README file for JSonar (JAWS Scripts for Cakewalk Sonar), version 7

Copyright (©) JSonar Development Team.
JSonar is subject to the terms and conditions of the GNU General Public License. The full text of the license can be found in the file license.txt distributed with these scripts.

Contact us through the JSonar web site


*** Please READ ME before you ask questions! ***

If this is your first time using JSonar, please skim through this README file to familiarize yourself with features supported and, most importantly, for helpful tips and tricks to help you along the way.

To you: thanks for joining the JSonar community of users!

If you are upgrading from an earlier version of JSonar, please read the Revision History. It describes the changes made in each version of JSonar and may include useful information for those upgrading from earlier versions.


Contents of this README

  1. Credits
  2. Requirements
  3. Installation Instructions
  4. Configuring Sonar and JSonar for bbest use
  5. Supported Sonar Features
  6. Plug-in support via Hot Spot Clicker
  7. Using JSonar with Braille
  8. Known Issues and Troubleshooting
  9. Tips and Tricks
  10. Revision History

Credits

Throughout the existence of the JSonar project many people have helped us in various ways to keep the project going: by donating money, translating scripts and documentation into other languages, contributing code, finding bugs or encouraging the project in other ways. The following list of contributors is therefore not exhaustive by any means.


Requirements

In order to use JSonar, you will need the following:


Installation Instructions

  1. If you are installing JSonar from a zip archive, please follow the manual installation instructions and then return to these instructions. If you installed JSonar using the installer, these steps have been performed automatically and you should skip this step. Please be aware that the installer is the recommended way to install JSonar. The zip archive should only be used in special circumstances and by advanced users.

 

Manual Installation Instructions

If you installed JSonar using an installer, you can skip these instructions. If you decided not to use an installer but instead use a zip archive (not recommended), follow these steps after unzipping the scripts:

  1. Switch to the folder where you unzipped the scripts.
  2. Find and switch to the regkeys folder.
  3. Look for files with an extension .reg and the name containing your particular version of Sonar, e.g. the file with registry entries for Sonar 7 Producer Edition would be called "Sonar Producer 7.0 Accessibility Mode.reg".
  4. Press ENTER key on that file and answer positively to the two dialog boxes that are presented.
  5. Move back to the previous folder and switch to the surface folder.
  6. Copy the file named jsonar.dll to a non-temporary location on your system drive; e.g. c:\Program Files\JSonar 7.
  7. Register jsonar.dll in this new location with a command like the following from the Start menu->Run dialog:
    regsvr32 "c:\Program Files\JSonar 7\jsonar.dll"
  8. Now return to the normal installation instructions.


Configuring Sonar and JSonar for best use

  1. *** This step is essential ***
    Upon running JSonar scripts for the first time, use Control+JAWSKey+R to start the "Setup Wizard", which enables the Sonar JAWS control surface plug-in. You need only do this once, unless JSonar complains that the surface is not installed at a later time.
  2. In order to run JSonar optimally in Sonar 7, it is necessary to configure Sonar toolbars in the following way. In order for some information to be read or commands to function, certain toolbars must be enabled in Sonar while others have to be disabled. The visibility of toolbars can be toggled in the Toolbars dialog under the View menu. Some toolbar names are self-explanatory, but notes have been included where this is not the case.
    1. Standard (checked): "new", "open", "print" etc.
    2. Loop/Auto Shuttle (checked): looping, punching, set loop to selection etc.
    3. Markers (checked): insert, delete and move between markers.
    4. Metronome (checked): , audio metronome, MIDI metronome, set metronome options etc.
    5. Position (checked): Now time etc.
    6. Record (checked): autopunch, recording options etc.
    7. Playback State (checked): mute/solo/arm/input echo for all tracks etc.
    8. Controllers/Surfaces  (checked): control surface monitoring, ACT Learn mode etc.
    9. Select (checked): From and Through times.
    1. Sync (unchecked).
    2. Tempo (checked).
    3. Transport (checked).
    4. Transport (Large) (unchecked).
    5. View (unchecked).
    6. Automation (checked): Envelope/Offset mode etc.
    7. AudioSnap (Doesn't matter).
    8. Event Inspector (unchecked).
    9. User1 (unchecked): user configurable toolbar.
    10. User2 (unchecked): user configurable toolbar.
    11. User3 (unchecked): user-configurable toolbar.
  3. To improve Sonar's responsiveness with JSonar, it is absolutely necessary to turn off X-ray feature; go to Options->Global->General and uncheck the checkbox that says"Enable X-Ray". Failure to do so will make many of your plug-ins and Hot Spot Clicker presets work incorrectly.

Supported Sonar Features

JSonar supports the following features of Sonar:

See Tips and Tricks section to learn how to use some of these features


Plug-in support via Hot Spot Clicker

Starting from JSonar6 we are using the Hot Spot Clicker software to provide support for many of the third-party plug-ins and software synthesizers. In fact, in order to use some of the built-in Sonar plug-ins, such as Session Drummer2 and the Sonitus suite of effects, you will have to install the Hot Spot Clicker program. Otherwise, you will not be able to use these plug-ins because they are not natively accessible. To help you out, the JSonar installer will copy all the Hot Spot Clicker sets that support Sonar's built-in plug-ins. Please note: if you installed the JSonar scripts manually, you will have to copy all the necessary HSC sets on your own.

The following are the steps to get started with Hot Spot Clicker:

  1. Visit Hot Spot Clicker web site to read about the program, to download the installer and Hot Spot Clicker settings for supported plug-ins. It is advised that you download the latest version of both the Hot Spot Clicker and the sets, unless specifically discouraged by JSonar developers.
  2. Install the Hot Spot Clicker application by using the provided installer.
  3. After you have carried out all the necessary steps for installing Hot Spot Clicker (also known as HSC) and made sure that it is installed properly, run Sonar at least once in order to initialize support for HSC within JSonar.
  4. Press INSERT+CTRL+R to run "Runtime Setup Wizard"; JSonar will import all Hot Spot Clicker sets found in the default folder.

To import Hot Spot Clicker sets manually or import new sets, do the following:

  1. Open Sonar and after the project screen comes up, press CTRL+ALT+SHIFT+F1 twice.
  2. Scroll down to the list item that says "ImportHot Spot Preset" and choose OK.
  3. Select "Import All" to import all presets or select a particular preset you want to import from the list and press OK.

Please read Hot Spot Clicker documentation for more information on the features and operation of this software.


Using JSonar with Braille

It is possible to operate many features of JSonar using Braille display where, In essence, your Braille display becomes a control surface. The following operations are currently possible:


Braille display modes

There are two Braille display modes in JSonar: “Strip Display” and “Time Display”, denoted by letters “ST” and “TI” on the very left side of the Braille line.
The “Strip Display” mode displays parameters for the current strip, strip type/name, play/stop/record, start or end of the project, plus and minus for moving between either markers or bars,, and “now”/“from”/“through” times.
The “Time Display” mode displays the “now” time in both hour/minute/second and measure/beat/tick formats. The time values are updated in real time as the project plays. In this mode you can also move between measures (bars) using previous and next line commands on your Braille display.

To switch between two modes, either:

Explanation of the layout of the Braille strip

In order to efficiently use the space available on the Braille display, we decided to denote all supported parameters with a single letter, as follows:

Please note: for controls such as mute, solo, arm etc, lower-case letters represent the “off” status, while upper-case letters, i.e. with dot 7, represent the “on” status.

Performing actions with Braille display

While in “Strip Display” mode: to move between strips (tracks or buses), use up and down keys of your particular Braille display. In the case of Freedom Scientific displays, use whiz wheels to move up or down. You can display the name of a current strip by pressing the routing button right above the strip number. You can also toggle any of the strip parameters above by pressing routing buttons on your Braille display that are located right above the parameter of interest. For example:

While in “Time Display” mode: to move to previous or next measure, use up and down arrows on your Braille display. The time display will show two time values–first, the Now time in hour/minute/second format and second, the Now time in measure/beat/tick format. The values will change as the project is playing.

IMPORTANT

When working with large projects, it may be necessary to put Braille display in "sleep mode" to save more computer power for your plug-ins and multiple tracks. To do this, simply toggle off "Use Braille" option under "Sonar settings" in "JAWS Verbosity" dialog (INSERT+V).


Known Issues

Sonar Issues

JSonar Issues


Tips and Tricks

Here are some initial suggestions to help you along the way.


Revision History

The following is a summary of the changes in each revision. Note that there are most certainly other minor, less noteworthy changes, fixes, etc. not included here for brevity.

Key: new = new feature, bug = bug fix or work around, change = change in functionality.

7.1


7.0

6.0

5.2

5.1

5.0

5.0 beta 1