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judetf
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Posted: February 08 2008 at 13:27 | IP Logged Quote judetf

Trying to get TTS working. Installed SAPI 5 and tested successfully through Windows control panel.

Attempts to use the TTS command in a macro produce no sounds/results at all.

Attempts to use ph_tts result in the computer saying "blah" for every word I put in the string.

I tried to be a good user and find the answer in the forums and the documentation, but "blah" doesn't appear anywhere so I'm stuck. I'm new to PH as well as TTY, so my apologies if this is a simple configuration error on my part, but any pointers would be appreciated.

jtf
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BeachBum
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Posted: February 08 2008 at 13:54 | IP Logged Quote BeachBum

Do you have in PH under Setup, TTS SAPI5 selected? If you bring up Formula Builder and verify the formula ph_tts("test") it should work. Unless your system has the "blahs".

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judetf
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Posted: February 08 2008 at 14:01 | IP Logged Quote judetf

I do. I've tried both SAPI5 and SAPI5 w/Alert, and get the same "blah" result both times (and no results when using the TTS command). I've re-init'd after the changes and even rebooted, just in case. Still, no love...
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BeachBum
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Posted: February 08 2008 at 14:13 | IP Logged Quote BeachBum

I gather you are using TTS in the macro not in the run window...

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judetf
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Posted: February 08 2008 at 14:17 | IP Logged Quote judetf

My quest began after first opening the phsample.db database. I saw the "Say something" macro which uses the TTS command to speak a global variable. Tried it and got nothing. So I started searching and found the ph_tts function which returns "blah" regardless of what string I enter.

I am so new to this I don't even know what the "run window" is yet. I'll see if I can find that and try using TTS from there...
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BeachBum
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Posted: February 08 2008 at 14:22 | IP Logged Quote BeachBum

What I called the run window is on the main screen and is a drop down for macros/formulas but most of the time I have little success unless I am testing a macro that I have built. I'll keep testing and see if I can duplicate the "blahs"

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judetf
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Posted: February 08 2008 at 14:52 | IP Logged Quote judetf

Since it didn't seem to be a PH issue I did a quick google-ing, and found that it was my choice of the "Sample TTS Voice" causing the problem. Switched it and we're in business!

(Too bad, b/c I like that more than the other voices that I have at the moment; guess I'll have to buy something nicer.)

So I think my blahs are solved.

But even having changed it, I'm still not getting any results when using the "TTS" command from within a macro. Should I care? Is there something else I'd need to do to resolve that?
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BeachBum
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Posted: February 08 2008 at 15:10 | IP Logged Quote BeachBum

I went ahead and order a set of voices and it makes a big difference. In the macro you selected TTS and the only other field is "SAY SOMETHING". Next question how do you test it?

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judetf
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Posted: February 08 2008 at 15:28 | IP Logged Quote judetf

I think I solved it.... Well, no, I take that back: I found evidence of a problem, and have alleviated the symptoms, and now the TTS command is working, but I may have some other buggy issue.

I had some sort of db corruption, and a test "get weather" macro I had setup was firing every second. I was unable to delete the macro using Explorer (attempts to do so resulted in a "field is empty" error, despite the fact that I was trying to delete _all_ macros).

Long story short, TTS was failing b/c PH was overloaded. I managed to delete all triggers, timed events and the macro, and now TTS is working (both the TTS command and ph_tts).

That said, I must still have some corruption, as the mouse/cursor in PH blinks constantly as if trying to do something, although the event log isn't recording anything.

I should probably take this to another thread, but since you've been following along here, any thoughts on what I should do? I don't know the PH structure well enough yet to know what tables to query to search for other corruption. I'd rather not wipe the entire db and start over, although doing so won't be the end of the world...

Again, all your help is much appreciated.
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Posted: February 08 2008 at 15:37 | IP Logged Quote BeachBum

I doubt you corrupted the DB although it can happen. If you go to the Task Mgr in XP you can check to see if PH is looping or eating up cycles. I am assuming that you rebooted and are still having the symptoms. Maybe others will chime in...

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judetf
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Posted: February 08 2008 at 15:57 | IP Logged Quote judetf

All seems well now. It was some combination of turning off everything (web, e-mail, etc) and restarting that things finally calmed down. I did manage to break things along the way (I could be wrong, but I think it happened when I created a timed event to call the weather macro from the PH main PSP page).

But now all seems stable. So again, thanks, and now it's time to find a good voice!
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Posted: February 08 2008 at 16:54 | IP Logged Quote BeachBum

I use a combination of Microsoft Anna and LH Michelle which I believe Tony also uses. Glad everything is working for you. Now the fun begins…

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TonyNo
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Posted: February 08 2008 at 17:52 | IP Logged Quote TonyNo

I use and recommend NeoSpeech Kate.
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Posted: February 08 2008 at 17:59 | IP Logged Quote BeachBum

Well dumb me.. I knew that as I went out and bought it on your recommendation. I was looking at the wrong system while I was typing..

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