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Using DX 2010 to build HelpStudio content for VS 2010

kendallmiller

19 May 2010 17:32

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 I saw a note in the release notes that said it was possible to use DX 2010 as the build engine for a combined HelpStudio 3 / DX project for Visual Studio 2010.  That said, I can't figure out how to do it.

Here's where I need to end up:  We have an automated build system that needs to produce four versions of the same help with every build:

• Html for a web site
• .CHM for our client application
• Help 2 for VS 2005/2008
• VS 2010 Help

We build it every time since we may introduce an API call at any time.  Now, we use HelpStudio to produce a large block of manual content which also links into the API content at key points, so we have traditionally used HelpStudio 3 to do the builds, which works for the first three in the list above but obviously not for the fourth.

So, how is this supposed to be pulled off exactly?  E.g. how do we set it up (do we still actually use DX 2008 for the configuration of the API help because that's what HelpStudio can integrate with, and then have some magic way of using DX 2010 to do the build from the command line?  If so how to do we get it to add a build profile for 2010 without a stored project?  Sorry to seem daft, but I just can't see a way that gets from here to there repeatably. 

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  Permanently deleted user 28 May 2010 03:44

  You can build all 4 of those outputs from Document! X 2010. Just open up your HelpStudio project in Document! X 2010 and it will include both the conceptual topics and your API documentation items, bringing in your original build profiles to which you can add a new one for VS 2010 help.

  If you need to produce booklet output from HelpStudio then you would need to keep your conceptual content in HelpStudio until we release the new version later this year. If you don't produce booklet output then I would recommend moving your project to Document! X 2010 - you will be able to produce the same output as from HS3/DX2008 with the addition of VS 2010 help.

  Document! X 2010 includes a command line build .exe in the \program files\innovasys\documentx2010\bin directory. The call syntax is:

  Innovasys.DocumentX.CommandLine "c:\path\project.dxp" [/buildconfiguration="buildconfigurationname"]

  The BuildConfiguration parameter is optional – by default it will build the first profile. You can define BuildConfigurations in Document! X 2010 that build different combinations of profiles / locales.