Voice Reminder Usurpation

[vmu]

Hi. Thank you for the useful sophisticated program. I've been using it personally for over a year.

I have Windows 8.1. I had to reinstall it, and I got the latest version (11.2.9) of VueMinder. As a consequence, David took over the position, and substituted my lovely personal assistant, Hazel.

Nothing worked: Setting "text to speech" for Hazel, restarting the system, uninstalling VueMinder, deleting the VueSoft folder from "AppData", and even deleting the registry entry before reinstalling. David is still holding on like a parasite, and won't let my dear Hazel have her job back. She has the narrator job now, but I don't need her there.

So I decided to avoid using the voice, and to use a system sound instead, grieving for a nice feature.

[VueSoft]

Hi vmu, thank you for the feedback. VueMinder uses the default text-to-speech voice that is selected in the Control Panel. It sounds like you might have already tried setting Hazel as the default, but just in case, see the page linked below for instructions:
http://www.isunshare.com/windows-10/cha ... ws-10.html

[vmu]

Thanks for the reply Mr Dan. But I'm a bit disappointed. That reply can not be taken as an answer to this problem.

The link you posted is for win10, and has nothing to do with the problem.

I clearly detailed that I did the corresponding method in win8.1, and that I went to extreme measures doing it.

So... does the reply mean "sorry, we are unable to figure this bug out and make the voice work well as before"? I hope not.

I'll keep avoiding the voice, missing Hazel, and hoping to see the fix in a future version.

[VueSoft]

Hi vmu, sorry I misread your email. I had Windows 10 on my brain because Hazel has been removed from Windows 10 and I was thinking that was what you were referring to.

I've found what is causing the problem (it's a Windows/.NET bug). The System.Speech.Synthesis.SpeechSynthesizer class doesn't use the default voice specified in the Control Panel - at least not in Windows 8.1.

I've found a way to work around the problem. The Reminder Options in VueMinder will be improved to allow selection of your preferred voice, rather than relying on the Control Panel to do this. This correction will be in the next release, which I'm hoping to have completed in a week or two. I'll post a reply when it's available to download.

Does that answer the problem?

[vmu]

That was quick Mr Dan! Swift response to an OS bug.... impressive.

I'm going to set a daily reminder for the next release to start after one week.

Thank you.

[VueSoft]

Just an update... I've completed the voice option improvement for the next release. You can pick any of the installed voices (including Hazel on Windows 8.1). The change works great and is a nice improvement.

I'm currently working on some other changes. One of the larger changes is a redesign of how custom fields work in the Ultimate version - including the ability to select custom fields to be displayed at the top of the editor window instead of only on the Custom tab. These changes are taking slightly longer than anticipated.

[VueSoft]

The voice reminder option has been added to version 11.3. See this blog article for more details.

To update, click the "Check for Updates" command on the Help menu.

[vmu]

Alright, Mr Dan! Keeping your word and posting the news here shows how caring you are.

I have the download page bookmarked. I checked it first, and it showed the new version; but the link there took me to a CNet page that was still offering the previous one.

Then I came here, and so I used the command on the Help menu.

It works! My lovely Hazel is back!

Thank you. May wellbeing remain with you.