Dr.Explain: Help Authoring Software (CHM,RTF,HTML)
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Version History

WHAT'S NEW IN VERSION 3.0 (26/02/2008)

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New text editor
1. Insert images
2. Customize fonts
3. Insert tables
4. Insert lists
5. Insert predefined variables\macros

New capturing engine
6. Capturing web pages and web interfaces
7. Capturing Flash
8. Capturing various accessible items
9. Capturing particular buttons in toolbars
10. Capturing undocked windows and toolbars
11. Virtual cursor (press and hold right Ctrl)
12. Sub-windows auto-capturing

More features
13. Topic statuses
14. Lock \ Unlock topic
15. Google Sitemap generator
16. Export speed up (Unchanged files won't be rebuild during export)
17. .bak files creation

... a LOT of improvements and fixes .



The upgrade is free for all!
There is no need to uninstall the previous version of Dr.Explain. Your current reg-keys will be valid also.

WHAT'S NEW IN VERSION 2.6 (07/11/2007)



1. Better recognition of Delphi and other programming languages controls
2. The splitter between designer and properties was added
3. The Filter button in the keyword list was added
4. The single topic content max allowed size was extended to about 1Mb
5. When the Find dialog opens focus is in the Find what text box
6. The control bullet tooltips display control names, not only numbers
7. The full text search stop list file text box is not read-only now
8. The path to the full text search stop list file may be relative to the path of the HHP, not absolute
9. In Project properties, HTML settings preceed CHM settings like the HTML preview tab preceds the CHM preview tab
10. F2 - item rename in the keyword list
11. "Help ID removal" dialog was renamed to "Remove Help ID" according to the menu option entry
12. Keywords for inactive pages won't go to final CHM file anymore
13. Alt+Ins hotkey adds child keyword to a selected keyword
14. Tooltip for Print Preview tool button
15. In the HHP, the full text search stop list file at the bottom of the [FILES] section it's preceded with a CRLF now
16. In the HTML generated for CHMs, in the area a missed space between the al and the href attributes was added
17. The bug in custom color themes management was fixed
18. Keyword operation hotkeys were mentioned in the tooltips
19. Control operation hotkeys were mentioned in the tooltips
20. Remove Help ID dialog remembers its location
21. Tooltips for Screenshot Editor toolbuttons were added
22. Keyword structure compilation was fixed
23. A Java Script bug in dynamic menu was fixed
24. Several typos in GUI were fixed
25. ... and a dozen of minor improvements

Version 2.5 (03/01/2007)

New advanced features
1. Sub menus (standard Win32) autocapturing
2. Project validation tool
3. Project compacting tool
4. Print versions of pages for on-line help
5. Mouse-over pop-up windows (Java Script) to show the descriptions associated with controls. (See the sample in Dr.Explain online help)
6. Command line generation of HTML, CHM, RTF. (See ...\DE\tools\deexport.exe)

New regular features
7. New way of screen capturing
8. Menu capturing
9. Context Help ID management
10. CHM and HTML settings were separated
11. JavaScript menu with collapsing\expanding
12. Control rectangles inplace editing
13. Grid color settings
14. Grid step settings
15. Absolute path to image folder is allowed
16. Progress bar for file saving
17. Copying associated keywords along with topics
18. Bullet lines can be dragged along with control rectangle (hold Alt)
19. Link property: open in a new browser window
20. CHM index file's title is customizable
21. Screenshot image insertion from clipboard
22. The control scale is visible in control rectangle setup dialog
23. Control clips margin setup
24. Next\Prev links are in the bottom of the pages as well
25. Zoom In\Out in Control Rectangle dialog
26. Scale shown on the control preview
27. Links to controls
28. Custom colors saving
29. / in paths is allowed
30. F2 - Item rename
31. Control rectangle color settings
32. Compatibility with Internet Explorer 7
33. Navigation through hyperlinks in preview mode
34. Duplicated topics in-place checking was implemented
35. Search in project was improved
36. Two output standards are available: HTML 4.01 Transitional & XHTML 1.0 Transitional
37. CHM output: the HHK, HHP and HHC files are named the same as the CHM
38. aspx was added to predefined list of exportable HTML extensions
39. Print button is always active in preview mode
40. Microsoft Windows Vista support

... and dozens of minor improvements ...


Version 2.0 (08/01/2006)

Cool dozen
1. Multi-tier document structure
2. Hyperlinks in descriptions / Crosslinking
3. Spell checking
4. Custom name for page files
5. Custom names for picture files (depending on file name)
6. New visual themes
7. Custom CSS setup
8. Intellectual orientation of bullets
9. Standard Windows toolbars parsing
10. Indexes keywords in CHM
11. Search for text in nodes and descriptions (Find\Find Next)
12. Help file in CHM format made with Dr.Explain itself

Controls handling
13. Ability to replace control images with custom pictures
14. Ability to turn off control images
15. Ability to set scale for control images
16. Multiple selections of controls in the list
17. No message boxes for deleting controls
18. Anchor names can be assigned to controls
19. Control description alignment
20. Ability to not resize control images along with whole screenshot
21. Rectangle mark is initially selected when open Control rectangle dialog
22. Explicitly resizing control rectangle
23. Control copy\paste to clipboard

HTML export
24. Ability to turn off "Top" link
25. Back & Next hyperlinks to the previous and next pages in the content
26. Custom text for "Top" link
27. "Top" link jumps to the image, not to the page's top
28. Custom text for "Back & Next" links
29. Custom color themes setup
30. Ability to generate image files in a custom subfolder
31. Ability to make the control areas clickable in HTML instead of the bullets
32. Quick access to HTML template editing, right form HTML preview.
33. Duplicated topic names checking

Screenshot handling
34. Top screenshot alignment (left, right, center)
35. An option to have the control caption above/below/left/right/opposite of the buttons.
36. Explicitly resizing screenshot tool with Revert option
37. Ability to draw bullets without lines

Application settings
38. Main window and key dialog positions are stored across sessions
39. Splitters (work area) positions are stored across sessions
40. Ability to turn off splash screen
41. Ability to turn off startup dialog
42. All URLs are opened in a new browser window
43. F1 context help works in all dialogs of Dr.Explain

RTF Export
44. RTF default file name is the same as a project file name
45. Ability to switch off the "Title Page" in RTF export
46. Ability to switch off the "Content Page" and content macro in RTF export
47. RTF default font face and size setup
48. Ability to silently overwrite RTF files
49. Automated image scaling down to fit the specified page format width in RTF export
50. RTF export speed was increased

CHM Export
51. Warns if the CHM file is opened during the export process
52. Ability to silently overwrite CHM files
53. Keeping temporary files after CHM export is completed
54. Advanced MS HHW options for CHM creation

... and dozens of minor improvements ...

We hope you will like it!


Version 1.5.38 (03/15/2006)


[ADDED]: Hot keys for export operations.
[CHANGED]: Better compatibility with non-English versions of MS Windows®


Version 1.5.36 (02/22/2006)


[CHANGED]: Managing big projects with better performance.


Version 1.5.34 (01/25/2006)


[CHANGED]: The Control Rectangle Setup dialog is resizable.
[CHANGED]: Document structure setup got more convenient and simpler.
[FIXED]: Editor redrawing issues were fixed.
[CHANGED]: A couple of minor improvements was made.


Version 1.5.30 (11/27/2005)


[CHANGED]: The state of HTML, RTF and CHM export options ('Create Index Page' and 'Open document') are stored in the project file.
[FIXED]: HTML links for hidden elements are generated correctly.
[FIXED]: Bullets renumbering bug on deletion was fixed.
[CHANGED]: A couple of minor improvements was made.


Version 1.5.28 (11/07/2005)


[ADDED]: Tips on startup.
[CHANGED]: Image editor scrolling with mouse wheel got more convenient.
[FIXED]: Bullet line positioning bug for scaled images was fixed.


Versions 1.5.18 - 1.5.25 (10/29/2005)


[ADDED]: Multi-byte languages support (testing mode).
[ADDED]: Ability to turn-off the left menu. Details...
[ADDED]: Recognition of Clarion window types (window classes).
[CHANGED]: No redraw flickering.
[CHANGED]: Description typing got faster.
[FIXED]: Improved multiple spaces handling in RTF export routine.
[FIXED]: Several bugs were fixed.


Version 1.5.17 (09/20/2005)


[ADDED]: Export into Rich Text Format (RTF).
[ADDED]: Export into Microsoft HTML Help (CHM).
[CHANGED]: More convenient WYSIWYG editor.
[CHANGED]: Some minor improvements and fixes were made.


Version 1.4.16 (07/18/2005)


[ADDED]: Screenshot in HTML is active. The bullets are clickable.
[ADDED]: Each control description in HTML is followed by the [top] link.
[ADDED]: Each control description in HTML contains a numbered anchor.
This is very useful for support purposes and for further document conversion into another format.
[ADDED]: Multiline control titles are allowed. Use '~' character as a new line mark.
[ADDED]: The start up dialog will help you reopen your recent projects with one click.
[ADDED]: The ruler was added into the Control Image Area.
[ADDED]: The grid is available in the Designer Area.
[ADDED]: An ability to insert new windows from PNG, GIF, or JPG files, not only from BMP files.
[ADDED]: An ability to replace an existing window's screenshot with a picture from PNG, GIF, or JPG file, not only from BMP file.
[ADDED]: An ability to replace an existing window's screenshot with a newly captured window.
[CHANGED]: The reference titles are shown properly when a large font is set.
[CHANGED]: Some minor improvements and fixes were made.


Version 1.3.14 (07/05/2005)


[ADDED]: Support of national characters in descriptions and titles.
[ADDED]: Embedded text strings customization.
[ADDED]: Ability to hide the 'Dr.Explain' link in the output documents.
[CHANGED]: The export path became the project's property rather than the application-wide variable.
[CHANGED]: Some minor improvements and fixes were made.


Version 1.2.13 (06/28/2005)


The first official release of the Dr.Explain software. The previous versions were the prototypes. The company used them for its own needs.
What's new
Software Help Authoring Tools news June 24, 2008
Dr.Explain 3.1 Beta is ready for public testing.

Software Help Authoring Tools news April 04, 2008
Dr.Explain v.3.0.176, the maintenance update was released.

Software Help Authoring Tools news February 26, 2008
Dr.Explain v.3.0 was released. More ...

Software Help Authoring Tools news February 3, 2008
Dr.Explain 3.0 Beta is ready for public testing.

Software Help Authoring Tools news July 19, 2007
Paul Hughes features Dr.Explain 2.6 in CNet Download Dispatch Newsletter

Software Help Authoring Tools news July 11, 2007
Dr.Explain v.2.6 was released. More ...
What your colleagues say
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