Abstract
This paper presents Isolde,' an authoring tool for technical writers which automates the production of procedural on-line help in hypertext form. We show that the design of Isolde emerged from technological advances and fits into current trends in the technical writing community. The domains which Isolde's design draws upon are natural language generation (NLG), human computer interaction (HCI) and software engineering (SE). Specific trends in technical writing that Isolde addresses are (1) providing support for determining the structure and content of the text; (2) promoting information re-use through the formalisation of the knowledge present in on-line help text; and (3) allowing writers to play a greater role early in the software development process. We also explore Isolde's scope of use and its integration into and influence on the technical writer's work processes.