Copyright: Copyright © 1991-2000 eHelp Corporation. All rights reserved.
Citation: RoboHELP Help Copyright  ©2000 eHelp Corporation. All rights reserved.


Welcome to RoboHELP Office

RoboHELP Office is the proven solution for creating all major Help formats, providing a powerful native environment for authoring new content that works hand-in-hand with printed documentation. It’s easy to create a high-quality Help system with RoboHELP® Office. Use it to design a dynamic table of contents, a comprehensive index, and fine-tune the structure and flow of your Help system. You can even add functionality like multimedia, graphics, links to the Web, live HTML content, jumps, popups, related topics buttons, and much more – all with point-and-click and drag-and-drop ease.

Take a look at some of the Help formats that you can create using RoboHELP Office:

WinHelp. Create and distribute sophisticated online Help for Windows software applications. You focus on design and content while RoboHELP handles the complexities of creating Help systems for you behind the scenes. You can create WinHelp 4 and WinHelp 3 Help systems, depending on your environment and end-user needs.

Microsoft HTML Help. You can use this Help format as application Help and standalone Help for computers that run on Microsoft Windows. Use it to design high-performance Help systems in a dynamic and easy-to-use environment.

WebHelp. You can generate browser-independent Help systems that are compatible on a variety of platforms, including Macintosh and UNIX. This easy-to-create, reliable Help format is widely used by Help authors around the world and is ideal for creating Help on intranets.

JavaHelp. This new compiled Help format is designed to work with applications written in the Java programming language. You can now create JavaHelp quickly and easily with the powerful Help features you’ve come to expect.

Printed documentation. Save time and resources by creating high-quality printed documentation from your Help project, or import documentation to create professional Help systems. The Documentation Wizard converts your Help system into full-featured printed documentation files complete with text formatting, styles, images, and more. You can also import your documentation files into your source Help project to easily produce powerful Help systems.

RoboHELP Office Tools

Not only can you create any Help format you want using RoboHELP Office, but you can also take advantage of a superior selection of productivity tools. For more information, see What's included with RoboHELP Office.

Trademarks


What's included with RoboHELP Office?

This Help system is designed to help you get started with RoboHELP Office quickly. In just a few minutes, you’ll have an excellent understanding of what each tool in RoboHELP Office can do for you. Click on one of the options below to learn more!

RoboHELP Office includes the following applications:

RoboHELP Classic 	This application is specialized for creating powerful WinHelp systems using Microsoft Word as the editor.

RoboHELP HTML  	This application is specialized for creating Microsoft HTML Help systems, WebHelp, JavaHelp, and Oracle Help. You can even import WinHelp projects.

RoboHELP Office Tools 	A collection of tools specialized for specific Help-authoring tasks.

Single Source 	This feature allows you to create any of the major Help formats (such as WinHelp, Microsoft HTML Help, and JavaHelp) in the same intuitive and powerful environment. No matter which Help format you need, RoboHELP can meet your needs by providing superior Help navigation and organization tools.


RoboHELP Office Tools

Along with RoboHELP Classic and RoboHELP HTML, RoboHELP Office includes a powerful collection of productivity tools that make it easier than ever to create standout Help systems. You can take advantage of the following features when you have RoboHELP Office:

ReSize™	Allows you to drag and drop to change the size of any graphic in your Help system while maintaining image quality. You can even set the resolution of a graphic or change the type of an image without leaving the RoboHELP Office suite.

PC HelpDesk™	Allows you to include access to your company’s Help Desk, right within your Help system. Your users can tap into your knowledge base or frequently asked questions 24 hours a day.

Software Video Camera®	Allows you to capture on-screen actions, add narration, and generate multimedia video files that you can include in your Help systems. Once you’ve created your video, this guide tells you everything you need to know to add videos to WinHelp and HTML Help systems.

What's This? Help Composer® 	The fastest way to create context-sensitive What’s This? Help for your Windows 95, 98, NT 4.0, and 2000 applications. What’s This? Help Composer scans an application, finds all the controls in each dialog box, and automatically creates an entire Help project for you in seconds!

WinHelp BugHunter® (16-bit) 	Saves you time when you are creating context-sensitive for 16-bit Help systems. Easily resolve broken links between applications and their WinHelp files. No more conflicts between the programmer and the Help author.

WinHelp BugHunter® (32-bit)	Enables you to monitor calls to context-sensitive topics in 32-bit Help systems. Quickly diagnose problems and resolve broken links by identifying which map numbers the application is using.

Graphics Locator™ 	Quickly shows you all images on your system, even across multiple drives. As you select each file name, Graphics Locator instantly displays the image and allows you to copy images to your project folder quickly and easily.

Help-to-Source®	Automatically converts any Windows Help (.HLP) file into its corresponding .RTF and .HPJ source files with just a click of your mouse.

WinHelp Inspector®	Allows you to quickly inspect any Help system, whether or not you have access to the source files. It’s handy for examining startup macros and DLLs, topic titles, search keywords, fonts used, and lots more.

RoboHELP Office QuickBar 	Allows you to access all of the installed RoboHELP Office tools from a convenient tool bar. You can keep this tool bar running all of the time, so your RoboHELP Office tools are just a click away.

Keyword Reporter™	Provides a full-featured report of topics and associated keywords that can be sorted alphabetically by topic or by keyword.

WinHelp Compatibility Wizard™	Gives your Windows 3.1 Help systems the look and feel of WinHelp 4 with Contents, Index, and Find tabs.

WinHelp HyperViewer®	Automatically provides book and page views as well as full-text search to your Windows 3.1 Help systems − in seconds!

Single Source 	Allows you to create any of the major Help formats (such as Microsoft HTML Help or JavaHelp) in one intuitive and powerful environment.

Find HTML Help Components 	Allows you to search for Microsoft HTML Help system files and see them on screen. This tool can find dynamic link libraries (.DLLs), executable programs (.EXEs) and ActiveX controls (.OCXs) that serve as components. This tool is helpful if you need to locate, move, delete, or obtain more information about an individual HTML Help system file.

Multi-File Find and Replace 	Use the Multi-File Find and Replace tool to quickly search multiple topics and remove or replace text. This tool is dual purpose - use it to search topic content as well as HTML tags and their related syntax.

HTML Help Registration	Allows you to register, unregister, replace, and move compiled Microsoft HTML Help files (.CHMs).

Find HTML Help Files 	Allows you to search your local hard drive for .CHM files and identifies them on screen. This tool is helpful if you need to locate, move, delete, or obtain more information about an individual .CHM file.

HTML Help Studio™ 	Provides an easy way to extract source files ("decompile") from a compiled Microsoft HTML Help file (.CHM). This is especially useful if you need to use files contained in the .CHM, but no longer have its source files. You can easily extract HTML topics, images, style sheets, and other project files using this tool.

BugHunter™ for HTML Help 	A timesaving tool for testing context-sensitive Help topics in your Microsoft HTML Help project. You open the application that uses the Help you want to test and BugHunter provides instant feedback about the topic.

	When you are ready to use any of the tools, you can access them several ways. Pick your favorite! From the RoboHELP Office Starter, the RoboHELP Explorer Tools tab, from Windows Explorer, from the RoboHELP Office Quick Bar, or from the Start menu (Start, Programs, RoboHELP Office). Depending upon your chosen installation, you may have all of these tools or only some of them.


Using the RoboHELP Office Starter

The RoboHELP Office Starter provides an easy way to start any of your RoboHELP Office tools. Click here to see the starter.

To open the RoboHELP starter:

•	Double-click RoboHELP Office Tools on your desktop, or from the Start menu, click Programs, RoboHELP Office, RoboHELP Office Tools.

Using the RoboHELP Office Starter tabs

The starter provides these tabs:

Tools	Start any tool from the Tools tab, or right-click any tool to learn more about the tool. Add a new tool by choosing New Tool from the Edit menu.

New WinHelp	Start a new Help project in RoboHELP using this tab.

New HTML Help 	Start a new HTML Help project in RoboHELP HTML using this tab.

Open	Open an existing Help or HTML Help project using the Open tab.

	You can specify the current folder for this session using the Current Folder field. All tools will start at this folder. If you will be working on a particular Help project in a certain location, set the location here and all tools will open with this folder selected.
Using the RoboHELP Office Starter Toolbar

The toolbar provides the following tools:

Open	Open a project in RoboHELP or RoboHELP HTML

New Tool	Add a new tool to the starter

Properties	Specify properties such as the tool name and location

Delete	Delete the selected tool

Auto-close	Specify whether the RoboHELP Office Starter should automatically close when you run a RoboHELP Office tool

Large Icons	Display the tools large icons

Small Icons	Display the tools small icons

List View	Display the tools in a list

Details View	Display the tool description along with the name


RoboHELP Office Starter


Starting RoboHELP Office Tools from RoboHELP Classic

The RoboHELP Explorer Tools tab provides an easy way to start RoboHELP Office tools right from within RoboHELP. This way, your current project folder is already loaded into the tool! Click here to see the RoboHELP Explorer Tools tab.

Accessing the RoboHELP Office tools from RoboHELP

1	Start RoboHELP.

2	In the RoboHELP Explorer, click the Tools tab. All available RoboHELP Office tools will be displayed.

Tip:

You can right-click in the Tools tab to add additional tools or edit existing tools.


The RoboHELP Tools Tab
The RoboHELP Explorer Tools Tab


Starting RoboHELP Office Tools from Windows Explorer

You can even start RoboHELP Office tools from Windows Explorer. Simply start Windows Explorer and right click any Help (HLP) file. Select of the following on the right-click menu:

RoboHELP Office	Displays the RoboHELP Office Starter.

Inspect	Discovers key information about the HLP file using the WinHelp Inspector and Keyword Reporter.

Edit	Opens the HLP file in RoboHELP, ready for editing.


Starting RoboHELP Office Tools from RoboHELP HTML

RoboHELP HTML provides a handy Tools tab to store shortcuts to the applications, folders, or files you use most often. All you do is add icons for programs and files you want to use, and then double-click the tool icon whenever you want to open one.

To select the Tools tab:

•	Click the Tools tab on the left side of the program window.

To open a tool shortcut on the Tools tab:

•	Double-click the icon for the tool that you want to open.


Choosing an authoring environment

RoboHELP Office contains two authoring tools you can use to create Help projects: RoboHELP Classic and RoboHELP HTML. Choosing which tool to use is an important decision. Consider the following:

•	Is your management or development team requiring you to use a particular tool?

•	Are you more comfortable working with Microsoft Word or a WYSIWYG HTML Editor? Do you need to work with both?

•	If you are creating a Help system for an application or a particular platform, will one Help format integrate more smoothly into the application than another? (Ask your developer for help with this question.)

•	What environment or platform will your end users use to run your Help project? This will help determine which Help format to use.

•	Which Help formats do you require? Does your system only run in a Web-based environment or UNIX, for example?

RoboHELP Classic

If you are creating WinHelp or WinHelp 2000 projects, use RoboHELP Classic. In RoboHELP Classic, you can develop WinHelp systems with all the Help features you need using the familiar Microsoft Word authoring environment, including printed documentation. When you have RoboHELP Office, you can also generate several other Help formats in RoboHELP Classic.

RoboHELP HTML

If you are creating HTML-based Help projects (such as Microsoft HTML Help or WebHelp), use RoboHELP HTML. Using the powerful WYSIWYG editor (or another HTML editor), you can create compiled Microsoft HTML Help (.CHM files) and printed documentation. When you have RoboHELP Office, you can create WebHelp (cross-platform, cross-browser Help), JavaHelp, and Oracle Help in addition to Microsoft HTML Help.


Trademarks

ActiveEdit®, ActiveTest®, Blue Sky Software®, Blue Sky®, eHelp™ Corporation, Contents Tab Composer®, Graphics Locator, Help To Source®, Help To Word®, Hotspot Studio®, HTML Help Studio™, Keyword Reporter, PC Help Desk, PowerSQL™, ReSize™, RoboHELP®, RoboHELP® Classic, RoboHELP® HTML, RoboHELP Office™, RoboHELP® Office QuickBar, Smart Publishing Wizard™, Software Video Camera®, The Industry Standard in Help Authoring, WebHelp®, WebPopupHelp®, What's This? Help Composer®, WinHelp 2000™, WinHelp BugHunter®, WinHelp Compatibility Wizard, WinHelp Find+®, WinHelp Graphics Locator®, WinHelp HyperViewer®, and WinHelp Inspector® are trademarks or registered trademarks of eHelp Corporation in the U.S.A. and other countries. RoboHELP is a registered trademark of eHelp Corporation in the U.S.A. and other countries. Microsoft and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Other brands and their products are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders and should be noted as such.


What is the RoboHELP Office QuickBar?

  The RoboHELP Office QuickBar lets you access all of the installed RoboHELP Office tools from a convenient tool bar. You can keep this tool bar running all of the time; so your RoboHELP Office tools are just a click away.

You can remember the tools are organized in the following way:
RoboHELP®, the flagship product, comes first. It is the foundation for all of the other tools. Next in line are graphics-related products, followed by inspection and checking tools. Then come the wizards that add functionality to your Help systems. Last in line are the converters.

Starting the RoboHELP Office QuickBar

The RoboHELP Office QuickBar is not installed by default. If you want to use the QuickBar, you must select it when you install RoboHELP Office. After installation, it will automatically appear in RoboHELP Office. Depending on the tools you have installed, the RoboHELP Office QuickBar will look something like this:

To start the RoboHELP Office QuickBar:

1	When you install RoboHELP Office, select Custom in the Setup Type dialog.

2	Select WinHelp Tool Kit under Components and then click Change.

3	Select RoboHELP Office QuickBar and then click Continue.

4	Proceed with installing RoboHELP Office.

5	Double-click the RoboHELP Office QuickBar icon in the RoboHELP Office Starter.

Note: To restart the RoboHELP Office QuickBar after turning it off, double-click the RoboHELP Office QuickBar icon in the RoboHELP Office Starter.

Tips on Using the RoboHELP Office QuickBar:

•	You can make the RoboHELP Office QuickBar always stay on top of other windows by right-clicking anywhere on the bar and selecting Always on Top from the popup menu that appears.

•	You can make the RoboHELP Office QuickBar dock to your Microsoft Office tool bar (instead of directly to the side of the screen) by right-clicking anywhere on the bar and selecting Dock to Working Area from the popup menu that appears.

•	To close the RoboHELP Office QuickBar, just right-click anywhere on the tool bar and select Exit.

See Also

Troubleshooting the RoboHELP Office QuickBar


Troubleshooting the RoboHELP Office QuickBar

•	If your RoboHELP Office QuickBar does not contain buttons for all of the RoboHELP Office tools you installed on your system, it may be because you installed some of the tools after you installed the RoboHELP Office QuickBar. If this is the case, just re-install the RoboHELP Office QuickBar; when you run it again it will show all of the installed tools.

•	If your RoboHELP Office QuickBar contains buttons that do not function properly (they do not run the appropriate program), it is probably because the program has been deleted or moved from its original location. If this is the case, re-install the missing application or move it to the original directory (folder).

•	If you want the RoboHELP Office QuickBar to dock to your Microsoft Office tool bar, make sure that you have selected Dock to Working Area from the popup menu that is accessed by a right-click anywhere on the tool bar.


What's This? Help Composer

	What is What’s This? Help Composer? What’s This? Help Composer is the fastest way to create context-sensitive What’s This? Help for your Windows 95 and WinHelp 4 applications.  What’s This? Help Composer scans an application, finds all the controls in each dialog box, and automatically creates an entire Help project for you in seconds!  What’s This? Help Composer even adds suggested text to each Help topic so much of your Help system is written before you start!
Key Features of What’s This? Help Composer

•	Creates an entire context-sensitive Help project for you in seconds.

•	Automatically generates a Help topic for each control on each dialog box.

•	Allows you to see each dialog box while you’re editing (C/C++ applications). No need to take screen shots of each dialog box to write the topic text!

•	Includes a powerful ActiveTest feature which allows you to test your What’s This? Help project with the application, even before the programmer has added the Help links.

•	Makes the programmers job easy. The programmer just needs to call a DLL; no more adding several lines of code for each dialog box.

•	You can start What’s This? Help Composer from within RoboHELP, or standalone. To learn more about What’s This? Help Composer, see your What’s This? Help Composer User’s Manual.

•	Click here to see an example of a What’s This? style topic.

	What’s This? Help Composer creates Help for Visual Basic applications and for 32-bit C/C++ applications compiled using Microsoft, Borland, Symantec or Watcom C and C++ compilers.


Benefits of jumping from a Windows Help file to a World Wide Web site
Jumping from a Windows Help file to a World Wide Web site

WinHelp Internet Access provides a way to dynamically update software users with current information after the product has been shipped. WinHelp Internet Access also allows you to create a jump to a particular news group.

With a link to your own Home page, you can provide users instant access to the following:

•	Most frequently asked questions and answers on products.

•	Latest technical support tips for products.

•	Marketing information, datasheets or new product announcements.

•	Product guides.

With a link to another company’s web page, you can provide users instant access to the following:

•	Your business partners’ Web pages.

•	Information about products which complement your software.


Benefits of downloading files from the Internet from a Windows Help file
Downloading files from the Internet via a Windows Help file

WinHelp Internet Access is invaluable if you want to provide Help users with information or files not available at the shipping date of the software. Consider the following, for example:

•	Tutorials or samples.

•	Bug fixes.

•	Updated files.

•	Free upgrades.


Benefits of providing direct Internet e-mail links from a Windows Help file
Providing direct Internet e-mail links from a Windows Help file

Help users can send e-mail to a specified address with a mouse click. With WinHelp Internet Access, you can do either of the following:

•	Create an e-mail link directly to your own technical support.

•	Provide an e-mail link to register a product electronically.

	The e-mail functionality requires that the end user has one of the following configurations. Netscape requires that the end user’s Internet provider has Internet e-mail activated, while Microsoft Internet Explorer requires that the end user’s Microsoft Exchange is Internet e-mail enabled.


Graphics Locator

	What is the Graphics Locator? The Graphics Locator allows you to easily search for graphics and other files in a specific directory, drive, or even across multiple drives.  Best of all, you can easily preview these graphics and copy them to a desired directory.  In addition to the visual preview feature, the Graphics Locator displays useful information such as the number of colors in the selected graphic, the width and height of the graphic, and more.
Benefits of Using the Graphics Locator

•	The Graphics Locator makes it easy to find graphics. You can search multiple drives at the same time, which is a real time saver if you have multiple network drives for storing Help projects. You can even specify a specific subdirectory in which to search.

•	The Graphics Locator lets you preview graphics. This saves the time-consuming process of opening PaintBrush just to take a look at a graphic.

•	The Graphics Locator searches quickly for many types of files. The Graphics Locator searches your system for BMP, ICO, CUR, SHG, MRB, WMF or other files, QUICKLY.
Click here to view an example search screen in the Graphics Locator.

•	The Graphics Locator operates in the background. To take advantage of the multi-tasking capability of Windows, the Graphics Locator has been designed to search for files in the background – while you are working within another application. Just start a search and then activate the application in which you wish to work (using Alt+Tab). The Graphics Locator notifies you that the search is completed by becoming the active window (appearing in front of all other windows).


Sample Screen for the Graphics Locator


ReSize

	What is ReSize? ReSize is the fastest and easiest tool for resizing images and converting files into different image formats. ReSize allows you to quickly resize and scale images while maintaining the proportions and much of the quality of the original image.
Benefits of using ReSize

•	Supports a variety of image file formats including .GIF, .JPEG, .BMP, and .SHG graphics.

•	Allows you to perform multiple resizes in a session while maintaining the quality and resolution. You won’t find a significant change in quality because ReSize bases each new size on the original image file rather than on the last resized image.

•	Is easy to learn and use! You simply open the image, size it and save it. That’s all there is to it.

With ReSize, you can:

•	Convert image files from any supported format to another.

•	Resize images by dragging sizing handles.

•	Resize images by entering pixel values or percentage values.

•	Perform color depth conversions for 24-bit (16 million), 256-color, and 16-bit color so your images use the optimal color values and hues across Windows platforms and on any kind of monitor.

	ReSize has powerful features when working with SHED graphics. You can resize SHED graphics and retain any hotspots you have defined. Additionally, you can fix the resolution of SHED graphics so they are displayed at the same size (horizontal pixels and vertical lines) on any monitor.


WinHelp Inspector
WinHelp Inspector and Keyword Reporter

	What is the WinHelp Inspector and Keyword Reporter? WinHelp Inspector allows you to quickly inspect any Help system, whether or not you have access to the source files. WinHelp Inspector displays the following information: the startup macros and DLLs, the compression, the copyright notice, topic titles, search keywords, fonts used, and name, date, and size of a Help system. Most of the information provided by the WinHelp Inspector is not normally available without the source files. WinHelp Inspector’s Keyword Reporter allows you to print a Keyword Report so you can quickly check which keywords you’ve added to your Help project.
Benefits of Using the Inspector

WinHelp Inspector is useful in three major ways . . .

•	WinHelp Inspector also lets you check for consistency within your Help systems.
For example, assume that you are creating four Help projects for applications within a suite. You can use the Inspector to browse through these Help systems, checking to make sure you use the same font type or macros. The WinHelp Inspector gives you the opportunity to be consistent with your Help systems, a mark of professionalism for any Help author.

•	WinHelp Inspector’s Keyword Reporter allows you to easily print a report of your Help system’s K keywords. You can make sure you’ve used them consistently and look for additional opportunities for keywords.

•	WinHelp Inspector is great when you want to check out existing Help systems.
You may want to consult other Help systems for ideas, conventions, and inspirations. Using the Inspector, you can see how existing Help systems were created: the startup macros and DLLs, the fonts used, and other design-related information.


WinHelp BugHunter (for 16-bit systems)

  What is the WinHelp BugHunter (16-bit)?

The BugHunter is a great debugging tool that helps you check context-sensitive Help in a 16-bit Help system. The BugHunter displays all calls made by a running application to an associated Help system. This means that the BugHunter can provide critical information should context-sensitive Help not function properly. The BugHunter is a real time saver in resolving any broken or incorrect context-sensitive Help links between an application and its Help system!

How does the BugHunter work?

Assume you are running an application and click on an item to access a context-sensitive Help topic. Instead of the topic appearing, you get the message "The Help topic does not exist". Without using the BugHunter it is difficult to know how or why this topic is not functioning properly.

The BugHunter can provide answers. It displays the exact map number called by the application. Using the map number information, you can modify the application to call the correct map number OR update the Help system to give the topic the correct map number.

Benefits of using the BugHunter

•	Context-sensitive Help can be a tricky thing to implement correctly. Both the Help author and the programmer must work together to ensure that topics display correctly. The BugHunter avoids potential conflicts between the programmer and the Help author, as it determines the exact source of any problem.

	Be sure to check out the BugHunter Tutorial that comes with RoboHELP Office. This provides a quick look at how to use the BugHunter effectively.


Software Video Camera

	What is the Software Video Camera? Software Video Camera provides everything you need to integrate video and sound into Windows Help systems and to create "live" video product tutorials. It includes the following: • Software Video Camera A full-motion screen action recording program. • Video Tester Used for previewing video and sound files. • WinHelp Video/Sound Player Used for video and sound playback in Help files. The Software Video Camera is specifically designed to make recording screen action easy to do. With the simple click of a button, you can record all on-screen action. (The Software Video Camera is similar to Lotus ScreenCam.)
	The Software Video Camera is now supported under Windows 3.1, 95, 98, NT 4.0, and 2000.
Benefits of Using the Software Video Camera

Software Video Camera incorporates all the tools needed for integrating and playing video and sound in any Help system.

•	Using Software Video Camera, you can easily create sophisticated multimedia Help systems and visually show Help users, videos, product features, running demos, complex procedures, and more.

•	You can integrate video files into Windows 3.1 and/or Windows 95 Help systems. You must simply register the appropriate DLL (16-bit or 32-bit) using the Video Wizard.

•	The videos that you create are standard AVI files that can be used in any Windows 95 or Windows 3.1 Help systems.

•	If you are creating Help systems for Windows 95, you can use the new multimedia capabilities in the Windows 95 Help engine (the MCI command) to insert video files into your Help systems OR you can use the included 32-bit Video/Sound Player DLL to extend the multimedia capabilities of the Windows 95 Help engine. This DLL allows you to play a video or sound file from a button or hotspot in a Windows 95 Help file.

Benefits Specific to the Software Video Camera

•	The Video Camera is easy to use.
Just click on the icon in the RoboHELP Office launcher and up pops the Software Video Camera. It is small and unobtrusive, but it captures everything on your screen.


PC HelpDesk

	What is PC HelpDesk? PC HelpDesk allows you to include a Help desk right within your Help system. Your users can tap into your Knowledge Base or Frequently Asked Questions 24 hours a day! PC HelpDesk packages your product Knowledge Base into a customized HelpDesk you design, create, and maintain. Customers simply click on the HelpDesk link from your system’s Help file, and have instant access to valuable information about your products. A well designed HelpDesk can lower your technical support costs and increase customer satisfaction by providing an easy way for your customers to get answers to their most common questions.
Benefits of using PC HelpDesk

•	It’s easy for your customers to use! PC HelpDesk has a Help system "look and feel," so your users can easily locate topics using the Contents page, the Keywords Index, or a Full Text Search. The HelpDesk displays within the familiar Help window.

•	PC HelpDesk is easy to access. It works with Power SQL (an Internet ODBC driver) to provide a transparent Internet connection to your HelpDesk. If your customers have Internet access, they can access your HelpDesk knowledge base through the Internet – without starting an Internet browser, without selecting a web site, without even realizing they are on the Internet! For users without Internet access, you can provide a local copy of the HelpDesk. Or you can setup your own ODBC data source to access your HelpDesk knowledge base on an intranet or a local area/wide area network.

•	PC HelpDesk is easy to create and maintain. It combines the power of a database with an ActiveX control. That means it not only supports multiple topic authors and allows you to create and maintain the HelpDesk project independent of the Help file, but also that topic updates occur in real-time. Once saved, new topic information is immediately part of your HelpDesk. If you’re using an Internet connection, your users have instant access to the latest information. And because PC HelpDesk uses the Help system metaphor, adding, changing, deleting, and re-arranging topics is quick and almost effortless.

•	PC HelpDesk is easy to link. The Link Wizard helps you create the link between your HelpDesk and your system’s Help file.

•	While PC HelpDesk is primarily intended to help you design and maintain knowledge bases containing Frequently Asked Questions, technical support issues, and known bugs, it could easily be used to create other types of knowledge bases – everything from actual customer HelpDesk support to product marketing information to online cookbooks! We’re sure you’ll use PC HelpDesk’s power to create all kinds of inventive knowledge bases.


This is an example of a What's This? style Help topic. This type of topic is new to Windows 95 and Windows NT. It is usually used in a context-sensitive Help system, to provide information on each field or control in a dialog box.


RoboHELP


Screen Capture


PaintIt Image Editor


Graphics Locator


WinHelp Graphics Library


WinHelp Inspector


WinHelp BugHunter


Software Video Camera


Video Wizard


Internet Access Wizard


WinHelp Compatibility Wizard


WinHelp HyperViewer


Help-to-Source


Moving to WinHelp '95


Making the Most of RoboHELP Office Help System


Other eHelp Corporation Products Listing


PaintIt Image Window


Example Contents tab

This is an example of the Contents tab of this Help system. Notice that it contains both books and pages.


Example Contents tab


Example Index tab


Example Find+ tab

Notice that you can select case-sensitive searches.


HTML Help Registration

 What is HTML Help Registration?

A .CHM file ("chum") is the file created after you compile a Microsoft HTML Help project. It contains all the files in your Help project in compressed format (for example, .HTM topics, .GIF, .JPG, .BMP images, .CSS style sheets, etc.).

HTML Help Registration is a tool designed specifically for working with .CHM files. If you are creating an HTML Help project for an application, you may need to register your .CHM file.

Also, if a .CHM file is old or the name changes, you may need to replace or unregister it. The HTML Help Registration tool provides an easy way to find, register, unregister, and replace .CHM files.


Find HTML Help Files

 What is Find HTML Help Files?

The Find HTML Help Files tool searches your local hard drive for .CHM files and identifies them on screen. This tool is helpful if you need to locate, move, delete, or obtain more information about an individual .CHM file. Once the .CHM files are listed, you can:

•	Identify where .CHM files are located on your hard drive.

•	Remove duplicates.

•	Delete .CHM files.


HTML Help Studio

 What is HTML Help Studio?

The HTML Help Studio tool provides an easy way to extract source files ("decompile") from a compiled Microsoft HTML Help file (.CHM). This is especially useful if you need to use files contained in the .CHM, but no longer have its source files.

You can easily extract HTML topics, images, style sheets, and other project files using this tool.


Single Source

RoboHELP’s single source feature offers unique and superior assistance to Help users that other types of online formats can’t match. With RoboHELP, you can create any of the major Help formats (such as Microsoft HTML Help or JavaHelp) in the same intuitive and powerful environment.

While there are different types of Help formats, they have the same basic characteristics and meet the same needs. A few universal features you’ll see in the major Help formats include:

•	Graphical navigation and organization support (including multi-level indexes and tables of contents)

•	Popup and drop-down text

•	Automatic page-turners (called browse sequences)

•	Related topic cross-references (called See Also or related topics)

•	Full-text searches

•	Help windows describing what’s currently displayed (context-sensitive Help)

Most Help formats also include field-level and screen-level Help, overview topics, and task-oriented topics. Now, eHelp makes user-to-user collaboration possible in most Help files as well.

End users’ needs also remain constant across Help formats: To find information quickly so they can complete a task or read more about a concept or terminology. No matter what the format or what information is required, Help meets these needs consistently and effectively by providing superior navigation and organization tools.

The main difference between Help formats is what type of viewer or platform they’re used with. It may be necessary to use JavaHelp on an application written in the Java programming language. Or you may need to deliver Help for a Web-based application. Regardless of the platform or viewer, you can create consistently effective Help systems using RoboHELP.

With RoboHELP Office, you can create any of the following Help formats:

•	WinHelp 3* and WinHelp 4

•	Microsoft HTML Help

•	WebHelp (cross-platform, browser-independent Help)

•	Web Site (Web page content)

•	JavaHelp

•	Printed documentation

* RoboHELP Classic only

An added bonus of RoboHELP is the ability to use a single Help project to generate multiple types of Help formats. All the features that make Help systems useful are retained, such as a detailed table of contents, a multi-level index, full-text search capability, and graphical navigation aids – no matter which Help format you select. For example, you can create a Help system and printed documentation from one file, eliminating the need to maintain two source files.

Whichever Help format you need, RoboHELP can create it for you. RoboHELP is the result of 15 years of experience on Help authors’ desktops – we’ve had time to perfect the tools you need to create Help systems in any format.


Multi-file Find and Replace

 What is Multi-file Find and Replace?

Use the Multi-file Find and Replace tool to quickly search multiple topics and remove or replace text. This tool is dual purpose – use it to search topic content as well as HTML tags and their related syntax.

Be as specific as possible when entering your search criteria. For example, select only the files you want to update, enter the exact text you want to search for, and select the Case Sensitive and Whole Word options to further restrict the search.


Find HTML Help Components

 What is Find HTML Help Components?

The Find HTML Help Components tool searches your local hard drive for HTML system components (such as files and executables). Use this dialog to view, locate, obtain information about, and delete HTML Help components on your system. Once the components are listed, you can:

•	Identify the HTML components and version numbers of individual components.

•	Identify where HTML components are located on your hard drive.

•	Identify if the component is registered on your system (displayed after the name). (To find out if a .CHM file is registered, use the HTML Help Registration tool.)

•	Identify and remove duplicates.


BugHunter for HTML Help

What is BugHunter for HTML Help?

BugHunter is a timesaving tool for testing context-sensitive Help topics in your Microsoft HTML Help project. You open the application that uses the Help you want to test and BugHunter provides instant feedback about the topic. For example, it reports the name of the Help project and Help topic and map number called from the application.

If you have RoboHELP Office, BugHunter is part of the RoboHELP HTML work environment. You can enable and disable it from a menu option. When enabled, BugHunter is displayed in an "output" pane at the bottom of the program window. You can resize this pane, open and close it from view, and change display options such as text color, message line items, and map number information.


Help-to-Source

	What is Help-to-Source? Help-to-Source is unique and invaluable. With Help-To-Source, you can convert any Windows 3.1, 95, 98, NT 4.0, or 2000 Help file (.HLP) into its appropriate RTF and HPJ source files. The resulting source files include all topics, jumps, popups, graphics, hypertext links, and other characteristics originally contained in the Help file.  Help-to-Source also recreates all the Help file’s font types, sizes, and colors, character formatting, tables, graphics, and shed graphics.  The resulting source files can be edited and recompiled to create a new Help system.
Benefits of Using Help-to-Source

•	Help-to-Source is an excellent tool whenever the Help source files are not available.
This may occur should you inherit an older Help project without all of the necessary source files, or should you lose the original source files. You can use the RTF and HPJ files created by Help-to-Source for a new Help system.

•	Graphics are not left out of the equation.
You can extract graphics (such as screen shots) from an HLP file instead of having to recreate them.

•	You can even use Help-to-Source to generate printed documentation.
Using Help-to-Source and RoboHELP, you can convert an existing Help system (with only the HLP file) into printed documentation. You simply use Help-to-Source to generate the appropriate RTF files. Then, use RoboHELP’s Export feature to convert RTF source files to printed documentation

	Users of Help-to-Source must be careful that their use is in accordance with copyright law and the license terms of other software packages.


WinHelp BugHunter (for 32-bit systems)

  What is the WinHelp BugHunter (32-bit)?

The BugHunter is a great debugging tool that helps you check context-sensitive Help in any 32-bit Help system for Windows 95, 98, NT 4.0, or 2000 applications. The BugHunter displays all calls made by a running application to an associated Help system. This means that the BugHunter can provide critical information should context-sensitive Help not function properly. The BugHunter is a real time saver in resolving any broken or incorrect context-sensitive Help links between an application and its Help system!

How does the BugHunter work?

Assume you are running an application and click on an item to access a context-sensitive Help topic. Instead of the topic appearing, you get the message "The Help topic does not exist". Without using the BugHunter it is difficult to know how or why this topic is not functioning properly.

The BugHunter can provide answers. It displays the exact map number called by the application. Using the map number information, you can modify the application to call the correct map number OR update the Help system to give the topic the correct map number.

Benefits of using the BugHunter

•	Context-sensitive Help can be a tricky thing to implement correctly. Both the Help author and the programmer must work together to ensure that topics display correctly. The BugHunter avoids potential conflicts between the programmer and the Help author, as it determines the exact source of any problem.

•	BugHunter 32-bit debugs all calls from Windows 95 applications to Windows 95 Help systems.
This includes the new What’s This? context-sensitive Help.

	Be sure to check out the BugHunter Tutorial that comes with RoboHELP Office. This provides a quick look at how to use the BugHunter effectively.


Tool Properties

Tool Properties allow you to create a shortcut to your favorite tools that you use most often during Help authoring. You can add new tools or edit tool properties here.

Tool Name

Enter or edit the name of the tool as you want it to display on the Tools tab.

Short Description

Enter or edit the short description of the tool shortcut. This description is used when displaying the shortcut icons in detail view. The description is especially helpful when the tool is actually a shortcut to a file; you can use the description to indicate the application the file runs in.

Application or Document File

Enter or edit the path location of the application which executes this shortcut. Browse to the location, if necessary.

Tool Help File

Enter or edit the path location of the Help file for the tool. This is so you also have access to the tool’s Help file when using this tool. Browse to the location, if necessary.


Advanced Tool Properties


Tool Preferences

These options allow you to change the appearance of the tools in the Tools tab. Select Large Icons, Small Icons, List, or Details. You can experiment to find the view you prefer. As you select the view, the window on the right shows you what the view will look like.


Overview: Tools

The Tools tab provides a convenient “storage” space for all the tools you use most often to do your Help authoring. When you need to use one of your favorite tools, just launch it from here. You can store shortcuts to your favorite applications, folders, or files quickly and easily. From the File menu, select New… Tool and fill-in the blanks!

You will immediately notice all your RoboHELP favorites – Screen Capture, PaintIt Image Editor, and What’s This Help Composer. If you installed RoboHELP Office, you will notice old favorites like BugHunter, along with some exciting new tools, like ReSize! For more information on RoboHELP or RoboHELP Office tools, right-click on any tool in the Tools tab and select Help.


Main RoboHELP Office Form


New Project Wizard

The New Project Wizard allows you to enter the basic information required to create a new Help project:

What is the title of your Help project?

Enter the title you want to give to your Help project. This is the title that displays on the title bar in your compiled Help file. Your users see this title, so make sure it’s descriptive.

What is the name of the project file?

Enter the name you want to give your Help project (HPJ) file. This is the title you open each time you work on your Help project. Note: If you are using the WinHelp 3 compiler or selecting the WinHelp 3 Compatible option, the filename cannot be longer than 8 characters.

Where should the new project be stored?

Enter the path name of the folder you want to store the Help project in or select Browse to navigate to or create the appropriate folder.

Select your primary target

Choose the primary Windows target for which you are developing your Help project. RoboHELP uses this setting to determine the options available to you while developing your Help project, because WinHelp 4 allows some features WinHelp 3 cannot support. This way, you allow RoboHELP to remember what the differences are so you don’t have to!

You can change the primary target at any time during Help development, if you need to. If you switch from WinHelp 4 to WinHelp 3 or add the WinHelp 3 Compatible option, however, RoboHELP will not automatically notify you of existing features not supported by WinHelp 3. RoboHELP will alert you to any future features you choose to put in.

Note: If you think you might need a WinHelp 3 (Windows 3.x) Help system or think you may need to switch compilers, make sure to at least select the WinHelp 3 Compatible option. That way, your Help file only contains options available through the WinHelp 3 Compiler. (Less errors for you later!)

Once you are satisfied with your selections, click Finish. RoboHELP creates the necessary Help project files – including the first Help document and the first Help topic.


Browse for Folder

Allows you to locate the folder you want to select as your Help project folder – the path your Help project will be located in.


Create Folder

Creates a new folder based on the name entered and the location selected from the Select new Help project folder dialog.


Create a New Help Project

Enter the title of this Help project: Defines the title of the HTML Help project. This title is displayed in the HTML Help window and is used by RoboHELP HTML to identify the project.

Enter the filename for the project: Defines the filename of the HTML Help project. RoboHELP HTML uses this filename to create all the project-related files such as the contents (.HHC), index (.HHK), project (.MPJ), etc.

Enter the location for the project: Specifies the drive and directory for saving the project files. RoboHELP HTML will read and write from this location whenever the project is open.

Browse: Displays a dialog (Select the new Help project folder) for selecting or creating new folders (directories).

Enter the title of the first topic: Specifies the title of the first HTML Help topic in the project. This file uses the .HTM extension. If nothing is specified, RoboHELP HTML will assign "First Topic" as the title. Note: The Help author can change this title at any time. Once the project is completely set up, this topic is opened in the RoboHELP HTML WYSIWYG Editor.

Back: Returns to the previous dialog.

Finish: Creates the new project based on the specifications made at the dialog. The first topic opens in the WYSIWYG Editor.


RoboHELP HTML

RoboHELP® HTML is the only specialized WYSIWYG authoring tool for creating Microsoft HTML Help for Windows 95, 98, NT 4.0, and 2000. Additionally, it is ideally suited for developing cross-platform, browser-independent Help (WebHelp) and JavaHelp.

RoboHELP HTML makes it straightforward and easy to design and author Help projects from conception to completion. It automates the creation of numerous components including:

• Topics/pages	• Image maps
• Style sheets	• Related topics controls
• Tables of contents	• Formatted tables
• What’s This? Help	• Customizable window designs
• Multilevel indexes	• Information types
• Splash screens	• Popup and secondary windows
• Full text searches	• Scripts
• Links	• Frames
You don’t need to know any HTML programming to use RoboHELP HTML. It includes an intuitive HTML WYSIWYG Editor that is specifically designed for creating all HTML-specific features. It provides sophisticated drag and drop support, versatile project management capabilities, and complete and reliable compiling, testing, and debugging features.

You can even view and edit the underlying HTML code, if you are familiar with Hypertext Markup Language.

RoboHELP HTML provides a fast and easy way to leverage your existing work. You can import WinHelp projects (.HLP files) and create completely functional HTML Help systems within minutes.

You can also generate Help for multiple platforms and browsers (WebHelp) and JavaHelp, and produce printed documentation in Microsoft Word format.

What’s more, RoboHELP HTML is an excellent tool for developing intranet Help for Web sites. Unlike traditional HTML authoring tools, it offers superior organization, navigation and indexing capabilities.


What you can do in RoboHELP HTML

RoboHELP HTML is a versatile tool that offers many possibilities. You can use RoboHELP HTML to:

•	Create Microsoft HTML Help. This is compiled Help format that you distribute as online Help for an application or as a standalone Help system.

•	Create context-sensitive Help using Microsoft HTML Help. RoboHELP HTML supports What’s This? Help, text-only topics, and window-level help topics (aliases).

•	Create cross-platform Help with WebHelp. This is uncompiled Help that you create from eHelp’s WebHelp technology. It is browser-independent and can run on a variety of platforms, including Macintosh and UNIX. Use it to author application Help (including context-sensitive help) as well as online documents.

•	Create JavaHelp. This new compiled Help format is designed to work with applications written in the Java programming language.

•	Create printed documentation in Microsoft Word format using the topics, images, table of contents and index in your Microsoft HTML Help project.

•	Import WinHelp projects. You can import an entire WinHelp project. All WinHelp features that have HTML counterparts are transferred into HTML, including the text formatting from the RTF documents into styles and style sheets.


Key features of RoboHELP HTML

RoboHELP HTML provides advanced Help authoring solutions, including the ability to create powerful Microsoft HTML Help and other major Help formats in one easy-to-use environment. RoboHELP HTML offers superior Help navigation, search, and project management features.

Here are some of the intuitive features you can take advantage of in RoboHELP HTML:

Manage your project easily

•	Quickly view a hierarchy of files and folders and organize topics, images, style sheets, and other project files into manageable groups.

•	Track topic development and quickly view a list of topics or their properties and organize them by attributes.

•	View the structure of your project graphically using Link View. It works like a navigation map, displaying all hyperlinks among topics and "red flags" broken links so you can quickly isolate and fix them.

•	Use reports to track the progress of your project. You can customize reports to suit your needs and view them online or from printed copies.

Design custom tables of contents

•	Construct a table of contents by dragging and dropping topics right into the TOC Composer, or let it generate a TOC automatically for you. Rearrange topic order, create a multi-level hierarchy, and see results as you create them.

•	Organize topics with an expandable/collapsible TOC. From a Contents tab, users open books to find pages and they click pages to view their associated topics.

Create indexes quickly

•	Build a keyword list right in the Index Designer. Drag and drop topics into it and create a multi-level, sorted index.

•	Test and edit your index just by looking at your keywords and their associated topics.

•	Take advantage of automated indexing with the Smart Index Wizard. It searches the content of your topics and suggests keywords and keyword phrases. Use it to quickly create an index from concept to finish and to add suggested keywords to individual topics.

Provide advanced navigation capabilities

•	Add superior navigation within topic content so users can go to other topics, Web sites, intranets, email addresses, FTP sites, and newsgroups.

•	Provide a way for users to explore the content of topics and find matches to their queries by adding full-text search capabilities. From a Search tab, users enter a word or phrase as it is applied in topics and the Search tab displays every topic containing the word or phrase.

Simplify with project templates and style sheets

•	Use templates to ensure consistency between projects that share common files and components.

•	Develop topics that share consistent formatting and layouts with style sheets.

Create online glossaries

•	Enhance usability by creating an easily accessible online glossary – a list of terms and their corresponding definitions that serves as a hub of information.

Create effective context-sensitive Help

•	Develop context-sensitive help for applications (window-level help and What’s This? Help), test functionality, and use BugHunter to resolve problems.

Provide custom Internet searches

•	When you enable WebSearch in your Help system, end users get tailored, context-sensitive Internet searches right from the compiled Help window. WebSearch detects which components of the Help system it should search for, providing users with Internet search results based on the content of the Help system and even the application they’re using.

Create printed documentation

•	Automatically convert your Help systems into full-featured printed documentation complete with text formatting, styles, images, well-organized files, a table of contents, and an index.

•	Use your style sheets and Word templates to easily produce the same styles in your printed documentation.


RoboHELP Classic

Welcome to RoboHELP Classic, the Industry Standard in Help Authoring from eHelp. This power-packed version of RoboHELP combines exciting new features with the established functionality Help authors have come to rely on.

RoboHELP Classic is a full-featured authoring package designed specifically for producing professional Help systems for Windows 3.x, 95, 98, NT 4.0, and 2000. It's ideally suited for designing and authoring WinHelp Help systems from conception to distribution.

RoboHELP simplifies the process of creating and maintaining Help files and integrating those Help files with any application software. It automates the creation of Help features including topics, hotspots, buttons, tables of contents, multi-level indexes, full-text searches, related topics, customizable window designs, and much more.

Familiar environment

With RoboHELP Classic, you don't need to know RTF or advanced programming to create robust Help systems. RoboHELP uses the familiar Microsoft Word as its host word processor to author and edit your Help topics. RoboHELP Explorer helps you to organize and manage your source files – including a visual representation of your topic links. You can also use RoboHELP Explorer to quickly and easily design a table of contents, browse sequences, or even the Help index.

RoboHELP handles the complex tasks for you behind the scenes, so you can focus on content, design, and usability of your Help system.

Leverage existing Help projects

RoboHELP also provides a fast and easy way to leverage your existing work. Within minutes, you can import and work with Help projects (.HLP files) created using previous versions of RoboHELP, other Help authoring tools, or even HTML Help projects. You can import and convert FrameMaker documents and Word documents. RoboHELP allows you to make the most of any existing work, so you can be productive immediately.

Using RoboHELP's Single Source technology, you can generate Help for Windows 3.1 as well as Windows 95, 98, NT 4.0, and 2000. You can also produce printed documentation suitable for user guides, training guides, or other publications from your Help project. Additionally, you can use your Help project source files to generate Help systems suitable for Microsoft HTML Help, and JavaHelp.* You can even create WebHelp – an online format that enables you to run your Help system with both Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator on a variety of platforms including Windows (3.1, 95, 98, NT 4.0, and 2000), Macintosh, Linux, Sun Solaris and other UNIX systems.

* Only available with RoboHELP Office.


Key features of RoboHELP Classic

RoboHELP Classic is a robust Help authoring tool that allows you to create sophisticated Help systems. You focus on design and content while RoboHELP handles the complexities of creating Help systems for you behind the scenes.

Here's a list of RoboHELP Classic's key features:

RoboHELP Explorer

RoboHELP Explorer gives you an integrated graphical view of the Help project and all its elements, so you can see and organize the whole Help project at once – not just one element at a time. RoboHELP Explorer contains the Project Manager (Project tab), the TOC Composer (TOC tab), the Index Designer (Index tab), the Tools tab, Image Workshop, Link View, and Topic List.

Project Manager

The Project Manager provides an entry point for viewing and working with all the elements of your Help project. It displays an expandable/collapsible hierarchy of folders that organize topics, broken links, Map IDs, windows, images, and other project files into manageable groups.

TOC Composer

The TOC Composer lets you visually create, edit, and organize your Help table of contents. Designing the table of contents is simple, because you can drag and drop topics into place and then rearrange them into any order. You can even generate a table of contents automatically.

Index Designer

With RoboHELP's Index Designer, just point and click your way to high quality, multi-level Help indexes. The integrated keyword editor lets you add Index keywords (K-keywords) on-the-fly, and then drag and drop to associate topics. The Index Designer shows you the results as you work, so testing and editing is a snap. You can also use the Index Designer to create and organize your See Also keywords (A-keywords).

Topic List

The Topic List displays a sortable list of topics and their properties. Use it to quickly view topics, sort them by attributes, update multiple topics, and open them in Word. You can also drag and drop topics from the Topic List into the TOC Composer and Index Designer to conveniently build your table of contents and index.

Link View

Link View allows you to graphically view the structure of your Help project. It works like a navigation map displaying all hotspots and browse sequences – including links to other topics in the same Help system or in other Help systems. You can pursue a link from one topic to the next or follow a browse sequence from start to finish. Link View even "red flags" broken links, so you can quickly edit and fix them.

Reports

RoboHELP provides a collection of comprehensive reports to track progress, help isolate problems, and work smarter. Choose from over 15 different reports (most are customizable) to view online, print, send to other Help authors.

WinHelp 2000

Wonder what's next in WinHelp? Take a look at WinHelp 2000®. WinHelp 2000 brings the appearance, power, and functionality of HTML Help to the traditional WinHelp format without any learning curve. These revolutionary enhancements add new dimension to WinHelp 4 Help systems:

Explorer View Help. Selecting Explorer View Help creates a navigation-friendly Help window where the Contents, Index, and Search tabs remain visible in the left pane while topic content displays in the right pane.

Smart See Also button. Add the Smart See Also button to your Explorer View Help window to automatically link related topics in your Help system, based on See Also A-keywords. Clicking this "smart" See Also button displays a full list of topics associated with the same See Also keyword groups.

Watermarks. WinHelp 2000 allows you to add watermarks (background colors, textures, and images) to both the non-scrolling region and background regions of Help windows or choose separate watermarks for individual Help topics.

HTML link hotspots. Provide Internet and HTML topic access from "inside" your Help system using the HTML link for a button or hotspot or by inserting an HTML topic.

Secondary windows. You can now choose whether or not to display secondary windows in your WinHelp 2000 Help system. You can choose between three options in the Project Settings: WinHelp 2000 tab.

Alternate browsers and topics. You can allow users to display destination HTML topics in their default browser and provide an alternate topic if the destination HTML topic can’t display for any reason.

WebSearch

Extend your Help system by providing users with customized Internet searches about the Help topic they’re reading right from the Help window. Users will appreciate the ease of simply clicking the WebSearch button to get more information quickly. (Users need Internet access to access perform searches.)

Smart Index

Smart Index is an automated indexing tool that simplifies index preparation, helping you create usable and thorough indexes, and streamlining the process so you can be more productive. Use it to quickly create an index from concept to finish and to add suggested keywords to individual topics.

Browse Sequence Editor

The Browse Sequence Editor takes the hassle out of creating and maintaining Help file browse sequences. Its familiar visual editor allows you to create, manage, and organize foolproof browse sequences for the entire Help file within minutes. You can even use the Browse Sequence Editor to automatically create browse sequences based on the order of topics in your Help file's table of contents.

Image Workshop

Image Workshop integrates image functionality directly into RoboHELP, so you have maximum control over your Help images. Use Image Workshop to resize images*, create hotspot (SHED) images, crop images (like buttons and menus from screen shots), change image color-depth, and launch your favorite image editing tool (like PaintShop Pro).

* Only available with RoboHELP Office.

Topic Management

Manage and track your topics from start to finish using RoboHELP's Topic Properties: Status tab. This handy tab allows you to mark the current status of the topic (In Progress, Ready for Review, or Complete), assign topic priority, assign a Help author, input hours-per-topic estimates, and check-off completed topic tasks.

Customizable Topic Headings

Now RoboHELP lets you choose which heading styles apply to new topics. By default, RoboHELP applies the Heading 1 style to all new topics, but you can customize your topics by selecting any style in your Help document from the Advanced Settings: Topic Headings tab. You'll find this nifty feature in Word on the RoboHELP menu.

Testing and Debugging Tools

RoboHELP provides you with several excellent tools for testing and debugging your Help projects.

Diagnostics Report. The Diagnostics Report allows you to diagnose and fix potential problems in your Help project before you compile.

Error Wizard. The Error Wizard allows you to understand, locate, and resolve compiler messages.

ActiveTest. ActiveTest allows you to test Help topics without compiling the whole Help file.

ActiveEdit. ActiveEdit allows you to jump directly to the source topic in the Help document – while viewing your compiled Help file, creating a fully interactive development environment.

Help Author Mode. Help Author Mode gives you extra capabilities in the compiled Help file that allow you to test Map numbers and hotspots, locate topics by topic number, display topic information, and browse through topics.

Tools

RoboHELP provides a way to keep your favorite everyday tools at hand without having to open them through the Windows Explorer or Programs menu. You can store shortcuts to your favorite tools, like RoboHELP HTML, Paint Shop Pro™, Internet Explorer, and more.

Printed documentation

Use the Document Wizard to create printed documentation from your Help system. It provides all the features you need for producing user manuals and other hard-copy publications in Microsoft Word format.

Leverage existing files and Help systems

You can quickly import and use all existing materials in your RoboHELP systems:

Import HTML Help projects*

Import FrameMaker documents

 	Import HTML pages

 	Import other Help authoring tool projects

 	Import previous versions of RoboHELP projects

 	Import Word documents

*Only available with RoboHELP Office.

Support for all Windows operating systems

If you develop Help systems for Windows 3.x, 95, 98, NT 4.0, and 2000, RoboHELP is the only Help authoring tool you need. RoboHELP allows you to select a Primary Target (WinHelp 3 or WinHelp 4, based on your users' primary operating system) that automatically enables the features supported by that Target. You can even create a WinHelp 3 Help system from WinHelp 4 project source files.

Integrated with Microsoft Word

RoboHELP fully integrates with Microsoft Word, allowing you to complete your Help authoring tasks from within the world's most powerful editor. RoboHELP is excellent for any size project – including modular or combined Help systems.

International Support for Word 95 and Word 97

RoboHELP supports most international versions of Microsoft Word including French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Spanish, and Swedish.

Internet Access

RoboHELP includes built-in functionality that allows you to create links to the Internet, intranet, or HTML topics in your Help files or include HTML topics right in your Help system.

Dynamic WYSIWYG

Dynamic WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) is a special Help authoring development mode that allows you to view images in your Help project as they appear in the compiled Help system. That means you no longer have to compile your Help project just to see what your users will see.

Graphics Converter

The Graphics Converter allows you to convert most image files (including JPG and GIF files) into bitmap images that you can use in your WinHelp Help system. You access the Graphics Converter from the Import button on RoboHELP image dialogs.

Buttons

You can create several types of custom topic buttons: authorable text buttons, mini buttons, shortcut buttons, and even graphical buttons (buttons containing clickable bitmap images). You choose the action that occurs when users click the button – jump, popup, external link, HTML link, See Also link, and more.

Multimedia Support

RoboHELP helps you jazz up your Help systems by providing full multimedia support for AVI (video and animation) and WAV (sound) files.

Right-click functionality

You're only a right-click away from the commands and options you need most. Full-functionality right-click menus are available anywhere you are, cutting Help development time by providing access to common tasks such as creating new topics, editing topic properties, editing hotspots, and finding topics.

RoboHELP Toolbars

RoboHELP provides convenient one-click access for your most frequently used Help authoring and managing tasks on its numerous toolbars. You select which toolbars you want to see – you can even choose the location of where the toolbars appear.

Flexible context-sensitive Help options

Help systems often document an application, including application dialogs, fields, buttons, and controls. If you're creating a Help system for a software application, RoboHELP allows you to work cooperatively with your programming team to choose the best method for creating context-sensitive Help. You can import Map files and Map IDs from your programming team or create the Map files and Map IDs using RoboHELP.

Online Guide

RoboHELP provides comprehensive online application Help that contains procedures, reference, tips, and links to resources that provide answers to your questions. For assistance while you work, click the Help button from any RoboHELP dialog. No more dusty printed manuals – conceptual overviews, procedures, reference, tips, and more are thoroughly explained and readily available.

What's This? Help Composer

What's This? Help Composer is a unique tool that makes adding context-sensitive Help a breeze. This tool is specifically designed to help you add Windows 95/Windows NT What's This? style Help topics to applications. You can view the dialogs as you create the Help topics. And best of all, What's This? Help Composer's "no surprises" approach alerts you to field-level and window-level changes in the application affecting your context-sensitive Help.

Other features

Here are some other great RoboHELP Classic features:

ClipArt Gallery. RoboHELP comes equipped with a variety of clipart bitmap images you can quickly and easily insert into your Help topics.

Default window for topics. When you specify a window for a WinHelp 4 topic on the Topic Properties: Advanced tab, RoboHELP automatically displays that window as the selected window for all new jumps to that topic. What a time saver!

 	Quick topic. Create new standard topics in the blink of an eye! Just select existing text, select Special Help Topics > Quick Topic from Word's Insert menu.

Resolve broken links. RoboHELP helps you make short work of those pesky broken links by providing the handy Resolve Broken Links dialog so you can take care of them all at once.

  	Show Topic References. You can quickly see a list of all hotspots, TOC pages, Aliases, and hotspot (SHED) images that reference the current topic just by right-clicking and selecting Show Topic References.

Find Topics dialog. RoboHELP makes finding topics even easier than ever. You can access the Find Topic dialog from any RoboHELP topic dialog. Search for topics by title, Help document, or topic properties. You can even search for related topics associated with See Also keywords (A-keywords).


eHelp Corporation headquarters

eHelp Corporation is the worldwide leader in Help authoring solutions. Software developers, Help authors, technical writers, and documentation experts worldwide turn to eHelp Corporation for state-of-the-art Help authoring and Internet/intranet solutions.

Corporate Headquarters

Address:	eHelp Corporation 7777 Fay Avenue, Suite 201 La Jolla, CA 92037 U.S.A.
Telephone:	1-858-551-2485
Fax:	1-858-551-2486
World Wide Web:	www.blue-sky.com
Office Hours:	Monday to Friday 6:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. Pacific Time


Sales

eHelp Corporation’s professional sales staff is ready to answer your sales questions Monday to Friday from 6:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. Pacific Time.

Contact your sales representative to hear about the latest products, the Subscription Plan, training, upgrade options and prices, and more. If you have a technical question or problem, please contact Technical Support.

Contacting your eHelp Corporation Sales Representative

Sales Phone:	1-800-677-4946
International (including Canada):	1-858-459-6365
Sales Fax:	1-858-459-6366
World Wide Web:	www.blue-sky.com
Sales Email:	sales@blue-sky.com
When sending email, please include your company name, city, and state to ensure your request is handled promptly.


eHelp Corporation Web site


Technical Support

At eHelp Corporation, we work hard to provide you with intuitive technical products. Additionally, we try to provide superior online and print documentation to enable you to work independently. If you have a technical question that you can’t answer with the provided tools, please contact our Technical Support department. All of our Technical Support representatives are eager to answer your questions and help you create the best Help systems possible.

Note: You must be a registered user to access eHelp Corporation support services. eHelp Corporation support services are subject to the prices, terms, and conditions in place at the time the service is used.

eHelp Corporation’s Technical Support services includes email, telephone, and Web-based support on our corporate Web site.

Help Us Help You

When contacting Technical Support via phone or email, please provide the following information for the fastest possible service:

•	Product serial number (registration number)

•	Your name, company name, and phone number

•	Exact product name and version number

•	Type of operating system (e.g., Windows 95)

•	Version of Microsoft Word (if using RoboHELP for WinHelp)

•	Browser and version (if creating HTML-based Help)

•	Complete description of the issue, including steps to reproduce it

•	Exact wording of any messages displayed when you encountered the problem

•	Steps taken to resolve the problem

•	All previous email threads with eHelp Corporation about the issue, if any

For current hours of operation and details about all support offerings, please:

•	Visit our Web site.

•	Email us at supportnews@blue-sky.com to receive an automated reply listing all of your support options.

•	Call us at 858-551-2194.


eHelp Corporation Knowledge Base


Documentation feedback

At eHelp Corporation, we strive to produce the highest quality documentation products and welcome your feedback. If you have comments or suggestions about our online Help or printed guides, you can email us.

Please include the following information with your feedback:

•	Product name and version number

•	Printed manual or online Help

•	Topic title (for online Help)

•	Page number (for printed manual)

•	Brief description of content (for example, are you reviewing step-by-step instructions that are inaccurate, grammatical errors in a specific paragraph, information that requires clarification or more details, etc.)

•	Your suggestion for how to correct/improve documentation

Please send email messages to:

documentation@blue-sky.com

Keep in mind, this email address is only for documentation feedback; you will not receive a reply. If you have a technical question, please contact Technical Support.


Other helpful resources

A good list of resources can make all the difference in terms of support, guidance, and inspiration. As the worldwide leader in Help authoring solutions, eHelp Corporation leads the way by offering a list of helpful resources on our Web site.

You’ll find the latest Help authoring resource information – including books, periodicals, online forums, helpful Internet links, training, and more.


WinHelp 2000

We are unable to detect Internet Explorer or an Internet connection on your system, so we are unable to display eHelp Corporation’s Web site.

This Help file uses WinHelp 2000, which extends the WinHelp viewer to provide full HTML and Web functionality without leaving WinHelp. WinHelp 2000 gives you all the benefits of HTML without the risk of switching to a new Help architecture.

WinHelp 2000 uses the same display engine as Microsoft’s Internet Explorer and HTML Help, so all of the rich content of the World Wide Web can be displayed and integrated into any standard Windows Help system.

If you use a browser other than Internet Explorer, use this alternative link:

 eHelp Corporation’s Web site


PC HelpDesk

We are unable to detect ODBC with an Internet connection on your system, so we are unable to display eHelp Corporation’s Knowledge Base.

Our Knowledge Base was created using PC HelpDesk – an eHelp Corporation tool included in RoboHELP Office. PC HelpDesk packages your product knowledge base into a customized HelpDesk you design, create, and maintain. Customers simply click on the HelpDesk link from your system’s Help file, and they have instant access to valuable information about your products. A well designed HelpDesk can lower your technical support costs and increase customer satisfaction by providing an easy way for your customers to get answers to their most common questions.


Premium Support

Premium Support entitles plan members to priority Technical Support access through a dedicated telephone line and a dedicated email address. Plan members receive direct access to eHelp Corporation’s seasoned Senior Technical Support Engineers.

Premium Support plans are available for current and previous versions of eHelp Corporation products.


About the Compatibility Wizard

 The WinHelp Compatibility Wizard adds Windows 95 functionality to Windows 3.1 help files. This means that you can take a Windows 3.1 help file, and with a few brief commands, make it look just like a Windows 95 help file.

The Compatibility Wizard adds the Contents, Index, and Find+ tabs to new and existing Windows 3.1 help projects. It registers all the necessary commands in the help project file. No additional work is required; you just compile the help project as you would normally.

The Compatibility Wizard also adds a Help Topics button to the button bar in a compiled help system. This button takes users to the new tabs.

Best of all, you do not need to have the source files for the Windows 3.1 help project. You can run the Compatibility Wizard using the HLP file.

Tip:

The Compatibility Wizard (rather than the HyperViewer) is best to use when you want to control the process of creating Windows 95 functionality. The Compatibility Wizard is fully configurable. You create the CNT file that configures the Contents tab, so you can design the layout of the Contents tab.

Benefits of Using the Compatibility Wizard

The WinHelp Compatibility Wizard brings many Windows 95 features to Windows 3.1 help systems. The most important features are the Contents, Index, and Find+ tabs. See Using the Compatibility Wizard.

Contents tab

•	Users can access the Contents tab by clicking the Help Topics button in the button bar. It displays an easy-to-read, structured view of your help system, using expandable and collapsible books and pages.

•	The Contents tab allows users to print all topics in a book at once, rather than having to select and print each topic separately.

•	The Contents tab is fully configurable. You decide which books and pages (topics) to include and in what order.

Click here to view an example of the Contents tab.

Index tab

•	The Index tab works like a traditional book index for a help system. It lists keywords (words or phrases) alphabetically.

•	The Index tab replaces the Search button of Windows 3.1 help files.

•	The Index tab is particularly useful when a user needs to search for help on a specific topic and the exact wording of the topic is not known.

Click here to view an example of the Index tab.

Find+ tab

•	The Find+ tab provides access to a full-text search. WinHelp full-text search engine conducts the search instead of the standard WinHelp search engine.

•	The WinHelp Find+ tab locates and highlights every occurrence of a selected word or text string within the help file.

•	Find+ options let the user define the way in which the Find+ tab works.

Click here to view an example of the Find tab.


System requirements

The Compatibility Wizard is a 16-bit application that works with Windows 3.x help projects. In order to run the Compatibility Wizard, you need to have the following software installed on your system:

•	Approximately 1.5 MB of hard disk space for the WinHelp Compatibility Wizard files

•	RoboHELP (to compile your help system if you have included Compatibility Wizard functionality into the project file)

•	Windows 3.1, 95, 98, NT 4.0, or 2000

Note:  The Help Topics button is not viewable using Windows 95.

•	Approximately 1.5 MB of hard disk space for Compatibility Wizard files

•	Enough memory to compile a help system in Windows


About the Contents tab

The Contents tab displays an easy-to-read, structured view of a help system using expandable/collapsible books and pages. The Contents tab allows users to print all topics in a book at once, rather than having to select and print each topic separately.

•	The Contents tab is fully configurable. You decide which books and pages (topics) to include and in what order by designing the contents file using RoboHELP.

•	The Contents tab is based on the contents (CNT) file, which is stored in the same directory as the help file. If you make a change in the CNT file and send it to your users, the Contents tab updates itself automatically − you do not need to recompile the help system for changes to take effect.

•	If you are already creating a CNT file for a WinHelp 4 system, the Compatibility Wizard allows you to have the same functionality in your Windows 3.x help system.

Note:

The Contents tab appears only if a CNT file is associated with the help file. If there is no CNT file, only the Index and Find+ tabs appear.


About the Index tab

•	The Index tab works like a traditional book index for a help system. It lists keywords (words or phrases) alphabetically.

•	The Index tab replaces the Search button in Windows 3.1 help files.

•	The Index tab is particularly useful when a user needs to search for help on a specific topic.


About the Find+ Tab

•	The Find+ tab allows your users access to a full-text search of the help system. The WinHelp full-text search engine conducts the search instead of the standard WinHelp search engine.

•	WinHelp Find+ locates every occurrence of a selected word or text string within the help file.

•	The Find+ tab displays the topics in which the search text appears. It also displays the number of occurrences the text appears in each topic. The list is sorted so that the topics with the most occurrences appear first.

•	Users can control the way in which the Find+ tab works by specifying search criteria such as Match case, Whole word only, and Look in topic titles only.

•	When your user displays a topic from the Find+ tab, the matching word or text string is highlighted automatically, allowing users to find information quickly.

•	From the Find+ tab, users can jump directly to a selected topic or print a particular topic.

•	WinHelp Find+ is fast – it scans an average size help file in one second (speed is approximately .5MB/second).


Comparing the Compatibility Wizard and the HyperViewer
Comparing Compatibility Wizard and HyperViewer

Depending on your help project needs and time constraints, you can choose between the Compatibility Wizard and the HyperViewer to add WinHelp 4 functionality to your Windows 3.x help system.

Feature	Compatibility Wizard	HyperViewer
Button bar	• Contents (WinHelp 3 functionality unless you add Compatibility Wizard functionality to Contents) • Search • Back • History • Help Topics (three-tab window)	• Contents (WinHelp 3 functionality) • Search • Back • History • Find+ • HyperView (expandable/collapsible Contents)
Three-tab window	Contents, Index, Find+	—
Contents	Configurable. You create the Contents in the TOC tab of Explorer View. Must ship the CNT file with your help project.	Auto-created based on project structure.
Ability to print multiple topics at once using Contents tab	Yes	Yes


Contents tab example


Index tab example


Find+ tab example


WinHelp 3 only

This icon means this information pertains only to WinHelp 3 Help systems (those designed for Windows 3.1).


Using the Compatibility Wizard

You can start the Compatibility Wizard from within RoboHELP Classic, as long as you have a WinHelp 3 project open.

To start the Compatibility Wizard on a Windows 95, 98, NT 4.0, or 2000 system:

1	Open a WinHelp 3 project in RoboHELP Classic.

2	From RoboHELP Explorer, select the File menu and Project Settings.

3	Select the Extensions tab.

4	Click the WinHelp Compatibility Wizard option.

5	(Optional) Click the [image] icon to change the button text. Type a new button label if you don’t want “Help Topics” on the button.

6	Click OK.

7	Save, recompile, and run your project to see the results.

To start the Compatibility Wizard on a Windows 3.1 system:

1	Open the RoboHELP Office Program group.

2	Double-click the Compatibility Wizard icon [image].

Notes:

•	If you do not see a Help Topics button when you run the compiled help system, it may be because you are using Windows 95. The Help Topics button is not displayed on a Windows 95 system. If you want, you can add Compatibility Wizard to the Contents button.

•	The help system must have an associated CNT file for a Contents tab to display. If the help system does not have a CNT file, only the Index and Find+ tabs display. See Creating a CNT file for more information.


Creating a CNT file

If you want to take full advantage of the Compatibility Wizard’s ability to add WinHelp 4 functionality to Windows 3.x help files, you should create and ship a contents (CNT) file with your help file. The CNT file provides the information for the Contents tab, an integral part of WinHelp 4 conventions. If you do not include a CNT file with your help file, the Compatibility Wizard only adds the Index and Find+ tabs under the Help Topics button.

You can create the contents file visually using RoboHELP’s TOC composer, which is part of the RoboHELP Explorer. You can add books and pages by dragging and dropping, and RoboHELP generates the CNT file when you compile. For more information, refer to the RoboHELP Classic online help.


Adding Compatibility Wizard functionality to the Contents button

The Compatibility Wizard automatically adds a Help Topics button to the main button bar of an enhanced help project. However, you can add this same functionality to the Contents button with a simple macro.

Note:

Before beginning these steps, you must run the Compatibility Wizard on your help project.

To add Compatibility Wizard functionality to the Contents button instead of the Help Topics button:

1	Open the Compatibility Wizard-enhanced help project in RoboHELP.

2	From the RoboHELP Explorer Project tab, open the Project folder.

3	Open the Startup Macros folder.

4	Select the following macro: HyperTopicsCreateButton3x[“IDH_HYPERTOPICS”,”Hel&p Topics”,”HyperTopicsDMShowWindow()”]

5	Press Delete to delete this macro.

6	Right-click the Startup Macros folder and select New Startup Macro.

7	Click the Macro button [image] in the New Startup Macro dialog.

8	Click the Wizard button in the Macro Editor dialog.

9	In the Macro Wizard, select Button under Category and ChangeButtonBinding under Macro.

10	Type the following in Button ID:

BTN_CONTENTS

11	Type the following in Macro:

HyperTopicsDMShowWindow()

12	Click OK until all dialogs close.

13	Save, compile, and run the project to see your changes.


Removing Compatibility Wizard functionality

The Compatibility Wizard registers DLLs in your help project to enhance the functionality. If you decide not to use the functionality, you may want to remove them.

Note:

If you originally ran the Compatibility Wizard on the HLP file, you can simply recompile the help file to remove the added functionality.

To remove the Compatibility Wizard functionality from an HPJ file, you simply run the Compatibility Wizard again:

To remove Compatibility Wizard functionality:

1	Open your WinHelp 3 help project.

2	From RoboHELP Explorer, select the File menu and Generate.

3	Select WinHelp 4 (Windows 95, 98, NT 4.0, or 2000).

4	Select Yes when prompted to continue.

5	Save and recompile your project.


Testing the help project

If you are using the Windows 95, 98, NT 4.0, or 2000 platform for your help project, there are some things you should keep in mind when testing the Windows 3.1 project you are creating.

•	You will not see the Help Topics button on a Windows 95 platform. This is because by default, Windows 95 looks for a CNT file and connects the functionality to the Contents button and Search button. If you do not see the button, try running the HLP file on a Windows 3.1 system. The button should now appear.

•	The Compatibility Wizard is designed to add functionality to Windows 3.1 help systems. You need to test your help project on a Windows 3.1 system. When you do, be sure to install all the required files.


Shipping help with the Compatibility Wizard

When the user selects the Help Topics button, the help system calls the DLLs connected to the Compatibility Wizard. In order for the commands to operate properly on an end-user’s system, you must include the DLLs when you distribute your help system.

Required files to ship

•	The help (HLP) file

•	The associated contents (CNT) file, if you want the Contents tab to display

•	The following DLLs:

File name	Where to install	Description
CTL3DV2.DLL	Windows\System directory	Provides three-dimensional “look and feel” and gray dialog boxes
CNT31.DLL	Windows\System directory	Provides Contents, Index, and Find+ tabs
HYPERTOP.DLL	Windows\System directory	Provides Contents, Index, and Find+ tabs
You will find these files on your hard disk. The DLLs are installed by default into your Windows\System directory.

Typically, the applicaton for which you’re writing help installs the help system and the DLLs. You may want to notify your application developer that the files listed above need to be included in the installation.

If you want to provide your end users with information about how to use the enhanced WinHelp 4 functionality in your printed documentation or online help, you can use the Microsoft Word file located in the directory:

C:\Program Files\RoboHELP Office\Cmpatwiz\Docs\Cmpatwiz.Doc

You may use this file and distribute it to your users royalty-free.


Running Compatibility Wizard help from CD-ROM

You may want your users to run the enhanced help file from a CD-ROM instead of installing the help file or DLLs on the users’ hard disk. To do this, you can place the HYPRTOP.DLL and the CNT31.DLL in the same directory as your help file.

If you choose do this, you can create an icon in Program Manager that points to the help (HLP) file on the CD-ROM. Users can simply click on the icon to run the help file.

You can also instruct users to run the help system by clicking on the help file from File Manager.

Note:

CTL3DV2.DLL should not be placed in the same directory as the help file – it must be placed in the user’s Windows\System directory. CTL3DV2.DLL is already installed on most Windows systems, but you should check for it. If it is not there, install it into the Windows\System directory. Discuss this with your programming team for further information.


HPJ file additions

The following are macros that control the actions of the Compatibility Wizard. The Compatibility Wizard registers these macros in the [CONFIG] section of your help project (HPJ) file.

The Compatibility Wizard adds the following lines to your HPJ file:

RegisterRoutine (“cnt31.dll”,”ContentsDMInit”,””) ;=

RegisterRoutine("hypertop.dll","HyperTopicsDMInit","") ;=

RegisterRoutine("hypertop.dll","HyperTopicsDMShowWindow”,"") ;=

RegisterRoutine("hypertop.dll","HyperTopicsDMHideWindow","") ;=

RegisterRoutine("hypertop.dll","HyperTopicsDMMoveWindow","") ;=

RegisterRoutine("hypertop.dll","HyperTopicsDMMoveWindow","iiiii") ;=

RegisterRoutine("hypertop.dll","HyperTopicsDMOnTop","i") ;=

Register Routine(“Hypertop.dll”,”HyperTopicsCreateButton3x”,”SSS”) ;=

ContentsDMInit() ;=

HyperTopicsDMInit() ;=

HyperTopicsCreateButton3x(“Hel&p Topics”,””) ;=


CNT file components

If you open a CNT file in an editor such as Notepad, you’ll see some or all of the following components.

Note:

RoboHELP generates the CNT file for you automatically, so you do not need to know these. This information is provided for your reference.

Element	Type	Description
Numbers	Required	Levels in the Contents tab that define books and topic pages. Numbers are followed by text that displays in the Contents tab.  Page  If the item is a jump to a help topic, the text is followed by the equal (=) sign and the topic ID (context-string) of the topic to be displayed.  Book If the text is not followed by the equal sign, WinHelp assumes this is a book that has additional levels below it.
:Title	Optional	Statement that defines the text that appears in the title bar of the Contents window when the help file appears.
:Base	Required	Statement that defines the name of the compiled help (HLP) file. This statement can also include the name of the default window used to display the help system. If a window name is included, you must precede it with the greater than (>) character.
		Note:  The window name is optional – if a window name is not specified, WinHelp 4 uses its standard window.
:Index	Optional	Statement that defines the help files to be included in the search keyword list in the Index tab. This statement must not include any text except: :Index=Filename.hlp. To include multiple files in the index, you must include multiple :Index statements.
:Include	Optional	Statement that defines the CNT files to be included in the current CNT file. This allows you to provide books and pages that jump to other help files. If WinHelp cannot find the CNT file referenced by the Include, the statement is ignored.


Troubleshooting for the Compatibility Wizard

Here are some messages you may encounter and suggestions for solving the problem.

Problem:  When I try to run my project, I see the message, “A new version of the Compatibility Wizard is needed for this help compiler.”

Solution:  This occurs if you are working in WinHelp 4 mode (or WinHelp 4 mode with WinHelp 3 compatibility) within RoboHELP. The Compatibility Wizard is designed for WinHelp 3 systems (help systems for Windows 3.1 systems).

•	If you are getting the above message and you wanted to create a WinHelp 3 system, do the following: From the RoboHELP Explorer File menu, select Set Primary Target. Change the primary target to WinHelp 3.

•	If you are getting the above message because you ran the Compatibility Wizard on a WinHelp 4 project and realized you don’t need the Compatibility Wizard functionality, you can remove it. See Removing Compatibility Wizard functionality.

Problem:  When I run the help file, I see a message, “Routine not found”.

Solution:  One of the required DLLs is not located in the proper folder on the system where the message is appearing. See Shipping your help system for more information.


Using HyperViewer

HyperViewer registers the macros needed to provide HyperViewer table of contents and full-text search support. When you use HyperViewer, all of the statements needed for this support are automatically added to your Help project (HPJ) file.

You can start HyperViewer from within RoboHELP Classic, as long as you have a WinHelp 3 Help project open.

To start HyperViewer on a Windows 95, 98, NT 4.0, or 2000 system:

1	Open a WinHelp 3 project in RoboHELP Classic.

2	From RoboHELP Explorer, select the File menu and Project Settings.

3	Select the Extensions tab.

4	Click the HyperViewer option.

5	(Optional) Click the [image] icon to change the HyperView or Find+ menu button text or menu text. The buttons and menu labels are how users access the table of contents.

•	Menu label. Enter the text you want to apear on the File menu of the compiled Help file to access HyperViewer contents window.

•	Button label. Enter the text you want to appear on the button face of the main Help window.

6	Click OK to exit the Options dialog and the Extensions tab.

7	Save, recompile, and run your project to see the results.

To start the Compatibility Wizard on a Windows 3.1 system:

1	Open the RoboHELP Office Program group.

2	Double-click the HyperViewer icon [image].


Removing HyperViewer functionality

To remove HyperViewer or Find+, you can run HyperViewer and deselect the options you ran the first time.

To remove HyperViewer functionality:

1	Open a WinHelp 3 project in RoboHELP Classic.

2	From RoboHELP Explorer, select the File menu and Project Settings.

3	Select the Extensions tab.

4	Click the None option.

5	Click OK.


Shipping HyperViewer-enhanced Help

The Find+ and HyperViewer are implemented in separate DLLs, called by the Help system when the user selects the Find+ or HyperViewer button or menu item. In order for the commands to operate properly on the user’s system, you must include the DLLs when you distribute your Help system.

Distribute your Help (.HLP) file and the following files:

Functionality	Filename	Where to Install
For both WinHelp Find+ and HyperViewer, to provide 3-D look and gray dialog boxes	CTL3DV2.DLL	Windows\System directory
WinHelp Find+	HYPRFIND.DLL	Windows\System directory
HyperViewer	HYPRVIEW.DLL	Windows\System directory
HyperViewer Help system	HYPRVIEW.HLP	Windows or Windows\System directory
You will find these files on your hard disk in your Windows\System folder. The HYPRVIEW.HLP Help system is installed by default into your Windows folder.

Installation of the Help system and the DLLs is typically handled by the installation program for the product that your Help system documents. You may wish to notify the appropriate person that the files listed above will need to be included in the installation.

Tip:

You may want to provide information on how to use HyperViewer and Find+ in your own printed documentation. The text in FIND.DOC and HYPRVIEW.DOC, located in your WINHELP\HYPRVIEW\DOCS folder, can be used to provide this information. You may use these files and distribute them royalty-free.


Running HyperViewer-enhanced Help from CD-ROM

It is possible to place the HYPRVIEW.DLL, HYPRFIND.DLL and HYPRVIEW.HLP in the same folder as your Help file. This may be useful if you want to have your users run your Help file from a CD-ROM and do not wish to install your Help file or DLLs on the users hard disk. If you do this, you could create an icon in Program Manager that points to the HLP file on the CD-ROM, or your end-user can click on your Help file from File Manager.

Note:

CTL3DV2.DLL should not be placed in the same folder as the Help file – it must be in the users’ Windows\System folder. CTL3DV2.DLL is already installed on most Windows systems but you should check for it and install it into the Windows\System folder if it is not there.


Using WinHelp Find+
About WinHelp Find+

WinHelp Find+ allows you to search for a word or phrase through the entire text of a Help file. It lists topics in which the word or phrase occurs and shows how many times it occurs within each topic. WinHelp Find+ also allows you to jump to the topic or print the topic.

How is Find+ different from Search?

If you want to find Help on a particular topic in a Windows Help system, the Search button is usually the option you use. It lets you search through a list of keywords or phrases defined by the Help author, and then jump to selected topics. This has its drawbacks. If the Help author didn’t supply a keyword for the information you’re looking for, you have to guess at synonyms for that keyword. You may never find the information, even though it is in the Help file.

WinHelp Find+ lets you perform a full-text search on the Help system – you enter a word or phrase and the Find+ searches all of the Help text, not just the titles, keywords, or context strings. This makes it easy to find the information you are looking for.


Using the HyperView button

To use HyperViewer once you’ve added the functionality to a Help system, just select the HyperView button or menu item, then select a topic to view. The steps are as follows:

1	Open the Help system.

2	Choose the HyperView button or menu item. The HyperViewer window appears with the HyperView of the Help system displayed.

The first time you run the Help system, a dialog box appears with the message “Creating HyperViewer Database.” On a small Help file, this will take just seconds. It may take a little longer on large Help files. This process happens only once for each Help file. See HyperViewer Files for more information.


Finding unlinked topics

Unlinked topics are topics that are not referenced by any other topic in the Help file. These types of topics are often included a Help system for context-sensitive Help on specific buttons or areas of an application’s display; they normally contain information that is not of general interest when navigating a Help file. For this reason, it is recommended that you leave this option turned off. With a very large file, including unlinked topics can slow down the display.

As a Help author, you may want to turn this option on to see which topics are unlinked in your Help system. There may be topics that you planned to create links to, but have not done so yet. This feature allows you to quickly identify them.

To show/hide unlinked topics:

•	From the View menu, select Unlinked Topics.


Showing the current branch only

In a large Help system with an expandable/collapsible table of contents, many levels in the contents can be displayed at once. If you navigate down several levels in the contents and want to clear the display of other levels you’ve expanded, you may want to limit the display to show only the current branch.

To display the current branch only:

•	From the View menu, select Current Branch Only.

To set the HyperViewer window to Always on Top:

•	From the HyperViewer View menu, select Always on Top.


Setting the window font

You can change the font, font style, and font size of what’s displayed in the HyperViewer window.

To set the font for the HyperViewer window:

1	From the HyperViewer View menu, select Font.

2	Select the font, style, and size.

3	Click OK.


Printing multiple topics

You can print multiple topics within your Help system at once instead of printing each topic individually. Be sure of your selections before following these procedures, because topics are printed without a confirmation message.

To print all of the topics in the Help system:

•	From the HyperViewer File menu, select Print All Topics.

WinHelp provides a message as each topic prints. Each topic prints as a separate print job on a separate page.

To print the multiple selected topics in the Help system:

1	In the HyperViewer window, navigate until the titles for the topics you want to print are visible.

2	To select specific topics, hold down the CTRL key and click on each topic with the left mouse button. To select a sequence of adjacent topics, hold down the Shift key and drag the mouse from the first to the last topic. Topics that have been selected for printing are indicated by a check mark ( · ) next to the topic text.

3	From the File menu, choose Print Selected Topic(s). The topics start printing.

4	To deselect topics, use CTRL+Click or CTRL+SHIFT+Drag.

Tips:

•	Clicking anywhere in the white space within the HyperViewer window will clear all topics that were selected for printing.

•	Only visible topics can be selected for printing. If you close a branch of the tree, those topics that disappear will not be selected.

•	You can toggle whether a topic is selected for printing by holding down the CTRL key and clicking with the left mouse button.


Troubleshooting for HyperViewer

Here are some questions you may encounter while using HyperViewer and suggestions for solving the problem.

•	When I run my Help file, I see the message Routine not Found.

This occurs if the HyperViewer DLLs are not in the correct place on the computer. See Shipping HyperViewer-enhanced help for more information.

•	Sometimes a jump to a topic is displayed inside a certain book and sometimes it isn’t.

In order to keep the display window fairly clean, if a jump is included in more than one book, it will only display for the currently opened book.

•	Some of my jumps do not appear in HyperViewer.

Macro hotspots do not display in HyperViewer. For example, a jump to another Help system (which is implemented using a macro) will not display in HyperViewer.

•	When I try to run my project, I see the message: “A new version of HyperViewer is needed for this Help compiler”.

This occurs if you are working in WinHelp 4 mode (or WinHelp 4 mode with WinHelp 3 compatibility) within RoboHELP. HyperViewer is designed for WinHelp 3 Help systems (Help systems for Windows 3.1 systems).

•	If you are getting the above message and intended to create a WinHelp 3 Help system, do the following: From the RoboHELP Explorer File menu, choose Set Primary Target. Change the primary target to WinHelp 3.

•	If you are getting the above message because you ran HyperViewer on a WinHelp 4 project and realized you don’t need HyperViewer functionality, you can remove it. See Removing HyperViewer functionality.

•	I’m having trouble adding HyperViewer functionality to the HLP files for Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft Access.

If a Help file calls other DLLs during execution, there may be compatibility issues between the DLLs and the HyperViewer DLLs that prevent HyperViewer functionality. For example, you can not add HyperViewer functionality to the HLP files for Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft Access because these HLP files call proprietary Microsoft DLLs.


HPJ file additions

This information is provided for your reference; you don’t have to know these additions to use HyperViewer. These are the additions that Hyperviewer automatically makes to your HPJ file.

WinHelp Find+ Full-text Search

There are two macros that control the full-text search. In order to use the macros, they must be registered in the [CONFIG] section of your Help project (.HPJ) file. Hyperviewer does this for you.

HyperViewer adds the following lines to your HPJ file:

RegisterRoutine("hyprfind.dll","HyperFindDMInit","") ;=

RegisterRoutine("hyprfind.dll","HyperFindDMExecSearch","") ;=

HyperFindDMInit() ;=

CreateButton("IDH_HYPERFIND","Fi&nd+","HyperFindDMExecSearch()") ;=

InsertItem("mnu_file","MNU_HYPERFIND","Fi&nd+","HyperFindDMExecSearch()",5) ;=

HyperFindDMInit()

This macro initializes the full-text search engine. It is called from the [CONFIG] section of the project file. HyperViewer does this automatically. This macro must be executed only once.

HyperFindDMExecSearch()

This macro starts a full-text search. By default it is activated by the button or menu item, but it can also be activated from a hotspot.

Hyperviewer

There are five macros that control the actions of HyperViewer. In order to use the macros, they must be registered in the [CONFIG] section of your Help project (.HPJ) file. Hyperviewer does this for you.

The following lines are added to your HPJ file by Hyperviewer:

RegisterRoutine("hyprview.dll","HyperViewDMInit","") ;=

RegisterRoutine("hyprview.dll","HyperViewDMShowWindow","") ;=

RegisterRoutine("hyprview.dll","HyperViewDMHideWindow","") ;=

RegisterRoutine("hyprview.dll","HyperViewDMMoveWindow","iiiii") ;=

RegisterRoutine("hyprview.dll","HyperViewDMOnTop","i") ;=

HyperViewDMInit() ;=

CreateButton("IDH_HYPERVIEW","Hyper&View","HyperViewDMShowWindow()") ;=

InsertItem("mnu_file","MNU_HYPERVIEW", "Hyper&View","HyperViewDMShowWindow()",4) ;=

HyperViewDMInit ()

This macro initializes HyperViewer. It is called from the [CONFIG] section of the project file. Hyperviewer does this automatically. This macro must be executed only once.

HyperViewDMShowWindow()

This macro causes the HyperViewer window to be displayed.

HyperViewDMMoveWindow(x,y,x,y,flag)

This macro resizes and/or moves the HyperViewer window. Each “i” represents a setting for the window position, in the following order:

•	x coordinate of window width

•	y coordinate of window width

•	x coordinate of window height

•	y coordinate of window height

•	flag (if 1, units are pixels; if 0, units are 1/1024 of screen resolution)

HyperViewDMHideWindow()

This macro causes the HyperViewer window to be hidden. It has the same effect as selecting Close from the system menu of HyperViewer. Note that even when the HyperViewer window is hidden, it will continue to track changes as if it were visible.

HyperViewDMOnTop(i)

This macro specifies whether HyperViewer is to display “always on top”. The “i” represents the macro setting:

•	0 = not on top

•	2 = always on top


HyperViewer files

HYPRFIND.DLL

This DLL controls the action of the full-text search engine. It is normally installed in the Windows\System folder.

HYPRVIEW.DLL

This DLL controls the action of HyperViewer. It is normally installed in the Windows\System folder.

CTL3DV2.DLL

This DLL adds the three-dimensional and gray dialog box look to both the Find+ and HyperViewer. It is normally installed in the Windows\System folder.

HBR File

In order to display the hierarchical information in the Help file, Hyperviewer automatically creates a corresponding database. For example, if your Help file is called ANSWERS.HLP, a database called ANSWERS.HBR will be created, either in the Windows folder, or the folder specified by the ‘Stash_Dir’ setting in the [Options] section of the Hyprview.ini file. You can add the following to the Hyprview.ini file:

[Options]

Stash_dir=c:\hbrdir

HYPRVIEW.INI

This file is created when HyperViewer runs and is placed in your Windows folder. This file performs functions such as remembering the last position of HyperViewer on the screen, the font selection, and whether it should be Always on Top. The only time you should edit this file is if you decide to add an [Options] section.


Key features of HyperViewer

The WinHelp HyperViewer automatically integrates full-text search, a HyperView table of contents, and multi-topic printing into any new or existing Windows 3.1 Help project or Help file.

•	It’s easy to add the functionality to your Help system. Simply run HyperViewer and the required commands are added automatically.

•	You can add just full-text search, just the HyperView table of contents, or both.

•	The HyperView table of contents is built automatically and is a true representation of the links in your Help system. HyperViewer searches through the Help system, finds all the topics, jumps and popups, then automatically creates the HyperView. There is no development time involved.

•	You can use HyperViewer during development to check the structure of the Help system and to look for unlinked topics (topics to which no other topic jumps).


System requirements

WinHelp HyperViewer works with Windows 3.1 Help projects running under Windows 3.1, 95, 98, NT 4.0, and 2000. In order to run HyperViewer, you need to have the following software installed on your system:

•	RoboHELP (to compile your Help system if you have included HyperViewer functionality into the project file)

•	Windows 3.1, 95, 98, NT 4.0, or 2000

•	Approximately 1.5 MB of hard disk space for HyperViewer files

•	Enough memory to compile a Help system in Windows


Comparing HyperViewer and Compatibility Wizard

Depending on your Help project needs and time constraints, you can choose between the Compatibility Wizard and HyperViewer to add WinHelp 4 functionality to your Windows 3.x Help system.

Feature	Compatibility Wizard	HyperViewer
Button bar	• Contents (WinHelp 3 functionality unless you add Compatibility Wizard functionality to Contents) • Search • Back • History • Help Topics (three-tab window)	• Contents (WinHelp 3 functionality) • Search • Back • History • Find+ • HyperView (expandable/collapsible Contents)
Three-tab window	Contents, Index, Find+	—
Contents	Configurable. You create the Contents in the TOC tab of Explorer View. Must ship the CNT file with your Help project.	Auto-created based on project structure.
Ability to print multiple topics at once using Contents tab	Yes	Yes


About HyperViewer

The WinHelp HyperViewer adds Windows 95 functionality to Windows 3.1 Help files, without the need for the Help source files. HyperViewer automatically integrates full-text search, a HyperView table of contents, and multi-topic printing into any new or existing Windows 3.1 Help project or Help file.

•	It’s easy to add the functionality to your Help system. Simply run HyperViewer and the required commands are added automatically.

•	You can add just full-text search, just the HyperView table of contents, or both.

•	The HyperView table of contents is built automatically and is a true representation of the links in your Help system. HyperViewer searches through the Help system, finds all the topics, jumps and popups, then automatically creates the HyperView. There is no development time involved.

•	You can use HyperViewer during development to check the structure of the Help system and to look for unlinked topics (topics to which no other topic jumps).

Tip:

HyperViewer (rather than the Compatibility Wizard) is best to use when you want the process of creating Windows 95 functionality fully automated. HyperViewer creates all books, pages, and hypertext links for you in just seconds!

Benefits of using HyperViewer

The WinHelp HyperViewer allows you to provide some important Windows 95 Help functionality within Windows 3.1 Help files.

•	HyperView. This is an expandable/collapsible view of a Help system, complete with books and pages. It is designed to resemble the Windows 95 Contents tab convention.

•	Adapted button bar. The WinHelp HyperViewer adds additional buttons to the main button bar of a Help system: HyperView and Find+.

•	Full-text search. This is accessed through the Find+ button. The Find+ full-text search functionality is superior to the standard WinHelp search engine.

•	Multi-topic printing. From HyperViewer, users can print multiple topics simultaneously.

Benefits of WinHelp Find+ full-text search

•	Find+ highlights the matching word or text string, allowing you and your end users to quickly find information.

•	Find+ displays the topics in which the search text appears, and the number of occurrences in each topic. The list is sorted so that the topics with the most occurrences appear first.

•	Users can specify search criteria such as search entire topic, search in topic title only, case-sensitive search and search for whole word only.

•	Find+ is fast − it scans an average size Help file in one second (speed is approximately .5MB/second).

Benefits of HyperView table of contents

•	The HyperView is an expandable/collapsible hierarchical table of contents of the Help system − a window containing books and pages which graphically illustrate the hypertext links (jumps and popups).

•	Allows your users to visually explore the Help system and instantly access any topic.

•	HyperViewer allows users to select multiple topics for printing or print all topics at once, rather than having to select and print each topic separately.

•	If you make a change in the hypertext links in the Help project, HyperViewer updates itself automatically.


About Help formats

In addition to WinHelp and WinHelp 2000, you can create other Help formats, such as Microsoft HTML Help, JavaHelp, or Oracle Help and generate output based on you and your end user’s needs.

While there are different types of Help formats that produce different looking outputs, they have many common characteristics and meet the same needs. A few universal features you’ll see in the major Help formats include:

•	Graphical navigation and organization support (including multi-level indexes and tables of contents)

•	Popup and drop-down text

•	Automatic page-turners (called browse sequences)

•	Related topic cross-references (called See Also or related topics)

•	Full-text searches

•	Help windows describing what’s currently displayed (context-sensitive Help)

End users’ needs also remain constant across Help formats: To find information quickly so they can complete a task or read more about a concept or terminology. Most Help formats also include field-level and screen-level Help, overview topics, and task-oriented topics. No matter what the format or what information is required, Help meets these needs consistently and effectively by providing superior navigation and organization tools.

The main difference between Help formats is what type of viewer (such as the WinHelp viewer or a Web browser) or platform they’re used with (such as Windows or UNIX). It may be necessary to use JavaHelp on an application written in the Java programming language. Or you may need to deliver Help for a Web-based application. Regardless of the platform or viewer, you can create effective Help systems using RoboHELP.

An added bonus of RoboHELP is the ability to use a single Help project to generate multiple types of Help formats. All the features that make Help systems useful are retained, such as a detailed table of contents, a multi-level index, full-text search capability, and graphical navigation aids – no matter which Help format you select. For example, you can create a Help system and printed documentation from one file, eliminating the need to maintain two source files.


Choosing a Help format

RoboHELP Office is an eHelp Corporation package that includes the ability to create the following Help formats:

Microsoft HTML Help

This format is developed by Microsoft to display Help in Windows applications.  Microsoft HTML Help is based on Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) files. You can run Microsoft HTML Help on Windows 95, 98, NT 4.0, and 2000 using Internet Explorer 4.x or later. Use the Microsoft HTML Help format to create application Help, stand-alone Help, online policies and procedures, and more, for end users that run Windows and Internet Explorer.

Use RoboHELP HTML to generate Microsoft HTML Help.

WebHelp

WebHelp is a Help format developed by eHelp Corporation that runs reliably on any popular browser and platform. WebHelp provides online Help for multiple computing platforms including Microsoft Windows, Macintosh, Linux, and UNIX with any browser including Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator. Use WebHelp files to create Web site Help, Help for Web-based applications, intranet Help or content, extranet Help or content, Help for applications in virtually any programming language, online books, EPSS, and more. Select WebHelp to have all end users view your Help files consistently each time, in any environment.

Use RoboHELP HTML to generate WebHelp files.

JavaHelp

This format, 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.

Use RoboHELP HTML to generate JavaHelp files.

Oracle Help

Oracle Help for Java is a Help format developed by Oracle Corporation for creating Help in Java or Oracle systems. Oracle Help for Java works with applications written in Java or any other programming language. Oracle Help and Java applications run on a variety of platforms (Windows, UNIX, Macintosh, Linux, etc.). Generate Oracle Help for Java for all your Java-based applications and Oracle servers, tools and applications. RoboHELP Office is the only Help development tool that seamlessly creates Oracle Help for Java.

Use RoboHELP HTML to generate Oracle Help files.

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. You can run WinHelp on Windows 95, 98, NT 4.0, or 2000. (WinHelp 3 Help systems run primarily on Windows 3.x, but they are supported on Windows 95, 98, and NT 4.0. WinHelp 4 Help systems run on Windows 95, 98, and NT.)

Like WinHelp, WinHelp 2000 is used for application and standalone Help. It offers all of the same features as WinHelp with the added benefits available in the Word 2000 release. 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.

Use RoboHELP Classic to generate WinHelp systems.

Printed documentation

RoboHELP Office provides single-source technology for creating printed documentation from your Help projects.

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

The Documentation Wizard provides all the features you need for producing printed publications in Microsoft Word format, including text formatting, styles, images, organized files, table of contents, and index.

This format supports the formatting in your HTML and WinHelp topics. You can even use your HTML style sheets or Word templates with the wizard and avoid redoing styles for the printed documentation.

You can generate printed documentation in RoboHELP HTML and RoboHELP Classic.


End-user viewing requirements

The table below shows how each type of online information system is displayed and on which platforms.

End-user  system	WinHelp	Microsoft HTML Help	WebHelp	JavaHelp*	Oracle Help*
Windows 3.1	Built-in viewer	Not available	Web browser	Java virtual machine	Java virtual machine
Windows 95	Built-in viewer	Internet Explorer 4.0 or later	Web browser	Java virtual machine	Java virtual machine
Windows NT 4	Built-in viewer	Internet Explorer 4.0 or later	Web browser	Java virtual machine	Java virtual machine
Windows 98	Built-in viewer	Built-in viewer	Web browser	Java virtual machine	Java virtual machine
Windows 2000	Built-in viewer	Built-in viewer	Web browser	Java virtual machine	Java virtual machine
UNIX	Third-party viewer	Not available	Web browser	Java virtual machine	Java virtual machine
Macintosh	Third-party viewer	Not available	Web browser	Java virtual machine	Java virtual machine

* Requires JavaHelp viewer, JDK 1.2, and JavaHelp 1.0 or 1.1 components

Note:

•	For systems with built-in viewers, there is no need to ship a browser. For example, if you are creating an HTML Help system for Windows 98 users, you do not need to distribute a Web browser since Internet Explorer is built into the operating system.


Help format features comparison

The following table shows some common Help features and in which Help format you can find them.

Feature	Microsoft HTML Help	WinHelp	WinHelp 2000	WebHelp	JavaHelp	Oracle  Help
Expandable and collapsible table of contents	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Multi-level index	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Merged indexes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes
Merged tables of contents	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes (3)	No	Yes
Custom TOC icons	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	Yes
Full-text search	Yes (4)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Online glossary	Yes (2)	No	No	No	No	No
Related topics (See Also)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes (2)	Yes
ALinks	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
HTML Help controls (splash screens, WinHelp topic controls, shortcuts, etc.)	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Browse sequences	Yes (2)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes (2)	Yes
Cross-platform	No (5)	Yes (7)	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Browser-independent	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Compilation and Compression	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Tri-pane window	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Custom windows	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes
Popup windows	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Information types	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
ActiveX controls	Yes	No	Yes (6)	Yes (1)	No	No
Dynamic HTML	Yes (1)	No	Yes (6)	Yes (1)	No	No
Display images	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Multimedia	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
Forms	Yes	No	Yes (6)	Yes	No	Yes
Scripts	Yes	No	Yes (6)	Yes	No	No
Context-sensitive Help	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
(1) Only supported on Internet Explorer 4.0 or later. Not supported on Netscape Navigator.

(2) Supported through RoboHELP extensions

(3) When generated from RoboHELP Classic

(4) When compiled

(5) Works on all Windows 32-bit platform

(6) Supported from HTML topics

(7) Third-party version


Inline styles

Inline styles are similar to Microsoft Word's character and paragraph formatting. Inline styles are not named or applied to text. All formatting is done manually with toolbar buttons and dialog options.


Build tags

Build tags enable you to design and create several different HTML Help projects from a single set of source files. They give you control over which topics are included in a file. You create the build tags, then mark the topics you want to use with them.


DLL

Dynamic Link Library. A file containing executable content that can be loaded by an application to complete or extend its functionality. An application can actually be an executable (.EXE) combined with one or more DLLs. DLLs can also contain images, strings, or other resources that can be used by the application. Multiple applications can use the same DLL simultaneously.