Graphics in Help Files

["Doug, Data Librarian at Ext 4225" <engstromdd -at- PHIBRED -dot- COM>]

Anne Stankis writes, on the subject of graphics in WinHelp files:

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I am attempting to import graphics files into the Help file that I am
developing.  These graphics are bitmaps and very large, causing me to break
my Help file up into many smaller files in order to have enough memory to
compile it.

Is anyone else importing large graphics into Help files?  If so, I would like
to know what kind you are importing, size, and the method you are using to
develop the Help file.
******************************

I'm not using large graphics, but I am using multi-resolution bitmaps
created with the MRB compiler. (This process stores images for different
resolutions in one file; WinHelp chooses the correct image based on
display resolution. Eliminates the problem of graphics that look great at
800X600 but are dogmeat on VGA.)

In any case, I think the answer to your problem is to incorporate graphics
by reference rather than by cutting and pasting.  This gets around the 64K
paragraph limit on the compiler.

To incorporate graphics by reference:

1) Store the graphics in one directory.

2) Identify this directory in the ROOT or BMROOT section of your Help
   Project File.

3) Reference the graphic by typing: {bm? file.ext} at the
   place in the .RTF file you want to include the graphic.

   where:
   ? = l (left-justified graphic), r (right-justified graphic), or
       c (graphic flows like a character, just like pasted-in graphics)
   file.ext = name and extension of the graphic file you want to include.

   Note also that the brackets {} are just text curly-brackets, not a
   WinWord field code.

I developed my first pass on the Pioneer Glossary (a large, on-line
document) through a combination of manual methods and use of the Windows
Help Author from the Microsoft Developer's CD.  I strongly recommend
getting *something* rather than doing it manually.

Our writing group recently selected HelpBreeze from SolutionSoft as our
help authoring tool.  It automates many functions that are a real pain
manually or with the Help Author, such as setting up Browse sequences and
keeping track of Search keywords.  The tools market is too immature at this
point to sort the winners from roadkill, so we chose something that would
meet our needs now, with the intention of re-evaluating our choice in 2-3
when things firm up.

Doug
ENGSTROMDD -at- phibred -dot- com

P.S.  If you're interested in this sort of thing, consider subscribing to
the winhlp-l list.  It seems to be more technically oriented than this
list.