Re: JavaHelp

["Peter J. Harbeson" <harbeson -at- GARLIC -dot- COM>]

Hi Robin,
I'm creating several JavaHelp systems. I'm not using any authoring tool,
just vi and a growing pile of scripts I write when I need them. The major
asset of JavaHelp for the project I'm working on is its crossplatform
capability. The software I'm documenting is 100%, which is another reason
JavaHelp makes sense. The drawbacks have included the prerelease status of
JavaHelp (which is about to end), its slow launching speed (although it
seems fine once it opens), and the relative paucity of documentation. I
understand O'Reilly publishing has a JavaHelp book in development, though.

I don't know of any non-browser cross-platform alternatives to JavaHelp.
However, for Windows-only software, WinHelp offers more functionality. If
your application is for Windows and Macintosh, there is (or was, at least) a
WinHelp clone for the Mac called "QuickHelp" that worked quite well last
time I used it, which was about a year and a half ago.
Regards,
Pete Harbeson

---
Peter J. Harbeson ( harbeson -at- garlic -dot- com )
Technical Writing, Instructional Design, Help System Engineering
408-779-4886 voice, 408-782-9525 fax, www.structions.com


-----Original Message-----
From: Robin Whitmore <robin -dot- whitmore -at- CYGENT -dot- COM>
Date: Wednesday, March 17, 1999 10:18 AM
Subject: JavaHelp


>We are developing a Java app that will need online help. I am wondering if
>any of you are currently using JavaHelp to create online help. If so, what
>authoring tool do you use? What are the drawbacks of JavaHelp? Assets?
>
>Because the app does not run in a browser, HTML help is not a great
>alternative. But if you have other suggestions, I'd love to hear them.
>
>Thanks,
>Robin Whitmore
>Cygent, Inc.
>San Francisco
>


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