Open Window Software News Fall 2003 A Free E-mail Newsletter From Open Window Software Featuring Tips On Using The WinFlash Suite, HandyCards And ProUpdater Contents: 1) Version 8.0 Released! (Finally...) 2) What's New In V8.0 3) Using Direct Audio Record For Spelling Drill 4) Free Updates For Deck Contributors 5) Study Tip - Limiting Initial Number Of Pairs --------------------------------------------------- 1) Version 8.0 Released! (Finally...) First it was early September, then late September... then... I'm pleased to say that we DID get v8.0 shipped out on October 12. There have been two 'slipstream' bug fixes since then, so if you don't have v8.00.02 (check in Help|About) you don't have the latest version. --------------------------------------------------- 2) What's New In V8.0 The following new features are available in all three WinFlash versions: * A user-friendly version of the well-regarded Leitner Box System as been added as another available primary study mode. Users can adjust the algorithm to suit their preferences and the type of material being studied with a simple one-panel interface. This mode is ideal for studying and retaining long-term material - especially foreign language vocabulary. When combined with WinFlash's other language-study-specific features it's a winner! * Improved 'click to insert' built-in replacement for Charmap. Located in the same place in the editor as the old Charmap button. Also accessible as the 11th glossary button for use with FIB answers * Custom colors can now be created and saved for future use in the Colors dialog (for setting Main, Question and Answer window backgrounds). * Removed long-standing prohibition on using "%" and "<" in pairs. * Optionally run more than one copy of the program at the same time - Options|Misc/Audio|Allow Multiple Program Instances. * Student 'sign in' for tests now on a single form. * Launch your favorite graphics editor directly from the displayed graphic in the editor. * Use your favorite text editor when selecting "Open Current Q&A File In NotePad". The following new features are available in WinFlash Scholar and Educator: * Powerful Subject Outline feature. Allows instant access to all of your decks and shows last-used date, Leitner System 'due date' as well as allowing access to the decks' statistics without opening them. * Pseudo multiple choice 'wrong' answers now selected first from the category of the current pair THEN remaining slots filled with out-of-category answers. This gives more realistic 'wrong' answers. * Copy Pair and Move Pair buttons added to editor. Copy complex pairs with a single operation. * Assign a default graphic (one for Q and one for A) to be displayed if a specific graphic is not defined for a given Q or A. Allows for very easy 'dressing up' of plain decks * Selectable/programmable Correct/Incorrect icons for showing result of auto-scored pairs. Change the default Correct.ico and Incorrect.ico in the application directory to insert your own preferred icons for these. Have fun with this one :-) The following new features are available in WinFlash Educator: * The Create Composite .FLS File tool has been enhanced to be able to create output files with multiple-choice or fill-in-the-blank pairs (suitable for creating .flt files) from source files containing only standard pairs. 'Fake' MC answers are drawn from other pairs in the same category first, creating much more 'consistent' MC pairs * Pairs imported into the deck can be assigned a particular category so that they don't need to be individually edited after importation * Direct recording of .wav audio into the Q or A. Much faster way of adding sound to your files. Located on the editor's Associated Files tab. Use with properly-configured microphone-equipped sound card. Note: Old .FLS files will work just fine with v8.0. Simply open them with the new program and the new entries for the .FLD file will be automatically created the first time you open the file in v8.0. However, files created with v8.0 may NOT be compatible when used with older versions. See Backward Compatibility for detailed information on this topic. --------------------------------------------------- 3) Using Direct Audio Record For Spelling Drill One of the problematic applications for flashcard programs has always been spelling lists for younger children. How does one ASK the question? Certainly not with text! Before v8.0 the student - or more likely Mom or Dad - had to use an external application to record the spoken word to be spelled, name and save the audio file, then use the editor to browse for the audio file and finally, add it to the pair as the sound for the Question. Doing this each week or even more frequently quickly becomes tedious. With Educator v8.0 this chore is now a snap! Let's do a step-by-step example. We'll just do three spelling words for this - aardvark, bureaucrat and cacophony. Note - you'll need Educator for this example - Scholar and Basic to not support direct record to pairs. 1. Attach a microphone to your sound card and verify that the sound card and internal Windows drivers are operating properly by recording a short audio file using the Windows Sound Recorder applet (in Accessories|Entertainment). This applet must operate properly before the record capability in Educator can be used. 2. If step 1 is successful, create a new deck, SPELLING.FLS, using File|New 3. In the editor, for pair 1, clear the text from the Question memo edit box 4. Select Fill-In-The-Blank as Type Of Question 5. Go to the Answer tab 6. Enter "aardvark" - without quotes - as the first FIB answer. 7. Repeat steps 3-6 for pairs two and three, entering "bureaucrat" and "cacophony", respectively for the FIB answer. 8. Go back to pair 1 9. Switch to Associated Files page 10. In the Associated Files For Question section, click the Record/Overwrite button. This should bring up the recording control titled Direct Record To Question with three radio buttons controlling recording quality and a Start Recording/Stop Recording button pair. Leave the setting on high quality for now. 11. Be prepared to clearly speak the word "aardvark", click the Start Recording button, wait a half second or so then say the word, wait half a second and click the Stop Recording button. Close the recording control dialog by clicking on the upper-right-hand-corner "x". 12. The Play button will now be enabled. Click it to hear your rendition of "aardvark". If you want to re-record your efford, simply repeat steps 10 and 11 and the sound for the Question will be replaced with your new recording. 13. Repeat steps 10-12 for pairs two and three, recording "bureaucrat" and "cacophony", respectively for the sound files. 14. Close the editor and check out the operation of the file. It should "speak" the spelling word and allow you to type in the proper spelling of the word - then grade your effort when you click the Check My Answer button. 15. We've dressed up the sample file a little by adding a common graphic for the Q's and A's by using the Options|View|Hints, Comments, Tips and Associated Graphics Files|Show Graphic Below for Text Only Questions (and Answers) options to display an appropriate graphic file and also selected horizontal and vertical text centering from the Options|View|Alignment & Q/A Dialog Control section. You can download the completed file, which has been compiled into a .flz study file, at http://www.openwindow.com/ftp/spelling.flz to see how the end result should appear and operate. --------------------------------------------------- 4) Free Upgrades For Deck Contributors Now that you've read about the new features in v8.0, isn't it time to put the final polish on that study deck of yours to make it a solid contribution to the WinFlash Users Group Library? We'll give you a free upgrade to v8.0 of your edition of the program if you'll share! Plus you'll get credit on the library page for your contribution (unless you'd rather remain anonymous). To submit your deck, see the detailed instructions at http://www.openwindow.com/pages/contribute.htm We'll immediately acknowledge receipt of your submission and, after review, will send you another e-mail letting you know if we've accepted it for use in our library. If it's accepted, we'll e-mail you a free upgrade code for v8.0. Already have v8.0? - no worries, we'll flag the database for a free upgrade to v9.0 (well, it WILL be a while...) when IT'S released. --------------------------------------------------- 5) Study Tip When initialy learning a large amount of material, you may find it overwhelming when bombarded by, say, 100 new vocabulary words. You may benefit by limiting the initial onslaught to a smaller number of cards - say the first 20. You can set this up by selecting Options|Pair Order & Size|Range and clicking the radio button From Question, and entering the range of questions you wish to concentrate on - in our case 1 to 20. Next time you're wondering if you'll EVER remember one of the pairs correctly, try this strategy to focus on fewer pairs. --------------------------------------------------- Need Help? Have A problem? Check out our online listings of the latest releases and the problems that they've solved. For WinFlash programs see: http://www.openwindow.com/pages/wfprobs.htm For ProUpdater see: http://www.openwindow.com/pages/puprobs.htm If your issue isn't covered there, please send e-mail to support@openwindow.com and we'll do our best to resolve your problem. --------------------------------------------------- SUBSCRIBE: Send e-mail to service@openwindow.com with SUBSCRIBE as the Subject. UNSUBSCRIBE: Simply send an email to service@openwindow.com with REMOVE as the Subject. This newsletter is a free service of Open Window Software and is Copyright © 2003 Open Window Software. All worldwide rights reserved.