Getting Started With AuthorIT - instructional media + magic

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Chapter 4
Understanding AuthorIT's Concepts
Like most tools, to really learn how AuthorIT works there are some underlying
concepts that you need to understand first. Even if youʹre familiar with other
authoring tools, AuthorIT has some unique concepts behind it ‐‐ especially because of
its revolutionary object‐oriented, single‐source technology.
This Chapter explains those concepts (including single‐source and other such
phrases), so that youʹre best prepared to learn the How To Use AuthorIT stuff later in
this Guide. Youʹll also be able to wow people at cocktail parties with your cutting
edge knowledge.
In This Chapter
Understanding the Components of Your Document.................................. 47
Understanding Your Documentʹs Different Output Formats.................... 49
Why Separate Structure From Format?......................................................... 50
Whatʹs Single‐Source? ..................................................................................... 50
What are Libraries and Books in AuthorIT? ................................................ 50
Understanding AuthorITʹs Architecture....................................................... 51
Inheriting Settings By Using Object Templates ........................................... 51
Version Control ................................................................................................ 54
Understanding the Components of Your Document
With AuthorIT, your document is built of components (also known as ʺobjectsʺ). This
section helps you understand them better.
Assembling Your Document
Creating a document in AuthorIT is like building with Lego bricks ‐ you construct
your document from many smaller pieces, which are called ʺobjectsʺ. There are
different types of object which have different functions (like a Lego roofing tile or a
corner brick).