The Manuals Machine is still under development. It has been in use by SMH Systems and its consulting clients, and a community of test users, for some time. Functionality is complete, but work is continuing to improve the documentation and to improve packaging of the web-based service.
Availability is currently restricted to our clients, and to professionals working in the documentation area who wish to use The Manuals Machine and contribute to our test programme. If you wish to obtain access for this purpose, please contact us.
When our development and packaging work is complete we intend to release The Manuals Machine as a shareware product.
Windows Version with Author/Editor Capability
The normal version of The Manuals Machine Reader is an HTML Application for Windows. It starts as a Reader and can be switched in and out of Author/Editor Mode on the fly.
This version is an HTML Application (HTA file), not a web page (HTM file). HTAs are a packaged form of web page, defined by Microsoft specifically to enable construction of thin-client applications based on HTML and Javascript technology and which can have system privileges that are denied to web pages - such as file system access, obviously necessary in order to save changes and to generate TOC files and other Volume control structures.
HTAs must be executed from file system (including network server) - they cannot be run from a web server. To use The Manuals Machine, you simply place a copy of the MM1.hta file on a location of your choice, and execute it. You also provide a simple configuration file in the same folder, to tell the Reader where to locate the Volumes.
Multi-Platform Readers
Two versions of the Manuals Machine Reader are available as HTM files, to run from web servers. One of these is for Internet Explorer under Windows only; it provides identical Reader functionality to the HTML Application but cannot be used for authoring. The second version operates under both IE and Mozilla Firefox, but does not currently include some advanced functions for which necessary underlying support is not yet available in Mozilla.
Help Screen Version
A version of the IE/Mozilla version is available in a packaging specifically intended for delivery of Help Screens from a web server. This has the Viewer pane, but does not display Table of Contents or Index. It can be launched by a requesting application which can specify the initial page to display.
Pocket PC Reader
A version of The Manuals Machine Reader for Pocket PC is under development. This operates on the standard Volume structure, but can display XML and HTML pages only. XML pages can be the Standard Document Type, or could be other document types for which stylesheets are provided. Volumes can be situated on the Pocket PC or on a web server.
Support of the Standard Document Type is limited to those constructions that can be rendered successfully on the Pocket PC's limited screen space. These include paragraphs and headings, bullet lists, single inline images, and 2-column tables. Placeholders are shown for elements that cannot be rendered - so complex pages do not fail, they just are not shown in full. Table-of-Contents and Alpha Index functions are also restricted to practicable subsets.
Web Application
The only form in which the Author/Editor and Admin Tools will be available is as a web-based application.
When the Reader morphs in the Author/Editor form, all necessary programs are loaded on demand from a Manuals Machine Website. Because the load units are small, and because they will be cached by the Windows built-in browser functions and by proxy servers, there is no perceptible delay after first access to any function.
Standalone Application
We have no plans to offer an installable standalone version of the Author/Editor. For users who wish to use it in mobile situations where there is no internet access, we plan to provide a caching mechanism. This will maintain a local copy of the Author/Editor functions and will check and refresh it when an internet connection is available.
No registration or payment of license fees is required to use any versions of the Reader, or to use the Author/Editor for smaller Volumes.
To work on larger Volumes you will probably need a registered copy of The Manuals Machine. When you register we send you a registration file which is customised is for the person or company that applied for it. You simply put the registration file into the folder from which you execute the MM1.hta file. Registration requires payment of a fees.
Without the registration file, the Author/Editor and the Admin Package set limits on the size of structures that can be developed, and may limit access to some of the online documentation. More Info.
Registration fees vary according to type of user and dimensions of the product deployment; corporate users are normally licensed on a site basis. Special licensing is available for developers of products and documentation, which enables their branding to be displayed when The Manuals Machine starts up. More Info.
Except where provided by SMH Systems to its clients, The Manuals Machine shareware/freeware version is supplied "as is" without any claim as to fitness-for-purpose, and without warranty, support, promise of future upgrades or promise of compatibility with future versions of Windows, Internet Explorer or other software. The documentation are the User Guides and Help Screens; please ensure before committing to The Manuals Machine that you read the pages on security, which cover coexistence with anti-virus and other security software, and internet domain security.
Product that is supplied to SMH's clients is warranted and supported as detailed in the documentation for the engagement. What that means is: if you're our consulting customer, we'll look after you, seven days a week.
Support documentation including information about bugs, limitations and workarounds are posted on the website, together with any available downloads.
This page is currently under redevelopment.