

                          DECtalk Software for 
                          Digital UNIX V4.4


                             Release Notes 


This document summarizes the enhancements, performance considerations, known 
problems, and restrictions for DECtalk Software for Digital UNIX V4.4.0.


Revision/Update Information: Revised  October 1997

Operating System and Version: Digital UNIX V3.2G or V4.0

Software Version: DECtalk Software Version V4.4 for Digital UNIX

Digital Equipment Corporation 
Maynard, Massachusetts




October 1997


The information in this document is subject to change without notice and should
not be construed as a commitment by Digital Equipment Corporation. Digital 
Equipment Corporation assumes no responsibility for any errors that may appear
in this document.

The software described in this document is furnished under a license and may 
be used or copied only in accordance with the terms of such license.

No responsibility is assumed for the use or reliability of software on 
equipment that is not supplied by Digital Equipment Corporation or its 
affiliated companies.

Restricted Rights: Use, duplication, or disclosure by the U.S. Government is 
subject to restrictions as set forth in subparagraph (c)(1)(ii) of the Rights 
in Technical Data and Computer Software clause at DFARS 252.227-7013, or in 
FAR 52.227-19, or in FAR 52.227-14 Alt. III as applicable.

Copyright Digital Equipment Corporation 1997.

All Rights Reserved. Printed in U.S.A.

The following are trademarks of Digital Equipment Corporation:
DECtalk, DECnet, DECterm, DECwindows, DECwrite, VAXstation, VMS and the DIGITAL
logo.

Motif is a registered trademark of Open Software Foundation, Inc.


Contents
--------

       1.1 PREFACE	
       1.2 NEW FEATURES	
       1.3 SOFTWARE DEPENDENCIES	
       1.4 KIT INSTALLATION	
             1.4.1 KIT LOCATION	
             1.4.2 INSTALLATION PROCEDURE	
             1.4.3 POST INSTALLATION PROCEDURES	
             1.4.4 DEINSTALLING DECTALK SOFTWARE	
       1.5 RESTRICTIONS	
       1.6 KNOWN PROBLEMS	


1.1 Preface
   
   This document contains release notes for the Development subset of the
   DECtalk Software Version 4.4 for Digital UNIX. DECtalk Software is a text
   to speech program used to create digitally synthesized speech from ASCII
   text files.
   
   This document is for all users who want to use the Application Programming
   Interface (API) in the DECtalk Software Development kit to write
   applications to produce synthesized speech on Digital UNIX.
   
   In addition to these release notes, the DECtalk Software documentation set
   also contains the DECtalk Software for Digital UNIX Programmer's Guide
   and DECtalk Software for Digital UNIX Reference Guide.  The Programmer's
   Guide provides comprehensive information on using DECtalk Software APIs 
   to develop your own text-to-speech applications.  The Reference Guide
   contains information about DECtalk in-line commands and phoneme reference
   tables.
   
   Other related documents include:
   
   Multimedia Services for Digital UNIX Installation Guide: This document
   contains information relevant to the multimedia extensions for Digital UNIX
   which enable your programs to playback audio on sound boards.  You will not
   need this software if you are going to use DECtalk Software to produce
   synthesized speech that is directed to sound boards in the system.
    
   DECtalk Software for Digital UNIX Installation Guide: This document 
   contains information relevant to the Runtime subset of DECtalk Software.  
   Note: It is mandatory to install this subset before attempting to install 
   the Development subset.
   
1.2 New Features
   
   DECtalk Software V4.4 Development subset has the following new features:
   
   DECtalk Multi-language is now supported.  You can have one application speak
   in any DECtalk supported language. You have to have as many licenses of
   DECtalk Software as languages that you want to use concurrently. I.E. if
   you have three licenses, you can run three instances of english, or
   one english, one spanish, and one latin american.

   Information about Multi-language operation of DECtalk and programming
   for Multi-language DECtalk is available in the dtk440_ml_ref.txt file.

   The audio device is now automatically opened when there is audio to play
   and is automatically closed when there is no audio to play.
   
   The in-line play command, that is used to play wave audio files, will now
   play audio files that contain audio data in formats supported by both the
   Multimedia Services software and the system's own audio hardware option.
   
   It is no longer necessary to specify OUTPUT_TO_MME_DEVICE in calls to the
   TextToSpeechStartup() function when using the Multimedia Services for
   Digital UNIX product with the DECtalk Software
   
   Documentation for DECtalk Software is provided in HTML format.  You can use
   the Netscape browser to read the document.  HTML files are installed in
   the /usr/opt/DTKDEV440/docs/html if you choose to install the DTKDEVDOC440
   subset.  You can invoke the document by opening the file:
   	  /usr/opt/DTKDEV440/docs/html/DtkDevGuide.html
   
1.3 Software Dependencies
   
   Please make sure that the following subsets are present and verify their
   versions before installing DECtalk Software Development Kit.
   
   Digital UNIX V3.2G or V4.0.
   
   The Multimedia Services for Digital UNIX V2.0
   
   The Real-time shared library.
   
   The DECtalk Software Runtime Kit V4.4 

1.4 Kit Installation 

   1.4.1 Kit location
   
     DECtalk Software Runtime kit and Development kit are released as part of
     the Consolidated Distribution CD-ROM.  The DECtalk Software Runtime kit is
     also released as a part of Digital UNIX V4.0 and 3.2G, the subsets can 
     be found on the Associated Products CD-ROM.  

   1.4.2 Installation Procedure
   
     To install DECtalk Software Development subset use the following
     instructions:
   
     Check to see if you have any previous versions of the DECtalk Software
     Development subset.  To do this log into a root account and type:
   
   	    # /usr/sbin/setld -i | grep DTKDEV
   
     De-install any previous versions of DECtalk Software installed on your
     system.  To de-install DECtalk Software, type:
   
   	    # /usr/sbin/setld -d <DECtalk Development subset component name>
   
     where valid DECtalk Software Development subset component names are:
   
   	    Component name 		Description          
       	    DTKDEV440          		Development Kit.
   	    DTKDEVDOC440    	        Programmer's Guide.
   	    DTKDEVRELNOT440	        Release Notes.
   	    DTKDEVSAMP440              	Sample C source code.
   
     Make sure that all pre-requisite software is installed. Make sure that
     mmeserver is running.
   
     Install the kit by typing:
   
   	    # cd <dectalk_development_subset_root>
   	    # /usr/sbin/setld -l .
   
     Answer the questions regarding the installation of the various components
     and pick the ones you wish to install.
   
     The installation procedure creates a subdirectory called DTKDEV440 in
     /usr/opt directory tree. All the files installed by DECtalk Software 
     can be found in these subdirectories. The installation procedure creates 
     soft links to these files.
   
   1.4.3 Post Installation Procedures
   
     After installing DECtalk Software successfully, Digital reccommends that 
     you run the Installation Verification Procedure (IVP). In order to 
     run the IVP, login into a root account and type,
   
     # /usr/sbin/setld -v DTKRT440
   
     and listen on the audio device for the audio message that indicates the
     installation was successful.  Make sure a headphone or amplifier and 
     speakers are connected and that the software volume control is set. The 
     application "audiocontrol" that is part of the Multimedia Services kit i
     can be used to set the volume.
   
   1.4.4 Deinstalling DECtalk Software 
   
     To de-install DECtalk, log into a root account and type:
   
   	     # /usr/sbin/setld -d <dectalk component name> 
   
     where valid DECtalk Software component names are:
   
   	   Component name 		Description.
   	   DTKDEV440          		Development Kit.
   	   DTKDEVDOC440       		Programmer's Guide.
   	   DTKDEVRELNOT440    		Release Notes.
   	   DTKDEVSAMP440         	Sample C source code.
   
1.5 Restrictions
   
   1) On-line help in the Bookreader format is not provided any longer.  The
   DECtalk Software Programmer's Guide is now available in HTML, PostScript,
   and text formats.  To view the Programmer's Guide in HTML you can use any
   browser that is capable of handling HTML.
   
   2) DECtalk Software most closely resembles the DECtalk family of Hardware
   Products - DECtalk PC DTC07. There are some behavioral differences between 
   DTC07 and earlier versions of DECtalk - DTC01, DTC03, and DTC05. As a 
   result of these differences in behavior some of the in-line commands from 
   older scripts will need to be modified. The following paragraphs outline 
   these changes:
   
   	2-a) Due to differences between versions of hardware DECtalk, the 
        following command does not work as it would on the DTC03.
   
   		  [:phoneme arpabet speak on] [:nh_<200>r]
   
   	To invoke the same functionality, use a space to separate the DECtalk 
        voice-commands.
   	For example:
   
   		  [:phoneme arpabet speak on] [:nh _<200>r]
   
   	 2-b) Due to differences between versions of hardware DECtalk, the
   	 following command does not work as it would on the DTC03.  The old 
   	 alternate pronunciation control character was '/'.  This no longer is 
   	 used.
   
   3) Use a [:pron alt] to obtain an alternative pronunciation for a word
   listed in the Homograph table of Appendix C. For example, the primary
   pronunciation of the word wind is w'ihnd, as in 'the wind is blowing'. The
   secondary pronunciation, denoted by [:pron alt]wind, is w'aynd, as in 'wind
   up the top'.
   
   4) The in-line voice control command [:phoneme on] is equivalent to
   	       [:phoneme arpabet on].
   
   5) The escape sequences which were used to control previous hardware
   versions of DECtalk will NOT work in DECtalk Software and are not needed. 
   These escape sequences will not be spoken and will be discarded.
   
   6) The following voice control commands which are provided in previous
   hardware versions of DECtalk are not supported in this release of DECtalk
   Software. They will be reported as command errors.
   
   	      [:flush]
   	      [:enable]
   	      [:timeout]
   	      [:digitized]
   	      [:remove]
   	      [:type]
   
1.6  Known Problems 
   
   1. In-line synchronization:   
   Synchronization around digits does not work properly.  So, for example, the
   following string:
   
   	      [:volume set 0] speak this 1 2 3 [:volume set  99]  4 5 6  test.
   
   will be spoken as:
   
   		     1 2 3 4 5 6 test. 
   Instead of:
   		     4  5 6 test.
   





















