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Subject:help on help From:"Meredith Hoffman/HumaniTech Ltd." <humantch -at- TIAC -dot- NET> Date:Thu, 8 Oct 1998 09:45:02 -0400
>* I would also like to get ideas about projects that I could "make
>up" in order to plan the online help (since I assume that I can't create
>context sensitive help on my own without a product and an engineer for
>the proper coding- right?).
Hi Debbie,
If you've got the complete RoboHelp office suite, there's an app called
What's This Help Composer. I think you can also download a trial version of
it from the BlueSky website.
Using WTHC, you can take ANY .exe file on your system (that is, any Windows
32--bit application), and it will build a context-sensitive help file for
that application. It looks at every field and button in each dialog box and
generates dummy descriptions for each one along with a context-ID number.
(Suggestion: pick a relatively small app to begin with! I initially tried
it out on WordPad.) The version I have also has a sample with a tutorial.
You can then create the language for the c-s help on each field and button,
compile the help using WTHC, and run the application (the .exe file) with
the embedded c-s help. It's actually quite neat. The c-s help file can be a
separate file, or it can be incorporated into a more comprehensive
full-help project.
Feel free to contact me if you want any more info. I'm a totally
self-taught Help-er myself. It doesn't take long to come up to speed on the
tools. Figuring out how to create good and useful conceptual structures is
a much longer experiment.
If you can wait for extensive feedback until after mid-November, I should
have some time then to give you a hand on that. Until then, I'm up to my
ears in developing three extensive Help systems for one of my clients.
Have fun.
--mh
** -------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Meredith Hoffman
** HumaniTech Ltd. Ph: 508-746-4662 and 650-323-1559
** 53 Russell Street FAX: 508-746-4115
** Plymouth MA 02360 email: humantch -at- tiac -dot- net
**
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