RE: WinHelp on Vista - a useful link

["Paul Hanson" <phanson -at- Quintrex -dot- com>]

Dan,

The answers I can really give you are that 
1) WinHelp is dead <sniff, I loved it too> 
and 
2) the recommendation from Char, Bill, and other experts on this list is
to convert from WinHelp to something else. 

Re: your requirements, I don't have a strong recommendation. I think of
"functionality and usability of WinHelp" as meaning a compiled help
format <distributing one or two files - allowing for a .hlp and a .cnt
file> is a requirement. If that's true, then your requirement is met
with its successor, HTML-Help, where you distribute a single .CHM file.
It's the only choice - that I can think of - . . . but the requirement
of running the help over a network brings up the issues of running a CHM
file over a network. There are ... issues. <grin>

I'm not sure what you're looking for when you wrote "future feature
development and owner support." HATS will always be changing their
products and will, probably one day, be able to create MS's new help
format, but until that day when MS releases their new help format and
the HATS <or a non-HAT way emerges for us to create this new help
format>, you're either creating CHM files or assembling HTML files into
something like RH's WebHelp that is uncompiled <distributing many files>
and running it in a browser, which is another can of worms.

The only alternative I can think of is using PDFs, but I am not
recommending it. Lots of info re: PDFs as a help file substitute in the
archives. I'm not going there.

For me, the choice was simple. WinHelp is dying (dead) and won't work on
Vista. Our clients will probably order new PCs in the future that will
be purchased with Vista pre-loaded. If I didn't convert to CHM files,
when our clients installed our software and try to access Help, per MS,
"WinHelp will silently fail." That's good enough for me to take the time
to convert to CHMs.

I'm sorry I don't have better news for you.

Paul Hanson
Technical Writer
Adobe Community Expert - RoboHelp
http://www.macromedia.com/support/forums/team_macromedia/team_members/20
0.html
Quintrex Data Systems 
http://www.quintrex.com


-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+phanson=quintrex -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+phanson=quintrex -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On
Behalf Of Dan Goldstein
Sent: Wednesday, September 20, 2006 8:25 AM
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: RE: WinHelp on Vista - a useful link

Let's say we're looking for:
- The functionality and usability of WinHelp (at a minimum!)
- Stability, security, and accessibility over networks
- Future feature development and owner support 

What's recommended?

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