[BRLTTY] 6.9.1 has been released.

Tue Apr 7 11:07:12 UTC 2026

BRLTTY 6.9.1 has been released. As usual, you can download it from:

   https://brltty.app/

Click on Download, and then on Current Release.

The main reason for this release (6.9.1) is that 6.9 broke USB access for all Alva models and for some HandyTech models. As a bonus, you also get, much sooner than usual, some new features like Smart Copy and significant improvements to Alert Dots.

The Smart Copy feature has been added. It allows you to easily copy an entire item (URL, email address, or host name) to the clipboard. The COPY_SMART_NEW command, bound to a long press of the CLIP_NEW  command, replaces the clipboard content with the selected item, and the COPY_SMART_ADD command, bound to a long press of the CLIP_ADD command, appends the selected item to the clipboard. Select the whole item by selecting any of its characters (first through last).

As part of several improvements to the Alert Dots feature, both the Alert Messages and the Alert Dots settings (within the Event Alerts submenu) now default to On. Since we can't retroactively change these defaults for those who've already saved their preferences, we ask that you please go into your Event Alerts submenu and ensure that both of these settings are set to On (unless, of course, you wish otherwise).

Here's a summary of the user-facing changes in 6.9.1:

New commands:
   CLIP_CLEAR: Remove the current clipboard content.
   CLIP_SHOW: Show the current clipboard content as a message.
   COPY_SMART_NEW: Copy the selected item to the clipboard.
   COPY_SMART_ADD: Append the selected item to the clipboard.
Clipboard changes:
   CLIP_COPY and CLIP_APPEND no longer interfere with the COPY_LINE or COPY_RECT start location.
   The clipboard now uses a new line (rather than a carriage return) to delimit lines.
   this normalizes the text retrieved via:
      Reading the CLIPBOARD_CONTENT BrlAPI parameter.
      The brltty-clip --get-content (-g) host command.
      Reading the file written by the CLIP_SAVE command (/var/lib/brltty/clipboard).
   The CLIP_CLEAR and CLIP_SHOW commands have been added.
   CLIP_CLEAR has been bound to a long press of CLIP_RESTORE (Space + x + Dot7).
   CLIP_SHOW has been bound to a long press of CLIP_SAVE (Space + x + Dot8).
Smart Copy:
   The COPY_SMART_NEW and COPY_SMART_ADD commands have been added.
   COPY_SMART_NEW has been bound to a long press of CLIP_NEW.
   COPY_SMART_ADD has been bound to a long press of CLIP_ADD.
Alert Messages and Alert Dots:
   Alert messages now have a higher priority than alert dots.
   Alert dots now work correctly when viewing messages and frozen screen images.
   Event Alerts submenu changes:
      Both Alert Messages and Alert Dots now default to On.
      The Alert Dots Duration setting has been added (defaults to 0.4 seconds).
   Some alert dots patterns have been modified and more have been added:
      ⠭ (x, dots 1,3,4,6): reject: the key combination was invalid or the command couldn't be executed
      ⢁ (dots 1,8): copy begin: a copy to the clipboard has been started
      ⡈ (dots 4,7): copy end: the copy to the clipboard has completed
      ⠶ (low g, dots 2,3,5,6): no change: an adjustment is at its limit (e.g. volume can't be increased further)
      ⣛ (dots 1,4,2,5,7,8): toggle on: a capability has been enabled
      ⣭ (dots 1,4,3,6,7,8) toggle off: a capability has been disabled
      ⢞ (t + 8, dots 2,3,4,5,8): tracking on: the braille window is tracking the screen cursor
      ⡞ (t + 7, dots 2,3,4,5,7): tracking off: the braille window isn't tracking the screen cursor
      ⢋ (f + 8, dots 1,2,4,8): frozen screen: you're currently viewing a frozen image of the screen
      ⡋ (f + 7, dots 1,2,4,7): live screen: you're currently viewing the live screen
      ⠋ (f7, dots 1,2,4): frozen screen half-minute reminder
      ⢎ (dots 4,2,3,8): wrap up: panning left wrapped from the beginning of the current line to the end of the previous one
      ⡱ (dots 1,5,6,7): wrap down: panning right wrapped from the end of the current line to the beginning of the next one
      ⣉ (dots 1,4,7,8): skip identical: line(s) identical to the current one have been skipped
      ⣿ (dots 1,4,2,5,3,6,7,8): screen edge: vertical navigation hit the top or bottom of the screen without being able to complete
Alva braille driver changes:
   6.9 broke USB connectivity for Satellite (5nn) and BC (6nn) models.
BrlAPI braille driver changes:
   Connecting to the current BRLTTY instance is no longer permitted.
HandyTech braille driver changes:
   6.9 broke USB connectivity for some models.
BrlAPI changes:
   Clients are now always presented with the original navigation command.
   The LUA bindings weren't installing on some systems.
Build changes:
   A message catalog for the Swedish language has been added.
   The matchtest command has been added.
   Building for DOS has been revived.

-- 
I believe the Bible to be the very Word of God: http://Mielke.cc/bible/
Dave Mielke            | 2213 Fox Crescent | WebHome: http://Mielke.cc/
EMail: Dave at Mielke.cc  | Ottawa, Ontario   | Twitter: @Dave_Mielke
Phone: +1 613 726 0014 | Canada  K2A 1H7   |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
http://mielke.cc/xmother.html (Letter from a Feminist ex-Mother)