Prompt Project File Types
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A prompt project consists of three file types (the project file, the working database file, and script files):
- The .prproj file is the prompt project file. This file contains the project settings and a list of the source files for the project. To add scripting files, ensure that the file types match; that is, they must be either all JScript (.js) files or all VBScript (.vbs) files. If the project contains both JScript and VBScript files, an error occurs during a build. The script files contain text normalization functions that modify the way prompts are spoken.
- The .promptdb file is a working database file containing transcription text, extraction data, and archived versions of the .wav files in their original recorded format.
- In a Web-based voice response application, the script files are JScript or VBScript files.
The product of a prompt project is a prompt database that is contained in a .prompts file. The build process creates a prompt database from the contents of the .promptdb files, .wav segments, and any JScript or VBScript files. The .prompts file is a binary file supported by the Microsoft Prompt Engine, version 5.2. A .prompts file uses only one wave format. During compilation, the build process converts all .wav files to the format selected on the project properties page. The default wave format is 8000-Hz u-law.
A .prompts database is a single compound file. The file is binary and contains all the prompt information and all the audio data. The compile process copies wave segments from the .promptdb files and any added script files into the .prompts file and stores them. A .prompts file has no dependencies on any other files after compile time. All digital signal processing (DSP) occurs at compile time, when the .promptdb files convert to the .prompts files. DSP includes compression, resampling, and volume normalization.
In a newly created prompt project, the .promptdb file is in the same directory as the project's .prproj file. The build process places the compiled .prompts file in the Release directory, beneath the directory that contains the .prproj file. For example, a prompt project created in C:\MyPromptProj contains the file C:\MyPromptProj\MyPromptProj.promptdb and after compilation, the build process creates the file C:\MyPromptProj\Release\MyPromptProj.prompts.
Notes
In cases where prompts need to be changed frequently, it is not necessary to recompile and redeploy a .prompts file following every change. Because a .NET speech application can use more than one .prompts file simultaneously, it is possible to put the prompts that change frequently in separate, smaller databases. When a prompt changes, recompile and redeploy just the one file containing that prompt. To add additional prompt databases, use the Manage Prompt Databases link in the Properties window or the Manage this application's prompt databases link in the Voice Output pane in the Property Builder. Alternatively, use the Speech Application Language Tags (SALT) content tag to set a frequently changed prompt to reference a single wave file, which can be updated as necessary. To do this, enter <salt:content href='/MyWav.wav' \> as the text of the inline prompt, where MyWav.wav references the audio file.
Notes
Update the output location of the .prompts file at any time using the ProjectName Property Pages dialog box.
Prompt Projects and Databases
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