The TipLink Tool Suite - Part III, the TipLink Navigator/Editor

Great news for users of CapeSoft's Ezhelp product!

The TipLink Navigator / Editor is here.

If you have been using Ezhelp, then you know that it adds a whole new dimension to your help system by providing users with the ability to right-click a control and get help from the "What's this?" menu.

Now thanks to the TipLink Navigator / Editor, maintaining your Ezhelp data just got a whole lot easier!

The problem...

When you first start using Ezhelp, there is a utility template that quickly exports all of your tooltip help from your application to "jump start" the process of adding meaningful content to your Ezhelp system.

However this is a one-time savings because as soon as you start using the Ezhelp editor to improve the formatting or change the content - your ability to generate from that template is over. If you regenerate, you lose all the changes you made with the editor.

This means that anytime you add controls or chance help in your Clarion program, you have to manually go through the application, locate each new (or changed) control and add or update the Ezhelp data content for it.

The solution...

The TipLink Navigator is a component of the TipLink Reporter that makes it easy to:

• Compare TipLink data to your existing Ezhelp data file
   
• Export all Tooltips from TipLink to create a new Ezhelp data file 
   
• Synchronize Tooltips from TipLink with an existing Ezhelp data file 
   
• Edit Ezhelp data directly from the TipLink Reporter

Here is how it works:

Once you have exported the Tooltips from your application and imported them into TipLink, you can import your existing Ezhelp data file. TipLink Navigator will quickly show you any tooltips that have been added to your application, but are still missing from your Ezhelp data files. It will also show you any entries that are not the same.

After you import the Ezhelp data, you can see a side-by-side view of the data from your application and the data in the Ezhelp file.

Then with the click of one button you can add a filter to display ONLY those controls where the content is missing or different.

This makes it simple to find the items that need to be updated.

Exporting TipLink Data to Ezhelp

The TipLink Navigator makes it easy to create a new Ezhelp file at any time.

The best way to process your tooltips into Ezhelp content is to start out by exporting the data from your application to the TipLink Reporter, then make any changes or additions to your tooltips as needed.

When you are sure that you have all the tooltips in place, use the EZExport feature in TipLink Navigator to create your new Ezhelp file for you.

The export process makes an automatic backup of your existing Ezhelp data file to prevent you from accidentally losing any custom editing you may have done with the Ezhelp editor.

Synchronizing TipLink Data with Ezhelp Data

It is not uncommon for you to make changes to your program after you have done manual editing of your Ezhelp content. However to restore the balance between your program tooltips and the Ezhelp data, the data in the Ezhelp file needs to be updated.

Without TipLink this means that you can not use the utility template that ships with Ezhelp to generate a new data file without losing your changes. As a result you have to go through each screen in your program, activate the Ezhelp for each control and check to see that it is up to date. This process can take hours and is very prone to mistakes.

The good news is that TipLink can safely synchronize TipLink data with your existing Ezhelp data file.

This means that you can quickly add new entries to your Ezhelp data file without needing to type them manually!

When you use the EZSynch feature of TipLink you see:

This process once again backs up your Ezhelp data file for safe keeping.

Then you are in total control of the synchronization process.

You can choose to NOT synchronize Ezhelp data for controls that already have content (that does not match the content in the TipLink database), ALWAYS synchronize (the same as exporting a new file) or to PROMPT.

If you choose the PROMPT mode, you get to decide on a one-by-one basis as shown here:

(Note - you would only see this for controls that had existing content in the Ezhelp file that did not match the TipLink data.  Data for new controls would be automatically synchronized).

Editing Ezhelp Data Directly Inside TipLink

One of the really great benefits that TipLink brings to Ezhelp users is the ability to edit Ezhelp content directly from within the TipLink Navigator.

This means that instead of needing to open EVERY screen and visit EVERY control in your application, you can do it all in a nice linear fashion from within TipLink!

All you have to do is select a entry from the browse:

 Then click the DISPLAY button:

The TipLink Navigator will use Ezhelp to open your data file and display the correct content for the selected control.

If you leave the Ezhelp window open you can use the NEXT and PREVIOUS buttons to "walk" the data.

When you come to a entry that you want to change, just click Alt+E to edit:

... or Alt+C to format:

Click here to view the complete TipLink help online

It has been said before and we'll say it again:

If you use Ezhelp,
the TipLink Navigator will pay for itself the very first time you use it!

Still working in C5 or C55???

We realize that many developers still have old applications in C55 or even C5. Also there are some developers who have not yet made the transition to Clarion 6.xx. 

For this reason we have made every reasonable effort to make products backwards compatible.  However some parts of the suite (such as the Tooltip Synchronization Template) make use of thread-safe features in C6 and may not be available in earlier versions.

Got DLL's?

The TipLink Tool Suite works fine with both Single EXE and Multi-DLL programs.

Requirements

To make it possible for you to get the most out of the TipLink Tool Suite, we split things up as much as possible and our installer supports C5, C55 and C6.

• The TipLink synchronization template requires Clarion Version 6.xx to provide thread safe communications.
• The Utility Template ships as a standalone template that is compatible with C5, C55 and C6xx. 
• The TipLink Reporter analysis program is not dependent on any Clarion version.
• All TipLink Tools work with both Single EXE and Multi-DLL applications
• There are no blackbox DLL's, but the TipLink analysis tool is a standalone EXE (source not provided)
• Everything is well documented

Pricing and Updates

The TipLink Tools Suite sells for $24.95 USD and comes with free updates for a minimum of one year.

"Remember - The TipLink Tool Suite consists of TipLink TipSynch, TipLink Reporter, and TipLink Navigator & Editor ( for Ezhelp) - all included for one low price!"

LANSRAD wants you to be completely satisfied and offers a 30 day "No questions asked" money back guarantee.  You can buy now with confidence.

Buy the TipLink Tool Suite today!

LANSRAD wants you to be completely satisfied and offers a 30 day "No questions asked" money back guarantee.  You can buy now with confidence.

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