< Existing tools | Using HelpSetMaker > |
HelpSetMaker combines the visual WYSIWYG approach with an explicit markup way of doing things. The author writes his text in a flat editor without included markup. For text layout, he uses commands - at least sort of.
Practically, HelpSetMaker features a special command language for creating the texts. Its name is “STML” which stands for “Simple text markup language”. While text markup is actually done through commands, those are so simple and intuitive that an author will often even not recognize them as commands. He simply writes as if he is working on a type writer.
This way of typing text is not completely new. Content management systems like Typo3 or many Wiki engines work in a similar way to allow easy editing of text. HelpSetMaker, however, combines this with an output window directly next to the editor showing how the entered text is rendered into HTML.
Using such an engine, the author gets the best of both worlds: He types without caring about any text markup. The program evaluates the things he types and converts them immediately into what a reader will see later when looking at the document.
Additionally, HelpSetMaker uses its graphical user interface to ease all the organisational tasks. Images and link targets can be dropped into the editor creating the appropriate commands directly in the document text. Together with the tree view on the complete help set structure, the author has always maximum control over the results of his work.
< Existing tools | Using HelpSetMaker > |