ForeHTML

[Bobbie Dofflemyer <doff -at- MCCABE -dot- COM>]

Hi techwhirlers and winhelpers,

Has anyone else tried to use ForeHTML to develop HTML-based help (not MS
HTML Help)? We recently upgraded to ForeHelp Premier 98 and I can't
get anything to work in ForeHTML unless I'm generating HTML Help. The
ForeHTML literature (marketing brochure, user's guide, and online help)
states that you can create HTML Help, NetHelp, and web pages, but from
what I've experienced, this is completely misleading.

Here are two examples that I emailed to ForeHelp's technical support.

Sales brochure: "HTML Web Pages - include any HTML feature in your
HTML-based Help projects and web pages. ForeHTML Pro includes full
support for style sheets, framesets, ..."

User guide: "You can use frames for web pages or HTML-based Help
projects...You can define the frames and framesets for your project
using ForeHTML Pro's Frame Editor."

Tech support: "With the straight 3.2 build we aren't writing out the
frame information." Hello?

ForeHTML online help: "There are two options for incorporating other
contents files into the existing contents list: importing and
including." (The help topics for importing and including contents files
display a small "HTML" graphic that is supposed to mean the features can
be used in straight HTML. The same text is in the user guide, but it
does not specify the types of projects that support the features.)

Tech support: "You can import cnt files from one project into another
and that will work in HTML Help or NetHelp.  Including cnt files is only
supported in HTML Help." I tried both methods (including and importing)
in NetHelp and neither worked.

Also, ForeHTML generates NetHelp1, not NetHelp2, which basically amounts
to a nifty little window but not much else (no expanding/collapsing TOC,
no Print feature, etc.). And I won't even get into the problems I'm
having with the few things that do work (that is, features that are
screwed up for reasons other than the output format).

Have other people had similar experiences? Do very many of you use tools
like ForeHTML to develop non-Microsoft HTML-based help systems?

I know my message has a certain ranting quality to it, but I don't mean
to start a HAT war. I'm just fed up and I want to know how other help
authors are dealing with the lack of HTML-based help solutions for
non-Windows/non-IE environments. I know I can use WebWorks, which is
more than likely what I will end up doing. It's just that we were hoping
to develop a single-source solution and it would take too much effort
for us to set up our WinHelp in WebWorks right now.

Thanks,
Bobbie


--
Bobbie Dofflemyer
Technical Documentation
McCabe & Associates, Inc.
mailto:doff -at- mccabe -dot- com

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