WinHelp like OS/2 Help

[Mark Levinson <mark -at- MATIS -dot- INGR -dot- COM>]

I'm producing files for WinHelp, using Microsoft Word (the only reasonable
way I know to produce files for WinHelp, since they need to be compiled from
RTF format).  Of course the Microsoft Word files could be organized in such
a way as to facilitate the generation of a table of contents.  You would be
left with a little labor:  converting a two-level table of contents to an
upper-level file and a lot of individual lower-level files, and then inserting
the cross-referencing codes.

But that might be laboriously re-inventing the wheel.
Though I don't know OS/2, WinHelp already has a built-in feature that is
very much like the +/- scheme you describe.  Each page of help is characterized
by a title and a keyword.  A keyword may be a phrase.  Any number of pages may
have the same keyword.  The system lists keywords for the user (much like
your +), and when the user selects a keyword the result is
a list of the corresponding individual page titles (much like your -).
Since a page can have more than one keyword, this system is more flexible
than a strictly hierarchical table of contents (though you don't need to
go listing lots of pages under lots of keywords if you don't want to).
_________________________________________________________________________
 Mark L. Levinson          | E-mail:   mark -at- matis -dot- ingr -dot- com
 Publications Manager      | Voice:    +972-52-584684, ext. 230 (work),
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        "Graphical user interfaces make simple things simple
         and complicated things impossible."
                                               - Marty Leisner
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