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!meDDLe

Version 2.20 1st May 2007
Ray Favre © 2006, 2007
(Authored with Dr Wimp)

Introduction


!meDDLe is an application to convert OvationPro ‘DDL document’ files into HTML documents. (Note: Not an OvationPro ‘story’ saved as DDL.)
The DDL document format has the advantage (over Impression DDF) in that it captures a complete OvationPro document including any graphics - irrespective of how many chapters/‘stories’ are involved.
!meDDLe’s main aim is to provide a means for application manuals (like this one) to be converted into HTML for on-screen browsing, with a good chance of achieving formatting close to the original document plus a good measure of automatic ‘links’ between sections/pages of the output HTML - and not forgetting the inclusion of pictures.
It will cope with multiple ‘chapters’ (OvationPro-speak) and can output these as separate HTML ‘pages’ - or, alternatively, ‘pages’ can be triggered by a specific user-chosen Style.
Each HTML output ‘page’ will automatically include a few additional helpful links to aid browser navigation, such as “Next”, “Previous”, “Top”, “Return to Contents” etc. - where appropriate.
An option to include a Contents page is given. This will show a list of links to each output HTML ‘page’ - using the first line of text from each ‘page’ as the list contents. Additionally, extra ‘name markers’ can be inserted at user-chosen Style locations throughout the HTML output - and these will be included as links in the Contents list, indented within their appropriate main sections.
Graphics data can be automatically extracted and converted into html-friendly graphics files - and, for ‘embedded’ graphics (again, OvationPro-speak), links will be automatically inserted into the HTML output so that the graphics will appear at the right places when viewed in a browser. (Non-embedded graphics will similarly be automatically extracted but no links will be inserted - see later.)
Finally, an option exists to insert external HTML links within the output text.
!meDDLe actively seeks to avoid reproducing headers/footers - which are unlikely to be needed in an HTML document.
!meDDLe does not reproduce coloured text.
!meDDLe makes no claims about handling all types of OvationPro document: it seeks solely to do a reasonable job on documents with straightforward structures i.e. text in ‘flowing’ frames with ‘embedded’ graphics. Even if it does not meet your complete needs its output will hopefully be sufficiently good to make any further ‘tinkering’ much easier.
It is assumed that the user has at least a working knowledge of those basic HTML codes which alter text appearance.
Please remember that the actual appearance of the output can alter from browser to browser. For this reason best results are obtained using the simplest HTML mappings - see later. In particular, it seems reasonable to expect most browsers to be set up to show the h1 to h6 HTML codes in a sensible visual hierarchy.
If your OvationPro/DDL source document contains Artworks graphics you may need the !AWViewer to be installed. A copy is included in !meDDLe’s Res folder. It is normally best located in your !Boot.Resources folder, where it will be ‘seen’ on computer start-up.
It is highly recommended that you follow the ‘Example of use’ Section as your first practical foray - and it is then probably worth reading the Section ‘Comments on usage’ before exposing !meDDLe to your own DDL input file.

Preparing a DDL document file


A) From an Impression document:
1) Ensure that OvationPro has the !TransIMP mini-application located in the Applets sub-directory of the OvationPro application directory.
2) Run OvationPro.
3) Drag the Impression document file to the OvationPro iconbar icon and wait for the newly-converted OvationPro document to open. (This may take several seconds.)
4) Save the new document using the Save.DDL option (and save the document again as a normal OvationPro document, if required).
B) From an OvationPro document:
1) Run OvationPro.
2) Load the OvationPro document into it.
3) Save the document using the Save.DDL option.

Whichever route is taken, the resulting DDL document file is ready for use in !meDDLe.




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