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Review
UniHelp 1.1
Issue: 1.1 (August/September 2002)
Author: Brian Jones
Article Description: No description available.
Article Length (in bytes): 4,301
Starting Page Number: 10
RBD Number: 1020
Resource File(s): None
Related Link(s): None
Known Limitations: None
Full text of article...
The ability of REALbasic to compile for multiple platforms has meant a wider audience for developers who otherwise may not have had the opportunity to reach Windows users. The other side of having access to this expanded audience, however, is the sometimes tedious task of accomodating different interface standards on the different platforms. When it comes to help systems, the task of recreating the help information in the several different platform-specific formats can occupy important resources in the finishing out process before application release. UniHelp from Electric Butterfly makes these problems a thing of the past with its universal, multi-platform help interface. Configuring the impressive array of customizable attributes for the UniHelp interface is quick and creating the content is as simple as working in your favorite text editor.
UniHelp, when included in a user's application, manages a self-contained help window with a simple interface. On the left side of the window is a ListBox that can be hierarchical if needed. Each element in the ListBox corresponds to a different text clipping which will be displayed in the scrollable EditField on the right side of the window. The help items can be browsed in this list, or the user can search for key words. Easy navigation butttons are accompanied by a print button at the top of the window.
Including UniHelp in a project is simple. In the Project window, the user must import the UniHelp module and the UniHelpGraphics folder. A short clipping of code which has been supplied in the UniHelp documentation should be inserted at the Help menu event handler which will create the window. A segment of this code can be adjusted so that certain properties of the UniHelp object can be set to customize the UniHelp interface. All of the text clippings displayed in the help window are written to disk in a directory entitled "Help." The user creates plain text or HTML files and names them according to an easy-to-learn naming convention that determines their ordering and display in the UniHelp window.
The customizations available are simple, but they are effective in incorporating UniHelp into the overall look-and-feel of your application. Most of the options revolve around the display colors of the graphical elements such as buttons and list icons. It also allows the user to set the default language of the user interface elements to one of the following: English, French, Italian, Spanish, German, or Portuguese.
UniHelp is a great tool for streamlining some of the more tedious aspects of readying an application for distribution. It provides a simple, multi-platform solution to a problem that otherwise would require strictly different solutions for each platform. However, UniHelp costs $49. At this price, it is likely to be worthwhile for more serious developers, but hobbyists may not be able to justify the expense. It does make things incredibly simple, but other than its powerful search features, it does not provide much functionality that could not be replicated rather simply by developers with the necessary time on their hands.
In Brief Product UniHelp 1.1 Manufacturer Electric Butterfly Price $49 System Requirements REALbasic 3.5.2 or 4.0.2, Mac OS 8.6+, Mac OS X 10.1+, Windows 98+, Quicktime (for image and multimedia features only) Contact Info support-at-ebutterfly.com
www.ebutterfly.com
Pros Very slick, powerful, takes care of tedious work Cons Maybe too expensive for anyone not using it to its full potential Rating (1.0 - 5.0): 3.6
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Article copyrighted by REALbasic Developer magazine. All rights reserved.
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