What Was New in MegaDots 2.3

MegaDots 2.3 and MegaDots 2.4 have Windows Installation Programs

The following text describes common features for MegaDots 2.3 and MegaDots 2.4. Where they differ (such as the installation directory), the situation of MegaDots 2.4 is given.

• Default installation is to c:\mega24 (different in MegaDots 2.3)
• You specify the default directory where MegaDots files are stored. The default is c:\Megawork.
• Installation requires the CD-ROM or executable file and a password.
• If you do not have the correct serial number, password combination, the demo MegaDots is installed instead.
• Two desktop icons are installed (for using MegaDots with and without speech)
• Five icons are added to the Duxbury folder in the Programs portion of the Start Menu: two for MegaDots 2.4, one for MegaDots 2.4 Documentation, one for Command Line and one for Embossit (see below)
• The installation registers .meg files as MegaDots files for Windows. Thus you can click on a .meg file in Windows Explorer, and Windows opens the file in the MegaDots application.
• The icons are designed to open MegaDots so that your working directory is c:\megawork (or the alternative directory that you specified).
• Installation is designed for Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, and XP.
• Be aware that the installation program no longer puts the MegaDots program directory in the standard path. If the user runs MegaDots from the DOS Command line, this is something you should do manually. See path in the Reference Manual and Chapter 19 (MegaDots at the Command Line).
• The installation program copies in the driver programs from Index for use with the recent Index embossers. These are installed in c:\mega24\Drivers\Index AB (see the Interface Guide for more information about installing Index embossers).

MegaDots 2.4 Documentation

MegaDots 2/4 Documentation in html is now installed onto your hard drive in the directory c:\mega24\docs. Anytime you need any information, you can press Control-escape Programs, Duxbury, MegaDots 2.4 Documentation.

The entire User Manual, entire Reference Manual, and the entire Interface Guide are available as Word Files from the html Menu. You can use the Word copies to print out in your choice of fonts.

The entire User Manual, entire Reference Manual, and the entire Interface Guide are available as the top three choices when you press F11 within the MegaDots editor. You can produce these in braille very easily from within MegaDots.

See printer.htm. for a reference to inkprint printers that are compatible with MegaDots. This helps modernize the list of supported inkprint printers.

MegaDots contains Embossit

Embossit uses the machinery of DBT to emboss braille ready files. You can call Embossit from Start Menu, Programs, Duxbury. Or you can emboss using Embossit from within MegaDots. Since Embossit knows how to drive Tiger embossers, how to drive USB ports, and how to locate Windows devices, this greatly enhances MegaDot's ability to keep up with modern embossing systems. Embossit also comes with documentation on how to deal with Embossing problems. For information on using Embossit, see Chapter 5.

MegaDots contains MegaPrn

MegaPrn is a program that can take output designed for output and re-direct it to a Windows device. MegaPrn can be used for either braille or inkprint output. Again, this gives you the ability to output to USB and other devices without needing an MS-DOS driver for your USB port.

MegaDots contains MegaMath and Beginner Braille

MegaDots 2.4 always comes with these features built in. You can read about them in the menu of documentation.

MegaDots 2.4 comes with chemistry symbols built into MegaMath.

Using Nemeth translation, the long dash (----) and right arrow symbols and plural abbreviations like "VCRs" now translate properly into braille.

Some items are easier to find in the Math items list, such as the Long division sign.

MegaDots has new fixes for British Braille

MegaDots' British translation of words has been modified to conform with new 2004 British rules. For example, the (ness) contraction is now allowed in "lioness."

MegaDots now supports the new British rules for Italics.

MegaDots supports the rules for a caps passage, including the use of contractions for "to," "by," and "into" within a caps passage.

Access to the DOS Command Line

Previous version of MegaDots have documented going to the command line by pressing Alt-F10 inside of MegaDots. While this still works, it is not the best approach (though very handy when you are in MegaDots).

You can get into the command line by clicking on the Comamnd Line for MegaDots item in the Programs, Duxbury Group. If you do this, you will notice that the DOS window is full sized. This is appropriate for sighted persons. Blind persons using a speech program such as JAWS or Window-Eyes need to use the "window" sized screen. If the smaller screen is needed, right click on the icon, select properties, screen, and then click on the Window button (instead of full size).

New Style Sheets LIT-NLS

We have become aware of some differences between literary braille as mandated by BANA and NLS. These differences are largely reflected in the style sheets LITERARY.SS and INFORMAL.SS. We are adding a new style sheet LIT-NLS.SS.

The LITERARY style sheet has been modified to conform to changes in the regulations. Preliminary pages in literary documents now more closely resemble preliminary pages in textbooks. Page numbers are Arabic, not Roman. They are preceded by a letter "p." This change for preliminary pages has also been made in the LIT-NLS style sheet. The LIT-NLS style sheet is like LITERARY except that it formats multi-level poetry and outlines as in Textbook Format.

Other Changes

• The demo version of MegaDots allows use of the Math translator (MegaMath). The demo version does not allow use of Beginner Braille menu, since Beginner Braille menu needs to save files (the major restriction of the demo).
• The long standing bug where you lose the cursor when MegaDots did a Windows operation (such as importing a Word file) has been eliminated.
• We have improved the JAWS script files for MegaDots to be more compatible with refreshable braille access and also work with JAWS version 9. There are other changes to make MegaDots work smoother with JAWS.
• We have added support for the German estset character. Enter as a Greek beta (Alt-G b). Outside of Nemeth, the translator will treat it like an estset if it follows a vowel. Otherwise, MegaDots treats it like a beta. When importing a Word file, the estset character becomes a beta in MegaDots, so these are handled automatically.
• We are now supporting the Euro character.
• The file type "Spacing same braille" has been renamed "Retain blank lines" to avoid confusion with the "Spacing same" paragraph style.
• The Reference Manual is now in one file (refman.meg) instead of being broken into 6 separate files.
• MegaDots now prefers to produce ready formatted files as BRF files instead of BFM files. This conforms to Duxbury DBT usage.
• MegaDots now recognizes braille fonts (fonts whose names contain "braille") and puts that text into "exact translation".
• The HTML importer has been improved to be able to handle accented and typographical characters stored in the UTF-8 format. MegaDots can now import UTF-8 textfiles if the textfiles are marked with the three byte "EF BB BF" UTF-8 header. The HTML importer now copes if there are HTML commands that are inside of other HTML commands.
• When you run a rules file, MegaDots does not tell you the percentage done quite so often. Doing so too often caused a crash if you were using JAWS.
• The Gap for Graphics bug in versions 2.1 and 2.2 has been fixed.
• We have discovered that the "Make Protect" feature does not work, and has not worked since July, 1999 due to changes in a complex routine that decides whether a page break can be placed at a particular location. We have introduced a feature so that if the environmental variable RNIB_PAGE is set to 1, the July 1999 code is substituted. Be careful, this may degrade some features in MegaDots.

What Was New in MegaDots 2.2

MegaDots 2.2 released on CD-ROM

The MegaDots 2.2 CD-ROM contains a much easier installation program than has been used previously. Installation notes and full documentation are available from the opening menu.

Style Sheets Re-named

In 1997, the rules for textbook formatting changed. Since MegaDots was developed before 1997, we had a style sheet called TEXTBOOK which supported the pre-1997 rules. Later, we introduced NEWTEXT, which supported the "new" rules.

Guess what? 1997 was a long time ago. It is time to change names. NEWTEXT is now called TEXTBK, TEXTBOOK is now called OLDTEXT. All pre-version 2.2 files opened in MegaDots 2.2 will automatically have the new names applied. Thus if your older file used "TEXTBOOK", it will be loaded with "OLDTEXT". This does not change the formatting at all. If you do want to change to the "new" formatting rules, you have to manually switch to athe TEXTBK style sheet.

The purpose of the name change is to discourage transcribers from mistakenly choosing TEXTBOOK style sheet, thinking that it supports the latest rules.

Any modern project using Textbook format should use the TEXBK style sheet (i.e. the new rules). The OLDTEXT style sheet should only be used on older projects you want to use with a consistent set of rules. If you have been using MegaDots for several years, check your defaults. Go to Preferences, New Document, Style Sheet Selection to make sure you are using TEXTBK, to use the new rules.

If you send your files to another MegaDots user for embossing, you need to be very, very careful. Either include your TEXTBK.SS file with instructions on how to use it, or give instructions to switch the style sheet on the printing system to NEWTEXT. The best solution is to make sure that any computer producing your work also has version 2.2 of MegaDots.

MegaDots Works under all versions of Windows

We have tested MegaDots under a variety of operating systems. It works under MS-DOS only, Windows 3.x, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows NT, Windows 2000, and Windows XP.

HTML Production of MegaDots 2.4 Documentation

[Note, the production method described is obsolete in version 2.4]

Better Control of Embossit

[This describes Embossit 1.0, which is very different from Embossit 3.0 which is part of MegaDots 2.4]

Better Control of SGML file importation

There is a flexible program called MSGFILE that controls the importation of SGML and HTML files into MegaDots. This is documented in Supplement 3. Advanced users or those dealing with publisher's files will want to use this new tool.

Improved Windows Documentation

[This has been revamped in version 2.4]

Chapters 2 and 22 of the Manual has been improved to give details of using MegaDots with Windows NT/2000/XP and Windows ME. We also give additional tips on using MegaDots efficiently with your Windows system. Press F11 inside MegaDots to read Chapter 22.

Details on improvements between 2.1 and 2.2

• To encourage the use of the new textbook formatting rules adopted by BANA in 1997, we have renamed the textbook-oriented style sheets. See the section "Style Sheets Renamed" above.
• We have fixed problems with importing files with accented letters.
• We have fixed a program bug that caused many file imports to fail, especially on Windows 2000/XP systems.
• Some Word files were being truncated during file import. We have fixed this.
• We have modified the MegaDots Installation procedure to work from a CD-ROM with a separate license disk.
• We have added the launching of the "6-key braille keyboard driver" to the launching of MegaDots from Windows, to avoid difficulties with enabling this feature.
• We have fixed a British braille formatting problem with updating the Page Information Line. This bug was especially frustrating because the screen would show the correct format, but the braille output was wrong.
• We have fixed a problem with embossing tables that sometimes caused MegaDots to skip the table or crash. This bug too was frustrating because the screen would show the correct format, but the braille output was wrong.
• We have fixed a problem that sometimes caused MegaDots to emboss guide text below the last line on a page. When embossing at 25 lines per page, the braille page number would be on line 25, with guide text on line 26. This problem appeared only in the output, not on the braille WYSIWYG screen.
• We have provided better software and instructions for installing MegaDots icons. This includes information on setting up different icons to launch MegaDots differently for different users on one computer, for example for sighted and blind users.
• We have revamped the "install again" menu, which appears when you start installing the same version of MegaDots that is already installed.
• We have fixed a serious memory error that caused MegaDots to crash during file importation.
• We have fixed some problems with using the Megaman documentation utility.
• We have fixed problems in importing Duxbury coded textfiles into MegaDots (many words used to be jammed together, and sometimes the file was truncated).
• We have fixed a problem with importing BEX files into MegaDots.
• We have fixed problems in creating HTML files from MegaDots. We recommend that if you wish to bring a file from MegaDots into the Duxbury Braille Translator (DBT), you have MegaDots export the file to HTML and then open the HTML file in DBT.
• A number of MegaMath problems have been fixed. One problem was causing extraneous strings of w's to appear. after back translation. Another problem was turning text into math after back translation, if the text had the word "of" following a closing symbol of enclosure. Example: 25 tons (50,000 pounds) of sugar, coffee, flour, etc.
• We have fixed the problem that voice users had with the cursor's jumping around in "Expanded" braille view mode. Note that there is still a problem for sighted users of Expanded braille view.
• Auto Heading set-up no longer messes up minor headings.
• During the installation of MegaDots for use with JFW, the JAWS script files now get copied to the proper place. This used to be a problem if your JAWS directory name started with JAWS rather than JFW.
• We have updated the JAWS script files for MegaDots to work with JAWS 4.0. We also made it easier to install these script files in your JAWS settings folders. Other problems that we have eliminated include: misreading of text when you press Alt-UpArrow or Alt-DownArrow to move by paragraph; problems with pressing Control-X for MegaDots block marking; getting the extra characters space r in your text when you enter MegaDots on some computer systems.
• The use of the output device "ZWIN" no longer loses the ampersand (&) character. When you use ZWIN as the Name of port/file, MegaDots automatically prints to your Windows printer called Generic / Text Only. Then MegaDots will print to whatever is listed in your Windows Generic / Text Only printer under Properties - Details - Print to the following port.
• We have added a way to bring a .brf file into MegaDots leaving the format exactly as in the original file (including the blank lines). At the Enter filename prompt, type the filename followed by:
  -spa -9903
  or -spa -?
  with a space before each hyphen; if you use -?, select "Spacing same braille" from the list of file conversion types. ["Spacing same braille" has bee renamed "Retain blank lines" in MegaDots 2.4]
• The "excess emphasis" import flag now works properly.
• [The description of the ins-gr macro has been deleted. This macro is replaced in MegaDots 2.4 by fix-gr].
• We have added a rules file called fixit.mdr to work around a number of problems. Using this rules file before translating into braille avoids the following problems: crashes caused by footnotes adjacent to Section info formatting paragraphs; translation mistake that may occur when words within emphasis (such as italics) are separated by a slash; a translation error that comes from an apostrophe within emphasized text in a file imported from Microsoft Word; incorrect formatting that comes from some transcriber's notes that begin a paragraph; incorrect formatting of paragraphs in the Manual note style after paragraphs in style Heading level 2, Directions, or Exercise; some translation issues concerning a number after a hyphen. This rules file is designed to deal with problems in transcription level work. Run this rules file once while still in inkprint (and you are in show markup) before braille translation. (If you do run it a second time, nothing bad will happen.)
• We have added a rules file called notefix.mdr to deal with footnotes that are adjacent to Section info (formatting) paragraphs. Note that fixit.mdr also fixes this problem.
• We have added a rules file called fixtnote.mdr which fixes a formatting problem that occurss in some files when a transcriber's note occurs at the beginning of a paragraph. This rules file changes a carriage return before a transcriber's note to a space, except after a heading. This fix is also done in fixit.mdr.
• We have added a rules file called fixforen.mdr which fixes foreign language files that crash during translation to braille because someone accidentally entered a raised letter, ligature, or under dot from the Diacritics menu. (For the record, these items just do not work in a grade one foreign language files, but are fine for grade two files.)
• We have added a rules file called acrobat.mdr to clean up high bit characters from Adobe Acrobat files.
• [Section about Word 97/2000 Conversions deleted, since it is quite obsolete.]
• We have fixed a number of problems with Beginner Braille.
• We have fixed a variety of translation errors. Some examples are the translation of space, hyphen, space from print to braille; translation of diacritics from braille to print; translation into braille of all caps words separated by a slash in the Textbk style sheet (new textbook rules); translation from print to braille and from braille to print of number hyphen letters.
• In back translating imported .brf files, and other braille documents that MegaDots did not translate from print, MegaDots now does a better job of distinguishing between slash and st sign.
• We have added live web links in the html version of the interface guide.
• We have added a new style called Prose note which always begins in cell 7 and has runover in cell 5.
• We have added the file microcon.exe to the collection of programs in the MegaDots directory. This converts a Micro braille file into a standard ready formatted file. In particular, if you want to use the "Spacing same braille" feature when bringing MicroBraille files into MegaDots to emboss them without any reformatting, then you must use the microcon.exe program first to convert the files into standard braille ready files.
• We have made additional changes and improvements designed to eliminate problems.

Tables Update 3/2000 (present in version 2.1 and 2.2)

In the 3/2000 update the MegaDots developers and Susan Christensen worked to make sure that MegaDots supports the table formatting rules in Formats: Principles of Print to Braille Transcription, 1997. Up until then, formatting tables was frustrating. The tables in the Formats rule book were entered into MegaDots, and tested very thoroughly. For the details, see Bana1997.meg.

That was the heart of the 3/2000 update. We think all MegaDots users will want to learn how to format tables now that it is practical.

We encourage MegaDots users to take advantage of all the table features. Use the F11 command in MegaDots to read Chapter 11 from disk. There are some changes to chapter 11 since the last time we re-printed the manual. So this is the best way to learn about the new table rules.

Use the F12 on-line Reference Manual to learn about any aspect of tables about which you want more information. Also make use of the F1 help key in the MegaDots menus.

Susan Christensen updated the documentation on tables for us, and we deeply appreciate her careful work. Once you install your MegaDots, there is a sub-directory in your MEGA directory called EXAMPLES. It includes many sample tables from BANA with commentary on how to do the data entry in MegaDots. For example, example 35 is the file c:\mega\examples\35.meg on your computer.

New Textbook Rules 3/2000

In the 3/2000 update we introduced the new style sheet NEWTEXT to support the 1997 Textbook rules. See BANA1997.htm. for the details. Note: in version 2.2, this style sheet is called TEXTBK, and all files using NEWTEXT are automatically switched the TEXTBK.

Adobe Acrobat Conversion

In version 2.0 we changed the way that MegaDots imports Acrobat PDF files when you do it in MegaDots session in windows. If it doesn't work, an alternative is to e-mail the PDF file as an attachment to pdf2html@sun.trace.wisc.edu. This site will return your file as HTML in the body of a message. You can then import the HTML file into MegaDots. If you try this, please let us know if it worked well for you.

MegaDots and JAWS for Windows

We have been making changes in the JFW script files for MegaDots to improve MegaDots' performance with JAWS, and to keep up with changes in JAWS. To copy the JAWS script files for MegaDots that you want into your JAWS settings directory, first copy them into your MegaDots directory; then start the MegaDots installation CD-ROM, or run the install.exe program in the MegaDots directory, but at the "Install again" menu choose the Abort option.

If you find that Numlock comes on unexpectedly in MegaDots, go to Control panel - System - Advanced tab - Environment variables - System variables, and add the variable NumLock set to OFF.

Mathematics Issues

Here are some recent changes to the math software:

• We have added the long division sign to the Math items list.
• problems with the letter "w" have been fixed.
• Tables entirely made up of numbers are formatted with a single space between columns. The software used to go to single space between columns when adjacent columns were made up of numbers.
• You can now paste math markup into a find string. This lets you search for specific math symbols.
• Some line breaking problems have been fixed. If you have examples of output that breaks lines in the wrong places, please send the files to David Holladay (david@duxsys.com).
• Control-M now brings up a menu of the last 20 characters you have selected from the Control-I list. This speeds up data entry.

Known Bugs

Additional known bugs and their work-arounds are described in Chapter 21 of the User Manual (Troubleshooting).

• [fixed in MegaDots 2.4] The first page after a gap for graphics has extra spaces at the start of the top line. The number of extra spaces is the gap number used. Among other things, this pushes the page number beyond the right margin. Beware, since this happens only in your output, not in the braille WYSIWYG screen. A work-around is to use a gap for graphics for one page less than you want, followed by a carriage return, and then a braille righthand page break command. For example, to achieve a gap for 7 graphics pages, press Control-Insert B G 6 <Enter> <Enter> Control-Insert B R. This gives you one blank sheet in your output, but the page numbering is correct.
• [fixed in MegaDots 2.4] When you import a Word 97 or 2000 document, you lose the ability to use the mouse in MegaDots. If you save the file as a MegaDots file, exit MegaDots, relaunch it, and open the MegaDots file, you have access to the mouse.
• [fixed in MegaDots 2.4] When MegaDots is set up to use the Embossit program for embossing, you lose the mouse cursor after embossing (similar to the item above). If this is a problem for you, disable Embossit (see above).
• When a slash occurs between emphasized words, MegaDots does not count the word after the slash as a separate word, and thus does not place the indicators correctly. Using the rules file fixit.mdr before translating to braille avoids this problem.
• In some textbook material, when there is more than one footnote reference within one line of braille, the footnotes after the first one have the wrong indent and runover (they use indent 7, runover 5, even if the indent and runover should be different).
• There is a braille formatting problem under the Literary style sheet with a paragraph containing some short footnotes (seven words or fewer) and then some longer footnotes.
• [fixed in MegaDots 2.4] In the Nemeth style sheet, translating a right arrow into braille gives a contracted right arrow instead of an ordinary right arrow ($o instead of $33o). If you use the three math markup characters shape, nonstandard; arrow shaft, double; arrowhead, straight right full, you get a proper right arrow. We recommend adding this in your fastmath.meg file.
• Sometimes when you translate a file containing tabular material, the cursor jumps from the current location back to the beginning of a table. If this makes things difficult for you, note that sometimes you can eliminate this problem by adding a blank paragraph in the Spacing same style after the table.
• With braille display mode set to Expanded, sometimes you see only one line on the screen, until you add more lines on by scrolling. UIt is generally only sighted users of Expanded braille view who notice this problem.
• The Spell Checker reports a spelling error for every word followed by a colon.
• The ability to ignore pages that are "not included" (part of the style page description) is not implemented yet.
• Attempting to use autocorrect braille and expanded screen display at the same time causes massive problems (when the cursor is at the end of a line, large numbers of extra characters are added to the file). Avoid this combination.
• In WYSIWYG display, deleting a marked block sometimes deletes extra text. To avoid this problem, delete a marked block in Show markup display.
• Starting a transcriber's note after a carriage return (instead of a space) can make the rest of the document appear to be a transcriber's note (TN screen color and extra indent). You should start a transcriber's note after a space, not a carriage return. Running the rules file fixtnote makes this change for you. Using the rules file fixtnote avoids problems of this kind; if you use the rules file fixit before translation to braille, that avoids this kind of problem as well.
• When you accidentally enter some dictionary diacritics (ligature, raised letter, letter with underdot) in foreign language grade one text, translation into braille hangs. Running the rules file fixforen in print removes these unintended items. Using the rules file fixit avoids this problem as well. Several MegaDots users have encountered this problem by accidentally entering a "raised n" in Spanish text.
• Autocorrect braille does not work with access through refreshable braille. Avoid this combination.
• Going to Preferences - File Import with MegaDots set for refreshable braille access causes an immediate crash. If you have MegaDots set for Refreshable braille access, turn that off before going to Preferences - File import.
• The shape indicator does not work as well as it should.
• If you type many Control-P's in a row very rapidly (to paste the same text in again and again), MegaDots locks up, because the rapid Control-P's are treated as a DOS command to send output to the parallel port. Don't rush your paste clipboard commands. However, if you still have problems, or do lots of pasting, create a macro with the paste command in it. This can be done by typing: Alt-M PASTE Control-P Alt-M Shift-F8. This makes Shift-F8 do the same thing as Control-P, but without the printing side effect. To keep this, save your preferences with F10 P S <Enter>.
• If you use the Nemeth style sheet in conjunction with Spanish (Braille standard set to Spanish and Default translation method set to grade One), use of the reverse question mark or reverse exclamation mark causes translation problems. However, if you set Default translation method to grade Two and mark up the grade one material, you avoid the problem. If you do have Default translation method set to grade One, then using grade Two markup outside of the grade One markup also avoids this problem.
• When embossing wide material, such as graphics, Big dots display causes the truncation of long lines. Switching the Braille view mode from Big dots to Dots or ASCII before embossing material of this kind avoids this problem.