COMPONENTONE DOC-TO-HELP 2009 INTRODUCES XML-BASED AUTHORING, EMBEDDED HELP, AND MORE
The Industry’s Most Trusted Tool Continues to Make Authors’ Lives Easier Somerset, UK – September 16, 2008 – Today marks a milestone in ComponentOne’s mission to evolve with technology trends and user needs. With the release of ComponentOne Doc-To-Help 2009, they’ve introduced a built-in XML-based editor, a tool for embedding dynamic Help in applications, and many new authoring features.
Authors today recognise the benefits of XML-based authoring when creating re-usable, portable, and easily formatted content. XML-based authoring has
traditionally come with its setbacks since it requires specialized knowledge. Doc-To-Help 2009 lifts this constraint by providing a built-in editor for XML-based authoring. With this new editor, you can work in an easy-to-use authoring interface while enjoying Microsoft Word-like style formatting.
Doc-To-Help automatically creates standards compliant XML and CSS files as you write. “The new editor gives the author the best of both worlds,” states Dan Beall, product manager at ComponentOne. “Authors get to use an extremely user-friendly authoring environment complete with all the functionality they need, while Doc-To-Help automatically creates code conforming to the latest technology standards. Users can actually open Doc-To-Help, author content; produce standards-compliant Help, Web content and manuals without needing to know what is happening under the hood.”
Doc-To-Help’s advanced technology also allows you to convert existing Word documents to XHTML in just one click. You can even map Word styles to CSS styles associated with the new XML file. Doc-To-Help is flexible in the fact that it still allows Word users to work in Word if they wish rather than converting to XML.
Now authors and developers can now work seamlessly together with the new ComponentOne DynamicHelp™ tool included with Doc-To-Help 2009. This tool provides an easy way to embed dynamically updating Help into your applications. To do this, the .NET developer embeds the DynamicHelp control in the application and passes it off to the Help author. The Help author takes the application and uses a visual mapping interface to connect Help topics tointerface elements (buttons, text boxes, menu items, and more). “The ComponentOne DynamicHelp™ tool will change the way authors and application developers work together, “stated Gustavo Eydelsteyn, managing director at ComponentOne USA. “The developer and technical writer will come together harmoniously without having to communicate about context IDs.”
