Context-sensitive HTML Help for .NET application

[laura_johnson at agilent.com]

We do something similar to what Sarah describes, except that I provide index keys rather than topic file names to the developers. I use the normal RoboHelp index features to connect the keys to my topics. We chose this method (rather than Sarah's method) because it gives us a little bit of indirection: if I initially thought I was going to have two topics tied to two different dialog boxes, but then I decided one topic would do for both, I can make that change (by editing my index) without involving the developers.

Somewhere in all that documentation on Microsoft.com, there's a list of the different mechanisms you can choose from (topic filename, index keyword, and I think there were a couple more). I can't find it right now, though.


regards, 
  Laura Johnson 
  Learning Products Engineer
  Agilent Technologies
  Loveland, Colorado


-----Original Message-----
From: Sarah Davies [mailto:Sarah.Davies at macrovision.com] 
Sent: Tuesday, July 11, 2006 3:17 AM
To: peg217 at rcn.com
Cc: techwr-l at lists.techwr-l.com
Subject: RE: Context-sensitive HTML Help for .NET application

 
>I'm new to creating HTML Help, and not sure how to accomplish 
>context-sensitive help for a .NET application.
 
We also create .CHMs with RoboHELP X5 for .NET applications. I give the
developers the names of the individual topic .HTM files within my Help
file, and they use those as the "keywords" to create the
context-sensitive help.
 
For example, the Select Files window in the application might have a
link to Product.chm > SelectFiles.htm. (I don't know exactly how the
links are implemented because I don't know C#, but presumably your
developer has done this before, from what you say.) 
 
It's not the most elegant solution, and requires a little more time than
generating a file of MapIDs, but it does work. If anybody does have a
better method than this, I'd love to hear it.
 
Sarah