Electric Butterfly Blog

Developer Sketchbook Giveaway Winners Announced!

2009-10-16T10:13:00.000-07:00

The 5 Winners from our Twitter and Facebook Giveaway of The Developer Sketchbook for iPhone Apps are:

* Kimberly Black - http://twitter.com/kimberlyblack
* Pav - http://twitter.com/alyerin
* Patrick Gilbert - http://twitter.com/smartmobile
* Rob Terrell - http://twitter.com/robterrell
* Richard & Trisha Duke - http://www.facebook.com/richard.n.trisha.duke

Congratulations!!! The winners were picked at random from eligible entries and will be directly notified.

And a BIG THANK YOU to everyone who participated! Your support in continuing to follow us on Twitter and Facebook is much appreciated.

iPhone Insights: Your Chance to WIN a Copy of The Developer Sketchbook for iPhone Apps!

2009-10-12T19:10:00.000-07:00

To celebrate the release of The Developer Sketchbook for iPhone Apps, we're giving away 5 copies of this time-saving book!

To enter the drawing on TWITTER, simply perform these 2 easy steps:

* Step 1 - Follow Us on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/ebutterfly
* Step 2 - Tweet the following message:
RT @ebutterfly Chance to Win The Developer Sketchbook for iPhone Apps at http://bit.ly/Fa5fn

To enter the drawing on FACEBOOK, simply:

* Become a Fan at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Electric-Butterfly-Inc/153346672650

Hurry and enter today! The drawing will be held on Friday, October 16th at 10:00 am PST. Winners will be notified via a Direct Message. If a winner entered the drawing via Twitter, then they will receive a Direct Message from us if they are following us. If a winner entered the drawing via Facebook, then they will receive a Message from us in their Facebook account if they have become a Fan.

For Book Details and Screenshots, Visit:
http://developersketchbook.com/

iPhone Insights by Dave Wooldridge

iPhone Insights: New Developer Sketchbook for iPhone Apps

2009-09-29T17:51:00.000-07:00

Like most developers, when I have a new idea for an iPhone app, I like to first sketch the initial user interface design on paper. This process enables me to jot down my thoughts quickly, experimenting with different UI concepts and mapping out the navigational flow between the app's various screens. Once I'm satisfied with an optimized design, then I'll launch Xcode and create the actual UI in Interface Builder.

While a few design templates have already been contributed to the developer community, I was unable to find one that suited my specific needs, so I created my own. The result is The Developer Sketchbook for iPhone Apps, which includes:

* 100 Pages of 320 x 480 Grids for Portrait User Interface Design
* 100 Pages of 480 x 320 Grids for Landscape User Interface Design
* 200 Pages of Flowcharts for Outlining an App's Navigation
* 100 Pages of Square Grids for App Icon Design
* Dedicated Space on Every Page for Detailed Notes

I was tired of constantly calculating the height measurements of commonly used interface components - over and over again - for every screen I drew on grid paper, so the pre-formatted design templates in my new sketchbook include unique visual markers and lines along the sides. Without interfering with my own sketches, these time-saving guidelines indicate the accurate size and placement of the:

* Status Bar
* Navigation Controller
* Toolbar
* Tab Bar Controller
* Portrait Keyboard
* Landscape Keyboard
* Rounded Corners (App Icon)
* Glossy Bevel (App Icon)
* Horizontal and Vertical Center

These templates have saved me countless hours by streamlining my own user interface design efforts, so I decided to make them available in a compact, portable sketchbook to benefit other iPhone developers. Enjoy!

For Details and Screenshots, Visit:
http://developersketchbook.com/

Now Available at:
Amazon.com

iPhone Insights by Dave Wooldridge

iPhone Insights: Learning from the UI Design Decisions of Others

2009-08-26T11:58:00.000-07:00

Looking back at the weeks you slaved away designing the user interface for your next killer iPhone app, you may be shocked by the countless design versions you burned through before finally settling on the UI that works. Then after development is done, you hand off the app to a group of beta testers who complain about specific elements not being intuitive enough... and the UI design changes continue.

If UI design is not one of your strengths, then it can be a long and often frustrating process. But designing a beautiful, visually enticing user interface that's easy to use is one of the most important keys to your app's success.

it's always nice to see that other developers go through the same tough design decisions. Often they're making just as many modifications to the UI as you do, constantly tweaking various parts of the design throughout the development process until they're happy with the user experience it provides.

Below are a few links from iPhone developers who have shared their journey through user interface design. As a developer, it's always fascinating (and inspiring) to see how others solve unique design problems.

The UI Design Evolution of Tap Tap Tap's Convert App:
http://www.taptaptap.com/blog/convert-design-evolution/

Cultured Code - Designing the UI of Things for iPhone:
http://culturedcode.com/things/iphone/makingof/

Creating the Interface for the Beats App:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwpQX12Km54

Tapbots - Designing the Convertbot App:
http://tapbots.com/blog/design/designing-convertbot

Matt Gemmell's UI Design Journal for the Favorites App:
http://mattgemmell.com/2008/10/29/favorites-ui-design

The Making of the NPR News iPhone App:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/inside/2009/08/
the_making_of_the_npr_news_iph.html

iPhone Insights by Dave Wooldridge

iPhone Insights: Apple's Transparency Effect

2009-08-22T17:59:00.000-07:00

On Friday, Apple posted their official response to the FCC's questions regarding the removal of Google Voice enabled iPhone apps from the App Store. That afternoon, the news spread like wildfire with countless tweets, blog entries, and news articles on the subject.

For the moment, let's put aside the fact that a lot of people are still upset about the unavailability of Google Voice apps on the iPhone. This subject has been discussed ad nauseam in so many other blog posts and news stories, that I won't bother rehashing it again here. Suffice it to say, while I too am unhappy about it, I do understand Apple's decision to protect their core phone functionality. As developers, we do often forget that the iPhone is Apple's product, not ours. Google Voice's Message Inbox IS almost identical to the iPhone's Visual Voicemail feature, with the exception that Google Voice actually goes one step further by also including text transcriptions of the voicemail messages. The Google Mobile iPhone app simply links to web-based versions of its services (such as Gmail), so I'm sure there'll soon be a mobile web version of Google Voice that we'll be able to access the same way (via Mobile Safari). But enough about that. There's obviously pros and cons on both sides of this fence. Back to Apple's FCC response...

At first glance, many iPhone developers applauded Apple's letter, since it provided a deeper look behind the magic curtain of the App Store. In recent weeks, Apple's Phil Schiller has made a valiant PR effort to improve the App Store for iPhone developers, so by posting their letter to the FCC online, was this yet another example of Apple revealing a new level of transparency on the inner workings of the app approval process?

While this new transparancy should be making iPhone developers happy, it ended up having an adverse effect. In their letter, Apple stated:

"There are more than 40 full-time trained reviewers, and at least two different reviewers study each application so that the review process is applied uniformly."

Doesn't that sound great? I thought so. Then Apple goes on to say:

"We receive about 8,500 new applications and updates every week..."

This is where iPhone developers started doing the math, tweeting and blogging about their startling revelation. 8,500 apps submitted every week and only 40 full-time reviewers to handle all those submissions? And if each app is reviewed twice (by at least 2 separate employees), then that's really more like 17,000 reviews a week. If you divide 17,000 by 40 reviewers, then each reviewer is responsible for reviewing approximately 425 apps per week. Now most of the posts I've seen are assuming that these reviewers are working only 5 days a week, clocking in at a typical 40 hour work week. With that in mind, that gives each reviewer only 5 or 6 minutes to review each app in order to get through all of the weekly submissions.

So after spending months slaving away on your iPhone app masterpiece, your app's entry through the pearly gates of the App Store depends upon an Apple reviewer's 5 minute experience with it. Obviously, when you look at it that way, it sounds devastating and unfair. Macworld's Jason Snell likened it to Lucy and Ethel's hilarious attempt to wrap chocolates on a rapidly accelerating conveyor belt. And while Jason was joking, it does seems like an appropriate comparision.

But before we get too riled up over those numbers and turn into an angry lynch mob, we all need to remember that they are comprised of too many assumptions. We can only assume the reviewers are working a 5 day, 40 hour work week, but knowing Apple's ambitious drive, they may work many more hours than that. They may also work staggered shifts, so that there are reviewers on duty 7 days a week. There may also be interns and part-time employees that help as well. The point is that we really have no idea how long an average app review lasts. Some updates may get approved within a couple minutes if the developer only fixed a minor bug, while some new 1.0 apps may take hours (even days) to review.

The truth of the matter is that Apple's new found transparancy may not be that transparent after all. We simply don't have all the facts yet. I for one remain optimistic that Phil Schiller's current crusade to improve the App Store will continue. If the number of weekly app submissions keeps growing at such an alarming rate, my fingers are crossed that Apple's planned App Store improvements are coming sooner rather than later.

And hiring a few more app reviewers wouldn't hurt either...

iPhone Insights by Dave Wooldridge

New Version of UniHelp for REALbasic 2009r3

2009-07-14T11:42:00.000-07:00

We've just released a special new version of UniHelp 4 for REALbasic 2009r3, which is now available for download at:
http://www.ebutterfly.com/rb/unihelp.php

This separate download includes the exact same feature set as the original UniHelp 4. The only difference is that UniHelp's "Search" and "Index" EditFields have been converted to the new TextField control to be compatible with the new REALbasic 2009r3.

For those of you still using an older version of REALbasic (2006r3 - 2009r2), the original version of UniHelp 4 is also still available for download as well.

New UniHelp Update Coming Soon

2009-07-09T13:17:00.000-07:00

For those of you who are now using the new REALbasic 2009r3, we'll soon be releasing a compatible version of UniHelp. The new REALbasic 2009r3 deprecated EditField, replacing it with the new TextField, which breaks any third-party components that rely on the older EditField. UniHelp 4.0 currently utilizes the EditField for its Index and Search tabs, so this forthcoming new UniHelp version will be updated to use the new TextField instead for those 2 elements. Stay tuned...

iPhone Insights: The Curious Case of Rolando

2009-06-30T17:30:00.000-07:00

Twitter and the various iPhone-related web sites (such as TouchArcade's Forums) have been buzzing non-stop the last few days about Ngmoco's weekend announcement to remove Rolando 1 from the App Store to "make room" for the new Rolando 2 on July 1. Rolando 2 features all new levels and game play, so its not being offered as a free update for existing Rolando 1 users. Rolando 2 is being marketed as a brand new, separate product. For those still interested in playing Rolando 1, Ngmoco encouraged people to buy a copy of it before it disappears. Ngmoco had stated that they would continue to provide support for Rolando 1, so nothing would change for existing users, only new sales would be discontinued after July 1.

Due to the public uproar that ensued, Ngmoco announced yesterday that they've reversed their decision and plan to keep Rolando 1 in the App Store, but for the sake of exploring new business models, let's take a moment to dive a little deeper into Ngmoco's original experiment.

Rolando 1's retirement announcement left many fans scratching their heads, wondering why the removal. From a business perspective, it makes perfect sense for several reasons. For one, the announcement not only escalates Rolando 1 sales (get it before its gone), but it also heavily promotes the forthcoming release of Rolando 2. And two, if Rolando 2 is released with a higher price tag than Rolando 1, then the fear is that users will simply gravitate toward the cheaper original game. Unfortunately, based on the impulse buy nature of the current App Store architecture, price is often the key factor in app sales. Many angry fans asked Ngmoco to rethink their decision and keep Rolando 1 in the App Store with a reduced price of 99 cents, but honestly, that just makes the issue worse. At 99 cents, new sales from Rolando 1 would probably cannablize much of Rolando 2's potential sales.

The development of a sophisticated new game is a serious investment of time and money, so Ngmoco's focus on Rolando 2 sales is understandable. I can't blame them for wanting to have a successful new product launch -- its what all commercial developers strive for. They didn't want the sales of Rolando 2 being diluted by the original Rolando 1, since that could possibly negatively impact the future chart position of the new Rolando 2. And any iPhone developer knows that getting into the App Store's top sales charts equals valuable exposure, increased sales, and extended product longevity.

When placed in a business perspective, Ngmoco's move seems completely justifiable. So why were so many Rolando fans upset?

Even though CD-based console video games are frequently taken out of print (often replaced with new editions), that's a scenario that has been happening for decades now, so consumers are familiar with this physical product cycle. But users tend to view digital distribution as a totally different animal. Since there's no cost of goods or physical shipping, why would a game be discontinued? If the publisher is still in business and the related platform/device is still active, then their games should continue to be available for as long as there is a demand for them. Right? Well, if you're a user of that game, you'd probably high-five your friends with a "Hell, yes!", but I'm not sure the answer is that simple.

We've all come to love the App Store for being a reliable digital distribution system -- our little mobile safety net in the sky for re-downloading apps directly to our iPhones and iPod touches if we're away from our computer's backup iTunes Library. But we have to remember that the App Store is merely that: a storefront. We can't assume or expect all publishers to use the same business model, especially on a platform that's still so young. The App Store has only been open for one year and yet its already overflowing with more than 50,000 apps. Its getting so difficult for new apps to shine in such a crowded marketplace that developers are forced to try new marketing and sales strategies in the hopes of finding a big enough audience. Because without sufficient sales to support development, the future of those apps die.

The real issue here is a psychological one -- no one likes having something they treasure being taken away from them (even if a simple iTunes backup would prevent that problem). And Ngmoco's tactic is a relatively new one for the App Store ecosystem, so it seemed to have caught users off-guard.

While Ngmoco did change their minds and will keep Rolando 1 in the App Store, I will admit that I was genuinely curious to see how their original plan would have played out, but now we'll never know (at least not until another publisher tries it). Obviously, the folks at Ngmoco weighed the potential ill will of their existing customers against the sales strategy of Rolando 2... and maintaining happy loyal customers won out in the end.

Hopefully, Ngmoco's kind gesture will be rewarded with a boost in Rolando 2 sales.

Ngmoco's initial plan to retire Rolando 1 could have ultimately proven to be a successful sales experiment. But Ngmoco has just put a smile back on a lot of faces with the return of Rolando 1, and that's never a bad thing, especially when many of their existing customers will probably buy more of their iPhone games in the future.

iPhone Insights by Dave Wooldridge

iPhone Insights: Subscribe to Free RSS Feed or Email News

2009-06-30T17:24:00.000-07:00

As we mentioned previously, iPhone Insights will be a new series of blog posts that discusses interesting iPhone app business news and marketing strategies. If you're a professional iPhone developer or hope to someday publish your own iPhone apps in Apple's App Store, then you won't want to miss these forthcoming iPhone Insights blog posts.

If you already subscribe to Electric Butterfly's Blog, RSS Feed, or Email Alerts at http://www.ebutterfly.com/, then you'll automatically receive iPhone Insights blog posts.

But if you're interested in receiving ONLY the iPhone Insights blog posts, we've set up special filtered options just for you!

Subscribe to iPhone Insights RSS Feed:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/iphoneinsights

Subscribe to iPhone Insights Email News:
http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=iphoneinsights&loc=en_US

Of course, for all the latest iPhone Insights and Electric Butterfly news, you can also follow us on Twitter at:
http://twitter.com/ebutterfly

Introducing iPhone Insights!

2009-06-30T11:52:00.000-07:00

Electric Butterfly's Dave Wooldridge will be posting blog entries related to the business of iPhone development, including interesting iPhone app business news and marketing strategies. If you're a professional iPhone developer or hope to someday publish your own iPhone apps in Apple's App Store, then you won't want to miss these forthcoming iPhone Insights blog posts.

If you already subscribe to Electric Butterfly's Blog, RSS Feed, or Email Alerts, then you'll automatically receive Dave's iPhone Insights blog posts.

If you're an iPhone developer whose interested in reading ONLY the iPhone Insights blog posts, then stay tuned... we'll soon be announcing a special filtered RSS Feed and Email Alerts service for iPhone Insights.

Save 50% on the New Stimulus 4.5 for Mac OS X

2009-04-27T23:18:00.000-07:00

Major Update Includes a New Image Effects Editor and Enhanced Interface!

Electric Butterfly, Inc. proudly announces the release of Stimulus 4.5 for Mac OS X, the popular media browser that provides an easy way to manage and enjoy your personal collection of digital music, photos, and video clips.

We know times are tough, so to help you save money, we're offering our own Stimulus Plan! Save 50% off for a limited time only!

Tired of importing your media files into proprietary photo album and catalog formats? Tired of juggling between multiple applications just to enjoy your library of digital media files? Discouraged by the expensive prices of media management software? Stimulus is your solution! With support for 27 popular file formats, Stimulus works intuitively like a file browser, allowing you to select and view/play all of your favorite images, audio files, and video clips from where they reside on your hard drive. Rename, move, and delete files to organize your digital life. Play slideshows, add favorites to custom lists, adjust audio bass & treble settings, search, print, zoom, rotate, convert/save images, add image effects, and much more!

The new 4.5 version includes:

-- New Image Effects editor! Enhance your images with 12 cool effects such as Blur, Sharpen, Brightness, Contrast, Color Levels, and more!

-- Image editing is never done to the original file, so all editing and export saves are non-destructive.

-- Images can now be exported in various file formats such as JPEG, PNG, PICT, TIFF, and more!

-- Refined several UI elements, plus dozens of minor bug fixes and improvements.

Additional Product Information:
http://www.ebutterfly.com/stimulus/

Free Demo Download Available:
http://www.ebutterfly.com/stimulus/downloads.php

Pricing:
For a limited time only, purchase a single user license for only $9.95 US -- that's 50% off (regularly $19.95). Stimulus 4.5 is a free update for all registered Stimulus customers.

HelpLogic 1.6 is Now Available!

2009-04-06T18:09:00.000-07:00

Electric Butterfly, Inc. proudly announces the immediate availability of HelpLogic 1.6, the award-winning help authoring solution for Mac OS X developers.

Easily create help systems for your software and web sites from a single source! HelpLogic's innovative design removes the development headaches usually associated with help authoring, providing an ideal solution for Mac software developers, web site designers, and documentation writers. Save time with the integrated Workshop, Visual TOC Builder, HTML Editor, and Link Manager to quickly generate Web-based Help, Apple Help, Microsoft HTML Help, UniHelp, and PDF.

This new 1.6 version includes several new enhancements, minor bug fixes, and an improved HTML Editor with lots of cool new features! This recommended update is a free upgrade for all existing HelpLogic customers. And if you're not yet a customer, download the free trial of HelpLogic and take it for a test drive! A single user license of HelpLogic (Mac OS X Edition) is only $99.00 US.

Download Now:
http://www.ebutterfly.com/helplogic/

Best Regards,
Dave Wooldridge
Electric Butterfly, Inc.
http://www.ebutterfly.com

Save 50% on the New WSL-Amazon 2.1 for REALbasic

2009-03-23T16:01:00.000-07:00

Electric Butterfly, Inc. proudly announces the release of WSL-Amazon 2.1, the award-winning, cross-platform REALbasic class library for accessing Amazon Web Services. Version 2.1 provides several new methods and properties, as well as compatibility with REALbasic 2008 and 2009 releases.

In celebration of WSL-Amazon's 5 year anniversary, save 50% off the new 2.1 version! For a limited time only, the Component License is only $25.00 US (regularly $49.00) and the Source Code License is only $149.00 US (regularly $299.00).

Easily Integrate Amazon Web Services into Your REALbasic Applications! This HTTPSocket subclass wraps the Amazon Web Services ECS 4.0 API into an easy-to-use library of 38 powerful methods and 167 properties with support for their US, UK, German, French, Canadian, and Japanese Amazon stores. Includes extensive search and information retrieval capabilities, plus the ability to create, update and checkout Amazon shopping carts -- all from within your REALbasic applications! This class library also comes with the project source code for a fully-functional Amazon-powered application, which you can reuse in your own REALbasic projects!

Even though REALbasic supports XML and SOAP, the extensive API of Amazon Web Services can seem daunting and extremely time-consuming to implement. WSL-Amazon changes all that with optimized, object-oriented REALbasic classes that wrap this large API into time-saving methods and properties. No knowledge of XML or SOAP is needed! WSL-Amazon provides an easy-to-use REALbasic framework for easily accessing Amazon Web Services.

DOWNLOAD THE FREE DEMO:
http://www.ebutterfly.com/rb/wslamazon.php

LICENSING OPTIONS:

COMPONENT LICENSE -- ON SALE: $25.00 (US)
Purchase a single seat license to download the encrypted WSL-Amazon classes. The Component License includes (1) Single Incident Support Plan and allows you to use the encrypted WSL-Amazon classes in your compiled REALbasic applications Royalty-Free! Buy Online:
http://www.ebutterfly.com/rb/wslamazon.php

SOURCE CODE LICENSE -- ON SALE $149.00 (US)
Purchase a single seat license to download the full source code of the WSL-Amazon classes. Having access to the source code will allow you to customize the existing features to best suit your specific application needs. The Source Code License includes (1) Single Incident Support Plan Plan and allows you to use the WSL-Amazon classes in your compiled REALbasic applications Royalty-Free! Buy Online:
http://www.ebutterfly.com/rb/wslamazon.php

REQUIREMENTS:
-- REALbasic 2006r3 or higher.
-- An Amazon Access Key ID.
-- Compatible with Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, and Linux.

New Direction for HelpLogic

2009-02-21T15:18:00.000-08:00

HelpLogic (Mac OS X Edition) is by far our best-selling software product. While we've sold hundreds of HelpLogic licenses to Mac users world-wide, unfortunately the Windows version has not fared as well. For example, we only sold 4 licenses for the HelpLogic (Windows Edition) in 2008. And even in earlier years, the Mac version was outselling the Windows version by a huge margin of 70 to 1.

When we originally released the first HelpLogic 1.0 on Mac OS X, we had no intention at that time to develop HelpLogic for Windows, since the Windows market was already saturated with dozens of established help authoring tools (such as RoboHelp, Doc-To-Help, Help & Manual, etc.) But after many requests from Windows developers, we eventually decided to take the plunge into the Windows help authoring market. Unfortunately, the gamble did not pay off. The consistently poor sales of HelpLogic (Windows Edition) has not only made it challenging to justify the continued development of the Windows version, but in this current global recession, it is also taking valuable resources and time away from developing our flagship product, HelpLogic (Mac OS X Edition).

With this in mind, we have made the difficult decision to discontinue HelpLogic (Windows Edition). In the coming weeks, we'll be releasing the new HelpLogic 1.6 for both Mac OS X and Windows, but that will be the last major version released for Windows. Later this year, HelpLogic 2.0 will only be released on Mac OS X.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR OUR WINDOWS CUSTOMERS?

The forthcoming HelpLogic 1.6 will be the last major version released for Windows, which includes several enhancements and bug fixes. While we will not be selling any new licenses for HelpLogic (Windows Edition), we will continue to provide customer support and assistance for our existing Windows customers. Since all HelpLogic licenses are cross-platform, we encourage you to make the free switch to HelpLogic (Mac OS X Edition). You can use your Windows HelpLogic serial number to unlock/register the Mac version of HelpLogic!

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR OUR MAC CUSTOMERS?

With our focus now dedicated to HelpLogic (Mac OS X Edition), our Mac users will benefit from more frequent updates, as well as the addition of more Mac-centric interface elements and tighter integration with Mac OS X technologies in future HelpLogic releases.

We greatly value all of our customers, so if you have any questions or feedback about this new direction, please do not hesitate to contact us at Customer Support.

Best Regards,
Dave Wooldridge
Electric Butterfly, Inc.
http://www.ebutterfly.com

UniHelp 4.0 for REALbasic is Now Available

2008-11-13T10:04:00.000-08:00

Electric Butterfly announces the immediate availability of UniHelp 4.0, a major new version of the award-winning help system for REALbasic. UniHelp provides an easy-to-use, feature-rich solution for REALbasic developers who want to add online help to their cross-platform applications (Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, and Linux).

Product Information and Download:
http://www.ebutterfly.com/rb/unihelp.php

A free update for all registered UniHelp customers, Version 4.0 includes the following new features and enhancements:

-- New refined user interface!
-- New History list menu.
-- New optional Print feature.
-- New Text Size buttons for adjusting the UI text size.
-- New TOC Collapse & Expand buttons.
-- New navigation Up & Down arrow buttons.
-- New Full Text Searches option.
-- New Highlighted Search Matches option.
-- Optimized error handling and improved performance.

Licensing Options:

FREEWARE VERSION -- FREE!
You may use the encrypted UniHelp classes in your NON-COMMERCIAL and FREEWARE compiled REALbasic applications Royalty-Free. The Freeware version does NOT include support of any kind.

COMPONENT LICENSE -- only $49.00 (US)
You may use the encrypted UniHelp classes in your COMMERCIAL and SHAREWARE compiled REALbasic applications Royalty-Free. This license includes one (1) Single Incident Support Plan and access to a special UniHelp Edition of HelpLogic for quickly creating UniHelp compatible help pages.

SOURCE CODE LICENSE -- only $399.00 (US)
For the first time ever, we're offering a Source Code License for UniHelp, one of the most popular components in the REALbasic community since 2001. If you've ever wanted to learn how to parse XML, search XML via XQL/XPath, enhance HTMLViewer functionality, maintain a browser history, and much more, then seeing how its all implemented in UniHelp's source code will prove to a be great reference! Having source code access will also allow you to customize UniHelp on a much deeper level for your specific needs within your REALbasic applications (Royalty-Free). For a limited time, purchase a UniHelp Source Code License and receive a FREE license to the FULL EDITION of HelpLogic (a $99 value).

UniHelp Customers:
If you already own a UniHelp Component License and wish to upgrade to a Source Code License, please inquire about our special upgrade pricing!
http://www.ebutterfly.com/rb/support.php

HelpLogic Users:
For those customers who use HelpLogic to generate your UniHelp pages, we'll be releasing a new HelpLogic version next week that includes publishing support for the new UniHelp 4.0 features.

New UniHelp 4 Sneak Peek!

2008-10-31T11:35:00.000-07:00

We've been hard at work on the latest versions of UniHelp for REALbasic and our cross-platform help authoring tool, HelpLogic. In anticipation of the soon to be released UniHelp 4 and HelpLogic 1.5.2, we wanted to give you a quick sneak preview of some of UniHelp 4's new features and newly refined interface.

If you're reading this post in an email or RSS reader that doesn't support images, you can view the sneak preview UniHelp 4 screenshot online at: http://www.ebutterfly.com/images/screens/unihelp4_sneak.jpg

What's New in UniHelp 4:
-- New optional Print feature.
-- New History list for jumping to previously viewed topics.
-- New Up/Down Arrow buttons for quickly moving through the TOC.
-- New Expand/Collapse buttons for greater control over the TOC.
-- New Text Size buttons for easily adjusting the UI font size.
-- New refined UI design.
-- Optimized codebase, enhanced performance, and minor bug fixes.

Even though this is a major new version, UniHelp 4 will be a free upgrade for all licensed UniHelp customers. For those customers who use HelpLogic to generate your UniHelp pages, the forthcoming HelpLogic 1.5.2 will include support for the latest UniHelp 4 features.

New Site Redesign for ebutterfly.com

2008-10-20T16:20:00.000-07:00

We finally found time in our busy development schedule to give our own Electric Butterfly web site a complete facelift, something we've been wanting to do for quite awhile now. The entire site was redesigned from the ground up with more efficient, modern HTML/CSS code. We hope you like the new look! As always, we welcome your feedback on the new design.

This new web site facelift is actually a prelude to some exciting things we have planned...

First up, we'll soon be releasing new versions of HelpLogic and Stimulus, along with some updates for some of our developer components.

Then in early 2009, we'll be unveiling some brand new online resources, which will be published on our www.ebutterfly.com site. It's too early to reveal any details now, but if you want to be notified when these new online resources are launched, then simply sign up for our free Email News or RSS News Feed.

Best Regards,
Dave Wooldridge
Electric Butterfly, Inc.
http://www.ebutterfly.com

UniHelp 3.3 for REALbasic is Now Available

2008-09-19T10:42:00.000-07:00

Electric Butterfly announces the immediate availability of UniHelp 3.3, the award-winning help system for REALbasic. UniHelp provides an easy-to-use, feature-rich solution for REALbasic developers who want to add online help to their cross-platform applications (Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, and Linux).

Product Information and Download:
http://www.ebutterfly.com/rb/unihelp.php

A free update for all registered UniHelp customers, Version 3.3 includes the following new features and enhancements:

[New] - You now have the option to perform Full Text Searches within UniHelp. In the UniHelpEngine.Constructor, if you set UseFullTextSearch=True, then UniHelp searches will search the TOC and the full text content of your help pages. If you set UseFullTextSearch=False, then UniHelp searches will only search the TOC Topic Names, Keywords and Description in the TOC XML.

[New] - You now have the option to show Highlighted Search Matches in the displayed help pages within UniHelp's search engine. In the UniHelpEngine.Constructor, if you set ShowSearchHighlights=True (and UseFullTextSearch=True), then search matches will be highlighted in search-related help pages. If UseFullTextSearch=False, then ShowSearchHighlights is ignored.

[New] - Line controls were removed from the UniHelp Viewer interface to ensure compatibility with future REALbasic releases (which will deprecate the Line control in 2009).

[New] - References to TemporaryFolder were replaced with SpecialFolder.Temporary to ensure compatibility with future REALbasic releases.

IMPORTANT NOTE: For those customers who use HelpLogic to generate your UniHelp pages, we'll be releasing a new HelpLogic update very soon that includes publishing support for the new UniHelp 3.3 features.

UniHelp 3.2 for REALbasic is Now Available

2008-05-30T17:46:00.000-07:00

Electric Butterfly announces the immediate availability of UniHelp 3.2, the award-winning help system for REALbasic. UniHelp provides an easy-to-use, feature-rich solution for REALbasic developers who want to add online help to their cross-platform applications (Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, and Linux).

A free update for all registered UniHelp customers, Version 3.2 provides improved compatibility with REALbasic 2008r2.

Product Information and Download:
http://www.ebutterfly.com/rb/unihelp.php

UniHelp 3.1 for REALbasic is Now Available

2008-05-20T14:33:00.000-07:00

Electric Butterfly announces the immediate availability of UniHelp 3.1, the award-winning help system for REALbasic. UniHelp provides an easy-to-use, feature-rich solution for REALbasic developers who want to add online help to their cross-platform applications. A free update for all registered UniHelp customers, Version 3.1 includes several enhancements and bug fixes, providing improved support for the latest REALbasic 2008 releases.

Apple Help Viewer, Microsoft HTML Help, WinHelp.... Why waste precious development time designing and compiling a different Help system for each platform when you can easily use UniHelp for all of them? NO additional plugins or classes needed. Just drag the respective UniHelp components folder into your REALbasic project, create your HTML help pages and customize your configuration settings with the UniHelp Edition of HelpLogic, and that's it -- instant online help for your compiled REALbasic applications that works on Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, and Linux.

Key Features:
-- Now Supports Most HTML Tags and CSS Styles!
-- Utilizes REALbasic's HTMLViewer Control for displaying HTML help pages.
-- Supports URL Links, Relative Links, and Email Links.
-- Supports Images, Video and Audio.
-- Hierarchical Listbox Displays Help Table of Contents.
-- Built-in Search Engine and Keyword-based Index.
-- Supports Context-Sensitive Help Searches.
-- Customizable Icons, Title Bar, Start Page, Table of Contents, Font Sizes, Window Positioning, etc.
-- GUI Support for English, Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, German, Swedish, and Japanese.
-- Small Footprint: Since Your Help Pages are External, only the UniHelp Classes are Compiled with Your REALbasic Application.
-- Supports Help Pages placed in either an External Help Folder or a REALbasic Virtual Volume.
-- Familiar Help-style Interface with Back, Forward, and Home buttons.
-- Run REALbasic Methods from within your HTML help pages by clicking on HTML-based "UHScript" hyperlinks.
-- Built-in Keyboard Shortcuts for closing the UniHelp window (Command-W on Mac or Control-W on Microsoft Windows).
-- Built-in Error Handling.
-- Easy to Use and Royalty-Free!

"UniHelp" and "Electric Butterfly" are never mentioned anywhere on the UniHelp interface, providing you with a full-featured generic Help solution -- your software customers will think you built it yourself!

What's New in UniHelp 3.1:

[Fix] - A workaround solution for a long-standing REALbasic HTMLViewer Mac bug (Verified REAL Feedback Report: pfquijwi). Since this REALbasic Mac bug causes the HTMLViewer to display either a blank page or incorrectly rendered HTML when the control is resized via code before the window is shown/loaded, UniHelp's custom window resizing feature has been completely reworked to avoid this bug. As a small side effect to this solution, end-users will see the UniHelp window quickly resize itself after it is initially displayed.

[Opt] - To workaround a Windows bug in REALbasic2008r2's built-in XML classes, UniHelp now utilizes a different method to list the topics within a Chapter when that Chapter is expanded in the TOC.

[Opt] - To ensure compatibility with future versions of REALbasic, UniHelpEngine's constructor method has been renamed "Constructor".

[Chg] - Several properties have now been removed from the UniHelpEngine class since they were deprecated back in Version 3.0, such as SerialNumber, SizeH1, SizeH2, SizeH3, SizeNormal, SizeSmall.

Availability and Licensing Options:

Product Information and Download:
http://www.ebutterfly.com/rb/unihelp.php

FREEWARE VERSION -- FREE!
You may use the encrypted UniHelp classes in your NON-COMMERCIAL and FREEWARE compiled REALbasic applications Royalty-Free. The Freeware version does NOT include support of any kind.

PRO UNIHELP LICENSE -- only $49.00 (US)
You may use the encrypted UniHelp classes in your COMMERCIAL and SHAREWARE compiled REALbasic applications Royalty-Free. Licensed UniHelp customers receive access to a special UniHelp Edition of HelpLogic for quickly creating UniHelp compatible help pages. This license includes one (1) Single Incident Support Plan.

SINGLE INCIDENT SUPPORT PLAN -- only $39.00 (US)
Under this plan, Electric Butterfly will assist a support customer with a single UniHelp related issue, reviewing the customer's code to help troubleshoot/resolve the reported issue. If you want help with more than one issue, then purchase a Single Incident Support Plan for each issue.

UniHelp was Made with REALbasic and Requires REALbasic 2006r3 or higher.

New UniHelp Version Coming Soon!

2008-05-16T14:57:00.000-07:00

Since the current UniHelp 3 component utilizes REALbasic's built-in HTMLViewer control, it suffers from a long-standing Mac WebKit bug that, as of RB2008r2, is still not fixed. For those developers not familiar with this Mac-only issue (verified bug report "pfquijwi" in REAL's old Feedback System), in a nutshell:

When compiling with REALbasic 2006r4 and higher for Mac OS X, a Mac-only WebKit issue sometimes occurs where the HTMLViewer control occasionally displays a blank screen or incorrect rendering of HTML when the HTMLViewer has been resized via code. While this issue appeared random and inconsistent in the RB2007 releases, it appears to have gotten worse with the latest RB2008 releases, happening more often than not.

With this being the case, to our dismay, the current UniHelp 3 had become almost unusable in RB2008r2 on Mac OS X. Knowing that the WebKit bug in HTMLViewer is directly related to resizing the control via code, it was decided that in order to restore reliability to UniHelp, the only current workaround to this issue is to remove the ability to custom resize the UniHelp Viewer window via code. The end-user would still be able to resize the window manually, but the application developer would no longer be able to resize the UniHelp Viewer window via code with predefined settings. Instead, the UniHelp Viewer window will alway initially open at the default 700 pixels wide by 400 pixels tall. We feel this is a very small sacrifice to make in exchange for properly displayed HTML help pages in the HTMLViewer control.

We plan to release UniHelp 3.1 in the next few days. This new 3.1 release (which will be a free udpate for all registered UniHelp customers) will include this HTMLViewer workaround fix, as well as other enhancements for improved compatibility with RB2008r2.

NEWS UPDATE - MAY 20, 2008:
Good News! We figured out a workaround solution to that REALbasic HTMLViewer Mac bug without having to sacrifice the custom window resizing feature! Since that bug only happens when the HTMLViewer control is resized via code before the window is shown/loaded, UniHelp's custom window resizing feature has been completely reworked to avoid this bug. The only minor side effect to this solution is that end-users will see the UniHelp window quickly resize itself after it is initially displayed.

HelpLogic 1.5 Beta 1 for Windows XP/Vista is Now Available

2008-03-31T15:22:00.000-07:00

The long awaited beta release of HelpLogic 1.5b1 for Windows XP and Vista is finally here! This new beta includes all of the great new features found in the current 1.5 version for Mac OS X, except for the new PDF publishing engine, which is still in development for Windows. The new Windows-based PDF publishing engine will be unveiled in a subsequent beta release. For a complete list of what's new in this first beta, check out the official Release Notes.

Download HelpLogic 1.5b1 for Windows:
http://www.ebutterfly.com/helplogic/

Free upgrade for all HelpLogic 1.0 customers! Enjoy!

Best Regards,
Dave Wooldridge
Electric Butterfly, Inc.
http://www.ebutterfly.com

New HelpLogic 1.5.1 for Mac OS X

2008-03-31T15:13:00.000-07:00

There's a new minor update available for Mac OS X users. The new HelpLogic 1.5.1 features a lot of time-saving enhancements and bug fixes, and is a recommended update for all of our Mac customers.

Download HelpLogic 1.5.1 for Mac OS X:
http://www.ebutterfly.com/helplogic/

Best Regards,
Dave Wooldridge
Electric Butterfly, Inc.
http://www.ebutterfly.com

HelpLogic 1.5b1 for Windows Available March 31, 2008

2008-03-17T23:59:00.000-07:00

The long awaited beta release of HelpLogic 1.5b1 for Windows XP and Vista will finally be available for download on March 31, 2008. What can you expect in this first beta? Basically, it will contain ALL of the great new features and enhancements found in the current 1.5 version for Mac OS X, except for the new PDF publishing engine, which is still in development for Windows. The new Windows-based PDF publishing engine will be unveiled in a subsequent beta release. Check out the Windows Vista screenshot of 1.5b1.

I want to personally thank our Windows customers for their generous patience. After seeing the new 1.5 released earlier this year for Mac OS X, I know many of you were anxious to get your hands on the Windows version. After several delays, I hope you will find the new 1.5 betas worth the wait. As always, your continued support is much appreciated and never taken for granted...

Best Regards,
Dave Wooldridge
Electric Butterfly, Inc.
http://www.ebutterfly.com

Updated HelpRunner 1.2 for REALbasic

2008-02-04T23:17:00.000-08:00

The open source HelpRunner module for REALbasic has been updated to version 1.2. This new version includes code contributed by Martin Honeywill, offering a more efficient way of loading a CHM's default page if a specific help page is not passed to the OpenWinCHM method.

Easily implement native support for Apple Help and Microsoft HTML Help in your REALbasic applications with this free REALbasic module. In your Mac OS X Bundle apps, HelpRunner provides easy-to-use methods for registering your Apple Help Book and opening your Apple Help Book in Mac OS X's native Help Viewer. In your Windows apps, HelpRunner provides easy-to-use methods for opening your CHM help file in Microsoft Windows' native HTML Help Viewer. Includes full source code, example project, and extensive PDF documentation.

FREE DOWNLOAD:
http://www.ebutterfly.com/opensource/

If you are interested in contributing code and development efforts to HelpRunner (such as code for implementing help on Linux), please contact Electric Butterfly via our web site.

Best Regards,
Dave Wooldridge
Electric Butterfly, Inc.
http://www.ebutterfly.com