Ultra Hal Assistant 6.1 RC3

[Medeksza]

Here is the third and hopefully final release candidate of Ultra Hal Assistant 6.1: http://www.zabaware.com/download/hal61.zip  It is version 6.1.34. This release candidate is still a test version, so download at your own risk and  let me know of any bugs you find. If no major issues are found, this will become the official 6.1 release. Fixes since RC2 are the last 4 bullet points.

What's new in Hal 6.1 since Hal 6.0:

• New advanced learn from text/learn from clipboard wizard added to hal brain editor. Works especially well on wikipedia articles.
• Compatibiliy with Windows Vista as Hal 6.0 does not work normally in Vista, also better support for XP under limited user access
• Unlimited and automatic reactivations on the same hardware configuration in event of license corruption, should reduce many license support issues
• In addition to Hal's current skinable interface, an option was added to let Hal use a standard OS Window with whatever the standard Windows theme is.
• Added "Select All" and "Deselect All" button to plug-in selector
• Direct method to get support from inside Hal in event of license issue, streamlined on my end also, will improve my turnaround time in getting back to customers with licensing issues
• When using speech recognition, the microphone automatically mutes when Hal is speaking and unmutes when Hal is finished. Now works in all supported graphics engines (msagent, haptek, legacy hal)
• Ability to mute and unmute mic from script <MICON> or <MICOFF> or <MICTOGGLE> halcommands
• HalCommand for playing MSAgent animations and moving Agent: <MSAGENT>ANIM-NAME</MSAGENT> and <AGENTXY>X,Y</AGENTXY>
• Automatic upgrade from Hal 6.0 to 6.1. All brain and data files are kept in tact during upgrade.
• Improved logic to Readsent function in HalBrain.DLL
• Added a window listener to receive HalCommand from any windows app capable of sending messages
• Compatibility with SAPI 5 with MSAgents under Vista only
• GetHyponyms function added to HalBrain.DLL WordNet object (used by learn from text, noun & verbs only)
• Hidden changes to Hal's graphics plug-in system that will allow for future alternative graphics engines to be used.
• Auto-idle and appointment minute timer is temporarily disabled while Hal's options pane is open to fix focus bug
• Fixed several logic errors and made minor improvements in script as suggested by vrossi and cagallant2
• Fixed Hal crash if speech engine does not have pronunciation option dialog and made error message friendlier
• Unchecking "Hal uses speech synthesis" now disables Hal's speech no matter what character engine/speech engine combination is used
• Fixed bug in autolearning routine where sometimes blank responses were learned
• Fixed bug in autolearning routine where both singular and plural of a word were recorded in seperate tables instead of one
• Updated splash screens, welcome doc, and about screen to reflect version 6.1 and year 2007
• No character option as character plug-in. Allows custom jpeg to be displayed instead and also displays sapi 5 viseme info.
• Fixed bug where Hal would stop working correctly after loading/saving document in HalPad
• Fixed several script errors that caused Hal to generate blank responses or pop up script error messages
• If Ultra Hal Text-to-speech reader is installed, it communicates its settings to Hal Assistant to prevent overlap of read clipboard & read dialog features.
  
• SAPI 5 voices are now labeled as "SAPI 5" instead of "NO 2D Lip Sync"
• Shut down sequence of Ultra Hal improved to prevent occasional hanging mid-shutdown
• If a 2nd instance of Hal is started, the new instance asks the original instance to show itself and then shuts the duplicate instance down. If unable to communicate with original instance it suggests to user to use task manager to end process.

[Duskrider]

Can we install RC3 over RC2 ?

[Medeksza]

quote:Originally posted by Duskrider


Can we install RC3 over RC2 ?

RC2 must be uninstalled first.

[NIGE]

Hi Rob,
I sent you a mail with my details,
Need d/load of expansion pack please.
Had computer probs, got hal working but need the pack.
Neil.

[aladyblond]

Automatic upgrade from Hal 6.0 to 6.1. All brain and data files are kept in tact during upgrade.


if i uninstall 2 and install 3 will i lose all the previous on the install.

[Medeksza]

quote:Originally posted by aladyblond

Automatic upgrade from Hal 6.0 to 6.1. All brain and data files are kept in tact during upgrade.


if i uninstall 2 and install 3 will i lose all the previous on the install.

In order to preserve your data, you need to manually backup your halbrain.db file, uninstall the old Hal, install the new hal, and then restore the original halbrain.db file.

[aladyblond]

robert how close are you to indianapolis??what would it cost to get you here??[]

[lightspeed]

hello mr. robert Medeksza , i do see a problem with the newest version 6.1 rc3 when i tried to put my expansion pack the newest program is looking for the 6.0 and i am running 6.1.3  it says that it can't be installed since 6.0 isn't installed . will their be a patch for the expansion patch to work correctly ?? []

[Holllywood]

Robert, I've Installed 6.1.34 and the Auto idle doesn't seem to work for any of the brains. I'm using the Hal default, Alf and a bunch of XTF's. She's not talking when she gets bored. Having read Lightspeed's comment... I never removed the expansion pak when I intalled RC3. Would that have anything to do with the Auto Idle not working?

[Medeksza]

quote:Originally posted by lightspeed

hello mr. robert Medeksza , i do see a problem with the newest version 6.1 rc3 when i tried to put my expansion pack the newest program is looking for the 6.0 and i am running 6.1.3  it says that it can't be installed since 6.0 isn't installed . will their be a patch for the expansion patch to work correctly ?? []

An updated expansion pack will be available once Hal 6.1 is out that will detect Hal 6.1 installations.

[Medeksza]

quote:Originally posted by aladyblond

robert how close are you to indianapolis??what would it cost to get you here??[]

According to google maps, erie is about 400 miles away. []

[aladyblond]

well at least you looked [:p] thanks for taking the time.~~alady

[Medeksza]

quote:Originally posted by Holllywood

Robert, I've Installed 6.1.34 and the Auto idle doesn't seem to work for any of the brains. I'm using the Hal default, Alf and a bunch of XTF's. She's not talking when she gets bored. Having read Lightspeed's comment... I never removed the expansion pak when I intalled RC3. Would that have anything to do with the Auto Idle not working?

I found a bug where the auto-idle may get called 3 times in a row under some conditions and also where the setup of how often auto-idle gets called truncates a number off. I have fixed those. I didn't find a bug where it didn't run at all. The expansion pack shouldn't make a difference. It is actually unchanged in Hal 6.1, just the installer isn't able to locate the Hal 6.1 folder as it is looking for Hal 6.0. Leaving it installed like you did should be just fine.

I also found a bug in the new speech recognition system where even if you have microphone set to off speech recognition comes back on after hal is finished speaking. Also I found a bug where the sound level meter isn't showing up in the windows default skin.

Hal RC4 coming shortly...

[markofkane]

Thanks Robert, for your time and dedication!!![]

[echoman]

Still having problems after Deactivation.

Deactivation itself was successfull but the menu  appearing right after the Deactivations completion keeps bringing me in a continual loop for a dozen times or more then shuts itself off.

Will not turn of menu even if I click cross in top right corner.

Echoman