A tool to create a Flash extension for an ActionScript library that adds a help book to Flash Help and adds syntax highlighting and code hints to the editor.

∨ Follow the steps below to create your extension ∨

  1. Run ASDoc

    Run the ASDoc tool (more info) and add the -keep-xml option to the command line, which generates an XML file called toplevel_classes.xml along with the standard HTML documentation pages. The -skip-xsl option can be added to skip the creation of the HTML output if you already have it.

    ∨ Show screenshot ∨

  2. Create/Download necessary files

    Provide the requested information below and upload your toplevel_classes.xml file. The information is required to create the files necessary to package a Flash extension with a help book. After submitting the form, an archive of those files will download automatically.

    ∧ Hide form ∧
    General extension info
    Help book info
    Extra options
    Archive type
    Note: The upload/download may take a while depending upon the size of your toplevel_classes.xml file.

  3. Package the extension

    • Extract the files in the downloaded archive to the same directory as your HTML documentation created with ASDoc.
    • Download and install Adobe Extension Manager (free!).
      • Open Adobe Extension Manager and under the File menu choose "Package Extension..."
      • Find the extension.mxi file that was extracted and click "Ok" to create a *.mxp file in the same directory.
    ∨ Show screenshot ∨

  4. Install and test

    • Run the newly created *.mxp file with Adobe Extension Manager by opening the file directly or choosing "Install Extension..." under the File menu. The *.mxp fill will be in the same directory as the extension.mxi file unless changed while packaging.
    • That's it! Restart Flash and check it out!
      • Optional: For those of you who have a web site that supports your application, you might be using some sort of ActionScript syntax highlighting script (like GeSHi) to add readability to posted code. After uploading your toplevel_classes.xml file, a list of keywords (class names, methods, properties, etc.) to incorporate into such a script will be in a file called keywords.txt within the downloaded archive.
    ∨ Show screenshot ∨

Known issues

  • When right-clicking on keywords in the editor and choosing "View Help," it will find the correct item in the help book's table of contents, but not the correct help page. If someone can figure out what's wrong here, send me your solution and I'll add the fix.

Other notes

  • I have only tested this on Flash CS3 with ActionScript 3 libraries. Let me know if your created extension has missing elements or was made incorrectly.