AkelPad Documentation

[Surveyor]

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▓ DOCUMENTATION Links
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▓ Documents now being posted (officially) at:
▓ http://akelpad.sourceforge.net/files/docs/
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▓ and unofficially (newest and pre-release versions!) at:
▓http://members.shaw.ca/atbcls/akelpad/
▓ Current User Manual available is:
▓ - v12.11.20 (for AkelPad 4.8.0 - November 20, 2012), and
▓ - v1.2.7 (for AkelPad 3.7.0)
▓
▓Macro compiler/decompiler (MacTool) also available at above webpage
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Hello! Surveyor (new member) here.

I am amazed at AkelPad's capabilities, but the documentation "leaves much to be desired". I have some time (semi-retired) and some skill at this, so I have undertaken to compile a User Manual in compiled HTML (.chm file). I can't figure out how to attach what I have done so far, so I have emailed "Instructor" with a copy. I would be happy to continue in this work, and possibly document plugins, as well.

BUT, in order to continue, I will need some questions answered from time to time. For now, the 2 things I can't figure out properly are:

1. in the Find or Replace dialog, how do you enter HEX code for searching?
2. Window/Tabs/left-right (in MDI mode) What does it do?

Also, if you find this project suitable, it would be nice to include a help file in the packages, and add a menu item to the Help menu (only About there now). Context-sensitive help is also possible, but not really necessary, I think (requires additional source code modifications, of course).

If you find my file satisfactory (preliminary only, for now, but gives an idea of what can be done), could you post it to the Forum so that others may have a look and comment? Thanks - great work in creating AkelPad. There is a lot more power to it than casual users will see, especially once plugins are used!

- Surveyor

[Surveyor]

A preliminary copy of the User Manual (documentation) can be downloaded at:

http//mypage.direct.ca/a/atbcls/temp/AkelPad_v3.4.7_User_Manual.chm.zip
link now void, see top of thread

Work continues in completing the first release, and reducing the size of the CHM file by modifying the images (which make up most of the size). Images are important to the ease of use.

Note
Instructor has kindly placed a copy of the preliminary documentation at:
link now void, see top of thread
I will update this with him as work progresses.
The link at mypage may disappear in the future, if I get a new ISP!

- Surveyor

[Surveyor]

Surveyor here - greetings from Canada!

I have been busy on the documentation; my wife slips food under the door occasionally and I sleep at my desk (just kidding...).

Here is another preliminary version (v0.2) which can be obtained at the following links:

AkelPad-Eng.chm - 349 KB
AkelPad-Eng-lean.chm - 267 KB
links now void, see top of thread
The "lean" version is identical to the normal one, except images have been altered to conserve space.

As before, I trust that Instructor will be posting these updates at:
http://akelpad.sourceforge.net/files/docs/

I appeal to readers/members for some assistance on a few upcoming topics in the manual. I would appreciate any thoughts you have regarding

• info related to Settings -> default codepage and codepage recognition
• hyperlinks - how to create, how they work
• a method to migrate ALL existing registry settings to an INI file, for portablility. Currently, I think some visual settings are not "picked up"when you change from registry to INI.
• typos, additions, subtractions or corrections in the current text

If you have comments or can help, post a reply or send me an email. Thanks.

- Surveyor

[Instructor]

Emails returns back.

info related to Settings -> default codepage and codepage recognition

Default codepage:
When no code page detected, file openning in default code page. Initially AkelPad set default code page as the system default ANSI code page.

Codepage filter:
Manages code page list that apeared in Open/Save dialog and in status bar context menu (F12).

Codepage recognition:
It is the special algorithm for recognize ANSI (non-Unicode) files. For example, Russian PC community uses 3 ANSI code pages 1251, 866, 20866. If "codepage recognition" set to none, then AkelPad detect only Unicode files with BOM and UTF-16LE, UTF-16BE without BOM.

Codepage recognition buffer:
How many characters will be tested.

hyperlinks - how to create, how they work

When you turn-on hyperlinks option, AkelPad will detect next prefixes:
http: file: mailto: ftp: https: gopher: nntp: prospero: telnet: news: wais:
For example, if you type http://akelpad.sourceforge.net/forum/ AkelPad will highlight it and you can click on it. Note: url detection will slow down file openning.

a method to migrate ALL existing registry settings to an INI file, for portablility. Currently, I think some visual settings are not "picked up"when you change from registry to INI.

From history:
>AkelPad 3.3.3
>Changed: if edit font, print font, background color and text color didn't changed by user, then they don't >writing in program settings.

Overview:
1 AkelPad stores recent file history (unless set to 0) and recent search history (even if set to 0 - empty keys are still created on usage) in the registry.

Fixed

Edit/Replace:
The replacement text need not be the same length (ie. number of characters) as the search text.

User can sucessfully replace "321" with "123".

View/Language:
The zip archive (AkelPad-3.4.7-bin-eng.zip) contains a "compiled in English" version, while the installer package (AkelPad-3.4.7-setup.exe) is "compiled in Russian"!

This is AkelPad-3.4.7-setup.exe only compiling omission. In 3.4.8 and in versions before 3.4.7 executable compiled in English.

[Surveyor]

(drum roll, please!)

Version 1.0 (final) of the new User Manual is now released! It should be posted on the "/docs" site soon - see first message of this thread for the link. In the meantime, try the other links for "AkelPad-Eng.chm" and "AkelPad-Eng-lean.chm" - they are no longer preliminary.

The final version has not been completely reviewed by Instructor; check back for any revisions, although they should be minor.

This has been a worthwhile project - AkelPad is an excellent tool!

- Surveyor

[Surveyor]

Message to all AkelPad users,

Documentation is now being posted in 2 places:
- on my freebie ISP website immediately, and
- on the AkelPad Sourceforg site, although there may be a 1-2 day delay, depending on circumstances.

See top of this thread for links to both places. Special thanks to Instructor for his usual prompt response and help in the documentation. I know that real life (work, families, etc) sometimes interferes with the fun things we really want to do - like programming!

- Surveyor

[Surveyor]

A small supplement has been posted for the recent update to AkelPad 3.5.1.

I intend to release "a few" supplements, then integrate them into a new version of the User Manual in the future, in order save users (and me!) some effort.

Update - supplement idea is not practical; I hope to update manual as new features, etc. are added. ( Apr 1/08 )

- Surveyor

[DV]

IMHO, Command line parameters must exist as separate section because it is related to general AkelPad's features. IMHO again, it has nothing in common with Installation issues.

[Surveyor]

To DV,

Thanks for your comments - you are the first (other than Instructor) to reply! You are probably right; I included that section there near the end of my preparation of the user guide. I will (undoubtedly!) be releasing an update for new features/changes as they occur - I will consider moving that section to its own "appendix".

- Surveyor

[Surveyor]

Surveyor here!

My last (posted) revision of the documentation was "way back" on April 1st, 2008 and was current for AkelPad version 3.5.4. I see that much work has been done in AkelPad since then! At that time I was involved with

1. retirement and winding down my business, and
2. moving (some distance)

so my time was spread "pretty thin". I am now officially retired and officially moved so I would like to continue with the AkelPad documentation project, since AkelPad is an EXCELLENT tool and is continually under development and improvement.

Stay tuned (hopefully) for the following future documentation:

• User Manual updated to version 4.x.x
• addition of a separate manual to cover (some!) plugins. A little taste of this can be found at http://akelpad.sourceforge.net/files/docs.
  Take note: my affiliation with "direct.ca" has been discontinued and any links to my former "site" may be invalid. See new link at top of this forum!

REQUEST - I would appreciate ANY thoughts, help or "ramblings" (on documentation) AkelPad users can provide. Send your comment to this forum, or by email (link on my profile is now updated to my current email address). THANKS!

- Surveyor

[Instructor]

Waiting for a new releases!

[u_u86]

Documentation amazing! Helped me to learn some hidden tricks and understand what mean few commands. Thanks to author for perfectly work!

[infimum]

Truly amazing work, Surveyor. Very well written.

For those who are reading this, there is also Plugins Manual available in the Plugins section.

[Surveyor]

Thank you all (Instructor, u_u86, city_zen, infimum and others) for the kind words!

Preparation (and maintenance) of the manuals is a fair bit of work, but I think it is a worthy project. I am a big fan of freeware and open source software in general, but much of it suffers from the same illness , ...

[KDJ]

Hello Surveyor.
Can you do such a beautiful documentation to AkelPad 4.4.4?