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As it works with text, Dragon Dictate memorizes its own actions: the text it types, the navigation it performs, etc. This memory is called the cache. The cache is how Dragon Dictate keeps track of what text is in the window and where the selection or insertion point is located within that text. If you use the mouse and keyboard to navigate, select, cut and paste, or type, the cache will get out of sync with reality, and Dictate will lose its place within the document when you resume dictation.
However, Dictate offers commands that can help you if you opt to manually alter your document, such as using the mouse to move the cursor or cutting and pasting text with keystrokes. When you say the commands cache document or cache selection, you're telling Dragon Dictate to re-learn the content of the whole document or text that has been selected. For example, if you say cache document, you're telling Dragon Dictate to read the entire document's content, no matter how that content was created or edited. Dragon Dictate forgets what it entered in this document, throws away its recordings of your voice (so training on existing text is no longer possible), and just reads the document. Now it knows what the document contains, and you can tell Dragon Dictate to navigate the document and to enter and edit text.
To learn more about the 'Cache Document' command and how to edit text documents, view the tutorial video here:
http://bit.ly/hOnQkX
Working Within Note Pad and TextEdit ( http://bit.ly/fVZAVO )
Dragon Dictate lets you dictate into any application, but a Note Pad window is often the easiest place to dictate, because it is designed for this purpose. Note Pad, Dictate s built-in word processor, is specially designed for use with Dragon Dictate, enabling you to control the contents of the window entirely through dictation and commands. A TextEdit document also makes a good place to dictate, for similar reasons.
One of the biggest advantages of using Dictate within Note Pad or TextEdit is that mixing dictation with manual tasks is less disruptive in a Note Pad window or TextEdit document. Dragon Dictate can actually "see" your document, so Dictate is not as dependent upon its own memory of how it entered text through dictation (the cache) as in other applications. In other words, Dictate always knows the contents of a Note Pad window or TextEdit document, even after you manually type or paste in text.
A Note Pad window or TextEdit document is a great place to work with text when you're just getting started with Dragon Dictate. Even as an experienced user, you may find it faster and easier to work in a Note Pad window or TextEdit document and then copy the text and place it into any other application. Note Pad window content is saved as an .rtf file which can be opened for editing later with another word processor (TextEdit, Microsoft Word, etc.). You can also open an existing .rtf file into a Note Pad window.
Keyboard Shortcuts
In addition to simple voice commands, Dragon Dictate lets you define global keyboard shortcuts ("hot keys") to perform some of the common tasks associated with dictation, including the ability to:
*Toggle the Microphone - Turns the microphone on or off
*Select recognition modes - Cycles through the available modes: Dictation mode, Spelling mode, and Command mode
*Show the Recognition Window - Shows and hides the Recognition Window
*Dismiss the MouseGrid - Dismisses the MouseGrid after it's been summoned
Hot keys can be defined within the Preferences window, which lets you set a large variety of options for Dragon Dictate.
To show the Preferences window, choose Dictate - Preferences. To set your keyboard shortcuts, use the Shortcuts Preferences pane. Click in the oval shortcut region and type the desired shortcut. To delete a shortcut, just click the "X" at the right end of the oval shortcut region. When you re done, be sure to close the Preferences window by clicking the close button at the top left of the window.
To learn more about additional Preference settings, consult the Dictate User Guide:
http://bit.ly/htsUFr
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