Help system formats

Help systems can be created using different formats. All Help formats share a common set of features, but the Help format used can impact the features available in the Help system, the way it's compiled, and the way it's viewed.

Types of Help formats

There are several different types of Help formats*.

*Availability of Help formats depends on which RoboHELP package you are using.

Note: The two most widely used Help formats are WinHelp and Microsoft HTML Help. Help Basics focuses primarily on these two formats.

WinHelp

This format is used primarily as application Help and standalone Help for computers that run on Microsoft Windows. WinHelp is the "original" Windows online Help format, based on RTF (Rich Text Format) files. After you create a WinHelp project in RoboHELP Classic, you can create other Help formats from this project.

WinHelp's primary targets are WinHelp 3 and WinHelp 4. There are some differences in the way the two targets look and act, but the main difference between them is the Microsoft Windows operating system: WinHelp 3 runs on Windows 3.1 and later, and WinHelp 4 runs on Windows 95, 98, NT 4.0, or 2000.

You can use RoboHELP for WinHelp to generate WinHelp projects.

WinHelp 2000

Like WinHelp, WinHelp 2000 is used for application and standalone Help. With WinHelp 2000 you can easily integrate and update Help systems that are in different Help formats, add powerful new navigation aids, and quickly create the look and feel of Microsoft HTML Help using your WinHelp projects.

Microsoft HTML Help

Microsoft HTML Help is used as application Help and standalone Help for computers that run on Microsoft Windows. Microsoft HTML Help is based on Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) files. You can run Microsoft HTML Help on Windows 95, 98, NT 4.0, or 2000 using Internet Explorer 4.x or later. Use it to design Microsoft HTML Help projects, author HTML topics, and to take advantage of features only available with Microsoft HTML Help.

WebHelp

WebHelp* includes a collection of HTML files that can be displayed with different Web browsers on a variety of computing platforms including Microsoft Windows, Macintosh, Linux, and UNIX.

Use WebHelp files to create application Help, standalone Help projects and online documentation or Web pages. Like Microsoft HTML Help, WebHelp displays the table of contents, index, and search tabs in one viewing frame and the topic content in another.

* Available only with RoboHELP Office or RoboHELP for WebHelp.

JavaHelp

JavaHelp*, developed by Sun Microsystems, is designed to work with applications written in the Java programming language. JavaHelp and Java applications run on a variety of platforms (such as Windows, UNIX, Mac, and Linux).

JavaHelp is a delivery system, not a Help authoring tool. All JavaHelp features are automatically created including contents, index, full-text search, navigation controls, and popup windows, along with HTML-based features such as HTML topics and links, Related Topics buttons, and image files.

* Available only with RoboHELP Office or RoboHELP for JavaHelp.

Oracle Help

Oracle Help for Java* is Oracle Corporation's implementation of Sun Microsystems' JavaHelp standard. Oracle Help provides a flexible solution for authors who design Help for applications written in the Java programming language, however, it can be used with applications written in any language. Oracle Help and Java applications run on a variety of platforms (Windows, UNIX, Mac, Linux, etc.).

Using the Oracle Help componets and the ICE 5 browser, Oracle Help is a full featured format including table of contents, index, full-text search, popup windows, context-sensitive Help, and customizable windows. Oracle Help projects display in the Oracle Help viewer.

* Available only with RoboHELP Office or RoboHELP for JavaHelp.

Windows CE Help

Windows CE Help* is used with handheld personal computers, digital information pagers and cellular smart phones, entertainment and multimedia consoles such as DVD players, and Internet access devices such as Internet TVs, digital set-top boxes, and Internet "Web phones".

RoboHELP Classic fully supports Windows CE Help version 1.0. Converting Help systems to Windows CE Help is similar to converting to other forms of HTML-based Help, except that Windows CE uses a special HTML browser that is a scaled-down version of Internet Explorer.

* Available only with RoboHELP Office.

Netscape NetHelp 1 and NetHelp 2

Netscape NetHelp* is a platform for creating and viewing HTML-based online Help using Netscape Navigator 3 or later. Like Microsoft HTML Help, NetHelp uses HTML as its source instead of RTF (Rich Text Format), the source for WinHelp. Unlike WinHelp and Microsoft HTML Help, NetHelp is not a compiled format. You can use RoboHELP Classic to generate Netscape NetHelp projects.

* Available only with RoboHELP Office.

Printed documentation

Even though online information and printed documents are completely different mediums that vary in format and presentation, they can easily share the same source files.

The Documentation Wizard enables you to turn your Help systems, intranet content, and Web pages into high-quality user guides that are suitable for printed documentation.

The Documentation Wizard is a powerful, yet easy-to-use tool that automatically converts your projects into full-featured printed documentation complete with text formatting, styles, images, organized files, table of contents, and index. It provides all the features you need for producing printed publications in Microsoft Word format.