Can I use a combo box to change the voice of my speech synthesizer to one of the system TTS voices?

Question

I would like to have a combo box on my form which allows the user to select the voice which they would like to use. How can I implement such a feature?

Currently, my form consists of four buttons and a combo box. The code behind the buttons and the synthesizer is as follows:

private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            reader.Dispose();
            if (Basic_Word_Processor.Instance.richTextBoxPrintCtrl1.Text != "")
            {
                reader = new SpeechSynthesizer();
                reader.SpeakAsync(Basic_Word_Processor.Instance.richTextBoxPrintCtrl1.Text)
                button2.Enabled = true;
                button4.Enabled = true;
                reader.SpeakCompleted += new EventHandler<SpeakCompletedEventArgs>(reader_SpeakCompleted);
            }
            else
            {
                MessageBox.Show("Please insert text before launching Text to Speech.", "Error", MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Error);
            }
        }
        void reader_SpeakCompleted(object sender, SpeakCompletedEventArgs e)
        {
            button2.Enabled = false;
            button3.Enabled = false;
            button4.Enabled = false;
        }
 private void button2_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            if (reader != null)
            {
                if (reader.State == SynthesizerState.Speaking)
                {
                    reader.Pause();
                    button3.Enabled = true;
                }
private void button3_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            if (reader != null)
            {
                if (reader.State == SynthesizerState.Paused)
                {
                    reader.Resume();
                }
                button3.Enabled = false;
            }
            }


        private void button4_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            if (reader != null)
            {
                reader.Dispose();
                button2.Enabled = false;
                button3.Enabled = false;
                button4.Enabled = false;
            }

I would like to populate a combo box with a list of currently installed voices, which, when the user clicks one, reads the text from richTextBoxPrintCtrl1 in the selected voice. Currently, the synthesizer works, but I would like to add this feature to my Text to Speech feature.

Thanks.

Answer 1

This code should do roughly what you are after (if you are still interested:). You will need to drag on a new comboxbox called 'comboBox1' onto your form

    private SpeechSynthesizer reader = new SpeechSynthesizer();

    private void PopulateInstalledVoices()
    {
        foreach (InstalledVoice voice in
          reader.GetInstalledVoices(new CultureInfo("en-US")))
        {
            VoiceInfo info = voice.VoiceInfo;
            comboBox1.Items.Add(info.Name);
        }
    }

    private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        PopulateInstalledVoices();
    }

    private void comboBox1_SelectedIndexChanged(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
       var voice = comboBox1.SelectedItem as String;
       if (voice != null)
       {
           reader.SelectVoice(voice);
       }
    }

    private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        reader.SpeakAsync("this is a test message");
    }