Re: Uncompiled MS HTML Help

["Kelly Williamson" <kwcwtech -at- iwaynet -dot- net>]

You are correct David. And if you have to create cross-platform help these
days, you are most certainly better off using WebHelp or the like (I
currently use WebHelp for my cross-platform, cross-browser projects, which
was not available to my knowledge back in around '95).

Let me just re-iterate one point that you touched on: If you are developing
for an intranet or somesuch where you know all your users are on Windows and
are using Internet Explorer, uncompiled HTML Help (using the ActiveX
control--hhctrl.ocx I believe) can be a very good way to go if you have the
time and talent available and if file size is a primary concern. Let me also
point out that this would definitely be best used if you're putting manuals
online, as opposed to developing help for an application.

(I guess I kind of also want to emphasize that you don't have to buy an
expensive package, like RoboHelp, etc., to produce uncompiled MS HTML Help,
although there would be a very high learning curve.)

/Kelly Williamson
 Columbus, OH

********
>
> Congratulations, Kelly! Based on your comments, though, it doesn't sound
> like you're delivering uncompiled Microsoft HTML Help as Microsoft
delivers
> and supports it, but rather that you've used the HTML Help Java applet to
> provide the TOC and Index for your helpset and have done some fairly
> extensive customizations to compensate for the deficiencies in the
> uncompiled HTML Help format, as provided by Microsoft.
>
> - For example, you've added full text search. That's great, but it's not
> supported by uncompiled HTML Help, as delivered by Microsoft. You've
> implemented that separately.
>
> - You may also have added a Favorites tab of some sort, another core
feature
> of compiled HTML Help that is not supported in Microsoft's Java applet.
>
> - In fact, of the various functions supported by the HTML Help ActiveX
> control, only three are supported by the Java applet: TOC, Index, and
> Related Topics. (Uncompiled HTML Help does not support ALinks, Shortcuts,
> WinHelp links, and so forth.)
>
> - Your helpsets may be relatively small, or your helpsets may be locally
> installed, in which case the fact that the HTML Help Java applet takes
500%
> longer to load than the ActiveX version may not be an issue for you.
>
> - I suspect you also had to implement a workaround for the defect in the
> scrolling mechanism for TOCs that are taller than the frame in which they
> are displayed and for the refresh bug that affects some Netscape users.
>
> None of this is to say that you can't use the HTML Help applet to create
and
> deliver helpsets successfully. You can, but it takes a fair amount of
extra
> work, as you discovered, to get a result that's really useful. And once
> you've done that extra work, you've based your navigation system on an
> applet that Microsoft does not intend to enhance or improve. I believe
there
> are better solutions available from other vendors, including Deva Tools
for
> Dreamweaver (www.devahelp.com), WebHelp, InterHelp, and WebWorks Help.
>
> Regards,
>
> David Knopf (mailto:david -at- knopf -dot- com)
> Knopf Online (http://www.knopf.com)
> Tel: 415.550.8367
>
> RoboHelp MVP & Certified RoboHelp Instructor
> WebWorks Publisher Certified Trainer
> Member, Sun's JavaHelp 2.0 Expert Group
> Member, eHelp's RoboHelp Community Advisory Board
> Co-moderator, HATT & wwp-users
>


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