The Nu Echo team is pleased to announce the release of a new beta version of NuGram IDE.
Highlights
In addition to a number of bug fixes, the following features have been added, in response to specific requests from users:
- Grammar content. The type of a grammar (XML, ABNF, GSL) can be associated with specific filename extensions to help the tools properly load grammars. For instance, while the Nuance OSR engine uses the “.gram” extension to designate compiled grammars, this extension is customarily used to designate ABNF grammars with the IBM WebSphere Voice Server recognition engine. The ability to change file extension associations facilitates the use of NuGram IDE in various environments.
- Translation rules. A very flexible, project-specific mechanism has been added to control how external rule references are interpreted by the various tools (debugging tools, conversion tools, etc.). For example, references to external .abnf grammars (references of the form $<path/grammar.abnf>) can be automatically converted to references of the form $<path/grammar.grxml> at grammar conversion time. Or references to a compiled .gram SLM grammar can be replaced by a reference to a simple ABNF grammar at grammar development time, without having to change the source grammar.
- Enhanced automatic builder. It is now possible to specify an output folder for the generated XML/GSL grammars, as well as which folders contain the grammars to convert. By putting generated grammars in specific folders, the folders containing the source ABNF grammars do not get polluted by derived resources (that are usually not put under source control - CVS, SVN, and the like since they can be re-created from the source grammar). This also makes it easier to package grammars for the application - the application build process can simply copy a single directory structure without first having to remove some files.
- Configurable validations. The feedback level of some validation issues can now be configured in the preferences.
- Enhanced GSL export/conversion. When exporting/converting grammars to GSL, the resulting grammars are now much better formatted.
- Better conformance with SRGS. Several conformance problems have been fixed.
- Nuance 9 extensions. The tools can be configured to support the Nuance 9 extensions to SISR (SWI properties).
- LumenVox extensions. The tools can be configured to properly handle LumenVox phonetic spellings.
- SISR 2004 Working Draft support. The tools can be configured to support the SISR 2004 Working Draft syntax for rule variables.This feature is especially useful for grammar developers targeting the IBM WebSphere Voice Server recognition engine, which doesn’t support the latest version of the SISR specification.
Download now!
We strongly encourage people to download this new version as soon as possible as it contains many important new features and bug fixes. And as usual, we solicit your feedback to help improve our product and better support your grammar development process.
