I've Never Seen A Better Open Source Analysis... NOT EVER!!!
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HelpMaker looked nice at the start, but thats where it ends. * you have no way to export the whole project to some readable format, eg XML, Word * the emitted HTML is not very customizable, when trying to use the CSS option, it breaks layout of HTML (inserting a lot of s p a c e s) * cant emit to PDF * 'Insert HTML' option does not work I have decided to look at using MAML now that is present in the latest SandCastle (but the same amount issues none the less).
xacc.ide - now with IronScheme support
IronScheme - 1.0 alpha 2 out nowI had exactly that reaction. I'm sticking with my 'old-school' route - using the eDE[^] toolset to transform DocBook input through XSL:FO into HTML or PDF. Next thing to do is workout how to add a front-end step of converting reStructured Text[^] or QuickBook[^] so I don't have to type in all the DocBook tags and miscellanea. We've used this approach successfully on several projects - it's nice to a) have a single source that produces a PDF document publishable in our company library (we have front page and header and footer requirements that have to be met - eDE/DocBook allows you to do that) AND a CHM file, and b) have a simple build step that can be easily incorporated into whatever build tool we're using.
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I had exactly that reaction. I'm sticking with my 'old-school' route - using the eDE[^] toolset to transform DocBook input through XSL:FO into HTML or PDF. Next thing to do is workout how to add a front-end step of converting reStructured Text[^] or QuickBook[^] so I don't have to type in all the DocBook tags and miscellanea. We've used this approach successfully on several projects - it's nice to a) have a single source that produces a PDF document publishable in our company library (we have front page and header and footer requirements that have to be met - eDE/DocBook allows you to do that) AND a CHM file, and b) have a simple build step that can be easily incorporated into whatever build tool we're using.
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So I'm in love with HelpMaker it's amazing, cool, it works, does the trick, scratches my itch all the above. But! I decide hey slick you better read the license to see if you are legal. So I go to ye ol start menu and find the help for HelpMaker I'm browsing through the contents and run across the timeless question, "Why isn't _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ open source?" the response is utterly brilliant. Truly fascinating and makes everything freud ever wrote, thought or spoke seem meaningless by comparison. Surprisingly I thought it could just as easily have been said about Cathedral and Bazaar but then that'd be a tad soapy and I'm already there. Here goes: http://www.code-frog.com/brilliant.jpg[^]
I've been a fan of HelpMaker for many years now. I think I was one of the first to recommend it here, but people got turned off by their comments on their main page. You know what? At least they're honest. The product speaks for itself and it's quite good for free. Haven't used it in a year, but I'm assuming it still is.
There are II kinds of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who understand Roman numerals. Web - Blog - RSS - Math
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He's right, but there are some things that open source never said or implied that will happen. 1. Doesn't guarantee that a community will build up. 2. Doesn't guarantee that you'll get help or good thoughts. 3. Doesn't say that all people will like the way you do things in your code. 4. Doesn't imply that paying customers actually want your code !!! In reality, alll those things that open source declared as 'possibilities' were simply incentives to push people over the fence. The only true purpose of 'Open Source' is to provide the ability to your CUSTOMERS to alter your code to suit their particular needs. Unfortunatelly, that has prooven much too difficult since it's very hard to understand code and programming mentality. "Open source like Free Speech - NOT Free Beer !!!" was the moto but it takes a lot more than the source code to benefit from.
All true. Very true. I was going more just on the pure humor aspects of it. I'm very easily entertained.
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Pass me a tissue, looks like someone should have read http://producingoss.com/[^] Really, you can't just open source a product and expect magic things to happen. It's like bringing a human into this world, at first it takes a lot of love, support and nourishment, then if it survives childhood it will develop an independent life on its own. You might also say the cream rises to the top, the shit sinks to the bottom ;-) p.s. Sandcastle and SHFB rock!
No! No tissue needed. I should have stated the humor icon. I thought it was a lot more funny than anything else. I mean they do too. The picture they use a baby gnu with slippers and a blanket. They know they are having a nice fit. :laugh:
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Thanks for the links, it seems its exactly what I am looking (hoping rather) for :)
xacc.ide - now with IronScheme support
IronScheme - 1.0 alpha 2 out nowYou are way beyond me. I don't need the toolset you are after. I'm a bit too html-stupid for that. I just need a simple help-maker. I won't go beyond it's limits because honestly I'm not smart enough (in that world) to think beyond it's limits. I'm like the lazy cow. Put the fence wherever you want... these here 10 square feet are just fine for me. :laugh: Give me a hottie heffer and life is good. :-O :rolleyes: :omg:
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Hi Rex, That made me laugh too..it strikes me that they may have needed to do a bit more "marketing" when it was released as open source. By the way, have you noticed any issues with bulleted lists in HelpMaker? We've noticed that all of the text immediately following a list is incorrectly indented, but we've not found a workaround yet.
Anna :rose: Linting the day away :cool: Anna's Place | Tears and Laughter "If mushy peas are the food of the devil, the stotty cake is the frisbee of God"
I haven't noticed that. I'm a bit of a bullet/list phobe because Outlook sucks so bad with them. It has to indent/bullet everything so I got to the point where I make my own sytle of lists that is immune to bullets. ___Item 1 ___Item 2 if you print it you have a nifty place for check marks.
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I've been a fan of HelpMaker for many years now. I think I was one of the first to recommend it here, but people got turned off by their comments on their main page. You know what? At least they're honest. The product speaks for itself and it's quite good for free. Haven't used it in a year, but I'm assuming it still is.
There are II kinds of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who understand Roman numerals. Web - Blog - RSS - Math
To be perfectly honest. If whatever it is gets any kind of "okay by me" from you then I know it's good enough for me. What else do you like that might save me more time and make me look like I actually spend a little money to take care of my customer base? :)
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To be perfectly honest. If whatever it is gets any kind of "okay by me" from you then I know it's good enough for me. What else do you like that might save me more time and make me look like I actually spend a little money to take care of my customer base? :)
Now that cracked me up. One of my favorite libraries is getLibra[^]. Unfortunately, they haven't been supporting it at all. Also, I tend to bookmark all that I like here[^].
There are II kinds of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who understand Roman numerals. Web - Blog - RSS - Math
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So I'm in love with HelpMaker it's amazing, cool, it works, does the trick, scratches my itch all the above. But! I decide hey slick you better read the license to see if you are legal. So I go to ye ol start menu and find the help for HelpMaker I'm browsing through the contents and run across the timeless question, "Why isn't _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ open source?" the response is utterly brilliant. Truly fascinating and makes everything freud ever wrote, thought or spoke seem meaningless by comparison. Surprisingly I thought it could just as easily have been said about Cathedral and Bazaar but then that'd be a tad soapy and I'm already there. Here goes: http://www.code-frog.com/brilliant.jpg[^]
OK. So the reasoning boils down to: "We're thin-skinned." It is kinda funny, though.
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I haven't noticed that. I'm a bit of a bullet/list phobe because Outlook sucks so bad with them. It has to indent/bullet everything so I got to the point where I make my own sytle of lists that is immune to bullets. ___Item 1 ___Item 2 if you print it you have a nifty place for check marks.
No worries. Unfortunately it is a bit of a deal breaker for us, so if it isn't fixed relatively soon we may have to move to another product (Help and Manual is the favourite, I'd say).
Anna :rose: Linting the day away :cool: Anna's Place | Tears and Laughter "If mushy peas are the food of the devil, the stotty cake is the frisbee of God"
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Thanks for the links, it seems its exactly what I am looking (hoping rather) for :)
xacc.ide - now with IronScheme support
IronScheme - 1.0 alpha 2 out nowNo problem - just one warning - it's not what one would call user-friendly...but I'm sure a developer of your calibre will have no problems :-)
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He's right, but there are some things that open source never said or implied that will happen. 1. Doesn't guarantee that a community will build up. 2. Doesn't guarantee that you'll get help or good thoughts. 3. Doesn't say that all people will like the way you do things in your code. 4. Doesn't imply that paying customers actually want your code !!! In reality, alll those things that open source declared as 'possibilities' were simply incentives to push people over the fence. The only true purpose of 'Open Source' is to provide the ability to your CUSTOMERS to alter your code to suit their particular needs. Unfortunatelly, that has prooven much too difficult since it's very hard to understand code and programming mentality. "Open source like Free Speech - NOT Free Beer !!!" was the moto but it takes a lot more than the source code to benefit from.
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No problem - just one warning - it's not what one would call user-friendly...but I'm sure a developer of your calibre will have no problems :-)
Stuart Dootson wrote:
No problem - just one warning - it's not what one would call user-friendly...
It's cant be worse than SandCastle! I cant even figure out how to insert an image in a topic using DocProject. :sigh:
Stuart Dootson wrote:
but I'm sure a developer of your calibre will have no problems
Hey, I like easy as much as the next guy!
xacc.ide - now with IronScheme support
IronScheme - 1.0 alpha 2 out now -
