
Here is the full features list of Precision Helper product. Detailed description of individual features can be found in The User interface chapter and its topics.
Basic features
- Help projects management (favorite projects, recently opened projects)
- Creating, opening, editing and saving the help projects in native Microsoft Html Help (HHP) format
- Batch project compilations (definition and management of project compilation lists)
- Publishing (export) into the following formats: CHM, WebHelp, PDF and single html document (see Import/Export)
- Automatic backup of project files and application data files
- Multilingual user interface including help and compiler error message reference (switching language without restarting)
- Modern look and feel, working with multiple topics in tabs - see User interface
- Extensive editing possibilities for table of contents - using keyboard, clipboard, drag & drop between instances of application, drag & drop from and into other applications (see also User interface)
- Working with any table of contents defined in the project (easy selection of contents for editing)
- Object Inspector, the tool for easy setting parameters and behaviour (for selected topic as well as for whole contents)
- Automatic insertion of topics into the contents - different options of topic sources
- A lot of options for selecting or creating a topic (enter the url, file selection via the system dialog, project file selection dialog, selecting the topic from external help, creating a copy of another topic, creating a blank topic, etc.)
- Option to include an external contents (from different contents file and / or from different help file)
- Possibility to use predefined external editor or associated application for topic editing
- Printing, previewing, finding text and zooming the displayed topic
- Quick assignment of keywords (ia. adding text, that is selected in the current topic)
- Quick searching (filtering) of content items
- Mutual navigation to the topics between contents, index and contexts
- Possibility to define a structured index, as well as links between the keywords - using the keyboard, clipboard, drag & drop between application instances and / or other applications (see also User interface)
- Possibility to work with any index defined in the project (an easy selection of the index to edit)
- Object Inspector, the tool for easy setting parameters and behaviour (for selected keyword as well as for whole index)
- Automatic insertion of keywords from topic titles into the index - different options of topic sources
- A lot of options for selecting or creating a topic (enter the url, file selection via the system dialog, project file selection dialog, selecting the topic from external help, creating a copy of another topic, creating a blank topic, etc.)
- Possibility to use predefined external editor or associated application for editing
- Printing, previewing, finding text and zooming the displayed topic
- Quick assignment of keywords during the editing of table of contents (see Table of contents editing)
- Quick searching (filtering) of keywords
- Mutual navigation to the topics between contents, index and contexts
- Complex editor of context-sensitive help - full control over assigning context IDs, alias IDs, source files and commentaries.
- Allows editing in simple mode (only help context ID is required)
- Possibility to enter Text popups
- The context-sensitive table is automatically pre-filled with all topics defined anywhere in the project (it means during editing, not for saving)
- Automatic mapping of contextual and symbolic identifiers (all blank, or only currently edited line of the table)
- Option to store the context help items directly to the help project file or to an external source files (.h, .ali, .txt)
- Editor informs you about duplicities (quick warning message after item editing, visual indication)
- Several options for table filtering
- Copying to the clipboard, pasting from clipboard - allows easy transfer of table items between the instances of the application as well as between different applications (eg. Microsoft Excel, text editors, developer tools)
- File preview for currently selected table row
Additional project editing
- Editing the list of included files, the files explicitly included in the resulting help - many filtering options, preview of selected file in the list, transfer to and from the clipboard, drag & drop between different application instances and /or other applications (Windows Explorer, text editor, etc.)
- Window type definitions, including the visual designer (defining buttons, navigation pane tabs, main menu, font, colors, etc.)
- Copying window type definition to the clipboard - allows you to transfer the window type between application instances and /or between other applications (in native Microsoft HHP format)
- Editing the merged external help files list - quick searching, clipboard support, drag & drop support for application instances and / or for Windows Explorer, text editor, etc.
- Direct manual editing of other project sections (INFO TYPES, SUBTYPES)
- CHM - creating a new help project via decompilation of selected Microsoft CHM file
- Project files - searching for existing help projects in the selected folder and their adding into the projects list
- CHM - compiling the help project into the Microsoft CHM format (user defined compiler can be used - hha.dll/hhc.exe)
- WebHelp - creating an online help (support for user defined templates)
- ePUB (e-book) - creating an e-book
- Single document - creating a single html document
- PDF*)
Other tools
- CHM Viewer (browsing the content of CHM file)
- API Tester (for developers: testing the Html Help API - CHM file selection, testing desired context ID, topic file and / or keyword)
- User defined external tools (CHM compiler, html editor, image editor, web browser)
- Modern user interface, wide set of options for setting the "look and feel" (color schemes, panel layouts, tabs style, navigation panel buttons layout, etc.)
- Working with multiple topics in tabs - also more tabs can be opened for other editors and lists (builds list, window type designers, etc.)
- Quick launch - buttons with user defined actions, located directly on the product welcome page
- Global search - searching texts (words) in selected areas of project and application (including topic texts)
- Quick searching (filtering) in all available lists
- Proven model of the Object Inspector, known from many developer tools
- Large set of possibilities in project file selection dialog - different search places, filtering by file type and / or name, browsing compiled help files (CHM) as a folder, etc.
- Tray icon (option to show/hide)
- Possibility of opening the selected topic not only in a defined editor or browser, but also in other applications (associated applications, a list of applications in which the file was last opened)
- Starting with parameters - opening the new application instance
- Wide support for clipboard and mouse dragging functionality - between application instances and / or between Precision Helper and other applications
- Full implementation of Microsoft Html Help Project file format**)
Miscellaneous
- Context-sensitive help - help for specific situations in the application is always displayed in the Help tab
- Html Help Compiler Error Message Reference included
- Product has no special requirements neither for hardware nor for software - see System requirements.
License
- This product is distributed totally FREE ! (see License agreement)
*) See Export into the Adobe PDF file format.
**) Except INFO TYPES a SUBSETS sections (the support for these sections is not fully implemented even in the system CHM Help viewer).
In Precision Helper these sections can be edited manually.