RoboHelp Packager for Adobe AIR

Easy navigation and search

Help system templates based on Adobe AIR are designed with end users in mind and feature high-end navigation features, including mini tables of contents, breadcrumbs, and more. The new Adobe AIR based help also lets end users search and customize help systems.

Compelling, rich, branded user experience

RoboHelp Packager for Adobe AIR provides a compelling and rich user experience. It has templates that help an author package the same content into three different styles: Multi-tab accordion, uni-pane, or the classic tri-pane help. It also assists authors in branding the help application to match corporate branding guidelines. It provides support for adding a company logo and a tagline in the main help window. The application also provides an About box that includes the application's version number, description, copyright notices, logos, and more.

Auto-update

Adobe AIR based help applications provide an auto-update feature that enables you to push updates to all installed connected versions of help. Usually, help content bundled with an application is never updated, whereas the web content is updated with current feature enhancements and additional resources. AIR based help provides you with the option to publish updates for your end users at a common server location. The Adobe AIR based help checks for updates and prompts users to apply them when it detects new or updated content.

Workflow support and personalization

Adobe AIR based help files can be configured in such a way that you can add comments to topics and publish those comments at a common location. These comments will not be uploaded to the server. However, they can be exported to a file and shared with friends over e-mail. In addition, this feature facilitates review workflows regardless of whether reviewers are part of your group or organization.

• Reviewers within your network: Reviewers can publish their comments to an XML file on a shared folder. They can also synchronize the comments from other reviewers on the same network.

• Reviewers outside your network: You can send the AIR file to these reviewers, who can then export their comments to an XML file and send it to you. You can import these comments into your Adobe AIR application.

Merged WebHelp support

RoboHelp Packager for Adobe AIR now supports merged WebHelp. If an author specifies the WebHelp folder of a master project, RoboHelp Packager for Adobe AIR detects and converts all referenced projects in the master project. However, this feature is not as flexible as merged WebHelp. A new package needs to be created every time, even when you update any of the subprojects.

Windows

• Intel® Pentium® 4 processor
• Microsoft® Windows® XP or Windows Vista®
  

Supported authoring environments

• Adobe Dreamweaver® CS3
• Macromedia® Dreamweaver 8 from Adobe
• Microsoft FrontPage 2003
• Macromedia HomeSite® 5.5 from Adobe
• Microsoft Word 2007, Word 2003, Word 2002, and Word 2000
  

Language versions

• English

What is the benefit of RoboHelp Packager for Adobe AIR?

If you are a help author and are using Adobe RoboHelp for HTML help authoring, RoboHelp Packager for Adobe AIR enables you to convert your WebHelp files to Adobe AIR files. As a result, you get a single help file instead of hundreds of files and are able to deliver a virtually seamless experience across operating systems and platform. Your users will be able to access the help file both online and offline.

Are there any special requirements for downloading RoboHelp Packager for Adobe AIR?

No, RoboHelp Packager for Adobe AIR is a free utility and anyone with a valid license for Adobe RoboHelp 7 or Adobe Technical Communication Suite software can download and install it.

How do I install RoboHelp Packager for Adobe AIR?

Refer to the getting started section of this page for instructions on how to download and install RoboHelp Packager for Adobe AIR.

What are the requirements for installing RoboHelp Packager for Adobe AIR?

Review the system requirements section of this page for more information.

What WebHelp files can be converted using this tool?

All WebHelp files generated using Adobe RoboHelp 7 can be converted to an Adobe AIR file. This includes WebHelp generated when Adobe FrameMaker® documents have been added as live links in Adobe RoboHelp 7 as part of Adobe Technical Communication Suite.

Is it necessary to have the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) installed when viewing an Adobe AIR based help application?

You need JRE installed only when you are generating an Adobe AIR file from WebHelp. JRE is not necessary to run an Adobe AIR application. However, your users will need to have the Adobe AIR runtime installed in order to run an Adobe AIR application.

Why do I need to digitally sign my AIR based help application?

Signing your application is important to instill trust, much like an SSL certificate for a web server allows for secure web sites and instills trust in users providing private information like their credit card information. People will feel more comfortable installing an application if it comes from a source they can trust. And since an AIR application needs to be installed on a user's system, developers are required to digitally sign their applications with a security certificate from a certificate authority, such as Thawte or VeriSign.

Will an Adobe AIR based help file support context-sensitive help?

Yes. For details on which APIs to use for context-sensitive help, refer to the in-product documentation.

Which languages are supported by RoboHelp Packager for Adobe AIR?

At this time, RoboHelp Packager for Adobe AIR supports U.S. English only.