Support multi-line braille displays in HidBrailleDriver

[alexmoon]

Link to issue number:

Closes #16993

Summary of the issue:

Multi-line braille displays using the HID standard driver only support the first line of cells.

Description of user facing changes

Users with multi-line braille displays that connect using the HidBrailleDriver will now be able to use all cells of their display.

Description of development approach

HidBrailleDriver._cellValueCaps is now a list of all braille cell controls in the device. numRows is set to the length of that list and numCols is set to the ReportCount of each element of the list. In display, the cells are split across the elements of _cellValueCaps.

Testing strategy:

Tested against Tactile Engineering's Cadence tablet. Manual testing only due to required hardware interactions.

Known issues with pull request:

• Multi-line braille displays with an irregular shape (i.e. not all braille rows are the same length) are not supported. I'm not aware of any actual hardware that would be affected by this.
• Multi-line braille displays will ignore "Number of Braille Cells" controls. This is because those controls will operate per-row and in general will give the usable display area an irregular shape. I'm not aware of any multi-line HID standard braille displays that use the "Number of Braille Cells" control.

Code Review Checklist:

• Documentation:
  • Change log entry
  • User Documentation
  • Developer / Technical Documentation
  • Context sensitive help for GUI changes
• Testing:
  • Unit tests
  • System (end to end) tests
  • Manual testing
• UX of all users considered:
  • Speech
  • Braille
  • Low Vision
  • Different web browsers
  • Localization in other languages / culture than English
• API is compatible with existing add-ons.
• Security precautions taken.

Summary by CodeRabbit

• New Features

  • Enhanced functionality for multi-line braille displays, allowing full utilization of display lines with the Standard HID braille driver.
  • Improved accessibility for users relying on braille output.

• Improvements

  • Respect for command line options during updates.
  • Updated eSpeak NG library to support additional languages.

• Bug Fixes

  • Enhanced detection and management of connected braille display devices for better performance.

[coderabbitai]

Walkthrough

The recent updates enhance the NVDA screen reader's support for multi-line braille displays, allowing full utilization of braille cells across multiple rows. Key changes include a refined detection and management system for braille display capabilities, improving accessibility. The driver now supports various device configurations, enhancing both functionality and logging for diagnostics.

Changes

Files	Change Summary
source/brailleDisplayDrivers/hidBrailleStandard.py	Updated initialization of display properties, enhanced device detection logic, and refactored methods for better handling of multi-line displays.

Assessment against linked issues

Objective	Addressed	Explanation
Support multi-line braille displays (#16993)	✅
Detect all braille row capabilities	✅
Set numRows/numCols appropriately	✅

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[coderabbitai]

Actionable comments posted: 1

[AppVeyorBot]

• PASS: Translation comments check.
• PASS: License check.
• PASS: Unit tests.
• FAIL: Lint check. See test results and lint artifacts for more information.
• PASS: System tests (tags: installer NVDA).
• Build (for testing PR): https://ci.appveyor.com/api/buildjobs/nfr9kd7fb9wqpq9p/artifacts/output/nvda_snapshot_pr17001-33351,4ed175a8.exe
• CI timing (mins):
  INIT 0.0,
  INSTALL_START 1.2,
  INSTALL_END 1.0,
  BUILD_START 0.0,
  BUILD_END 12.2,
  TESTSETUP_START 0.0,
  TESTSETUP_END 0.4,
  TEST_START 0.0,
  TEST_END 18.3,
  FINISH_END 0.2

See test results for failed build of commit 4ed175a856

[seanbudd]

Thanks @alexmoon for breaking the ice for support for multi-line braille!

Just some minor suggestions

[AppVeyorBot]

• PASS: Translation comments check.
• PASS: License check.
• PASS: Unit tests.
• FAIL: Lint check. See test results and lint artifacts for more information.
• PASS: System tests (tags: installer NVDA).
• Build (for testing PR): https://ci.appveyor.com/api/buildjobs/u94o9nmut0qa7uy2/artifacts/output/nvda_snapshot_pr17001-33357,b6326d35.exe
• CI timing (mins):
  INIT 0.0,
  INSTALL_START 1.2,
  INSTALL_END 1.0,
  BUILD_START 0.0,
  BUILD_END 11.9,
  TESTSETUP_START 0.0,
  TESTSETUP_END 0.4,
  TEST_START 0.0,
  TEST_END 18.2,
  FINISH_END 0.2

See test results for failed build of commit b6326d3508

[LeonarddeR]

Cc @bramd as you have some experience with multiline displays.

[seanbudd]

Approved, pending @michaelDCurran's thoughts

[AppVeyorBot]

• Build execution time has reached the maximum allowed time for your plan (60 minutes).

See test results for failed build of commit 94f064cc92

[michaelDCurran]

The display method is much easier to follow now, thanks.