Here's something fun I wrote years ago... it's a brief WinBatch program that accesses the Windows Sapi.spVoice() object to allow text-to-speech translations. The text you enter in the edit box will be read back to you by the computer voice installed on your Windows machine. You can find your voices in the Speech Properties section of Control Panel (Navigation depends on Windows version).
The two voices I have installed are David (Male) & Zira (Female) - I'll incorporate these in my Speech Utility program - allowing to select either with Radio Buttons.
The page is simple (built using the WinBatch GUI Dialog Builder*). Enter some text, select the voice, rate & volume then click "Talk to Me!" to hear the robotic voice read your text back to you. This is a great utility if you have laryngitus or simply want to annoy your wife & kids.
*Note - WinBatch includes a Windows GUI Dialog Builder - I mentioned it here in the Numeric-to-Literal Post (March 14, 2019).
TDTALK.WBT - Source Code:
;**********************************************************************
;* *
;* MODULE: TDTALK.WBT *
;* AUTHOR: TONY DELIA. *
;* DATE: 05/18/2004. *
;* DESC: TD WINBATCH SPEECH EMULATION. *
;* VERSION: WINBATCH 2004F. *
;* *
;**********************************************************************
;**********************************************************************
;* EXTENDERS: *
;**********************************************************************
;* *
;* NO EXTENDERS REQUIRED. *
;* *
;**********************************************************************
;**********************************************************************
;* REVISIONS: *
;**********************************************************************
;* *
;* DATE PROGRAMMER DESCRIPTION *
;* ---------- --------------- --------------------------------------- *
;* *
;* 05/18/2004 DELIA,TONY ORIGINAL CODING. *
;* *
;**********************************************************************
;**********************************************************************
;* UDF/SUBROUTINES *
;**********************************************************************
#include "TDFUN.WBC"
;**********************************************************************
;* PROCESS MAIN *
;**********************************************************************
TDFUN_UserProps()
myText = "Hello "
if LDAP_name <> ""
myText = StrCat(myText, LDAP_name, ". ")
endif
SAPI = ObjectOpen("Sapi.SpVoice")
sVOL = SAPI.volume
sVOI = SAPI.voice
sVOI_Desc = sVOI.getdescription
SAPI.voice = SAPI.GetVoices.Item(0)
SAPI.speak(myText)
gosub Define_Dialog_SPK
sw = @YES
while sw == @YES
ButtonPushed = Dialog("SPK")
Select ButtonPushed
Case 1
if myText == ""
myText = "Enter something you moron"
endif
SAPI.voice = SAPI.GetVoices.Item(0)
SAPI.rate = 0
SAPI.volume = 100
if myVoice == "2"
SAPI.voice = SAPI.GetVoices.Item(1)
endif
if myRate <> ""
SAPI.rate = myRate
endif
if myVolume <> ""
SAPI.volume = myVolume
endif
SAPI.speak(myText)
break
Case 2
sw = @NO
break
EndSelect
endwhile
SAPI.speak("Goodbye %LDAP_name%")
ObjectClose(SAPI)
Exit
;**********************************************************************
;* Define Dialog SPK *
;**********************************************************************
:Define_Dialog_SPK
SPKFormat=`WWWDLGED,6.1`
SPKCaption=`TDTALK - Text to Speech Synthesizer`
SPKX=002
SPKY=061
SPKWidth=366
SPKHeight=246
SPKNumControls=016
SPKProcedure=`DEFAULT`
SPKFont=`Microsoft Sans Serif|6656|40|34`
SPKTextColor=`0|0|0`
SPKBackground=`DEFAULT,DEFAULT`
SPKConfig=0
SPK001=`023,013,296,024,STATICTEXT,DEFAULT,"TDTALK - Text to Speech Utility",DEFAULT,1,512,"Microsoft Sans Serif|16384|70|34","0|0|0",DEFAULT`
SPK002=`021,043,172,012,STATICTEXT,DEFAULT,"Enter Speech Text (Please keep it clean):",DEFAULT,2,DEFAULT,DEFAULT,DEFAULT,DEFAULT`
SPK003=`021,055,174,090,MULTILINEBOX,MyText,"Hello...",DEFAULT,3,DEFAULT,DEFAULT,DEFAULT,DEFAULT`
SPK004=`021,209,078,022,PUSHBUTTON,DEFAULT,"Talk to Me!",1,11,32,DEFAULT,DEFAULT,DEFAULT`
SPK005=`115,211,078,020,PUSHBUTTON,DEFAULT,"Exit",2,12,0,DEFAULT,DEFAULT,DEFAULT`
SPK006=`209,057,134,126,PICTURE,DEFAULT,"TDTALK",DEFAULT,13,DEFAULT,DEFAULT,DEFAULT,"C:\wbt\TDTALK.BMP"`
SPK007=`209,195,134,012,STATICTEXT,DEFAULT,"Developed by Tony DeLia",DEFAULT,14,DEFAULT,DEFAULT,DEFAULT,DEFAULT`
SPK008=`209,207,134,012,STATICTEXT,DEFAULT,"NSS/Advanced Publications",DEFAULT,15,DEFAULT,DEFAULT,DEFAULT,DEFAULT`
SPK009=`209,219,134,012,STATICTEXT,DEFAULT,"November '2004",DEFAULT,16,DEFAULT,DEFAULT,DEFAULT,DEFAULT`
SPK010=`027,165,044,012,RADIOBUTTON,MyVoice,"Male",1,5,DEFAULT,"Microsoft Sans Serif|6656|40|34","0|0|0",DEFAULT`
SPK011=`027,179,044,012,RADIOBUTTON,MyVoice,"Female",2,6,DEFAULT,DEFAULT,DEFAULT,DEFAULT`
SPK012=`021,153,070,048,GROUPBOX,DEFAULT,"Voice",DEFAULT,4,DEFAULT,DEFAULT,DEFAULT,DEFAULT`
SPK013=`155,157,036,012,EDITBOX,MyRate,DEFAULT,DEFAULT,8,DEFAULT,DEFAULT,DEFAULT,DEFAULT`
SPK014=`095,157,052,012,STATICTEXT,DEFAULT,"Rate (-10 to 10):",DEFAULT,7,DEFAULT,DEFAULT,DEFAULT,DEFAULT`
SPK015=`155,175,036,012,EDITBOX,MyVolume,DEFAULT,DEFAULT,10,DEFAULT,DEFAULT,DEFAULT,DEFAULT`
SPK016=`095,175,052,012,STATICTEXT,DEFAULT,"Volume (0 - 100):",DEFAULT,9,DEFAULT,DEFAULT,DEFAULT,DEFAULT`
Return
;**********************************************************************
;* END OF PROGRAM *
;**********************************************************************
The included library TDFUN.WBC and the function TDFUN_UserProps() are not required for the speech functionality & can be commented out or removed. I use it to automatically extract my LDAP name assigned to my userid then start off with a personal greeting - "Hello Tony DeLia" as well as a final "Goodbye Tony DeLia".
The Male and Female Voice Options are specific to this computer (which was the impetus in the Male/Female Radio Button Design). It could also be designed as a drop-down list with all the installed voices... This was a fun little application to create & mess around with.
