Open Source HelpRunner Module for REALbasic
LOS ANGELES, California (December 5, 2007) — Electric Butterfly, Inc.
proudly announces the open source release of HelpRunner 1.0, a free module
that enables REALbasic developers to easily implement native support for
Apple Help (on Mac OS X) and Microsoft HTML Help (CHM on Windows) in
REALbasic applications.
In Mac OS X Bundle apps, HelpRunner provides easy-to-use methods for
registering an Apple Help Book and opening an Apple Help Book in Mac OS X’s
native Help Viewer.
In Windows apps, HelpRunner provides easy-to-use methods for opening a CHM
help file in Microsoft Windows’ native HTML Help Viewer.
Much of the Declares code included in HelpRunner has been floating around
the REALbasic mailing lists and forums in some form or another over the
years, but left out of context and lacking documentation, the piecemeal
code snippets often leave new developers bewildered and unsure of how to
implement it in their own projects. HelpRunner alleviates that problem by
wrapping all of those Declares into a convenient API of methods with easy
step-by-step instructions. All code has been optimized and tested for use
in this new module. Using HelpRunner, developers of all skill levels can
now easily implement native help in their Mac OS X and Windows applications
without any prior knowledge of Declares.
To give credit where credit is due, known online contributors of some of
the Declares code snippets include Charles Yeomans, Thomas Reed, and Adam
Ernst. Surely, there are countless other unknown authors whose expertise
helped influence the development of HelpRunner, so please forgive us if
your name was not mentioned. A big thanks to everyone in the REALbasic
community.
FREE DOWNLOAD:
http://www.ebutterfly.com/opensource/
The download includes full source code, an example project, and extensive
PDF documentation.
PLEASE NOTE:
HelpRunner does NOT create help files for you. In order to use the
HelpRunner module to implement support for Apple Help and Microsoft HTML
Help in your REALbasic applications, you must already have your help files
published in those help formats. Looking for a help authoring solution?
Available for both Windows and Mac OS X, HelpLogic is an award- winning
help authoring tool that is very easy to use and enables the quick creation
of Apple Help and Microsoft HTML Help, as well as many other help formats.
For more information or to download a free trial of HelpLogic, visit
http://www.ebutterfly.com/helplogic/
If you are interested in contributing code and development efforts to
HelpRunner (such as code for implementing help on Linux), please contact
Electric Butterfly via our web site.
About Electric Butterfly, Inc.
Founded in 1995, Electric Butterfly is an award-winning software
development company, responsible for such products as HelpLogic, Stimulus,
UniHelp and the Web Services Library.
