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StoryHarp Kurtz-Fernhout Software
Developers of custom software and educational simulations.
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Agent
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Registering
Saying (or choosing) commands

Clicking on a command

To select what you want to do, you can click on the choice in the list below the transcript. (If the transcript is not showing, turn on the Settings | Show Transcript option.) Your choice will appear in the transcript in red, prefixed by a '>' symbol.

> look

You are in a sturdy brick house, a flavorful house, a cheery house. You live here. It's a warm sunny day, you've just had a big breakfast, and you are luxuriantly reading the paper in your bathrobe.

> go outside

You open the screen door and walk outside, humming a silly tune.

Saying a command

If you are using Microsoft Agent and have a speech recognition engine installed and configured, you can say a command from the list of choices. With Agent, you will also have to press a specific key to tell it you want to say something (Scroll-Lock by default), and you must hold down that key while you are speaking. Remember to hold down the key which tells Agent to listen for the entire time you are speaking. If you press it only briefly when you start talking, and then release it before you finish, Agent will probably not correctly recognize what you say. Also, you should let go of that key as you finish speaking or shortly after. If you hold the key down continuously, Agent will sometimes not read everything that appears in the transcript.

Changing the Agent listening key

Unless you change the key from the default, the key to get Agent to listen is the Scroll-Lock key. We tend to like to change it to the down arrow key, because it is closer to the bottom of the keyboard. (However, this may disrupt your editing if you use this key much). To set preferences in Agent, click on the Agent icon that appears on the Windows control bar when the program is running.

Answering a riddle

Occasionally a command will be listed as only
say an answer for a riddle. This means you need to guess what to say. If you wish to say the answer for a riddle, just say whatever word or phrase you think the answer is. You may have to prefix your answer by the word 'answer', as in 'answer African or European?' to reply to a question on swallow velocities. If you type in your answer, enter it in all lower case with only one space between words.

If you choose to answer a riddle by clicking on
say an answer for a riddle instead of saying the answer, you will get a pop-up dialog in which you can type the answer. Typically, answers require their first word to be 'answer'.

Here is an example of what might appear in the transcript:

> look

A Sphinx is here, and asks you: "What walks on four legs in the morning, two legs in daytime, and three legs in the evening?"

> answer herring

The Sphinx says: Herring?! You've got to be kidding. Well, I like both kidders and herring, so I'll let you off easy. The Sphinx whisks you to the nether regions, never to be heard from again.

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Updated: March 10, 1999. Questions/comments on site to webmaster@kurtz-fernhout.com.
Copyright © 1998, 1999 Paul D. Fernhout & Cynthia F. Kurtz.