Welcome to AG Author, a full-featured authoring environment for designing Apple Guide help files.
• If you have purchased AG Author and are now launching the software for the first time, thank you for your purchase. The enclosed software is fully functional. Please be sure to visit the Lakewood Software web site on a periodic basis to learn more about updates and upgrades to AG Author. There may very well be an update available for AG Author as you read this.
To receive timely update notices and special upgrade pricing, please take a moment to register your purchase with us. Register via e:mail by sending your name, mailing address, telephone, e:mail address, and serial & registration numbers to register@lakewoodsoftware.com.
• If you are a registered user of AG Author and are updating the software (by downloading the latest release from our web site), please follow the update instructions given below.
• If you are not a registered user of AG Author, but have downloaded the AG Author software for evaluation purposes, please note that the software is distributed to unregistered users as a demo application. You will not be able to compile any of the projects you create with the demo version.
AG Author can be purchased from several retailers. Please visit our web site for an up-to-date listing of our vendors.
Update Instructions
When AG Author is first launched, you may be asked to confirm that you are updating the application from a previously registered version of AG Author. If you are not a registered user of AG Author, click No. If you are a registered user of AG Author:
1. Click Yes.
2. Enter the last five digits of the old version's serial number and click OK.
3. Click on the Register button, enter the old version's registration number, and click OK.
4. Click on the splash screen to close it.
5. Choose File - Open Project and open the "Project Template" file to update it to the latest version. Other projects will automatically be updated when they are opened.
Technical Support & Contact Information
Technical support for registered users is generally handled via e:mail. The typical response time for technical support queries is 2-3 hours, if not sooner. Please contact Lakewood Software at:
web: http://www.lakewoodsoftware.com
e:mail: support@lakewoodsoftware.com
For all other inquiries, please e:mail us at info@lakewoodsoftware.com.
Important Notices
The AG Author software is accompanied by an on-line User's Guide. Choose Navigation -> Show Index to quickly move to different sections of the User's Guide. Please take a moment to review the installation instructions for AG Author which are included in the User's Guide.
AG Author 1.1 receives a significant performance boost when running under Mac OS 8 and is now fully compatable with the latest operating system (unlike earlier versions of AG Author).
AG Author does not itself ship with Apple Guide help because the development tool that was used to build AG Author does not currently support Apple Guide. Apple Guide help will immediately be provided for AG Author should such support be added in the future.
AG Author performance can be adversely affected by some third party extensions (and some non-native extensions on PowerMac computers). If you experience sluggish performance with AG Author, consider disabling all unneeded extensions and rebooting the computer. AG Author performance can also be improved by upgrading to the latest version of the Mac OS (System 7.5.5 as of this writing).
Always reference associated PICT images for Nav Button definitions by Resource. Our tests have shown that the current version of Apple's "Guide Maker Lite" application (v. 1.2.5) generates an error when attempting to compile nav button definitions which are referenced by File.
AG Author ships with a number of pre-defined Apple-recommended Panel Format, Prompt Set, Nav Button, Nav Button Set, Event, and Context Check definitions. A number of these definitions are referenced by the optional templates for creating panel scripts. Do not delete or change the name of these definitions if you will be using the template feature when you create panel scripts.
A new option is available in the Preferences window. Enable Sort on Find to automatically sort scripts and text blocks before performing a Find operation via the Find & Replace palette.
The Hot Object, Hot Rectangle, and Hot Text pop-down menu items in the Panel Script Editor have been replaced by a single Hot Item menu item.
On Panel… insertions in the Script Editor can now reference built-in Apple Guide events and import AppleScript and sound resources.
Quick Start
If you are an experienced Apple Guide developer, you can follow the steps below to quickly start working with AG Author:
1. Install the AG Author application.
2. Launch AG Author.
3. Choose Edit - Preferences to customize the global settings for AG Author.
4. Choose File - New Project - Full to create a Full Access type guide file project.
5. Choose Edit - Project Globals to specify the global settings for the guide file.
6. Choose Window - Definition Factory to open the Definition Factory window. Use the Definition Factory to create the various definitions that will be referenced or inserted into scripts in the guide file.
7. Choose Window - List Manager to open the List Manager window. Click on the Topics, Index, and Lists buttons to navigate between the three List Manager views. Use the Topics and Index views to specify the topic areas, index terms, headers, and topics for the guide file. Use the Lists view to specify the Ignore, Exception, and Synonym lists for the guide file.
8. For each topic in the List Manager, select the topic and click on the New button (at the bottom of the List Manager window). This will create a new sequence script in the Script Editor window. Each sequence will be automatically associated with the selected topic.
9. Choose File - Compile Project to compile the project into a guide file. Review the Compile Log, test the guide file, and debug as required.
Version History
1.2
- improves Mac OS 8.5 compatability
- adds appearance manager support
1.1
- improves Mac OS 8 compatability
1.0.7
- adds an error trap for definition names that exceed 23 characters
1.0.6
- adds functionality for built-in Apple Guide events (including the import of AppleScript and sound resources) when specifying an On Panel… statement in the Script Editor window
- corrects the syntax of inserted On Panel… statements in the Script Editor window
- adds functionality for updating registered copies of the application and projects to the latest version
Apple, AppleScript, Macintosh, Power Macintosh, and QuickTime are trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
