HelpNDoc
Encyclopedia
HelpNDoc is a Windows
-based help authoring tool
published by IBE Software, a company based in France
.
Like many help authoring tools, HelpNDoc allows the writer to create a single source
text which it then converts to a number of target formats such as CHM
, PDF, RTF
and HTML
. HelpNDoc integrates a full-featured WYSIWYG
editor which aims to look like popular word processing software such as Microsoft Word
or OpenOffice.org Writer
. This editor is backed up by a table of content and keyword editor. The overall look of the application closely mimics the final CHM output display in the Microsoft HTML help viewer.
To create CHM help files, HelpNDoc generates intermediary files and relies on Microsoft's HTML Help Workshop to generate the final help files. Other formats are natively generated by HelpNDoc.
The major focus of HelpNDoc is the ease of use for the end user. This is why most of the application is available through the main window, with a minimum of dialogs.
, Delphi
, Fortran
, Pascal
and Visual Basic
programming languages to ease the integration of the generated CHM help files with the application being developed.
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
-based help authoring tool
Help authoring tool
A Help Authoring Tool or HAT is a software program used by technical writers to create online help systems.-Functions:The basic functions of Help Authoring Tools can be divided into the following categories:-File input:...
published by IBE Software, a company based in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
Like many help authoring tools, HelpNDoc allows the writer to create a single source
Single source publishing
Single source publishing, also known as single sourcing, allows the same content to be used in different documents or in various formats. The labour-intensive and expensive work of editing need only be carried out once, on one document. Further transformations are carried out mechanistically, by...
text which it then converts to a number of target formats such as CHM
CHM
-Museums:* Chicago History Museum, founded in 1856 to study and interpret Chicago's history* Computer History Museum, established in 1996 in Mountain View, California, dedicated to preserving and presenting the stories and artifacts of the information age, and exploring the computing revolution and...
, PDF, RTF
RTF
RTF may stand for:* Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française, France's national public broadcasting organization between 1949 and 1964* Reader talks first, in RFID, the situation where the interrogator or reader initiates the session with the RFID tag...
and HTML
HTML
HyperText Markup Language is the predominant markup language for web pages. HTML elements are the basic building-blocks of webpages....
. HelpNDoc integrates a full-featured WYSIWYG
WYSIWYG
WYSIWYG is an acronym for What You See Is What You Get. The term is used in computing to describe a system in which content displayed onscreen during editing appears in a form closely corresponding to its appearance when printed or displayed as a finished product...
editor which aims to look like popular word processing software such as Microsoft Word
Microsoft Word
Microsoft Word is a word processor designed by Microsoft. It was first released in 1983 under the name Multi-Tool Word for Xenix systems. Subsequent versions were later written for several other platforms including IBM PCs running DOS , the Apple Macintosh , the AT&T Unix PC , Atari ST , SCO UNIX,...
or OpenOffice.org Writer
OpenOffice.org Writer
OpenOffice.org Writer is the word processor component of the OpenOffice.org software package. Writer is a word processor similar to Microsoft Word and Corel's WordPerfect, with some of their features....
. This editor is backed up by a table of content and keyword editor. The overall look of the application closely mimics the final CHM output display in the Microsoft HTML help viewer.
To create CHM help files, HelpNDoc generates intermediary files and relies on Microsoft's HTML Help Workshop to generate the final help files. Other formats are natively generated by HelpNDoc.
The major focus of HelpNDoc is the ease of use for the end user. This is why most of the application is available through the main window, with a minimum of dialogs.
Advanced features
HelpNDoc has the ability to include variables and external files. It also has the ability to generate code for the C++C++
C++ is a statically typed, free-form, multi-paradigm, compiled, general-purpose programming language. It is regarded as an intermediate-level language, as it comprises a combination of both high-level and low-level language features. It was developed by Bjarne Stroustrup starting in 1979 at Bell...
, Delphi
Delphi
Delphi is both an archaeological site and a modern town in Greece on the south-western spur of Mount Parnassus in the valley of Phocis.In Greek mythology, Delphi was the site of the Delphic oracle, the most important oracle in the classical Greek world, and a major site for the worship of the god...
, Fortran
Fortran
Fortran is a general-purpose, procedural, imperative programming language that is especially suited to numeric computation and scientific computing...
, Pascal
Pascal (programming language)
Pascal is an influential imperative and procedural programming language, designed in 1968/9 and published in 1970 by Niklaus Wirth as a small and efficient language intended to encourage good programming practices using structured programming and data structuring.A derivative known as Object Pascal...
and Visual Basic
Visual Basic
Visual Basic is the third-generation event-driven programming language and integrated development environment from Microsoft for its COM programming model...
programming languages to ease the integration of the generated CHM help files with the application being developed.
Licensing terms
HelpNDoc's licensing model offers a free version of the program for personal use, and two paid versions (Standard and Professional editions) for commercial use. The free version includes a discreet ad at the bottom of each generated documentation page while the professional edition doesn't. The standard edition only displays those ads at the bottom of RTF and PDF generated documentation.History
HelpNDoc 1.0 was released to the public on December 2004 and only provided CHM and HTML documentation generation, while version 2.0 was officially released on May 2009 and introduces PDF and RTF documentation generation. The complete release history includes:- Version: 2.0.0.25 - May 16, 2009
- Version: 1.16 - October 4, 2008
- Version: 1.15 - July 22, 2008
- Version: 1.14 - June 1, 2008
- Version: 1.13 - April 6, 2008
- Version: 1.12 - January 13, 2008
- Version: 1.11 - July 22, 2007
- Version: 1.10 - May 28, 2007
- Version: 1.9 - May 30, 2006
- Version: 1.8 - March 14, 2006
- Version: 1.7 - February 1, 2006
- Version: 1.6.1 - November 7, 2005
- Version: 1.6 - October 17, 2005
- Version: 1.5 - September 5, 2005
- Version: 1.4 - July 27, 2005
- Version: 1.3 - May 23, 2005
- Version: 1.2 - April 4, 2005
- Version: 1.1.1 - February 24, 2005
- Version: 1.1 - February 15, 2005
- Version: 1.0 - December 10, 2004