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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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    Jared Hess
    Jared HessAuthor
    Legend
    September 13, 2011

    There is some information in my AIR pages about CSH. It might be a better solution for your developers to look at them to work out what they can do.

    See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

    @petergrainge


    Thanks for the help Peter. I've pointed our devs to this forum and will also include your site. We'll look into it further.

    However, I'm wondering, if AIR won't give us what we need as far as CSH and docking, are there other outputs that would? Browser-based help or something? That would still let us get user comments (assuming we get the RH Server 9)?

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