Contents
WinHelp Video Kit Sample

You can easily integrate multimedia into Windows Help systems with the WinHelp Video Kit™. Video and sound can be used in Help systems in a variety of ways: to visually explain complex procedures, to teach applications and to demonstrate product features. This sample is a Windows 3.1 Help system which includes both video and sound examples.

Video Examples

Sound Examples

Steps to Add Video or Sound to a Windows 3.1 Help System

Files to Ship with the Help System

Tip

You can open the source to this Help system to see how each example was implemented. Start RoboHELP, choose Open an Existing Windows 3.1 Help system, then open video.rtf. By default, it is installed in the c:\winhelp\video16 folder.


Video Examples

The video you will see in the examples below was created using the Software Video Camera that comes with the WinHelp Video Kit.

Click here to see a video

 <-- You can play a video from a button, or other graphic element.

You can set a custom caption on the video player

You can jump to a topic, then automatically play a video

Tip

You can open the source to this Help system to see how each example was implemented. Start RoboHELP, choose Open an Existing Windows 3.1 Help system, then open video.rtf. By default, it is installed in the c:\winhelp\video16 folder.


Sound Examples

Sound Example With Video/Sound Player

Sound Example Without Video/Sound Player

 <-- You can play a sound from a button, or other graphic element.

Voice Example Without Video/Sound Player

Music Example With Video/Sound Player

Nature Sound Example Without Video/Sound Player

 <-- You can play a sound from a button without the Video/Sound player displaying.

Tip

You can open the source to this Help system to see how each example was implemented. Start RoboHELP, choose Open an Existing Windows 3.1 Help system, then open video.rtf. By default, it is installed in the c:\winhelp\video16 folder.


AutoPlay Example

By putting the Video or Sound command in the topic macro for a topic it will start automatically when the topic is displayed.

To put the command in the topic macro, create the topic, place the cursor in the topic and choose the Edit Topic button, then the Macro button.  Type: video("filename.avi") or sound("filename.wav")

Tip

You can open the source to this Help system to see how this example was implemented. Start RoboHELP, choose Open an Existing Windows 3.1 Help system, then open video.rtf. By default, it is installed in the c:\winhelp\video16 folder.


AutoPlay a Video

To play the file automatically upon entering a topic, create the topic, place the cursor in the topic and choose the Edit button then the Macro button.  Type: video("filename.avi").

Tip

You can open the source to this Help system to see how this example was implemented. Start RoboHELP, choose Open an Existing Windows 3.1 Help system, then open video.rtf. By default, it is installed in the c:\winhelp\video16 folder.


AutoPlay a Sound

To play the file automatically upon entering a topic, create the topic, place the cursor in the topic and choose the Edit button then the Macro button.  Type: sound("filename.wav")

Tip

You can open the source to this Help system to see how this example was implemented. Start RoboHELP, choose Open an Existing Windows 3.1 Help system, then open video.rtf. By default, it is installed in the c:\winhelp\video16 folder.


Steps to Add Video to a Help system
Steps to Add Video or Sound to a Help system

With WinHelp Video Kit, it is easy to add video or sound to a Help system:

1.	Start the Video Wizard and choose the desired Help system.  This registers the macros for video and sound support in the Help system.

2.	Open the Help project in RoboHELP and insert the macro command:

For Video:

•	To play the file from a hotspot, choose Insert:Help Macro Hotspot and type: Video("filename.avi").

•	Autoplay

For Sound:

•	To play the file from a hotspot, choose Insert:Help Macro Hotspot and type: Sound("filename.wav") or SoundOnly("filename.wav").

•	Autoplay

3.	Ship the appropriate files.


Files to Ship with the Help System

When you ship a Help File to which you have added video or sound, be sure to include:

•	RHMMPLAY.DLL. This DLL is on your hard drive (by default, in the winhelp\video16 directory). For Windows 3.1 Help systems, be sure to use the DLL in the video16 directory. There is a 32-bit version of this DLL for Windows 95 Help systems. The DLL must be installed into either the end users windows\system directory or into the same directory as the Help file.

•	The Video and/or Sound Files you added. These must be installed in the same directory as the Help file or in a directory specified in the user's path.

•	Video for Windows 1.1 Runtime


Windows 3.1 Help System

A Help system compiled using a Windows 3.1 Help compiler (HCP or HC31) which can run on computers with Windows 3.1, Windows 95 or Windows NT operating systems.