Universal Object Browser

ToolBookDeveloper Products

Universal Object Browser

You’re all familiar with the standard ToolBook Object Browser and the way it provides you with a comprehensive list of objects on the current page and background. Well the Universal Object Browser is really an extension of it, but a rather clever one as you’ll soon discover.

Save time Developing

How often have you been working with the standard ToolBook Object Browser and
thought ‘wouldn’t be great if this could show me more information about the
objects in my book?’

Well with the Universal Object Browser you’ll be able to:

Easily see what Backgrounds and Pages you have in your book.
Easily navigate between pages and backgrounds of your book.
See which objects are hidden.
See which objects are outside the visible bounds of your book.
See which objects have a text overflow problem.
See which objects have actions associated with them.
View an object’s actions.
Copy that view and paste it (perhaps to the listserv to get help from fellow developers).
Edit an object’s actions.
Easily launch the new Method and Shared Action dialogs.
Copy an object’s actions and paste them to another object.
Transform shared actions of a book to method actions of an object.
Transform method actions of an object to shared actions of a book.
Perform complex searches on the actions in your book.
Deep validate your actions.
View the Export Log File.
Become a more productive ToolBook Developer.

For the first time, in addition to being able to see exactly what objects there are in your book, you can now see which ones have Actions associated with them and exactly what they are. Moreover you will now be able to view those Actions, edit them and perform complex searches around them. But that’s by no means all, because now you can also see which objects are hidden (including those that are outside the visible bounds of your book) and even which objects have a text overflow problem. You’ll even be able to view the export log file, once you’ve exported your book, and the Universal Object Browser will provide you with the means to navigate directly to any objects that produced errors.

So How Does the Universal Object Browser Work During Development?

Well to start with you can now see your whole book in the browser window and a simple click of your mouse will take you to wherever you want to go.

By simply checking an item on the new ‘Options’ menu you’ll be able to see which of those objects have Actions (and that includes Shared Actions of the book and Method Actions of Objects).

Do you want to restrict your view to only those objects that have Actions? Simple, check another item on the ‘Options’ menu and that’s all you’ll see in the browser.

With its new ‘Right Click Actions Menu’ the Universal Object Browser lets you easily edit Actions, and even copy and paste them to other objects in your book with nothing more than a simple mouse click. It will even change Method Actions of objects into Shared Actions of the book and vice versa.

But that’s just a start, check another item on the ‘Options’ menu of the Universal Object Browser and you’ll be able to see which objects are hidden and which are outside the visible bounds of a page.

Checking another item will even let you see which of which of your book’s objects have a text overflow problem.

Not sure why text overflow might be a problem? Well you’re not alone and you probably wouldn’t be sure how to correct it either would you? Well you could employ me on a consultancy basis to go through your books and then create a whole series of custom tools to fix the problem for you, but the Universal Object Browser alerts you straight away to potential text overflow problems as you develop your books, providing you with the opportunity to rectify them as you go (Whoops… looks like this tool is going to do me out of work!).

How about finding out which objects have Actions associated with them that make reference to a specific global variable or execute a particular piece of Javascript. Now it’s easy. Just search using the comprehensive inbuilt searching facility and every object (on every page and every background in your book) that falls into your search criteria will be shown. And of course you’re free to view and edit the results at will.

The Universal Object Browser will also allow you to export and import global variables between books and even change the background colour of the Actions Editor.

Now as well as the conventional Actions Editor you can view your actions in the new ‘View’ window:

And by swapping that view to plain text, copy the result and you’ll be able to easily paste it into an e mail to send to others for support.

Last, but by no means least the Universal Object Browser will even show you an export log file with any references to errors found helpfully converted into hyperlinks directly back to the objects that contained them.

Just how much time is that one feature alone going to save you?

But wait….. There’s more

The Universal Object Browser is part of a bargain bundle, and if you take advantage of it then not only will you be saving yourself money (and who doesn’t want to do that!) but you’ll be increasing the versatility of the Universal Object Browser as well.

For your book to export successfully you need to know that all the Actions that you have created are valid. You could just use the inbuilt ToolBook Validate Actions tool, but it doesn’t go anywhere near inner the workings of your Actions to ensure that they really are valid unlike the Actions Deep Validation tool, click here to read about the Actions Deep Validation tool. By opting for the added value Universal Object Browser package you’ll be getting the best possible assurance that your Actions really will work and because the Universal Object Browser has been designed to work seamlessly with the Actions Deep Validation tool you’ll be made aware of any Actions in your book that have a potential problem.

Why Do I Need the Universal Object Browser?

Easy to use No complicated setup, in common with all ToolBook Developer tools, only in this case even more so.
Speed up Development Now you can work with Actions more efficiently, which in turn means better returns for you. This tool will rapidly bring you a significant return on your investment.
Get deep within your Actions Opt for the added functionality that the bargain bundle brings, and you’ll be assured that your Actions really are ready for export, and that alone could save you hours of time trying to establish why something you thought was sound, isn’t.
Really easy to use Did I mention this? Because it’s accessible from your standard ToolBook toolbar, this tool really is easy to use, so easy in fact, that you’ll probably want to keep it open all the time (which is why as an added bonus the Universal Object Browser can be docked).
Rapid ROI The Universal Object Browser will pay for itself in no time because we all require this type of functionality.

Who Developed the Universal Object Browser?

Dom Sinclair and I are the creators of the Universal Object Browser. We both realised that the original idea that Dom had would, when properly integrated into the normal working environment of ToolBook Instructor, make a substantial difference to the ease with which developers could utilise the Actions System, and encourage them to be more adventurous with of one of ToolBook’s most powerful features.

Universal Object Browser Features

Available for ToolBook Instructor 8.9 (2004).

For the first time one tool gives you access to all of the objects in your book.

Easily spot problems that might otherwise prevent your books from exporting.

Revolutionise the way you work with Actions:
- Edit, copy and paste them with no more than a mouse click.
- Search through all the Actions in your book.
- View them and then paste the results to e mail support requests.

Online user guide. (Click here)
Extremely easy to Install and use.