Documentation

A-Shell documentation has evolved over the years as MicroSabio tries to provide the best viewing/reading environment for the reader. The currently preferred format is online “WebHelp,” whereby HTML pages are retrieved from the server as needed. If you would like to get a copy of the document(s) in a format other than the WebHelp/HTML versions linked below, please inquire. Also see “File Formats,” below for more information.

Note that all of the docs are current, meaning they are the up-to-the-minute editions that describe the latest versions of the software in question. For older and version-specific editions of the A-Shell Reference and Release notes, see the Downloads Page.

MicroSabio composes and publishes documentation using a content management system called “Help+Manual” from EC Software. Thanks to H&M’s “write once, publish many” organization, all A-Shell documents are available in the following file formats.

WebHelp: These are sets of standard HTML web pages, with hyperlinks, tables of contents, and linked indexes. They reside on the MicroSabio servers, are always up to date, and require no downloading, other than that individual pages are downloaded and displayed on your PC as requested. As long as you have a good internet connection, this is the preferred format for help/documentation files.   

CHM: The CHM file format was developed by Microsoft, first released in 1997.  CHMs are individual HTML pages, only with a table of contents and a search function, compressed into a single file; that file also contains the program required to display the file’s contents. Being a single self-contained file makes the CHM format ideal for downloading to and accessing from your computer; this used to be the preferred help file format when you do not have a good internet connection. However, the CHM format is quite old—it has not been updated since 2000—and the files contain “active content”—i.e., the display program—which makes them nearly incompatible with modern email and download standards. For security reasons, Windows may block CHM files from displaying their contents properly; to fix, right click on the CHM file, select “Properties,” and then “unblock” the file.  

 Adobe Acrobat / PDF (Portable Document Format) : Various A-Shell docs have been available as PDF files in the past, and may be available on request; inquire if you are interested. Files of this type consist of exact replicas of printed pages, just as they appear in a printed manual. If you plan to print a copy of the document, this is the best type of file to download.  PDF files are not hypertext documents or pure help systems, but most documents come with an interactive table of contents. This file format and the program(s) needed to read these files are the property of Adobe Systems. If your computer does not already have a copy of Adobe® Acrobat®, which you will need in order to read the files, you may download a free copy from the Adobe Acrobat download page.  

PDF Printing – Important note: If you intend to print the PDF documents, be sure that your printer is configured to interpret colors as either black or white; if the printer tries to interpret colors as shades of gray, all the color printing in the document will appear as gray-–i .e., light and not very readable black. The PDF documents do not have extensive color printing, but they do have some. On pure black and white printers, configured as black and white printers, the colored text prints fine. 

 TXT: Text files are universally readable by all computers and all operating systems, so you can download or display them regardless of your system. They do not contain any formatting, however, and are therefore the most difficult file type to read. 

 DOC, DOCX:  This is the native file format of Microsoft Word, and was the original source of most MicroSabio documentation files. 

eWriter: This is a proprietary format developed by EC Software as an update/improvement to the CHM format discussed above. It requires an app, which is available for both Windows and IOS.  If you need a single-file help system for display on a Windows or Mac computer, this is the best available option.

Kindle/Mobi: This proprietary format is used by Kindle and various other e-readers.

ePUB:  This is a standard file format established for eBooks.

Printing

HTML and CHM files are not particularly well-suited for printing. They are fine if you want to print a few pages or even a full section, but not if you want to print an entire doc/manual for reading and reference. The best format for printing is either Word (DOCX) or PDF. If you wish to print the docs, therefore, make sure to get a version of the doc(s) you want to print. If you don’t see them here, contact us and ask about a version of file in question. Also, see the “PDF Printing” note above.