What's New in TB2004

This page will provide a variety of information related to the new release of ToolBook, ToolBook Instructor 2004. The main focus of this page is to provide information regarding the changes and new features as they affect the books I have written for ToolBook 8.5/8.6: An Introduction to ToolBook Instructor 8.5/The Actions Editor and Simulation Object in ToolBook Instructor 8.5. I have no plan currently to update the basic book but will release early January the following book: The Actions Editor, HTTP Post, and Simulations in ToolBook Instructor 2004. This new book will be a much larger book than the Actions Editor book written for Instructor 8.5/8.6 and will include many new lessons for the Actions Editor and Simulations. A new section will also include a look at the new Sim Autobuilder Recorder.

1. The Startup Dialog Box has a slightly new look with the graphic at the top. You will also notice that the icon for ToolBook has changed slightly to a small blue 't'.

2. The Tool Bar now contains an additional icon that provides access to the Simulation Editor. Holding the CTRL key down changes this to a New Simulation tool.

3. The Insert Menu contains two new commands: New Simulation and Simulation from Recording. The New Simulation command is only available on a page that does not currently contain a Simulation. The Simulation from Recording command can be used to insert a Simulation that you have recorded using the Sim Autobuilder Recorder.

4. This is the new Simulation Editor which provides quick access to all the properties of the Simulation. In ToolBook Instructor 8.5/8.6, you often have to go through two or three levels of dialog boxes to make changes, whereas here, you cal access most everything from a single location. The top area of this dialog box is the Steps area while the bottom area is referred to as the Property Grid. The Property grid changes dynamically depending upon what is selected from the Steps area. The current view here shows the Properties for Simulation since the Simulation line at the top is selected. The Properties Grid for each selection (Simulation, Step, Trigger Event, or Evaluation Object) contains sections relevant to that selection. Below you see a Simulation with the Steps area expanded to show the Trigger Events and Evaluation Objects for a single step.

5. Note also that in Demonstration mode, you now have options for Demonstration Playback that include an Animated mouse pointer with mouse and keyboard sound effects if desired as well as the ability to set the speed for Keyboard, Mouse animation, and Overall simulation. Note also that you now can customize the Continue message.

This is an example of a Simulation where all three modes have been set up. Notice that you now have access to all the Feedback and Instructions in the same location of the Property Grid for the Step. To make changes, you just click in the field to the right of the item you want to change.

6. A Simulation Properties Dialog Box has an Objects tab that provides a list of all Included Objects on the page. You can use this to locate and select an object and change the reference text for the object. This reference text is what is used for autogenerated Instructions and Feedback. Thus instead of saying something like: Click the '2 unread Mail' rectangle, you woud get something like: Click the '2 unread Mail' link. This makes autogenerated information much more powerful than before because you can set up the reference text to an object any way you wish. Likewise you can use the name of the object in the text, such as shown here, or you can build then entire string of text to use such as: the link for unread Mail.

7. Action Methods are now fully exposed in ToolBook Instructor 2004. Shown here is the dialog box for choosing or creating an Action Method within the Simulation Editor. Methods can be set up to be used by multiple objects or they can be made private by checking the Private method box.

8. The Catalog has new thumbnail icons for each object.

9. The Catalog now has a Simulation Objects Category. Included in this new Category is a number of really great looking Text Panes to be used in Simulations or most any other type of application. Samples of these are shown below. These are fully resizable and you can format the text as you desire, including adding a shadowed effect.

10. The Web Specialist now provides the ability to publish to Netscape 7.1 and later as well as all the latest versions of Internet Explorer.

11. The Web Specialist now provides the ability to specify pixel sizing for fonts to accommodate different Desktop settings for fonts.

12. The Object Menu contains a new item: Action Methods.

13. The Book Properties Dialog Box has an additional tab, Web, as shown here. This allows you to now import JavaScript files. In the example shown here, the time.js contains a function time( ) which can now be accessed via the Actions Editor.

14. The General Category of the Actions Editor now contains an Execute Script action. This can be used to execute a function within a JavaScript file. In the example here, we execute the time( ) function that is part of the time.js file.

15. This is a view of the new Sim Autobuilder that is launched from the Start Menu. Here you check the Software application you want to capture, define the name and location of the recording file, and define the Setttings for the hotkeys to Start the Recording, End the Step, and Stop the Recording.

16. It looks like we don't have to deal with the extra periods any longer in the DHTML output. As stated above, the Click the continue button to continue. message can now be customized also.