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Custom Command (Macro) Recognition Trouble Shooting

Updated 10/16/02
Purpose This page provides instructions for trouble shooting custom commands that are not recognized when spoken.  It does not address the issue of commands that are recognized but function incorrectly or not at all.
Problem Source
 Commands are not recognized for 1 of 2 reasons:
  1. Command Mis-recognition: The words that compose the command are not being recognized properly, and therefore the command is not being recognized.
  2. Missing Commands: The words that compose the command are being recognized properly but NaturallySpeaking is not finding the command by that name.
Are the command words being recognized properly?

When the command is spoken, does the Results Box show the correct words for the command and transcribe those words into the application (when the application accepts text)?  YES  NO
Command Mis-recognition
 If the words that make up a command are not properly recognized, the command will fail to be recognized.  Here is a procedure that usually fixes this problem simply and quickly.
  1. Place the insertion point into any application that will accept text (DragonPad is easy to open and works fine).
  2. Turn on the microphone and dictate the exact command name with a 1 or 2 extra words.  For example. if the command "Go to End of Line" is not being recognized, say "Computer go to end of line now".  Correct any mis-recognition with normal dictation correction commands.
  3. Dictate the phrase several times to ensure that that it is being recognized correctly.
  4. Return to the original application, and try the command again.  It should work fine.  If the command is transcribed instead, check the instructions for Missing Commands
Missing Commands
 If a command name is being recognized correctly, but the command is not being executed, NaturallySpeaking is unable to locate the command.  To identify the source of the problem, try these steps.
  1. Using the command browser, try to locate the command.  If the command is not listed in the appropriate application or global list, the command does not exist - which would explain why it is not working.  Some possible reasons are:
  2. The command is not what you think it is.
  3. The command has been placed into the wrong application list.
  4. If the command is listed correctly and is being used correctly, the application be not be recognized by Windows by the name that NaturallySpeaking is expecting.  To test for this problem:
  5. Create a new command that should be available in the same application.  Create a command like "Test 1" that types "Hello".
  6. Test the command.  If the test command does not function, the problem is beyond the scope of this page.
  7. If the test command functioned correctly, use the command browser to check that the test command and the original command are in the same list and have the same application and window information.  Usually modifying the command that does not work to match the one that does work will solve the problem.


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