Release Notes for the DocProject 1.7.0 Release Candidate (and DocProject 2008 Beta)

Please read this document carefully before installing DocProject.

Additional Software

DocProject requires additional software to be downloaded and installed separately. Some of the software is optional depending upon the DocProject features that you will use.

Please read Required Software and Optional Software below to determine which software you must install before installing DocProject.

Required Software

The following software is required by DocProject:
Required Software for DocSites
The following software is required to use the DocSite templates, although it's not required to use the DocProject templates:
Note: ASP.NET 2.0 AJAX Extensions 1.0 is part of the .NET Framework 3.5. If you're using DocProject 2008 then you do not have to install this component.

Supported Browsers for DocSites
The DocSite templates build a website that has been tested for compatibility with the following web browsers only: Earlier versions of MSIE, such as 6.0, are not compatible with DocSite output.

Optional Software

Optional software is recommended, but not required for DocProject's standard feature set.

Web Site Projects
To build documentation for Web Site Projects you must install the Visual Studio 2005 Web Deployment Projects Add-In.

For more information about support for Web Site Projects, see How To Build Help For a Web Site Project.

Compiled Help
DocProjects and DocSites can automate the process of building compiled help 1.x and 2.x if the following software is installed:

HTML Help Workshop (Help 1.x)
Install the workshop compiler if you want DocProject to build a distributable help package (.chm file) that can be opened on any Windows system, stand-alone or included as part of the documented application for context-sensitive help.

Visual Studio 2005 SDK (Help 2.x)
Install the SDK if you want DocProject to build a help collection (.HxS file) that can be merged with Visual Studio's help collections. This is useful for add-in, control and package developers that integrate their products into Visual Studio.

Important Installation Notes
If you install the Visual Studio 2005 SDK after the Sandcastle June 2007 CTP then you must manually reset the DXROOT environment variable on your system to the location of the June 2007 CTP (commonly, C:\Program Files\Sandcastle).

Note: Do this before installing DocProject; otherwise, if you choose to install DocProject for Everyone, not Just me, then you will have to make the same changes to the DXROOT variable with machine-scope, as well as the DXROOT variable with user-scope.

Please be aware that the DXROOT variable may not reflect the SDK's location until after you reboot your system (this seemed to occur in testing on a Windows Vista system but not a Windows 2003 system), so you may need to reboot immediately after installing the SDK and then update the DXROOT variable when Windows restarts. Make sure that Visual Studio is not opened before updating the DXROOT environment variable or else it may reference the previous value (the SDK location) until you restart it.

Windows 2003/XP Instructions Windows Vista Instructions

Installation

The DocProject installer installs the templates, Add-In and the complete source code, including the Visual Studio solution and project files.

To install DocProject on your system:
  1. Download the latest release.
  2. Close all running instances of Visual Studio 2005.
  3. Double-click the installer to begin the installation.
    1. Vista users: right-mouse click and select Run as administrator instead.
The DocProject 1.7.0 installer will install DocProject for Everyone or Just me in the following versions of Visual Studio if they are detected on your system: The DocProject 2008 Beta installer will install DocProject for Everyone or Just me in the following versions of Visual Studio if they are detected on your system: Detailed instructions for installation, configuration and general usage can be found in the How To... wiki.

Note: Existing DocProjects and DocSites created for earlier versions of DocProject might not be compatible and should not be used.

Known Issues

New Features

Support for Visual Studio Express editions

Support for Visual Studio Express editions is limited because they do not allow add-ins. However, the DocProject External UI (DocProject.exe) can be used to configure and build DocProjects and DocSites that are created in express editions.

DocProject supports the following features in express editions of Visual Studio: The following features are currently unavailable to express editions without using the DocProject External UI:

Source Code

The Visual Studio solution and projects that are installed along with DocProject have been tested on multiple systems in an attempt to make them usable, out-of-the-box.

For help using DocProject's Visual Studio solution and projects, see How To Use The Source Code.

DSZip Utility

Download and install the DSZip utility if you plan on using the supplied Visual Studio solution to build the Visual Studio Content Installer file (.vsi) or the Windows Installer package (.msi) using the DaveSexton.DocProject.InstallPrep project.

If you are not planning on using the solution file or projects to build the installers, or if you're not even planning on using the source code at all, then you do not need the DSZip utility.

Note: DSZip version 1.1.0 is provided on the release page. This is the same version that was provided in 1.5.0, so if you've already installed it then there is no need to download DSZip again.

For more information, see How To Use The Source Code, Projects.

Help

For information about requesting assistance and resolving issues on your own see, How to Diagnose and Resolve Issues.

Links to documentation can be found in the Wikimap.

Various help topics and tutorials can be found in the How To... wiki.

Feedback

Thanks for your interest in DocProject.

Please tell us what you think about DocProject and how it can be improved for you and your organization: Feedback