Macromedia has announced the immediate availability of RoboHelp X5, the latest version of the software application designed to help you create Flash-based help and tutorials and documentation for desktop and Web-based applications, including .NET. The update is the first release since Macromedia's acquisition of eHelp, the privately-held developers of RoboHelp, in December 2003 for $65m (around £35.5m). The company is hoping the move will help it to expand the role of Flash for delivering information and applications over the Web.

Pros: Supports XML, PDF and JavaHelp 2.0; better source code control
Cons: Requires activation


The RoboHelp family consists of four software products designed to meet a variety of needs: RoboHelp Office, RoboHelp Office Pro, RoboHelp Office Pro for .NET, and RoboHelp for Word. RoboHelp X5 was created with the developer's and technical writer's 'wish list' in mind, claims Macromedia. It now supports XML, PDF import and export, content management, distributed workforces (telecommuting and remote office support), team authoring capabilities, as well as the newly released JavaHelp 2.0 from Sun Microsystems. It also includes FlashHelp, a help format based on Macromedia's Flash.

A typical scenario for using RoboHelp X5 would be to create movies, Web pages, and content showcases within an online help system. Once content has been created, RoboHelp publishes and updates online tables and indexes instantly. For instance, if you've got a large user guide created in Microsoft's Word, RoboHelp will automatically analyse the file and sort it into topics. If you have a PDF document, it will convert it to HTML, as well as making it fully editable and searchable.

You can import any valid XML content for use in your help system, including DocBook XML or XHTML formats, and export standardised projects or individual topics. The software's content management features promise to help you throughout the content lifecycle with features such as version rollback, time and date stamping, audit trails, labels and comments and file comparison.

The product also empowers distributed workforces with the ability to remotely check-in and check-out files, contribute information to help projects, and synchronise changes to files when computers are back online. Team authoring support in RoboHelp X5 should make it easier for teams to contribute and collaborate on the same project, co-ordinate workflow, and generate the final help system through features like check-in and check-out capabilities, permissions, password security, and administrative tools.

Links:
RoboHelp X5 Web site
RoboHelp X5 15-day trial

BIOS, Jan 21, 04 | Print | Send | Comments (0) | Posted In Developer