Automation and Postprocessing Tools
Market overview of recommendable automation and post-processing tools, especially in connection with the creation of technical documentation and user assistance
On this page:
Process automation, conversion, and formatting
AutoHotkey Lets you automate almost any task within almost any Windows application. Can for example be used to auto replace text, to insert special characters with a click of a button, or to call a sequence of commands from menus and dialogs. From the AutoHotkey web site you can also download SciTE4AutoHotkey, a free editor for AutoHotkey scripts that provides syntax highlighting and context-sensitive help. PuloversMacroCreator is a desktop application that lets you record simple actions on your computer and then transforms these actions into an AutoHotkey script. Platforms: Windows Price: free (open source) https://github.com/Pulover/PuloversMacroCreator AutoIt Alternative to AutoHotkey. Scripts are compatible to some extent. Platforms: Windows Price: free (freeware) Sikuli Script Implements automation based on screen captures. Platforms: Windows Price: free (open source) RoboTask Platforms: Windows Price: approx. $180; there’s also a free version with a limited feature set available Jitbit Auto Text Platforms: Windows Price: approx. $23 https://www.jitbit.com/autotext/ Jitbit Macro Recorder Platforms: Windows Price: approx. $39 https://www.jitbit.com/macro-recorder/free-macro-recorder/ PTFB Pro Platforms: Windows Price: approx. $40 Macro Scheduler Platforms: Windows Price: starting at approx. €95 https://www.mjtnet.com/automation-software.htm Macro Express Platforms: Windows Price: approx. $45 (“Standard”) and $70 (“Pro”) PhraseExpress Platforms: Windows, Mac, Android, iPhone/iPad Price: approx. $50 (“Standard”) and $140 (“Professional”) Automation Workshop Platforms: Windows Price: free and paid versions available; paid versions starting at approx. €300 http://www.automationworkshop.org winautomation Platforms: Windows Price: starting at approx. $399 VisualCron Platforms: Windows Price: starting at approx. $449 Automate Platforms: Windows Price: not published |
Text Workbench Can search and replace text in files of various formats. Fully supports regular expressions and Unicode. Can be run via a graphical user interface, from the command line, or via the Windows scripting host engine. Platforms: Windows Price: approx. $70 http://www.silveragesoftware.com TextPipe Available in different versions for simple search and replace operations up to sophisticated data mining. Platforms: Windows Price: approx. $169 (“Standard”) and $395 (“Pro”) PowerGREP One of the most powerful search and replace tools for text files available. Can be run both via a graphical user interface and from the command line. Platforms: Windows Price: approx. €139 AKS Text Replacer Quite similar to Text Workbench but with fewer functions. Includes a comfortable batch file making utility. Works with text files and Microsoft Word files. Platforms: Windows Price: approx. $40 Batch Text File Editor, Batch Docs, Batch Word Replace, Batch File Replace Provide many functions for batch replacing text and formatting in text and Word files. Platforms: Windows Price: approx. €90, €115, €95, €90 FAR HTML Toolbox for editing and compiling help files. Also includes a powerful search and replace utility. Platforms: Windows Price: approx. $72 http://www.helpwaregroup.com/products/far TextCrawler Can search and replace across files, extract, insert and delete text. Supports regular expressions and batch mode. Unicode compatible. Platforms: Windows Price: basic version for non-commercial use free (freeware), “Pro Edition” approx. €33 https://www.digitalvolcano.co.uk/textcrawler.html FART Command line utility for finding and replacing text. Platforms: Windows Price: free (open source) https://sourceforge.net/projects/fart-it/ Swiss File Knife Among other features also provides a binary find and replace tool for the command line. Platforms: Windows, Mac, Linux Price: free (open source) https://sourceforge.net/projects/swissfileknife/ Rainbow Provides multi-file find and replace, various conversion options, plus a number of other useful features. Platforms: Windows, Mac, Linux Price: free (open source) MegaReplacer for Microsoft Word Finds and replaces multiple text strings (characters, words, phrases), text formatting, or styles within one or multiple documents. Platforms: Windows Price: approx. $30 http://www.editorium.com/14843.htm Perl Programming language that has a particular strength in handling texts. Platforms: Windows, Mac, Linux Price: free (open source) |
PatternStream Automates publishing workflows. Information can be acquired directly from any standard relational databases, or from XML, HTML, and other files. The gathered information can then be automatically imported and placed where needed in the final document (FrameMaker, InDesign, HTML, XML, Excel). Platforms: Windows Price: not published Typefi Single-source publishing platform that integrates print, online, and mobile production into one automated workflow. Platforms: not published for the desktop version; also available as a web application Price: not published c-rex.net Extracts and converts content between various formats for editing, translation, and publishing. Price: not published Miramo Automatically formats information extracted from databases and other data sources, such as XML. Uses Adobe FrameMaker. Platforms: Windows Price: approx. €4750 Pandoc Universal document converter. Among others, converts between markdown, reStructuredText, textile, HTML, DocBook, LaTeX, MediaWiki markup, and OPML. Platforms: Windows, Mac, Linux Price: free (open source) CoreFTP FTP client that can also be controlled from the command line and thus be used for automated publication processes. Price: approx. $25 |
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This page was last updated 04/2019
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