AmigaGuide - embedded pictures possible?

Are they?

If yes, how...i don't seem to find any documentation about it.

If no, why not?
I mean, AmigaGuide already uses datatypes, it should be dead easy to add embedded pictures...(says the guy who can't code)

@Raziel

It is with OS3.2!

@Chris

Isn't OS3.2 and OS4.whatever suppose to be on the "same" level of development (when it comes to system components)?

If amigaguide.library was updated on OS3.2 to support embedded pictures, shouldn't it also on OS4.whatsthenumberagain?

@Raziel

It was always in the spec but never supported until the new 3.2 version. I guess if we're lucky we'll get an OS4.1 mini update eventually which will bring in the features where 3.2 has actually moved ahead.

@NinjaCyborg

but...but...i want it NOW

Beside the fact it would be a satisfying achievement pictures in AmigaGuide documents would it worth the hassle on NG machines?
If I can see an advantage for low end classic machines which may have performances concern, on NG machines we could use html which is more powerful and standard... I would say that the only thing we need is an official up-to-date html.datatype to avoid opening a browser

@abalaban

Web browsers and PDF's are slow, so yes it be nice to have something like AmigaGuide with picture support.

@abalaban

Plus, it's kind of a Amiga thing, why not keep some stuff just out of nostalgia?

@abalaban

"Only thing" is quite a big thing. AmigaGuide is about as sophisticated as HTML 1.0 - Enhancer comes with a simple HTML datatype for OS4. Maybe their OS3 version will also come with one if it ever ships.

@abalaban

Quote:
I still think AmigaGuide is a good solution for program documentation and help: fast and slick, unlike viewing HTML in a browser. Would be great to see further improvements in the format.

I did know that I would generate such reaction with my comment. AmigaGuide is cool, AmigaGuide is fast for sure. It could have been a fantastic format for documentation but let's face it, it did not evolved since the death of Commodore. Even Microsoft has dumped its proprietary help format (CHM). Today even on AmigaOS-4 some software come with PDF or Html help. I am not advocating for full fledged html 5 with CSS and Javascript support this would be overkill solution for application documentation. Just the "minimal" Html 4 is sufficient and far more powerful for this: who said table? Who said native image support? Who said background image? Who said automatic layout? All these features come automatically with html while they need a serious amount of work to integrate into AmigaGuide. And such kind of Html is not slow: remember AWeb? IBrowse or Voyager? All of them were fast to render pure HTML.

Moreover it requires to be edited by hand in a text editor while even on amiga classic we had some tips to edit html.

html 3 is probably the practical limit

@trixie
Quote:

I agree, AmigaGuide is perfect. I'd like to compare it with the man pages of *nix systems. I don't think offline HTML makes sense at all.

@abalaban

There are a few things that AmigaGuide is missing, sure (I would argue we definitely do not need background images, and AmigaGuide is fine at layouting with @smartwrap - tables would be nice though). I don't think replacing it with HTML is the right way to go; AmigaGuide has a big advantage that amigaguide.library allows programs to open help files at a contextually useful node. The fact it is a single file is also very convenient.

Any HTML support would have to be basic and would not give much benefit over AmigaGuide. Also it would be a lot of work. Better to give AmigaGuide a few needed enhancements.

@Chris

Quote:
One thing I don't like about the AmigaGuide Library is the fact that the AmigaGuide context you initialize is tied to a particular screen. This is very inconvenient now that programs can travel between screens, thanks to the screen jumping feature in the Window Class. So with every screen change you need to dispose of the AmigaGuide context and re-establish it in reference to the new screen.

A possible approach is what I have done in my AmigaGuide Class (I think you've seen the code), which hides the library internals behind the BOOPSI wall and makes your help file happily oblivious of the screen it's going to open on. I might revisit the class code if there's interest and if OS4 development gets back on track after all the legal mess.

@trixie

Yes, I use it. amigaguide.class is something which should be part of the OS.

@trixie
Quote:
I've used this as well in my programs as it provides easy async help as well. Maybe you could make a deal with AEON to distribute it as part of the Enhancer package?