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Jared Hess
Jared Hess
Legend
September 12, 2011
Question

Is AIR the right output to use?

  • September 12, 2011
  • 2 replies
  • 2405 views

Hello there.

So, let me preface this by saying I don't know a lot about using AIR to view help content nor the limitations an AIR output has. I've built a test file once and played around with it some back in RH 7.

Until now our company has used HtmlHelp (CHM) as our output format, but we're starting a new product, and we need it to have a modern look and feel as well as have the ability to store, display and moderate user comments on topics. Initially, I'm thinking the RoboHelp AIR output might be a good match.

What we need:

  • The help must be context sentive.
  • The help must be dockable inside the UI.
  • The help must allow user commenting (similar to that shown in the AIR examples).
  • The help must reside locally but have the ability to grab user comments for any who have access to the internet.

One possible problem is our product will have its user interface done using WPF. My first concern is can a WPF user interface support F1 context sensitivty in an AIR  output? Some posts say perhaps it cannot (such as  http://forums.adobe.com/message/2145088).

Also, can you dock an AIR output inside a UI?

If AIR isn't the right output, what would you recommend for the above requirements?

Hope all this makes sense. This is all new to me.

Many thanks!

(RoboHelp 9, Windows 7 64-bit)

    This topic has been closed for replies.

    2 replies

    A
    Anonymous
    September 26, 2011

    I may have a similar problem, though hesitate to start a new post, so I'll try to be as succinct as possible.

    I'm compiling Browser-based Help (with AIR) and when I preview the UI locally, I can see the Comments and Favorites icon on the navigation bar. However, after uploading to an internal Web server where the content resides, the Comments and Favorites icons disappear and are nowhere to be seen. 

    Is this because I might be using the Commenting feature incorrectly (e.g. needing RoboHelp Server) as opposed to something else?  I mean, I understand that the feature might not function or work if I'm not using RoboHelp Server, but from a visual point of view, I would think it would still display on the UI, n'est pas?

    Cheers,

    Michael

    Seattle, WA (Disney)

    Jeff_Coatsworth
    Community Expert
    Jeff_CoatsworthCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    September 26, 2011

    No can do - see post #12 in this thread.

    A
    Anonymous
    September 26, 2011

    So the absolute must-have (in the first instance) is compiling via Adobe Air (with a .air file output). 

    And then the need for RoboHelp Server depends on the Internet-vs.LAN requirement?

    Jeff_Coatsworth
    Community Expert
    Jeff_CoatsworthCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    September 12, 2011

    Locally installed AIR Help can be called from apps - you may experience some difficulty doing it in C# - check the available methods of calling AIR Help in your C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe RoboHelp 9\CSH API\ folder.

    I don't think it can be docked as AIR Help is a separate installable platform.

    Yes it can do commenting & obtain shared comments from an internet location.

    Peter Grainge
    Community Expert
    Peter GraingeCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    September 12, 2011

    I'm not so sure about the comments being on the internet. To share comments all users have to have read / write access to where the shared comments are stored. It is unlikely that will be the case with an internet location.

    Intranet is fine but not the same thing.

    I know that RoboHelp Server can be used to store AIR Help comments but unless you already have it, that is a big expense for this one purpose. Even then I am not sure it offers what you want. That will need to be checked with Adobe.

    See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

    @petergrainge

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    johndaigle
    johndaigle
    Legend
    September 12, 2011

    Hi. I'm not a developer and as Peter mentioned, I'm not sure all your requirements may be met. But let me add some info to the mix. This link to the online help offers some documentation for developers on how to use the AIR API for a number of languages.

    http://help.adobe.com/en_US/RoboHelp/8.0/RoboHTML/WS5b3ccc516d4fbf351e63e3d11aff59c571-7f43.html#WSDCE1310D-6F71-41f3-9844-7EC5C5F87076

    Scroll down to find this Subhead: Call a context-sensitive Help function for AIR Help

    You might also do a forum search for "RoboHelp Praful Jain" . He is the Adobe engineer most familiar with the APIs and there are a number of his posts which address AIR issues.

    Also, should you proceed down this path, you would certainly want to upgrade to RoboHelp 9. Go ahead and download a trial of RoboHelp 9 to get the latest API since RoboHelp 7 only had a "Packager" available at that time. When you install the trial, you will find the AIR APIs here:

    C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Adobe RoboHelp 9\CSH API\ActionScript (or whatever language your developer is using)

    Finally, the RoboHelp 9 trial also includes a Sample file called Salesbuilder. File > Open > click the Samples folder on the left pane to find. If you open the Salesbuilder sample you will see an explanation of how CSH AIR Help can be implemented. This example shows AIR Help used for an AIR Application, but it could also be a C# application as I understand it.

    So, this may not be all you need, but it may show you a way to get there

    John Daigle
    Adobe Certified RoboHelp and Captivate Instructor
    Evergreen, Colorado
    www.showmethedemo.com

    John DaigleAdobe Certified RoboHelp and Captivate InstructorNewport, Oregon
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