction system has only seen once, which may include junk words.

Delete unused Phrases

If checked, dictionary optimization will delete all phrases with a 0 priority value. This may significantly improve performance on dictionaries which have been used a great deal. Generally phrases with a 0 priority value are ones that the prediction system has only seen once, which may include junk phrases.

Delete unused Macros

If checked, dictionary optimization will delete all macros with a 0 priority value.

Delete Words Marked as Adult Content

If checked, dictionary optimization will delete all words that have their Adult Vocabulary checkbox checked.

Word Prediction Statistics Thinning Factor Caution!

This number determines how much the statistics used for word prediction are thinned out to reduce the size of your dictionary. Removing these statistics can severely reduce the effectiveness of Aurora Prediction's ability to predict next words. We recommend optimization with the Delete Unused Words and Delete Unused Phrases checkboxes checked before using this feature. A setting of one will remove prediction statistics for rarely used words and may significantly reduce dictionary size. We do not recommend using a value above 1 for this setting.

Click on the Start button or press Enter to start dictionary optimization. Click on Cancel to abort dictionary optimization.

Dictionary Optimization Status

Dictionary optimization shows a status bar to indicate the percentage complete. This bar is only an indicator that optimization is progressing, most often you cannot predict how long optimization will take based on it.

If Optimization Fails

If optimization fails with an error message and you are sure you didn't run out of disk space, it is possible that there is internal damage to the dictionary. To fix this, you should run optimization again with the Repair Damaged Dictionary, (will not optimize) checkbox checked to repair the dictionary. See above for more information on this option.

Section 37

Edit Dictionary

The Dictionary Editor allows you to add, change or delete words, phrases and macros from the dictionary. It also allows you to Import vocabulary from your documents to get prediction up to speed on your writing style quickly, Export words that you have added to transfer them to other dictionary files, and display Dictionary Info on your current dictionary file. If you have logged your spelling errors, you can convert your spelling errors into automatic spelling corrections using Import feature.

Note: Words are listed in order alphabetically by their first two letters, and then by frequency rather than strictly alphabetically so generally, it is fastest to use the Find option when you wish to edit a specific word..

Adult content words will appear as asterisks (*****) if the Show Adult Words checkbox is not checked on the Dictionary tab in the Prediction Options dialog.

Words with "Spelling Correction History Entry" next to them are used by the spell checking features, and may be deleted but not edited.

Edit Dictionary

To add a word, press Ins, or select Add Word from the system menu. You can also right click on the dictionary editor to get to the menu.

To edit a word, move the highlight to the word using the arrow keys or the Find Word command, and press Enter, or select Edit Word from the Edit menu. You can also right click on the dictionary editor to get to the menu. You cannot edit words marked as "adult" content unless the Show Adult Words checkbox is checked on the Dictionary tab in the Prediction Options dialog.

To delete a word, move the highlight to the word using the arrow keys or the Find Word command, and press Del, or select Delete Word from the Edit menu. You can also right click on the dictionary editor to get to the menu.

Keys

Ins - Add word to dictionary
Del - Delete highlighted word from dictionary
Enter - Edit highlighted word
Home - Move highlight to the first word in the dictionary
End - Move the highlight to the last word in the dictionary
PgUp - Move the highlight up one screen
PgDn - Move the highlight down one screen

Section 38

Add/Edit Word

The Add/Edit Word dialog box allows you to change or add a word or macro to the prediction dictionary while in the Edit Dictionary window.

Edit Word

Word/Macro code

Enter the word you want to add to the dictionary, or the code for a macro you want to add. If you are editing a word, you can change its text here. Macros must be two or more letters. To expand them in your documents, type the macro code followed by a space.

Read

Press the top Read button to read the word in the Word/Macro code box. Press the bottom Read button to read the text in the Macro value box.

Grammatical Type

This information is used by Prediction to apply grammatical rules to the words in the prediction window. Words default to "None" which means that the word is not to have grammatical rules applied to it.

Adult Vocabulary Word

If the Adult Content checkbox in the Prediction Options dialog is checked, you cannot edit words that have been marked as adult vocabulary words. These words appear as asterisks (*****) in the dictionary editor window. You can automatically remove adult vocabulary using Dictionary Optimization. You can also read more in the section Adult Content.

Word Completion Priority

This number ranges from 0 to 65530. Words with higher priority values will be presented by the Prediction system sooner than words with lower priority values. Words with a priority of 0 are considered "unused" by Aurora Prediction and may be removed by checking one of the Automatic Deletion Options checkboxes in the Optimize Dictionary dialog.

This dialog box will not close if you have entered an invalid priority value.

Choose Type of Macro or Word Information to Add, Edit or Delete

You can make the word you entered a macro, or associcate extra information like a definition, example or note with it using this drop box. Choose the type of extra information you wish to add here. Entries that already have information in them will have an asterisk * before them.

Delete

Once you have selected the type of macro or word information you can delete the data for that selection by clicking on the Delete button.

Enter Value for Selected Macro or Word Information Type

Once you have selected the type of macro or word information you can enter the information or macro expansion here.

Click on Ok so save changes, or Cancel to leave without saving changes to the word.

Section 39

Find Word

The Find Word dialog box allows you to search for a specific word in the dictionary while in the Dictionary Editor. This is usually much faster than looking through the dictionary manually, since the dictionary is not presented in alphabetical order.

edfind

To find a word, type in the word and then press Enter or click on the Find button. The mouse cursor will change to an hourglass while the dictionary editor searches for the word. If the word is found in the dictionary, the highlight will be placed on it, otherwise, the highlight will be placed near where the word would be if it were in the dictionary. Note that searching for a word in a large dictionary can take some time.

Tip: To find a macro, type in the macro code. Find does not search for macro expansions.

To leave this dialog without looking for a word, click the Cancel button.

Section 40

Import Vocabulary

The Import Vocabulary dialog allows you to import vocabulary and your writing style from documents you have written previously, or from special Aurora vocabulary files on disk in order to train Prediction on your personal writing style and make it more effective.

Import Vocabulary

Import Document from Clipboard

If this radio button is selected when you click on OK, Aurora Prediction will display a verification box to make sure that it is going to import the text you intended, then import that text, learning new words and the writing style of the document's author. This is great for getting Aurora Prediction up to speed as quickly as possible when you first start using it.

To import a document:

  1. Mark the text you want Prediction to train on in your word processor or other application.
  2. Copy that text to the clipboard using the word processor or other application's menus.
  3. Click on the Import Document from Clipboard radio button.
  4. Click on OK.
  5. If you have successfully copied the text to the clipboard, a confirmation dialog will appear. Check that the text is correct in the verification dialog. If the confirmation dialog does not appear, there was a problem copying the text into the clipboard, and you should try again.
  6. Import Confirmation

    Click on Yes if it is the text you want, otherwise no. A status indicator will appear while it imports.

Import Aurora Vocabulary File from Disk

If this radio button is selected when you click on OK, Aurora Prediction will open a file selection dialog where you can choose an Aurora Vocabulary file you have previously created using the Export feature. This is great for transferring vocabulary, macros and definitions and other word information from one dictionary file to another. This is especially useful for administrators, trainers and installers who set up macros and specialized vocabulary ahead of time to allow them to enter it once, then import it into other dictionary files.

To import an Aurora Vocabulary File

  1. Create a vocabulary file using the Export feature.
  2. Click on the Import Aurora Vocabulary File from Disk radio button.
  3. Click on OK.
  4. A file selection dialog will appear, select the previously created file and click on OK. A status indicator will appear while it imports.

Importing your Spelling Errors Log to make Automatic Spelling Corrections

If you have logged your spelling errors for later analysis you can use the Import feature to convert your spelling errors into automatic spelling corrections automatically. In the file selection dialog, choose the file ERRORS.TXT, this is the file that is created to log spelling errors. Note that this file name can be changed in aurora.set so that may not be the name if you have changed that setting. You can find out more about his under the Log Spelling Errors feature.

Allow Non-English Characters

If this checkbox is checked, Import will not restrict the importing of text to A-Z, but will allow accented characters to be imported. Note that if you accidentally import a binary or other non-text file that this will allow that junk to get into the dictionary file during import.

Section 41

Export Vocabulary

The Export Vocabulary dialog allows you to export custom vocabulary, macros, and extra word information that you have entered such as definitions or homonyms to disk so that you can easily transfer them to other dictionary files. This is especially useful for administrators, trainers and installers who set up macros and specialized vocabulary ahead of time to allow them to enter it once, then Import it into other dictionary files.

Export Vocabulary

Once you have chosen the items you wish to export, click on OK, you will be prompted to enter a file name to export to. Once you have done that a status bar will appear to let you know how the export is proceeding.

Note: Export will not export any vocabulary that was in the dictionary when you received it, only words that have been added through use.

Words

Words that you have added will be exported. Note that if a word also has a Homonym, Definition, Thesaurus, Wav Playback Macro, Note, Text Macro or Speech macro and any of those checkboxes are checked, that that word will be exported regardless of this setting.

Text Macros

Words that have a Text Macro defined for them will be exported.

Speech Macros

Words that have a Speech Macro defined for them will be exported.

Multiple Word Prediction Phrases

Phrases containing spaces that have been learned automatically will be exported.

Phrases

Phrases containing spaces that you have added in the Dictionary Editor will be exported.

Homonyms

Words that have homonyms defined for them will be exported.

Definition

Words that have definitions defined for them will be exported.

Thesaurus

Words that have thesaurus words defined for them will be exported.

Wav Playback Macros

Words that have WAV playback macros defined for them will be exported. Note that you will have to make sure that the paths to .WAV files are correct if you have placed your .WAV files in a directory other than the \Program Files\Aurora Su