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The CICA Windows Explosion!
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The CICA Windows Explosion! - Disc 2.iso
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mhplus32.zip
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HOWTORUN.TX_
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HOWTORUN.TX
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1994-11-15
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181 lines
** A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF **
** HOW TO RUN MiniHelp Plus v3.21 **
For a complete explanation of how to run MiniHelp Plus v3.21,
consult the User's Manual and the online Help file,
mhplus32.hlp.
MiniHelp Plus v3.21 adds more functionality and ease of use
to the "button bar" Windows shell that was introduced with
the release of MiniHelp Plus v3.1. Quite simply, if you can
a) type, and b) click the mouse on a button, you are fully
capable of writing your very own Windows Help Files. And
you can learn to do so in a very, very short time since the
commands for MiniHelp Plus v3.21 are uncomplicated, easy
to use, easy to learn, and fast.
Below is a list of the buttons and some of the features of
MiniHelp Plus v3.21. The program has grown IMMENSELY
since MiniHelp Plus v1.0, and quite a few of the features
are new to MiniHelp Plus v3.21.
** COMPILE RTF **
After you have typed in (and saved) your MiniHelp Plus v3.21
source file, click on this button to create the RTF File, Help
Project File (HPJ), Header File (HHH), and the bitmapped
image INI file (mhp32bmp.dat).
** HELP COMPILER **
Clicking on this button causes the Microsoft Help Compiler
to begin compiling your Help file, using the HPJ file generated
by MiniHelp Plus v3.21.
** MINIHELP HELP **
The MiniHelp Plus v3.21 Help file is displayed when you click
on this button on the button bar. The information in this Help
file will assist you with learning (and serve as a reference to)
the commands of MiniHelp Plus v3.21 and tell you everything
you need to know to create your first Help file using MiniHelp
Plus v3.2. It will also guide you through the syntax used to
create your MiniHelp Plus v3.21 source file. Also, it will answer
any questions you have on running MiniHelp Plus v3.21.
** CONFIGURE... **
Clicking on this button brings up the dialog box where you
configure MiniHelp Plus v3.21. It is here where you define
such things as the name of your current source file, the path
and filename of your default ASCII text editor and which version
of the Help Compiler you are using. You can also select a
few options which tell MiniHelp Plus v3.21 whether to load
in the source file of the currently defined project when you
launch your default text editor, whether to load the HHH, HPJ,
and ERR files into your default text editor or Windows Notepad,
and whether to display the Welcome/Reminder message box
each time MiniHelp Plus v3.21 is started.
** VIEW RTF FILE **
You can view the RTF file generated by MiniHelp Plus v3.21
by clicking on this button. The RTF file is loaded into Windows
Write word processor for you to view/edit. And MiniHelp Plus
v3.2 also automatically takes care of clearing away the annoying
"Convert, No Conversion, Cancel" message box that ALWAYS
appears whenever you load Windows Write with a file not in
the Write format.
** VIEW HPJ FILE **
To view/edit the HPJ file generated by MiniHelp Plus v3.21,
click on this button.
** ABOUT... **
Clicking on this button displays the usual "ego" screen, telling
you about MiniHelp Plus v3.21.
** TEXT EDITOR **
To launch your default ASCII text editor, click on this button.
Depending on how you have MiniHelp Plus v3.21 configured,
either the text editor itself will load up ready for a new file
from scratch, or pre-loaded with the currently configured
MiniHelp Plus v3.21 source file.
** ERROR FILE **
You can view the error file (ERR) output by the Help Compiler
at your leisure by clicking on this button. Depending on
how you have MiniHelp Plus v3.21 configured, the ERR file
will open, pre-loaded into either your default text editor or
Windows Notepad. This file displays the errors encountered
by the Help Compiler while buiding (compiling) your Help file.
** BUILD & TEST **
Compiles the MiniHelp Plus source file, runs the Help Compiler,
and displays the resultant Help file AUTOMATICALLY, all with
the selection of one button. (A great time saver!)
** VIEW HELP **
Your new-just-been-completed Help file can be viewed simply
by clicking on this button. Of course, if a serious error was
encountered by the Help Compiler during the build, your Help
file might not exist yet (even though you might think it does).
For this reason, it is a GOOD idea to check your Error File
right after compiling your Help file. This way, if no Help file
appears, you have a good idea of why.
** VIEW HEADER **
There will be times when you will need to access the Header
file generated by MiniHelp Plus v3.21. When you do, simply
click on this button and, depending on how you have MiniHelp
Plus v3.2 configured, the Header file will be loaded into either
your default text editor or Windows Notepad. Why might you
want to view it? Some of the Help macros can only be invoked
if you know the context-id of a topic. That is what this file
contains. MiniHelp Plus v3.21 creates it when you compile the
source file and lists the topics in your source file, assigning
a unique number to each one (the context-id number).
** VIEW BITMAPS **
If you have PROPERLY defined the bitmaps in your Help project
by including them in your HPJ file with the .hpjbitmap command,
clicking this button will display a dialog box listing all the valid
bitmaps defined in your project. From there, you either double-
click on the filename you want to view or click once on the name
of the file you want to view and click on the view button. The
selected file will be displayed for you to view/edit, preloaded
into Windows Paintbrush. (NOTE: Only those files with the
file extension of .BMP are listed, since at this time, only Windows
Paintbrush is used to view the bitmapped image files. Perhaps
I will allow users to configure future versions of MiniHelp Plus
to use the Paint editor of their choice, much like the way users
can define the default text editor of their choice now. But, for
the time being, only the .BMP file format is supported so you
will need to convert any image files to this format if you want
to be able to use this feature. I am also toying with the idea
of allowing users who have a copy of SHED.EXE, Microsoft's
Hot Spot Editor, to load those files into that program in a
future release.)
** EXIT **
Clicking on this button allows you to quit MiniHelp Plus v3.21.
Just in case you pressed it by mistake, you are asked if you
are sure you want to quit. Click on YES if you do, and NO if
you do not want to quit at this time.
** OTHER FEATURES **
** STATUS BAR **
MiniHelp Plus v3.21 now sports a status bar that tells you what
your last action was in MiniHelp Plus v3.21.
** ALWAYS ON TOP **
Now, you can toggle whether MiniHelp Plus v3.21 is the topmost
window on your screen by selecting this option from the system
menu. Default is on. When it is on, the far right side of the
status bar has the words "ON TOP" displayed. If it is not on,
nothing is displayed in this part of the status bar.
** TITLE BAR **
The title bar of the MiniHelp Plus v3.21 window now displays the
name of the currently defined project to serve as a visual and
constant reminder of the currently configured project.
As I stated before, for complete information on running MiniHelp
Plus v3.2, consult the User's Manual and the online Help files.