Implementing the Speech function on a MAC and Windows PCs

Question

Hi.

I have a Windows PC and am writing a PowerPoint 2010 presentation.  In several places I access the SAPI speech capabilities of the Windows PC.

I've never owned a MAC computer and from what I see on the internet, MAC's have a different kind of voice system.

I would like for the presentation to run on both Windows PCs and MACs.

Two questions:

1. Will Windows Office/PowerPoint 2010 VBA code run on a MAC that has Microsoft Office/PP installed on it?
2. Is there a way to test a machine and see if it is a MAC and then implement the MAC speech capabilities, as I do with Windows?

Here's what I think the VBA code would look like, and need help with the MAC part of the code:

Sub Speakit(Phrase As String)

If MAC Then   'A test that will check if this is a MAC computer

    ' Initiate the speech capabilities of the MAC computer here

Else  'If not a MAC computer then it's likely a Windows PC

    Dim SAPIObj As Object

    Set SAPIObj = CreateObject("SAPI.SPvoice")

    SAPIObj.Rate = -2

    SAPIObj.speak "<pitch middle='-3'>" & Phrase

End If

End Sub

Thanks for any help.

Don

Answer 1

Hi Don,

Yes, Office 2008 for Mac it the only version that does not support VBA.

You can use most of the same objects that are available in VBA for Office, but I do not have any links for examples; I also suggest testing the code directly on a Mac if possible, if there are any issues, you can post a new thread here and we can help you troubleshoot it.

You can find more information regarding VBA on Office for Mac in this MSDN article:

VBA for Office for Mac.

Regards,

Sheen

Answer 2

John, would you be able to give me some direction as to where I could go on the Internet to find someone with MAC programming experience who could give me some help with my situation? Like maybe a reputable MAC forum?

Don

Answer 3

Yes that's pretty much it.

Answer 4

Would I then insert my Windows speech VBA code in between the #Else and #End If lines?

Or is the conditional only for testing for a MAC and not intended to be used to run VBA code?

Thanks.

Don

Answer 5

You can check for a Mac like this

#If Mac Then

MsgBox "It's a mac"

#Else

MsgBox "PC"

#End If

There is Text to speech in Accessibility settings but I think you would have to run it from Apple Script (I'm not an expert at this!)