Re: HTML-Benefit? - Long

[Chuck Martin <cwmartin -at- US -dot- ORACLE -dot- COM>]

The reasoning here contains some misconceptions.

Jason Wynia wrote:
> Because HTML is currently
> used as a cross-platform international markup, somehow the jump is made and
> all HTML based help solutions become dependent on the web.  This is not the
> case.
But HTML-based Help deos require some sort of browser component to
disply, even if it is integrated into the software application itself.
So the question arises: whose browser components? Microsoft is trying to
position its Help development as needing its browser components, which
are part of Internet Explorer. It's clearly a backhanded tactic to
validate the claim that IE is part of the actual operating system.


> There are standards.  Microsoft has come out and put its HTML Help as the
> standard for future 32 bit Windows help.  You are not forced to use it, nor
> were you forced to use MS's implementation of RTF based help.
> Unfortunately, because HTML was seen as a cross platform language, people
> seem to assume that all solutions based on it need to be cross platform and
> browser independent as well.  You can't run Winhelp on Mac, UNIX etc.  As
> far as browser independance, it may be an issue now, but when the installed
> user base for Win98 grows, IE4 will be on most Win boxes.  The way Win98 is
> currently shipping, it is a massive effort to remove IE from the OS.  See
> http://www.wam.umd.edu/~ssbrooks/win98.html.
But WinHelp systems can and do run on a Mac, and with assistance, on
Unix boxes. Microsoft originallu developed a cross-platform Help
compiler so authors could write a single WinHelp-style Help system that
would run both on Windows and on Mac. I don't know about the current
version, but previous versions of Mac Office installed a Help engine.
You could literally copy a WinHelp file to a Mac machine, change its
creator and type, and view it with that Help engine.

While MS is claiming that HTML-Help is cross-platform, it is not browser
independent. You can't simply assume that all users will blithely
migrate to Windows (and Win98) boxes. As much of a Windows snob that I
am, you can't ignore other platforms for user assistance. This is
especially true for enterprise development.



> The requirement for IE4 will be moot when more people are using Win98 or NT
> 5.0.  The 32 bit requirement is already there if you don't want to compile
> with 3.1 compatibility in Winhelp.  If you still need 16 bit capability, the
> winhelp engine is still going to ship.
Once again, not everyone will be Win users. And many users do *not* like
IE and will do all in their power to remove it from their systems, no
matter what. As a side note, IE has a number of usability flaws, flaws
that are not kind to an end user's system.

HTML has to be seen as a stepping stone to a Help technology that will
provide the types of user assistance that users need in the format they
need on the platforms they choose to use. We got HTML Help from
Microsoft essentially because Bill Gates got caught with his pants down
and dictated "Internet" to all groups at Microsoft. The result is a
hacked system (nicely hacked in many ways, but still hacked) to use HTML
for Help. But even the latest Microsoft applications are using a
combination of HTML Help and WinHelp to deliver a total user assistance
package because HTML Help simply can't cut the mustard.

Within a year or two we should see the growth of a truly platform- and
language-independent user assistance technology. That's what to really
plan for.