You'll find a dozen Dictation Box application-specific and a dozen
global KnowBrainer commands beginning at the bottom of page 20 in the KnowBrainer
Manual under “Dictating into None Select-&-Say Supported Programs”.

Lunis
Orcutt - Developer of KnowBrainer
 &

Host of the
http://www.TheSpeechRecognitionStore.com

With each new version of DNS, we compile a new DNS pictorial update guide with a step-by-step on how to export your commands and vocabulary from your old version of NaturallySpeaking, create a new user profile and import your previously exported commands and vocabulary. Each new version of NaturallySpeaking introduces new algorithms so when you upgrade a previous user profile you wind up not being able to take full advantage of the newer algorithms and that's why we never recommend this procedure.

It may be a little early in the game but we tried both the medium-sized vocabulary (which we suspect is 50,000 words) and the general-large vocabulary which is 150,000 words. We couldn't tell the difference. As to what words are left out, that would require more work than we are willing to commit to but Nuance typically leaves out uncommon names and seldom used vocabulary, as you might expect. We should also point out that Nuance only recommends the medium-sized vocabulary for slower computers. Note that when you purchase your upgrade from our company, you receive our step-by-step Update/Training Guide at no additional cost.

Lunis Orcutt - Developer of KnowBrainer &
Host of the http://www.TheVoiceRecognitionStore.com
A Nuance Gold Certified Endorsed Dragon NaturallySpeaking Partner/Trainer
ALWAYS Ask If Your Speech Recognition Partner Is Nuance Certified

The medium vocabulary was removed from the most recent versions. However, because enough users requested that it be returned, it is now an option again. There are no real pros or cons. Medium vocabulary will allow DNS to execute a little faster, perhaps in some cases significantly so, but there is no negative associated with the removal of certain words from the active vocabulary. In fact, it gives you the advantage of being able to add more custom words/custom vocabulary. Nonetheless, what has been removed are rarely used words, words that are erudite (perhaps some medical terms or other words that are used so infrequently that you would never miss them), and some proper names that are rarely used. For example, and I haven't checked this, proper names such as Shaq O'Neal may have been removed, but important names like William Jefferson Clinton and George W. Bush have probably been retained. Regardless, this is just an example. You will likely find that the medium vocabulary tends to result in slightly greater accuracy because there are fewer words that can be misconstrued. Technically, it isn't a limited selection as opposed to being more of a collection of the most frequently used words. The medium vocabulary is approximately 1/2 the size of the general large vocabulary. That is, there are approximately 75,000 words as opposed to 150,000 words in the general large vocabulary. Regardless, the choice of vocabulary for the medium vocabulary is not only highly selective, but consists of words that are highly optimized for accurate dictation. Consider the fact that the average user's vocabulary is generally between 18,000 and 25,000 words, there are plenty of additional words to make it highly accurate while increasing performance. Again, this used to be an option in previous versions so there is nothing new here.

Yes, importing and exporting custom vocabulary loses the properties settings, but the spoken forms are retained. You may have to do some retraining, but it should be minimal and the accuracy in DNS 10, even without training, is really quite good. I started getting about 98.9% accuracy without ever doing any training, and I still haven't run the Acoustic and Language Model Optimizer or done any general training on this user, or added any documents to analyze my writing style. My current accuracy level is about 99.7% to 99.9%, and even 100% in some cases, though obviously not after a long day of dictation where it tends to fall back to about 99.7%. Nonetheless, I find this untrained user to be significantly more accurate than my 9.5 user overall and it seems to be getting better with each use (day), which is something that I didn't notice with DNS 9.5 after using that user for a long period of time. In DNS 9.5 there was a plateau after which the accuracy didn't improve very much and after which I was getting between 99.8 and 99.9%, but seldom 100% except early in the morning. With DNS 10, on some days like today, I'm getting pretty close to 100% accuracy if not 100%. I also find that DNS 10 recognizes accurately more words and phrases that 9.5 used to misrecognize regularly. Also, the correction function seems to work much more efficiently.

The reason it isn't recommended to upgrade a previous user is that all your previous work goes down the drain anyway. Upgrading your previous user means that DNS can and will remove the old vocabulary and insert the new vocabulary and language models for DNS 10. While your Acoustic Model will be preserved, you may not notice an improvement in accuracy over your previous 9.5 user because even the Acoustic Model algorithms have changed in DNS 10. I think you will find that creating a new user will, in the long run, prove to be significantly more accurate than an upgraded user. However, one of the problems with upgrading a previous version user is that you bring with it all the little idiosyncrasies and potentials for errors that occurred with your 9.5 user. Starting fresh is just a better idea overall. I don't think you'll be disappointed with the results. The other aspect is, aside from the fact that you have done a lot of work on your vocabulary in terms of properties and/or training individual words through the Vocabulary Editor, your MyCmds.dat is perfectly transportable to a new user without any loss of functionality at all. In addition, what you think you have done with your DNS 9.5 user is not as significant as you think it is. I would be willing to bet that within 10 to 15 hours of continuous dictation with a new user created under version 10, the accuracy will be noticeably, if not significantly, better than your old DNS 9.5 user is currently. At least that's my experience. Your experience may be different. Regardless, I have recommended creating a new user in every upgrade version since version 6 for these and other reasons.

Chuck Runquist
Former DNS SDK & Senior Technical Solutions PM for DNS with Lernout & Hauspie

If you hear the sound of hoofbeats, think horses not zebras.
Law of Parsimony (Occam's razor)