Re: Any suggestion about INTERACTIVE tutorial's making?

Subject: Re: Any suggestion about INTERACTIVE tutorial's making?
From: "Wing, Michael J" <mjwing -at- INGR -dot- COM>
Date: Thu, 8 Jan 1998 11:28:23 -0600

> I would be very interested in making INTERACTIVE tutorials like the
> CBT
> used by the old versions of MS Office. <snip>
>
> My interest is related to the fact that this kind of programs seemed
> to
> be able to use the REAL software, maybe by using a script recording
> mechanism like AppleScript or something like that. <snip>
>
> Does anybody know how these CBT were made? Any personal
> comment/suggestion regarding this topic?
>
> Alessandro Bottoni
>
Alessandro;

I'm not writing a tutorial; however, I writing an interactive
Programmer's manual. The product I am documenting is a computer-based
mapping application. It has an exposed automation layer that allows the
user to write their own commands or to drive the product through VB,
Delphi, C++, PowerBuilder, and so forth.

I am writing the document in HTML using FrontPage. Through the document
the user can execute example code. The code manipulates the
application. It brings up dialog boxes which they can fill out,
extracts and displays feature data, and so forth. I placed fill-in
fields, lists, etc ... in the HTML document which they can enter/select
information and then manipulate the product using the information as
parameter values. The results display in the application.

I also have illustrations that interact with the user. For example, I
have a section on spatial relationships between features. The
illustration shows the two sets of feature data as they originally
appear. When the user clicks from a list of spatial operators (such as
intersects) in the HTML document, the illustration is replaced with the
'after' version of the feature data.

My document requires a browser that handles dynamic HTML and VBScript.
(We incorporate a browser in the application which does so). VBScript
is integrated in the HTML documents and drives the mapping application
through its automation layer. The dynamic HTML is also manipulated
through VBScript and produces the effects seen in the document (such as
switching images, hiding/displaying paragraphs and fields, and so
forth).

Mike

Michael Wing (mailto:mjwing -at- ingr -dot- com)
Principal Technical Writer
Intergraph Corporation; Huntsville, Alabama
http://www.ingr.com/iss/products/mapping/
(205) 730-7250




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