                      Duxbury Newsletter 22
                          February 1996


Duxbury Systems, Inc.
435 King Street, P.O. Box 1504
Littleton, MA 01460 U.S.A.
Tel.: (508) 486-9766
Fax: (508) 486-9712
BBS: (617) 767-5964
E-mail: duxbury@world.std.com
URL: http://world.std.com/~duxbury/

      "Professional Braille Production Products Since 1975"


In this newsletter:

__DBT Win is a _Winner : by Peter Sullivan
__Mac Users Get _Ready : by Matt Sullivan
__On Nemeth and the New _DBT : by Joe Sullivan
_Contracted _News : by Matt Sullivan


                       DBT Win is a Winner
                        by Peter Sullivan

DBT for Windows was released in September.  Early user feedback
is very encouraging.  Many people have commented on how easy DBT
Win is to use, how fast it works, and how stable it is.  As a
programmer, I especially like to hear when someone comments on
stability.  Larry and I spent a good portion of the summer and
fall ironing out the wrinkles.

With help from Joe, we also had time to add some new features,
including a spell checker, a choice of print fonts, the ability
to zoom out to see a full page, and an even more user-friendly
style scheme.

We also discovered that DBT Win is compatible with OmniPage
Direct.  Which means that if you own a scanner, then for around
$70, you can add scanning/OCR capability to DBT Win.  Add an
embosser to the scenario, and you have a "braille photocopier"
that works with screen access.

What about Windows 95?  We've conducted some tests here, and we
have a few customers who use the new operating system on a daily
basis.  By all accounts, DBT is compatible.

A special product named DBT Dual is now available to meet the
growing demand to have one license for both DBT Win and DBT DOS.
DBT Dual is a great learning tool for a blind person moving into
Windows.  One can learn a lot about Windows by using DBT DOS.
DBT DOS has a speech-friendly interface that uses standard GUI
menus, the same as DBT Win.  When switching to Windows, DBT Win
is familiar territory, which makes it easier to navigate with the
new screen reader.  The principle is simple -- it's easier to
learn one thing at a time, than it is two.

DBT Dual is priced at $695.  DBT Win alone is $495.  Trade-up
prices are also available.  See the last page for details.


                       Mac Users Get Ready
                         by Matt Sullivan

Ok, it's quite late, but we don't intend to turn the DBT Mac
upgrade into Dux-Trans 97!  We are beta testing the new program,
and a release next month looks likely.

On the subject of testing, I know a lot of transcribers who are
eager to start six-keying on the Mac with the new DBT.  Here's a
three-step test to find out if your keyboard is up to the task:

1. Start up any word processor.
2. Create a new file so you have a blank screen with text cursor.
3. Press the six keys, S-D-F-J-K-L, all at the same time.

If all six letters show up in any order, your keyboard passes the
test!  If you only get five or fewer characters, you'll need
another keyboard.

Until recently, our experience had been that all keyboards from
Apple Computer would not chord properly.  We hear from several
sources that the newest Apple Extended keyboards will.  Another
brand we know to work is the DataDesk 101E.

If your keyboard fails the test, you don't necessarily have to go
out and buy a new one.  After all, your keyboard is still
perfectly fine for every other conceivable purpose.  A
non-transcriber may be willing to swap with you!

Finally, the forthcoming update, as with the current 8;8, will be
PowerMac compatible, but will also work on Macs as old as the
Plus.  System 7 will be required.


                    On Nemeth and the New DBT
                         by Joe Sullivan

They are frequent, familiar questions:  How do I do mathematics
with my DBT right now?  What are you doing to make it easier in
the future?  I hope to answer these questions here.

The new DBT has several improvements that will help in the
production of Nemeth and British math, as well as Music and other
six-dot codes.  Actually, for simple British math, you can just
type in the formula (e.g. 1+1=2) and the literary table handles
it.  For all Nemeth math, and more complex British math, however,
another method is required.

One of the most popular methods is also the simplest -- use DBT's
braille editor as discussed in Chapter 7 of the User's Guide.  To
do so, of course, you must know the braille code, or at least
have access to the expressions you need.  For example, you can
produce Nemeth for algebra by taking a similar sample equation
straight out of the code book and altering it.

Expanding on this concept, you could make better use of DBT by
translating all the literary text ahead of time instead of
manually transcribing the entire document.  In other words, strip
the equations out of the print, translate the file, then add
Nemeth to the resulting braille.  The new DBT has a dynamic file
format that permits on-the-fly reformatting as you add text.  The
older Translator/Edgar combination required manual reformatting.

If you prefer to work with print, don't strip out the equations.
Instead, replace the equations with ASCII braille equivalent
characters and tag those sections with DBT's "brlinline" or
"brldisplay" styles, as found in the Layout menu, to prevent
translation from occuring.  Let's say that you wish to enter the
equation "x squared plus y squared equals z squared."  For
Nemeth, type:

  x^2"+y^2 .k z^2

or for British math code:

  x+2 ;6y+2 ;7z+2

The main advantage of this approach is that you end up with just
one file which shows the print, plus the equations, in the same
order as it appeared in the source.  On the down side, you need
to know the North American ASCII equivalents as well as the
braille code itself.  This is not as difficult as it first
sounds.  Beyond the letters and lowered numbers, which have
obvious mappings, there are just 27 dot patterns.  See Appendix A
in the new DBT User's Guide for a complete chart.

One thing to bear in mind:  the formal Nemeth code may affect the
non-mathematical text.  For example, Rule 55f says not to use
contractions that could be mistaken for mathematical
expressions.  If you are producing a textbook for publication, be
sure to have a Nemeth transcriber check out your work.

Is this process easy?  Maybe not at first, but it's really not
that hard either, once you get into it.  The process can be
further simplified by the clever use of styles, as a few
customers have already figured out.  For example, the Nemeth
opening and closing fraction indicators could be embedded into
the start and end tags of a style named "frac" by using the
direct braille [d] code.  You can then write an expression such
as x/y within the frac style and be confident that the indicators
will be correct and balanced.

The main problem with translation of mathematics to braille is
not the translation itself.  In fact, we already created tables
for Nemeth Code in 1985 with help from the Canadian National
Institute for the Blind (CNIB).  Those tables are still the only
way that we know of to implement the entire Nemeth Code through
translation.  However, the interface to the supplement is now ten
years old and is not what we want for the new DBT.

The root of the problem in producing an easy Nemeth braille
system is the lack of a standard and easy way to represent math
in print.  Highly respected systems such as LaTeX have existed
for years, but they require the input preparer learn special
codes, similar to those used by our own Nemeth package.

The situation is improving.  There is growing interest in
representing math on the Internet and computers in general.
Several coding methods are emerging -- LaTex and several
SGML-based systems, such as HTML3 and EuroMath, are the ones most
often mentioned.  More importantly, WYSIWYG editors that can work
with these coding methods are being developed.

Eventually, we intend to build one or more import bridges, much
like we already do for SGML/ICADD-22 files.  It is upon that
SGML-import process, and the corresponding style facilities in
DBT, that we intend to build more complete tools for handling
mathematics.  Such an approach will not only put DBT in
communication with some very advanced systems for editing and
displaying mathematics (which we do not intend to duplicate), but
will also provide a reasonably simple style-based mechanism for
entering mathematics within DBT itself.


                         Contracted News
                         by Matt Sullivan


--Larry Lubowsky, who wrote much of the code in the new DBT, has
moved on to Mexico City.  His face will be missed around here,
but the excellent work he did will be with us for a long time to
come!  May the road rise before you.

--DBT DOS has a spell checker.

--My father and boss, Joe Sullivan, was recently honored with the
prestigious Winston Gordon award for technical achievement in the
field of blindness.  The CNIB sponsored ceremony was held in
Winnepeg, Canada on September 18.  My father was very touched to
read all the nominations from his very dear friends, and valued
customers.  As I like to remind him once in while, he's been
working in this field since the year I was born.  Knowing that I
recently discovered my first gray hairs, you would be safe to
assume that Joe has been at this for a while.  When you look at
all his gray hairs, you know he's earned it.  Congratulations
again dad!

--We now have a site on the World Wide Web.  The URL is:
   http://world.std.com/~duxbury/

--DBT for DOS can be run from Windows.  The directions for
creating an icon are exactly the same as what I wrote for DUXWP
in News 21; except that you'll need to substitute DBT.EXE for
DUXWP.EXE.  Of course, if you really want to do Windows, go for
our new DBT Win, described in Peter's article.

--If you've been cautiously waiting through the first few rounds
of refinements before purchasing or updating DBT, your time has
come.  The feedback we've received since June indicates a high
level of overall stability.


               Ordering Information and Price List

Following is a summary of our major products and prices.  Please
contact us if you don't see what you need, e.g. a Unix version or
an Arabic braille table.

All documents and on-line menus are in English.  Call us for
suppliers of special versions.  All products carry a full 90-day
satisfaction guarantee.

You can order by mail, fax, e-mail or telephone.  All orders must
be prepaid in US$ by check, money order, Discover, Visa or
MasterCard, or shipped COD, unless received in writing from a
government agency or an existing customer with credit approval.
Massachusetts customers please add 5% for sales tax or supply
exemption form.  Shipping is included in the price for ground
shipments to the U.S. and Canada.  For faster shipping methods
and other destinations, please call for a quote.

The version numbers listed are current at the time of printing.
We are constantly improving our software and we always ship the
latest release, which may be newer than what we list here...

                  New Single-User Software Licenses

__New site licenses are available for five times these prices.
Call for a definition of "site license" or to make arrangements
for a custom license _agreement.

22-C1.   DBT DOS v10;1 ..................................... $495
22-C14.  DBT Win v10;1 ..................................... $495
22-C2.   DBT Mac v8;8 ...................................... $495
22-C15.  DBT Dual (DOS & Win) v10;1 ........................ $695
22-C9.   DUXWP (DOS) v1;6 .................................. $295
22-C6.   Edgar (DOS) v2;11 ................................. $195
22-C10.  Braille Board v1;9 (for sign making in Windows) ... $295
22-C11.  Braille Font Win ................................... $99
22-C12.  Braille Font Mac ................................... $99


                      Updates and Trade-Ups

__A valid serial number from the old software is required.
Single-user license prices are listed.  Call for a quote if you
have a site or other special license, or if you wish to do an
upgrade or a trade-up that you don't see _listed.

22-C1-U.    Update to DBT DOS v10;1 from any prior version . $175
22-C2-U.    Update to DBT Mac v8;8 from any prior version .. $175
22-C9-U.    Update to DUXWP v1;6 from any prior version ..... $99
22-C6-U.    Update to Edgar v2;11 from any prior version .... $69
22-C14-UC1. Trade-up to DBT Win from DBT DOS ............... $275
22-C15-UC1. Trade-up to DBT Dual from DBT DOS .............. $375
22-C1-UC9.  Trade-up to DBT DOS from DUXWP ................. $299
22-C14-UC9. Trade-up to DBT Win from DUXWP ................. $399
22-C15-UC9. Trade-up to DBT Dual from DUXWP  ............... $499
