An
audio file reader in FORTH
Ching-Tang
Tseng
Hamilton,
New Zealand
16
Jan 2018
ilikeforth@gmail.com
We
pursued different kinds of application from FORTH. Another could be
used as a daily using example is a FORTH designed FILE READER with
real voice output.
This
kind of application has many advantages. It can be applied to
infinite files or objects. I needed it especially when I was getting
old gradually. Here, I am not going to talk about its advantages
again. There were many articles posted in this blog site had talked
about many advantages of a speak-able FORTH system already, but
written in Chinese. I am always to make my FORTH system able to do
speaking. Major function is in English speaking, Chinese speaking
included as well. For the time being, the quality of all Chinese
speaking resources did not come up to the practical level. It was
just can do only. Chinese speech digital technical development ought
to carry out by Chinese government. This topic is out of my
discussing range.
Such
a design needs Text To Speech (TTS) functions from the platform of
Operating System. I am an user of TTS not a designer of TTS. I use
FORTH to develop what I need from TTS resources. Owing to this kind
of design is always not going to follow the so called new FORTH
standard, violate the insistence of new standard supporters, and
almost nobody is interesting in it, this posting has only demo
without code.
Voice
output could be coded into the program in a speak-able FORTH system.
Speaking style are sortable, changeable, adjustable…etc., all are
able to be controlled by FORTH. After we went into 64 bits FORTH era,
Lina64 under Ubuntu V.16.04 OS was one of my favorite FORTH systems.
Public domain free charge TTS resources in Linux environment are
abundant, much... much more than Windows’ OS environment has
supplied.
In
general, there were many free charge tools could be used to do the
text to speech output from a text file. Their features are as simple
as just reading from the beginning to the ending of a file.
This
article demonstrates a special video display, designed by myself;
show you a controlled audio text file reader in FORTH. I am using a
so called break point technique in this design. Once you are touching
keyboard after this FILE READER started, system will be HALT (<halt>)
until speaking of current streaming text in one sentence had been
finished. Let you able to do new different arrangements over there,
then use GO to keep going to go again.
For
example, while HALT, you are allowed to change the gender of the
speaker, to adjust setting parameters of TTS, to modify the typo in
the original text file, to look up meanings of some unfamiliar words
from a digital dictionary in the same computer, or even though you
are feeling bothering before the end of reading, to use a standard
instruction QUIT with double ENTER actions, you are able to stop
speaking thoroughly… etc., all intentional operations are
permitted.
To
teach and promote FORTH according to the so called new FORTH standard
are difficult nowadays. I have nothing to say about such a situation.
And I have no intention to do any teaching or any promotion of FORTH
again. I did and enjoyed whatever I needed. They were developed and
used in FORTH environment. For the sake of foreclosing any criticism
from anywhere, I used to do posting here only. This is my way, my
website, my FORTH world. I am happy in using all my design but
unhappy with any kind of nonconstructive attacking.
An
Introduction of FORTH old material came from FORTH Interest Group
(FIG) 35 years ago, to be reused in this demonstration on purpose.
You
are welcome to look at and to listen to this demonstration as
following.
