Developer(s) IBE Software Operating system | Written in Delphi Platform PC | |
Initial release December 2004; 12 years ago (2004-12) Stable release 4.9.2.132 / January 12, 2016; 13 months ago (2016-01-12) | ||
HelpNDoc is a Windows-based help authoring tool published by French company IBE Software.
Contents
Features
HelpNDoc allows the writer to create a single source text which it then converts to a number of target formats such as HTML Help, PDF, RTF, DocX, Qt Help, and HTML documentations as well as EPUB and Amazon Kindle compatible E-books. HelpNDoc integrates a full-featured WYSIWYG editor which aims to look like popular word processing software such as Microsoft Word or OpenOffice.org Writer.
It also allows the user to style their documents similar to Microsoft word. This editor is backed up by a table of content and keyword editor and a library of shared media elements. These make it easier to apply changes to keywords or media items to the whole document at once.
The overall look of the application closely mimics the final CHM output display in the Microsoft HTML help viewer.
To create CHM help files, HelpNDoc generates intermediary files and relies on Microsoft's HTML Help Workshop to generate the final help files. Other formats are natively generated by HelpNDoc.
The major focus of HelpNDoc is the ease of use for the end user. This is why most of the application is available through the main window, with a minimum of dialogs.
Advanced features
HelpNDoc has the ability to include variables and external files. It also has the ability to generate code for the C++, Delphi, Fortran, Pascal and Visual Basic programming languages to ease the integration of the generated CHM help files with the application being developed.
As of version 4 HelpNDoc comes with a project analyzer that can track the document’s layout, provide useful statistics and identify potential problems such as broken links or problems with media items. HelpNDoc can also be used to publish fully functional iPhone websites, using the table of contents as a navigation menu, the content of the topics with navigation buttons, the keyword index menu, a built-in search engine, and iPhone specific user interface elements.
Licensing terms
HelpNDoc's licensing model offers a free version of the program for personal use, and two paid versions (Standard and Professional editions) for commercial use. The free version includes a discreet ad at the bottom of each generated documentation page while the professional edition doesn't. The standard edition removes those ads from the CHM and HTML generated documentation.
History
HelpNDoc 1.0 was released to the public on December 2004 and only provided CHM and HTML documentation generation, while version 2.0 was officially released on May 2009 and introduces PDF and RTF documentation generation. The last version, 4.9 was released in January 2016 The complete release history includes: