TALKING LETTERS & NUMBERS version 2.3a -- public domain FREEWARE
by Bill Straub

This readme file is divided into the following sections:

1.0 System Requirements
1.1 Recommended 
1.2 Operating System issues
2.0 How to install the program if you downloaded a zipped version.
2.1 How to install the program if you received the program on a floppy disk.
2.2 How to run this program
3.0 If program won't run or you have problems -- troubleshooting
3.1 Problems with graphics on exiting program
3.2 Problems with Edmark Touch Screen Window drivers
3.3 Sound issues
4.0 Printing characters on printer
4.1 Printing in color
5.0 About this program
6.0 Legal stuff
7.0 Bug Reports

1.0 Required hardware/software:
IBM PC AT - 286 or equivalent or better
CGA or better graphics adapter and monitor
(or Hercules compatible with SIMCGA or similar CGA emulator program)
DOS version 3.0 or higher 

1.1 Recommended:
Sound Blaster or compatible so you can hear the letters and numbers.
386 or better CPU with IDE hard drive.
DOS 5.0 or above.

1.2 Operating System Issues:
Talking Letters & Numbers version 2.2 runs under MS-Windows 3.x but will not 
run in a DOS window.  I suggest you exit to DOS or else the voice files may 
play very very slowly.  The program should run fine under Windows 95 if you
have the sound card drivers correctly installed.  It will run under Windows 
NT 4.0, but the sound files will not play, thus you won't hear anything. 


2.0 How to install this program if you downloaded zipped (.zip version):
If you downloaded this program, you will need to unzip it using PKUNZIP 
version 2.04g or equivalent.  First make a new directory on your hard drive 
(e.g. in DOS you would type:  MD C:\APPS\TALKLN ).  Then PKUNZIP the  
TALKLN23.ZIP file into that new directory (e.g. PKUNZIP TALKLN23.ZIP 
C:\APPS\TALKLN).  Once you have unzipped the files and you're sure they
work, then you can delete the TALKLN23.ZIP file if you wish. DO NOT remove 
the .BGI files or the program will Not run.  If you don't have a Sound Blaster 
or compatible you can delete all the .WAV files.


2.1 If you received this program on a floppy disk: 
Boot up your computer and then insert the floppy disk into floppy drive a:
(if your disk drive is b: then type b: instead of a: for the following).
Make a new directory on your hard drive (e.g. in DOS you would type:  
MD C:\APPS\TALKLN ).  Then copy all the files into one new directory 
on your hard drive (e.g. COPY A:*.* C:\APPS\TALKLN).  Do Not remove the 
.BGI files or the program will NOT run.  If you don't have a
Sound Blaster or compatible you can delete all the .WAV files, otherwise leave
them alone.


2.2 How to run this program:
Go to the directory where Talking Letters & Numbers is located on your hard 
drive (e.g. CD\APPS\TALKLN).  Type GO and press Enter to run the program.  
Or you can type TALKLN23.

The program automatically starts out at level 3 (typing each individual letter
on the keyboard).  You can change this when you start the program by typing: 
     TALKLN23 /level=x  [where x = the level you want, then press Enter]

For example, typing TALKLN23 /level=1 starts the program out on level 1 
(keybanger mode).  Enter or space bar will bring up the next letter 
alphabetically or the next number.  

TALKLN23 /level=2 /random=yes begins the program using 
level 2 (keybanger mode, where you first see the outline of the letter or 
number). Pressing the Enter or space bar will bring up random letters or
numbers depending upon the last key pressed.

TALKLN23 /? will show all the possible commands.

If you do not want to hear the wav files or if your sound card is not 100%
Sound Blaster compatible then use the following to start the program:
     TALKLN23 /sb=no
This will cause the program to skip detecting a sound card and even if one
is present, the program will not be able to speak until the program is 
run again without the /sb=no command.

Pressing Page Down, Enter or the space bar cycles through the characters 
alphabetically.  Page Up cycles in reverse.  However, if you hold the Page 
Down, Enter, space bar, or Page Up keys for any length of time it will 
overrun the keyboard buffer and cause you to get hung up -- usually on the 
letter "i".  In order to avoid this problem with someone who holds down the 
keys, I suggest using a program like NOREPEAT or ACCESS DOS to stop the keys 
from repeating so quickly.

When the program is running you must press and hold down Ctrl and then
tap Q to quit.  Then press Y next.  While running the program you may
press F1 for help.  Press F2 to choose which level you wish to use:  
keybanger or actually having to type the correct letter or number.


3.0 If program won't run or you're having problems -- troubleshooting:
If the program starts and then hangs up (freezes your computer), it probably
means that your sound card is not 100% Sound Blaster compatible.  Try running
the program with the /sb=no command.  If this doesn't help, make sure you
have exited Windows, and that the files for Talking Letters & Numbers are 
intact.  Run scandisk or another disk repair program.

Try having as few Terminate and Stay Resident (TSRs) running in DOS as 
possible.  Try to have as much free RAM under 640K as possible.  You may
need to make a clean boot without CD-ROM drivers, mouse drivers, etc. loaded.

Due to the way DOS works with the keyboard, occasionally pressing one of the
function keys will display a letter/number rather than a color.  

You may need to run a program like NOREPEAT or IBM's ACCESS DOS before running
this program to keep the keys from causing the keyboard buffer to overload.

3.1 Problems with graphics on exiting program:
With some graphics cards, the program will not return to DOS without 
leaving a messed up screen.  I believe this bug is fixed, but if you need a 
work around you can type:
     MODE CO80
and then press Enter after running the program.  If this is unsuccessful, you
may need to reboot by typing Ctrl+Alt+Del.  Also check for conflicts in the 
emm386 line in the config.sys file.  You may need to exclude video card
memory (see DOS help for more information).
   

3.2 Problems with Edmark Touch Screen Window drivers:
Talking Letters & Numbers will NOT run correctly if you have a Edmark Touch
Window and the TWINDOW driver has been installed prior to running Talking 
Letters & Numbers.  If you have a Touch Window you should disable the driver 
by typing:
     TWINDOW OFF


3.3 Sound issues:
This version talks using a Sound Blaster or compatible card.  If your
sound card is not 100% compatible then the program may not work.  You can
change the wav files to change what they say.  If you can't hear the
sounds you may need to turn the volume of your sound card up -- this may be
done with a dial on the back of the computer, or on some cards, by running
a program to set the volume BEFORE you run Talking Letters & Numbers.  See 
the documentation which came with your sound card.

If the sound becomes garbled then exit the program and restart it -- 
occasionally the memory used for the sound files may become corrupted.
On older 286 systems with slow hard disks you may have garbled sound.  The 
solution appears to be to run a full defrag (not just files).  Running the 
program on a faster machine with a faster hard drive also helps eliminate 
the garbled sound.   You can disable the sound completely by running the
program with the following command:
     TALKLN23 /sb=no
This will cause the program to skip detecting a sound card and even if one
is present, the program will not be able to speak until the program is 
run again without the /sb=no command.

Talking Letters & Numbers will NOT speak under Windows NT because the sound
drivers do not work under NT.


4.0 Printing letters or numbers on printer:
You can print out the characters on a printer by using the Print Screen key 
on the keyboard if you have already run the DOS graphics program.  
For example, before running Talking Letters & Numbers I enter the following 
at the DOS prompt:
     CD\DOS  [press Enter]
     GRAPHICS  [press Enter]

Then I run the Talking Letters & Numbers program. When I see the character I 
want to print displayed on the screen I turn my Epson dot matrix printer 
on-line and then press the Print Screen button on the computer keyboard.

For other types of printers look up the MS-DOS graphics command in the manual 
so it will print correctly.  Note that versions of DOS prior to version 5.0 
(I think) will only print CGA but not EGA or VGA graphics.  If you can't 
print and you have an EGA or VGA monitor you can either set your monitor 
to CGA mode before running, use a third party graphics print program, or 
you can upgrade your DOS version.  


4.1 Color Printing:
Unfortunately the characters will not print in color on a color inkjet 
printer without some additional software.  I use Corel Draw! 3.0's Capture 
utility in Windows 3.1 to capture the screen and then I import the image into 
Corel Draw! to print the characters out on my color printer.


5.0 About this program:
Community Letters & Numbers was written in Borland Turbo C++ 3.0 for my 
students who are adults with developmental disabilities.  Some of them are 
just getting used to using the keyboard so I made it a "keyboard banger" 
program with the option of having students them find the exact letters and
numbers.  The program could also be fun for people learning literacy 
skills, ESL, or for young children.

This program is FREEWARE because I would like people to use it even though
they may not have money for shareware.  I would like to see more inexpensive
programs designed for adults with developmental disabilities and for people
learning basic literacy skills.  The graphics may be kind of rough, but I
wanted it to run on old CGA monitors and computers where I teach.


6.0 Legal stuff (I dislike this, but it needs to be said):
The author, Bill Straub, makes no claims as to the suitability of this 
software for any specific purpose, nor will the author be responsible for any 
damage the program may cause, no matter the cause or fault, even if I have
been notified about such problems beforehand.  Although computer viruses are 
not inherently present in this software, I suggest you use an updated virus 
scan program on these and all files before using them on your system.  

Corel Draw! is a trademark of Corel Corporation.

Epson is a registered trademark of Seiko Epson Corporation.

IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation. 

MS, MS-DOS and Windows, Windows 95, and Windows NT are registered trademarks 
of Microsoft Corporation.  

PKUNZIP is a registered trademark of PKWARE, Inc.

Sound Blaster is trademark of Creative Technology Ltd.  

Turbo C++ is a registered trademark of Borland International, Inc.

Touch Window is from Edmark Corp.  


7.0 Bug reports:
If you have comments or suggestions about this program, please contact me:

Bill Straub
e-mail:  hope@northcoast.com
Resources for Teachers of Basic Skills website:  http://www.northcoast.com/~hope