Mouse and Scrolling with the Dragon [en]

I have been fiddling with Kim’s macros these last few days, trying to understand how they work and translating those that I use in French (brewing a few macros of my own too while I am at it).

The biggest problem I am facing is the sheer amount of macros in Kim’s collection. Where do I start? It is little bit overwhelming. The documentation is pretty complete, but it is definitely not a tutorial, nor is it intended to be. When you listen to Kim explaining how she works with these macros, it is very exciting. Unfortunately, getting there can be frustrating.

If you are using Dragon with the hope that it will help you get your hands off the mouse, thevery first commands you need to learn how to use are the scrolling and mouse positioning commands. I’m telling you that because I only started using them today, and it made my day.

First, you are going to put grid marks around your screen so that you can move your mouse about by saying the coordinates of the point you want to reach. It is devilishly efficient. Get some paper, scissors, Sellotape, and a pencil. Cut the paper into strips and stick them all around your monitor, right on the edge of the screen.

You are now ready to import the kimMOUSE1 and kimMOUSE2 macro files if you have not done it yet. (Get kimGLOBAL too if necessary, it is filled with nice simple things you can discover in time.)

The mouse positioning macros basically allow you to place the mouse anywhere on your screen by saying two numbers (x and y coordinates). Try saying “Go 20 by 30”. Now say “Go 50 by 45”. Get the idea? Practice by taking a walk around your screen to put marks on your strips of paper. (“Go 1 by 1”, “Go 1 by 5”, “Go 1 by 10”, etc.) Once you have gone all around your screen you should find it pretty easy to place the mouse just about anywhere you like. Practice makes perfect, remember.

Once you feel a little bit more confident with your positioning, you will probably want to simply say “30 50” or “15 60”. This is shorter to say and also clicks the mouse directly, in one command.

Of course, the collection of mouse positioning macros is much more complex and powerful than this. Read Kim’s documentation for more information.

The second very useful command I have discovered today is the scrolling one: try saying “Scroll 50”, or “Scroll Up 20”. Neat, isn’t it? You can also scroll by page instead of by line, and of course change the scrolling speed. Kim will tell you how to do that too.