A Look at AG Author
Volume Number: 13
Issue Number: 6
Column Tag: Viewpoint
AG Author
by John R. Powers, III, guideWorks
A new authoring tool for Apple Guide
AG Author is an authoring tool for Apple Guide content. A previous MacTech article
(Powers, 1996) reviewed other Apple Guide authoring tools and this article reviews
the newest entry.
First Impressions
AG Author is available directly from the developer and publisher, Lakewood Software.
You can download a compile-disabled version from their web site (Internet resources
are at the end of this article) and request a registration number from Lakewood to
upgrade to a fully functional application. This registration number is also used for
enabling software updates.
Installation
Installation consists simply of unstuffing the downloaded file and placing it on a hard
disk. The provided Espy fonts must be dragged to the Fonts folder. These fonts must be
installed before authoring for Apple Guide. Apple Guide users do not require these
fonts.
The downloaded software does not include two essential components. They are Guide
Maker Lite and the Claris XTND system. Guide Maker Lite compiles the output of AG
Author into an Apple Guide document. Guide Maker Lite in turn requires the Claris
XTND system if any elements other than plain text documents are used, or there is any
character stlying in the Apple Guide source file. Since you must have Guide Maker Lite
to compile AG Author output into an Apple Guide document, you must have Guide Maker
Lite before you can create a guide file with AG Author. Use the links at Lakewood
Software's or guideWorks's sites to get Guide Maker Lite and Claris XTND. AG Author
could have simplified things for first-time Apple Guide authors had they provided
Guide Maker Lite and the Claris XTND system as part of the distribution package.
The download also does not include Apple Guide, but all systems shipped since 7.5 have
the necessary software. Users with System 7.0 or 7.1 require Apple Guide 2.0 or
newer. Subscribers to Apple's "MacOS SDK," already have a license to ship Apple Guide
with their products. The SDK contains the latest version of Apple Guide and all the
pieces necessary for installing Apple Guide on System 7.0 and newer. If your user has
System 7.5 or newer, you do not need to ship Apple Guide with your product.
AG Author requires a minimum of a 68020 processor, MacOS 7.0, 8 MB of RAM, and 5
MB of disk space. The AG Author documentation recommends a PowerPC processor. The
download includes PowerPC and 68K versions.
Documentation
The included Read Me includes important notices, technical support and contact
information, quick start instructions for experienced Apple Guide developers, and
version history.
The product also includes a 64-page on-screen "User Guide." The document contains
step-by-step and reference information about every aspect of AG Author. It is a good
reference document, but assumes you already know a great deal about Apple Guide. If
you are new to Apple Guide authoring, you will also need one of the three Apple Guide
books. (A list of books and articles are at the end of this article.) Ironically, AG Author
does not ship with an Apple Guide because the development tool used to create AG Author
does not support it. This is unfortunate because an Apple Guide for AG Author would be
enormously helpful.
Authoring steps