Dictating Numbers in Release 7
There are many ways of dictating and formatting numbers. DNS handles some of them betetr than others. If you do lots of dictating numbers, particularly ones needing specific formatting, some specialized macros can help. But otherwise it pays to learn the rules.
- Generally, DNS writes out the numbers one through nine. But if it detects a known "measurement" word following the number, it will switch to Arabic numerals. So you must dictate the unit following the number. Don't say "one" <pause> "centimeter" and expect 1 cm. Instead, say "one centimeter" and you'll be happier.
- To force numerals, say "numeral one", "numeral two", ..."numeral nine."
| Written Form | Spoken Form |
|---|
| 1 | numeral one |
| 2 | numeral two |
| 2 | numeral too |
| 2 | numeral to |
| 3 | numeral three |
| 4 | numeral four |
| 4 | numeral for |
| 5 | numeral five |
| 6 | numeral six |
| 7 | numeral seven |
| 8 | numeral eight |
| 8 | numeral ate |
| 9 | numeral nine |
- If you dictate lots of numbers with specific formatting, create custom commands for them. For example, if you dictate Social Security numbers, a command that will format them nnn-nn-nnnn can be helpful.
- Sometimes numbers will appear "two 45" or "123 4" or have similar problems. I don't have good cures for these problems.
- Sometimes the above solutions still don't seem to work. For example, I have one user file where I've not been able to effectively train "one period" after dozens of attempts. I've had clients who have had the same problems. So I wrote a set of commands for numbered lists. You do have to pause (briefly) before/after the command. Technically there are two commands.
- <1to10> period
This command lets you say "1 period", "2 period", ... "10 period" and capitalizes the following word.
- <paraline> <1to10> period
This command lets you say a variety of phrases, for instance:
- new line four period
- next line five period
- line six period
- new item seven period
- item four period
to get a new line (one "Enter" key) followed by "1.", "2.", ..."10." and capitalize the following word.
To get a new numbered paragraph, say something like:
- new paragraph two period
- next paragraph three period
- paragraph five period
- new paragraph six period
Download .dat file for import (Release 7 Pro/Medical/Legal only)
- If using Microsoft Word or Corel WordPerfect, you should create templates that include automatic line numbering. Then, you only need to use "new-paragraph" or "press enter" to get the next numbered item.
- If you use numbers that have specific formats frequently (e.g. Social Security numbers, dimensions, ...) then writing specific macros to handle number formatting may be in order. The book "Scripting for Dragon NaturallySpeaking® 7" has information on how to create such specific macros.
- Seemingly starting with Release 7.3, if automatic formatting is turned on, dictating a month, date, "through", date pattern will generate "Month date-date" instead of using the word "through" in the text. If this is not acceptable, then if you uncheck the Tools/Option/Formatting option to allow pauses while speaking numbers, a pause between the two dates allows the word "through" to be produced as text.
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