This file is getting out of date. But, it lists, and fully defines, most of the parameters which comprise a hotspot or a spot prompt definition. If you are actually looking at this file, and don't find what you need, ask: snowman@SnowmanRadio.com
This reference lists each of the parameters in a hotspot definition, and defines the purpose and meaning of the associated values. These are accessed by using the Definition Editor, attached to control+alt+shift+f4. Check the top line of the buffer to assure that Hotspot view is selected, and then either select a hotspot to edit and press enter, or use the Select By Hotkey feature to simply press the hot key of the hotspot you want to edit.
Use your H and shift+h keys in JAWS to review the list of parameters in this document.
This field is always enclosed in brackets, and is the name by which the hotspot is accessed. For example:
[Control+Shift+2]
Typically, this is the hotkey to which this hotspot is attached. If so, you can change the hotkey assignment by changing the letters between the brackets.
Always list key modifiers in the following order: Control, Alt, Shift, Windows, with plus signs "+" between..
However, if the spot is not connected to a hotkey, this is simply the name by which the spot is referenced, and is typically identical to the label.
This is a human readable string of text which should describe the purpose of the hotspot. Optionally, this label can be spoken each time the hotspot is activated, depending on the setting of the Enunciation parameter.
This controls whether or not the label will be spoken when the hotspot is activated.
2 = yes
3 = no
This parameter controls the kind of mouse action to be performed. This includes, not only all forms of mouse click, but also a host of other options, such as sayWord, SayChunk, etc. Use the valueChange hotkeys, hsc mods+f11 and f12 in the definition editor, to modify, and learn, the meaning of the numeric value in this parameter.
Values are as follows:
| Action | Value |
| NoAction, | 0, used with set focus mode. |
| LeftSingleClick, | 1. |
| LeftDoubleclick, | 2. |
| RightSingleClick, | 3./tr> |
| rightDoubleClick, | 4. |
| MoveToLocation, | 5. |
| SpeakChunk, | 6. |
| SpeakWord, | 7. |
| AltLeftSingleClick, | 8. |
| altLeftDoubleClick, | 9. |
| ControlLeftSingleClick, | 10. |
| ControlLeftDoubleClick, | 11. |
| ShiftLeftSingleClick, | 12. |
| shiftLeftDoubleClick, | 13. |
| SayToEndOfApplicationLine, | 14. |
| SayFromStartOfApplicationLine, | 15. |
| SayApplicationLine, | 16. |
| sayCurrentWindowLine, | 17. |
| SayColorField, | 18. |
| sayfromStartOfTopLevelWindowLine, | 19. |
| sayFromStartOfCurrentWindowLine, | 20. |
| sayToEndOfTopLevelWindowLine, | 21. |
| sayToEndOfCurrentWindowLine, | 22. |
| saytopLevelWindowLine, | 23. |
| LeftButtonLock, | 24. |
| LeftButtonUnlock, | 25. |
| RightButtonLock, | 26. |
| RightButtonUnlock, | 27. |
| leftSingleCustomClick, | 28. |
| leftDoubleCustomClick, | 29. |
| rightSingleCustomClick, | 30. |
| rightDoubleCustomClick, | 31. |
| Pass Key to the application, | 32. |
These two parameters control the custom mouse click option. These are used when the Action field is set to use one of the custom mouse clicks. Custom mouse clicks are useful in cases where clicking the jaws mouse button does not do the same thing as clicking the physical mouse button. Such custom clicks route the mouse to the desired location, hover a specified amount of time, lock the mouse button, wait a specified duration, then unlock the mouse button.
The following fields control the timing of this action. The values shown are in tenths of seconds, and are the default values:
CustomClickHoverTime=0 ; how long to hover at the location before locking the button
CustomClickDuration=1 ; How lont to keep the mouse button locked
This parameter controls which window will serve as the positioning reference.
Options include absolute, application window, topLevelWindow, or current window referencing.
Read an extensive discussion of Positioning Modes in the detailed documentation
Other options available include PCCursor relative positioning, plus some special modes, suchas set focus, and switch to a different hotspot set.
Altering the mode value may not always have the expected effect, since the information gathered at definition time depends on the mode selected. To change the mode, it is best to delete, and then redefine the hotspot.
Values are as follows:
| Mode | Value |
| Absolute, Screen relative, | 2. |
| applicationWindow Relative, | 3. | TopLevelWindow relative, | 4. |
| CurrentWindow relative, | 5. |
| PCCursorRow, | 6. |
| PCCursorColumn, | 7. |
| PCCursorBothRow&Column, | 8. |
| SetFocus, | 9. |
| SwitchHotSpotSets, | 10./tr> |
This parameter specifies which corner of the window will serve as the reference corner. The reference corner defaults to top left. It should be chosen such that the hotspot is always a fixed distance and direction from the corner specified in this parameter.
The reference corner selected will determine which of the parameters, WindowRow, WindowColumn, WindowRowBottom, and WindowColumnRight is used.
Use the valueChange hotkeys, hsc mods+f11 and f12 in the definition editor, to modify, and learn, the meaning of the numeric value in this parameter.
Values are:
| Reference Corner | Value |
| TopLeft, (default,) | 0. |
| topRight, | 1. |
| BottomLeft, | 2. |
| bottomRight, | 3. |
This parameter controls whether the hotspot is allowed to reside outside the reference window. The default is to require the location to be inside the window. But, there are situations where you might want to identify a location which is, for example, above and just to the left of the top left corner of some control, and you want the hotspot to track along if the control moves. Use the valueChange hotkeys, hsc mods+f11 and f12 in the definition editor, to modify, and learn, the meaning of the numeric value in this parameter.
For any window,there is what jaws calls a "real window, which is some parent or grand parent window, which has a title, and typically contains the original window. an example would be a file open dialog, where the filename edit box is some small child window, and the main dialog window, which contains that edit box, is the so-called real window. This parameter contains the name of the real window, which contains the window wich hsc is using as a positioning reference for this hotspot.
This can be a subset of that text, as described in the detailed documentation, under
Customizing Comparison Criteria
Set this parameter to a dollar sign "$" if the text acquired by jaws must be blank.
Set it to an asterisk "*" if the text should be ignored.
Note: the distinction between Real Window, and TopLevelWindow is unclear. Consider them similar.
For any window,there is what jaws calls a "TopLevel" window, which is some parent or grand parent window, which has a title, and typically contains the original window. an example would be a file open dialog, where the filename edit box is some small child window, and the main dialog window, which contains that edit box, is the so-called TopLevel window. This parameter contains the name of the TopLevel window, which contains the window wich hsc is using as a positioning reference for this hotspot.
This can be a subset of that text, as described in the detailed documentation, under
Customizing Comparison Criteria
Set this parameter to a dollar sign "$" if the text acquired by jaws must be blank.
Set it to an asterisk "*" if the text should be ignored.
Note: the distinction between Real Window, and TopLevelWindow is unclear. Consider them similar.
This is the name of the main application window.
This can be a subset of that name, as described in the detailed documentation, under
Customizing Comparison Criteria
Set this parameter to a dollar sign "$" if the name acquired by jaws must be blank.
Set it to an asterisk "*" if the name should be ignored.
This is the text jaws will receive when it queries the reference window for it's window class.
This can be a subset of that text, as described in the detailed documentation, under
Customizing Comparison Criteria
Set this parameter to a dollar sign "$" if the text acquired by jaws must be blank.
Set it to an asterisk "*" if the text should be ignored.
This is the text jaws receives when it queries the reference window for it's name.
This can be a subset of that text, as described in the detailed documentation, under
Customizing Comparison Criteria
Set this parameter to a dollar sign "$" if the text acquired by jaws must be blank.
Set it to an asterisk "*" if the text should be ignored.
This is the text jaws receives when it queries the reference window for it's object name.
This can be a subset of that text, as described in the detailed documentation, under
Customizing Comparison Criteria
Set this parameter to a dollar sign "$" if the text acquired by jaws must be blank.
Set it to an asterisk "*" if the text should be ignored.
This is the number jaws receives when it queries the reference window for it's control ID. Set this value to -1 if all values are acceptable.
This is the number jaws receives when it queries the reference window for it's type code. Set this value to -1 if all values are acceptable.
This is the number jaws receives when it queries the reference window for it's subtype code. Set this value to -1 if all values are acceptable.
This is the number of pixels between the left edge of the screen and the hotspot at the time the hotspot was defined. This is created for all types of spots, but is only used when the mode parameter is set to absolute positioning. If other positioning methods are used, this value is not used by HSC. But, in case you attempt to use it for some other purpose, note that it will become incorrect if the application, or the reference window is moved to another location on the screen.
This is the number of pixels between the top edge of the screen and the hotspot at the time the hotspot was defined. This is created for all types of spots, but is only used when the mode parameter is set to absolute positioning. If other positioning methods are used, this value is not used by HSC. But, in case you attempt to use it for some other purpose, note that it will become incorrect if the application, or the reference window is moved to another location on the screen.
This is the number of pixels horizontally between the left edge of the reference window and the hotspot location.
Positive numbers mean that the hotspot is to the right of the reference edge, while negative numbers mean the hotspot is to the left of that edge,
Negative numbers would mean that the hotspot is outside the reference window,
which is allowable only if the
RestrictToWindow Parameter
is set to "no".
For spots whose
Mode Parameter
is set to Application, TopLevel or current Window, or any of the PCCursor-relative modes, this value is only used if the
ReferenceCorner Parameter
is set to TopLeft, or BottomLeft.
If the position mode is set to PC Row, this parameter is the horizontal distance between the vertically mobile hotspot location and the left edge of the reference window.
If the positioning mode is set to PC column, or pc row and column, this parameter is the horizontal distance between the PC cursor and the hotspot location. For PC column mode, It is forced to 0 by the assignment wizard, wwhich places the hotspot directly above or below the pc cursor,but can be edited to other values as needed.
Positive Numbers move right from the vertical line passing through the PC cursor, while negative numbers move to the left.
This is the number of pixels vertically between the top edge of the reference window and the hotspot location.
Positive numbers mean that the hotspot is below the reference edge, while negative numbers mean the hotspot is above that edge, as controlled by the
ReferenceCorner Parameter.
Negative numbers would mean that the hotspot is outside the reference window, which is allowable only if the
RestrictToWindow Parameter
is set to "no".
For spots whose
Mode Parameter
is set to Application, TopLevel or current Window, or any of the PCCursor-relative modes, this value is only used if the
ReferenceCorner Parameter
is set to TopLeft, or topRight.
If the position mode is set to PC column, this parameter is the vertical distance between the horizontally mobile hotspot location and the top edge of the reference window.
If the positioning mode is set to PC row, or pc row and column, this parameter is the vertical distance between the PC cursor and the hotspot location. For PC row mode, It is forced to 0 by the assignment wizard, wwhich places the hotspot directly left or right of the pc cursor,but can be edited to other values as needed.
Positive Numbers move down from the line containing the PC cursor, while negative numbers move up.
This is the number of pixels vertically between the bottom edge of the reference window and the hotspot location.
Positive numbers mean that the hotspot is below the reference edge, while negative numbers mean the hotspot is above that edge, as controlled by the
ReferenceCorner Parameter.
Positive numbers would mean that the hotspot is outside the reference window, which is allowable only if the
RestrictToWindow Parameter
is set to "no".
For spots whose
Mode Parameter
is set to Application, TopLevel or current Window, or any of the PCCursor-relative modes, this value is only used if the
ReferenceCorner Parameter
is set to BottomLeft, or BottomRight.
In such cases, if the position mode is set to PC column, this parameter is the vertical distance between the horizontally mobile hotspot location and the bottom edge being used as the reference, exactly as described above.
If the positioning mode is set to PC row, or pc row and column, this parameter is the vertical distance between the PC cursor and the hotspot location. For PC row mode, It is forced to 0 by the assignment wizard, wwhich places the hotspot directly left or right of the pc cursor,but can be edited to other values as needed.
Positive Numbers move down from the line containing the PC cursor, while negative numbers move up.
This is the number of pixels horizontally between the right edge of the reference window and the hotspot location.
Positive numbers mean that the hotspot is to the right of the reference edge, while negative numbers mean the hotspot is to the left of that edge,
Positive numbers would mean that the hotspot is outside the reference window,
which is allowable only if the
RestrictToWindow Parameter
is set to "no".
For spots whose
Mode Parameter
is set to Application, TopLevel or current Window, or any of the PCCursor-relative modes, this value is only used if the
ReferenceCorner Parameter
is set to TopRight, or BottomRight.
If the position mode is set to PC Row, this parameter is the horizontal distance between the vertically mobile hotspot location and the vertical right edge of the reference window. .
If the positioning mode is set to PC column, or pc row and column, this parameter is the horizontal distance between the PC cursor and the hotspot location. For PC column mode, It is forced to 0 by the assignment wizard, wwhich places the hotspot directly above or below the pc cursor,but can be edited to other values as needed.
Positive Numbers move right from the vertical line passing through the PC cursor, while negative numbers move to the left.
This parameter is used when the hotspot needs to search for a graphic to determine the exact location. This is the name of the graphic to search for.
You can specify multiple names by separating the names by a vertical bar. for example "dog|cat".
In this example, HSC would search for a graphic called dog first. If that fails, it will then search for "cat".
This parameter is not used if the
TrackGraphic Parameter
is set to Ignore.
If a hotspot is to search for a graphic in order to determine the exact location, this parameter specifies how many occurrences of a graphic by the same name should be expected in the course of the search. For exampel, a bvalue of 2 would mean that HSC should search for the second graphic by that name, The starting point of the search is controlled by the TrackGraphic Parameter and is only applicable if search top down, or bottom up is chosen.
This parameter indicates whether a hotspot should search for a graphic in order to determine the exact position.
The name of the graphic to search for is specified in the
GraphicName parameter.
Use the valueChange hotkeys, hsc mods+f11 and f12 in the definition editor, to modify, and learn, the meaning of the numeric value in this parameter.
The options for this parameter are as follows:
Ignore means do not search for a graphic.
Require in this location means that The location defined by the appropriate row and column information is check to make sure it is already on a graphic by one of the names specified in the
GraphicName parameter.
No search is performed, only a name match.
Search Near bye means HSC will search a "small" area around the original location. How far HSC is allowed to search in each direction from the starting point is specified in
SearchLimits.
Search Top Down, means ignore the row and column information, just start at the top of the reference window and start searching downward for the number of graphics specified in the
GraphicCount Parameter.
Search Bottom Up , means ignore the row and column information, just start at the bottom of the reference window and start searching upward for the
number of graphics specified in the
GraphicCount Parameter.
Values are:
| Search | Value |
| ignore, | 2. |
| Require in CurrentLocation, | 3. |
| SearchNearby, | 4. |
| topDown, | 5. |
| BottomUp, | 6. |
if a hotspot is to search for a pixel color, this parameter specifies one or more 9-digit RGB values, separated by vertical bars to be searched for. HSC searches for colors in the order in which they appear in this parameter.
The RGB values are automatically created by the advanced wizard connected to HSC mods+g. However, you can learn additional colors using the mouse exploration keys, using alt+shift+NumPad arrows, and add additional colors manually. alt+Shift+NumPad5 will repeat the RGB value for the color at the cursor location.
For example, the following specification would search for pure black. If that isn't found, it would search for pure white:
color=000000000|255255255
The dimensions of the area to search is controlled by the
SearchLimit Parameters
Set this parameter to an asterisk "*" if no pixel color search is to be performed.
A pixel color search is mutually exclusive with graphics or text searches.
This parameter can be used to specify one or more text strings to search for to determine the actual hotspot location.
The advanced wizard, attached to hsc mods+g can generate this text information automatically. But, you can specify multiple strings manually using the definition editor. Separate multiple strings by a vertical bar "|". HSC will search for strings in the order in which they appear in this parameter.
To have HSC speak which string is actually located, set parameter
SpeakLocatedItem
to a value of 2.
The search method is controlled by the
TextMode Parameter
Text search is mutually exclusive with Graphics and Pixel Color searches.
To search for text with a particular foreground and/or background color, but without specifying the text itself, set this parameter to caret star, "^*". This is useful when you know the colors, but the text is variable and can not be determined ahead of time. This color-only search will obey the rules described under
TextMode Parameter
and
TextCount Parameter
This parameter indicates whether a hotspot should search for a string of text in order to determine the exact position.
The text to search for is specified in the
Text parameter.
Use the valueChange hotkeys, hsc mods+f11 and f12 in the definition editor, to modify, and learn, the meaning of the numeric value in this parameter.
The options for this parameter are as follows:
Ignore means do not search for text.
Require in this location means that The location defined by the appropriate row and column information is check to make sure it is already on a string of text which matches one of the strings specified in the
Text parameter.
No search is performed, only a string match.
Search Near bye means HSC will search in the vicinity of the current line for the text.
Search Top Down, means ignore the row and column information, just start at the top of the reference window and start searching downward
for the number of occurrences specified in the
TextCount Parameter
Search Bottom Up , means ignore the row and column information, just start at the bottom of the reference window and start searching upward
for the number of occurrences specified in the
TextCount Parameter
Values are:
| Search | Value |
| ignore, | 2. |
| Require in CurrentLocation, | 3. |
| SearchNearby, | 4. |
| topDown, | 5. |
| BottomUp, | 6. |
This is useful when the TextMode Parameter is set to search top down, or bottom up. This specifies how many occurrences of the string must be found before the position is considered found. It is defaulted to 1.
Values are:
2=Yes
3=no (default
This parameter is used when a hotspot must search for a string of text. Once the text is found, the actual final location will be this many pixels above or below the located string. Positive numbers move down from the text string. Negative numbers move up.
This parameter is used when a hotspot must search for a string of text. Once the text is found, the actual final location will be this many pixels right or left from the located string. Positive numbers move to the right of the text string. Negative numbers move to the left.
These two parameters are used when HSC is required to search for a text string. It contains the RGB value for the text foreground and background color. You can specify multiple colors by separating multiple, 9-digit RGB color values with a vertical bar "|".
The advanced wizard attached to hsc mods+g will set this value automatically, based on the text at the jaws cursor at definition time. but, you can use the mouse exploration keys, or JAWSKey+5 on the numbers row, to learn additional colors, and add them manually.
Set either of these parameters to an asterisk "*" to specify that all colors are acceptable for that attribute.
if the Mode Parameter is set to switch to a different hotspot set, this parameter contains the name of the set to switch to. When this hotspot is activated, the specified hotspot set will become active.
This is a group of parameters which control how far HSC can search, when searching nearby for text, color or graphics. The numbers specified here represent the number of pixels in the corresponding direction.
These are defaulted to the values shown below when the hotspot is created, but can be altered as needed with the definition editor. The up, down, left and right limits allow you to specify shapes other than pure squares.
searchLimit=0 - This parameter is included for backward compatibility with older hotspots, and is set to 0 in all new spots. If nonzero, then a square is searched, centered at the hotspot location, with the size of the square being two times the value in this parameter.
SearchUpLimit=5 - how far to search above the hotspot location.
SearchDownLimit=5 - how far to search below the hotspot location.
SearchLeftLimit=5 - how far to search to the left of the hotspot location.
SearchRightLimit=5 - how far to search to the right of the hotspot location.
This parameter determines which cursor will be active after a hotspot is activated. The default is that the same cursor, which was active prior to the hotspot, will also be active afterword. Set this to 0 to allow the hotspot to leave the jaws cursor active.
This controls whether the jaws cursor will be returned to it's original position once the hotspot completes. The default is to leave the jaws cursor at the hotspot position.
this is the name of a hotspot which will be activated if this hotspot fails. This is defaulted to a dollar sign "$", which means that no recovery spot is specified.
This is a string of text that will be spoken if a hotspot fails, and no recovery spot is defined.
This is good for providing useful tips to your users as to what might be the cause of this failure, such as certain application features not being enabled. This will not be spoken if
debug mode, in the insert+v verbosity menu, is set to Detailed.
This is defaulted to:
FailMsg=HotSpot failed
This is the name of a post-processing function which will be executed, once the cursor has been positioned at the hotspot location, any mouse action has been performed, and the application has had time to process the action.
Multiple functions can be specified, separated by vertical bars. They will be executed sequentially, left to right.
Nesting arrangements are possible.
This is discussed in the detailed documentation, in
Custom Functions
This string is used with pc or virtual cursor relative positioning modes.
If you are using one of those cursor-relative modes, this string will be set to indicate which cursor was active when the spot was defined, and require that the same cursor be active when the spot is activated. It defaults to JAWS.
Simply changing this string will not cause the spot to revert to the other method, because other position information will still be incorrect. To change to a different mode, you really should delete, and then redefine the spot.
If the hotspot needs to take unique actions based on the color at the hotspot location, additional keys are added to the definition which define those actions. If the Function parameter is set to HSCDecodeHotspotColor,
then, two additional RGB keys will be added for each color to be handled.
The 9-digit RBG color number is suffixed with the letter "f" to form a key which will hold the name of a second-level function which should be run when that color is encountered. The RGB value itself, without the suffix, contains additional information required by that function.
For example, the RGB value for black is 000000000. The following set of parameters would cause the words "hello there" to be spoken if the color black was encountered>
Function=HSCDecodeHotspotColor
000000000=Hello there
000000000f=HSDSayPhraseByColor
The wizard attached to hsc mods+f3 lets you connect the HSCDecodeHotspotColor function to the hotspot. Then, when you activate the hotspot, hsc checks to see if it knows about that color. If it does not, it will prompt you for what action to take, and possibly additional information, such as the phrase to be spoken, a second hotspot to be activated, or a frame to read.
if you want to make HSC forget about a color, you need to know it's RGB value, then delete both keys which include that RBG value.
The functions listed here are HSC-supplied functions. However,
You can specify one of your own functions in the RGBF parameter, which would mean that your custom function would run, only when that color is encountered.
This parameter is only present if the function parameter is set to HSCSaySpecialStrings.
It contains the string of text which is to be spoken after the hotspot performs it's action.
If the key "advString" is also present, then the text in "string" is spoken only if the HSC verbosity is set to Beginner.
When defining new hotSpots, both keys will be added automatically, and set to identical text.
This parameter is only present if the function parameter is set to HSCSaySpecialStrings.
It contains the string of text which is to be spoken after the hotspot performs it's action.
If the key "String" is also present, then the text in "advstring" is spoken only if the HSC verbosity is set to Advanced.
When defining new hotSpots, both keys will be added automatically, and set to identical text.
If advString is not present, such as with older HotSpots, then the text in "String" will be spoken instead.
This reference lists each of the parameters in a prompt definition, and defines the purpose and meaning of the associated values. These are accessed by using the Definition Editor, attached to control+alt+shift+f4. Check the top line of the buffer to assure that the Prompt view is selected, and then select a prompt to edit and press enter.
Use your H and shift+h keys in JAWS to review the list of parameters in this document.
This value, enclosed in brackets, is the unique identifier for this prompt, and is the string by which this prompt definition is read from the file. The characters between the brackets indicate the position and attributes of the control this prompt represents. In general, these characters should not be changed by the user. In rare cases, one can correct prompts that have stopped working by fine-tuning the peer counts, in cases where the position in the windows hierarchy has changed.
This string is comprised of separate fields, separated by the tilda character. The fields are as follows:
If you want a hotspot to be activated when this prompt fires, this parameter will contain the name of that hotspot. This will be the file key used to access the hotspot, which is the set of characters between the brackets in that hotspot definition. typically, this is the hotkey name.
The characters to the right of the equal sign will be spoken when this prompt fires, if the enunciation parameter is set to 2, which means yes.
Selects whether to speak the label when the prompt fires. 2=yes, 3=no.
This is an optional string which will be spoken as a jaws tutorial message. Normally, HSC will not prompt you for tutorial strings when defining a Prompt. To change that behavior, use the script manager to open HotSpotClicker.jss. Change the constant cn_PromptMeforTutorMessages to 1, and then recompile. Or simply add it with the definition editor. Set this to a dollar sign to prevent a tutorial message from being spoken.
This is a special string, which can be spoken after the logic which determines and speaks the value of the control.
This is useful for specifying the meaning of the value. For example, if the value of the control is 6, and you know that it really means 6 miles, but jaws just says 6, you can specify "string=miles" to cause jaws to speak the actual meaning of the field.
Normally, HSC will not prompt you for special strings when defining a Prompt. To change that behavior, use the script manager to open HotSpotClicker.jss.
Change the constant cn_PromptMeforSpecialStrings to 1, and then recompile.
Or simply add it with the definition editor.
Set this to a dollar sign to prevent a special string from being spoken.
This is the string that jaws receives when it queries the control for it's object name, and is used to furtehr validate a match between the control and the prompt.
This is gathered automatically by the definition wizard.
Set this to a dollar sign "$" to specify that the object name must be blank.
Set it to an asterisk "*" to specify that all names will be accepted.
This parameter holds the text jaws receives when it queries the window name of the control to which this prompt is connected.
This can be a subset of that text, as described in the detailed documentation, under
Customizing Comparison Criteria
Set this parameter to a dollar sign "$" if the text acquired by jaws must be blank.
Set it to an asterisk "*" if the text should be ignored.
For any window,there is what jaws calls a "real" window, which is some parent or grand parent window, which has a title, and typically contains the original window. an example would be a file open dialog, where the filename edit box is some small child window, and the main dialog window, which contains that edit box, is the so-called real window. This parameter holds the name of the real window, which contains the control for which this prompt has been defined.
This can be a subset of that text, as described in the detailed documentation, under
Customizing Comparison Criteria
Set this parameter to a dollar sign "$" if the text acquired by jaws must be blank.
Set it to an asterisk "*" if the text should be ignored.
Note: the distinction between Real Window, and TopLevelWindow is unclear. Consider them similar.
This is the control ID of the window to which this prompt is attached. Set this number to minus 1 "-1" to indicate that a match on control ID is not required.
This is the name of a function to be run once the control gains focus. This function is responsible for decoding and speaking the value of the control. This function can be a function in your script file, or can be one of several HSC-provided functions, as selected in the wizard.
This key was added in later revisions. if not present, and needed, it can be added manually.
If it exists, it is used to prevent HSCDecodeHotSpotColor from prompting for the meaning of new colors it finds.
It is ignored if debug mode is set to Detailed, and regular prompting will occur.
Otherwise, set this to the string you want spoken for all unknown colors.
There are special 2-character sequence codes that you can use to cause HSC to insert things into your message.
Insert these in the place where you want the replacement text to occur:
The codes, and their meanings are:
%n HotSpotName
%s remain silent
%c RGB color number
%p SoundFilename - can not appear with any other text ro codes
The %p option is unique in that it is the only code allowed when it is used. The %p must be the first item in the string, and the characters immediately following the p are assumed to be a file name of a sound file to be played. Subsequent text on that line will be assumed to be part of the file name as well. That is, you can not specify spoken text, and a file to be played at the same time. No spaces, between %p and the filename. You can specify the full path, or a simple file name, which will be assumed to be placed in the same folder as all the .hsc files for this application. A .WAV extension will be added, if not supplied.
To remain silent, use the special code "%s", without the quotes.
To cause HSC to insert the hotspot name, use %n.
To cause jaws to speak the value of the color, use the special code "%c" embedded in your string.
For example, if Hotspot test is positioned on white, and white is not defined for the decode, the string
UnknownColor=HotSpot %n never saw color %c before.
Will cause jaws to say
Hotspot test never saw color 255255255 before.
Or, to play file myFile.wav , specify:
%pMyFile.wav
Typical symptoms include the modifiers being stuck after the hotspot is performed, such that your keyboard no longer works exactly as normal. Usually, you can clear this condition by wacking the modifiers several times. Different jaws versions behave differently.
Since this parameter was added in later versions, it is not present in older hotspots, and is presumed to be 0. You can add it manually to those older spots if you like.
By default, the spotList is set to a dollar sign "$" with indicates an empty list. Such spots are standard, single click spots. So, when modifying a defaulted list, remember to remove the dollar sign.
If the post-processing function is HSCProcessVertical Slider, once the slider definition steps have been performed, the following keys will be added to the definition:
An element can contain just the mandatory data, which is the 3 digit tag wich says which direction to move, and how many steps to make in that direction. Or, it can also contain an object specification, which is a set of data telling HSC which object to search for in the current peer level.
Mandatory Data:
The first character is the direction indicator, and the second 2 are 2-digit numbers that indicate how many moves have to be made in that direction.
The direction indicators are:
"<" = prior object
">" next object.
"a" ascend toward a parent.
"d" descent into a child.
Optional data, the object specification, is included if the object through which navigation passes at the current level has a nonblank name.
The format of this data is starting at character 4 in the element:
4 = attribute name to match, (n=name, or d=description).
This says which of the two attributes to look at.
5 = comparison operator. "e" means ththat equality is required. or "^" caret, means that the identified attribute must contain the data supplied next. (the equal sign could not be used because it tripped up the definition editor).
6-7 = a 2-digit number indicating which occurrence of comparison satisfies the specification. For example, 00 means the first object, moving from first peer forward, which matches is the one we want. Or, 01 would mean that one object that matches would be skipped, and we want the second occurrence
8-n = the data to be expected when performing the match.
If an object specification is supplied, HSC will use it instead of the direct addressing data in the mandatory section. But, the semicolon is a comment character, which causes the rest of the element to be ignored, not the entire path, just this element. So, if you put a semicolon in position 4, you will force HSC to revert to the direct addressing data, and ignore the object spec.
Example:
navPath=d01|>06ne01My Object
This path starts by descending one level into the child objects.
Then, it searches that peer level for the second occurrence of an object named "my object".
from the >06, we know that it was the 7th object over to the right of the first peer at the time this was defined. but, since the object name spec is provided, that data is ignored.
HSC always chooses the object name. If you want to match on all or part of the description, you would need to do that manually. for example:
NavPath=d01|>06d^01MyDescripttionParts
This would descend one level, then search that peer level for the second occurrence of an object whose name contained the phrase "myDescriptionParts".