FINAL BETA: New HTML-to-EXE eBook compiler for download

[Alexander Halser]

How do we integrate this new format into Visual Objects?

Do a command line call with the internal page as the first parameter. There's detailed information about this in the online help (application menu -> help). You can do multiple command line calls, because multiple instances are automatically prevented by the viewer.

what is the rough timeline for the finished app?

April/May 2014.

[jgodfrey]

Alexander,

First - great idea. I always liked the idea of a self-contained eBook format, but was always turned off by the limited look/feel/capabilities of the existing viewer. While I haven't spent much time on this yet, I just tried it and ran into a snag. It seems that the app successfully created an eBook (no issues shown in the compilation log and the output file was created), but when I run the resulting EXE, I never "see" anything. That is, the book never opens any visible interface. Looking in the Task Manager, I can see that it's running, but nothing shows up on-screen.

I even moved the book to another PC, but get the same results.

Thoughts?

Jeff

[Martin Wynne]

Hi Alexander,

I downloaded http://download.ec-software.com/ewriter-beta-07.zip several times, and when extracted I keep getting "The Compressed (zipped) folder is invalid." (Windows7/64).

I managed to extract eWriter.exe using the zip repair tool from: http://www.diskinternals.com/zip-repair/

But I still can't open the eWriter.chm file ("Windows cannot complete the extraction").

Is the download corrupt, or am I missing something?

eWriter.exe is looking very good so far -- excellent.

p.s. Tim this forum section won't accept BBcode or attachments?

regards,

Martin.

[Tim Green]

Hi Martin,

You must be getting a bad copy from a proxy server or something like that. I just downloaded it again and there are no issues, and it's identical to the last copy I downloaded.

[Alexander Halser]

Sorry for the inconvenience! We have updated the download package in the meantime and fixed the zip problem.

New download link:
http://download.ec-software.com/ewriter-beta-08.zip

[Martin Wynne]

Sorry for the inconvenience! We have updated the download package in the meantime and fixed the zip problem.

New download link:
http://download.ec-software.com/ewriter-beta-08.zip

Many thanks Alexander. Just downloaded and extracted ok, but now no CHM help file?

regards,

Martin.

[Tim Green]

Hi Martin,

I've just updated the permissions for the announcements forum. Smilies, attachments, BBCode and downloads should now be possible.

[jgodfrey]

Alexander,

I just tried the new 0.8 version in case it had anything to do with my previously reported issue. However, the compiled book still doesn't produce any visible window.

Jeff

[Martin Wynne]

Hi Martin,

I've just updated the permissions for the announcements forum. Smilies, attachments, BBCode and downloads should now be possible.

Thanks Tim.

[Alexander Halser]

Just downloaded and extracted ok, but now no CHM help file?

Now with help file:
http://download.ec-software.com/ewriter-beta-09.zip

[Martin Wynne]

Now with help file:
http://download.ec-software.com/ewriter-beta-09.zip

Many thanks Alexander. All fine now.

Martin.

[jonemac]

Hi Alexander,

Just ran v1.0 on a Windows 8.1 Pro machine and it worked like a champ!

I tried both an H&M HTML project as well as a template based website in a local folder and both worked exactly as described.

I'm going to create a mock up website with lots of stuff (javascript, mp3, flash etc..) just to see what happens...

Great job!

[Mike Linacre]

Alexander, the text pages worked well for me (including relevant Javascript), but ...

here is what clicking on the Search Tab displayed:

<?php
// ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
// Zoom Search Engine 6.0 (12/May/2009)
// PHP search script
// A fast custom website search engine using pre-indexed data files.
// Copyright (C) Wrensoft 2000 - 2009
//
// This script is designed for PHP 4.2+ only.
//
.......

[Larry Nelson]

H&M_New_eBook_output_problem_3Feb2014.png (59.12 KiB) Viewed 8267 times

Users of our software have shown a great propensity to download ePUB versions of our manuals, which I at first found quite surprising given that our systems are Windows-based -- I guess it's just another indicator of how popular the iPad is. I was keen to try out the new eBook compiler to see what it produced, and how easy it was to use. It does look promising ....

My initial trail (sample output included above), however, shows a problem I've been having when using IE11 on a Windows 8.1 machine: the first line of the topic text is superimposed on the topic title (this is often the case; refreshing the page will fix it).

Another initial comment is that the new e-book output strikes me as being less clean than the old format, not as crisp. This apparent disadvantage may well be offset by the new format's inclusion of breadcrumbs -- I myself wouldn't be without them. I'll be doing some more experiments, and, of course, trying to get a more complete understanding of all the advantages of the new system.

[Tim Green]

Hi Mike,

Alexander, the text pages worked well for me (including relevant Javascript), but ...
here is what clicking on the Search Tab displayed:

That's normal because you have PHP configured as the search platform for your WebHelp. PHP is server-side technology that is not available on the mini server inside the eBook reader. The problem will go away if you configure it with JavaScript as the search platform in Configuration > Publishing Options > WebhHelp: Full Text Search (in your project if you are not using a skin, in your skin if you are.

IMPORTANT: If you are integrating the full version of Zoom you need to change the platform setting in your Zoom configuration file.