Re: QUESTION: Moving from WinHelp to HTML Help

[Kathryn Marshall <kmarshall -at- MODACAD -dot- COM>]

I'm using it to create online help for a browser-based product. I guess
I could use WinHelp, but HTML Help seems more logical (and is supposedly
the new "thing"). I'm using Blue Sky's RoboHTML product, which I just
installed and started playing with today. Looks like you ship the
compiled (html)help file (".chm") and a few files that go in the users'
Windows and Windows\System folders. According to the manual, the help
author or application developer determines where the chm file should go
(I haven't a clue -- maybe in the same folder as the browser application
-- the developer then needs to set up the browser to look in that
location for the help file).  We're distributing our own browser, which
is based on Internet Explorer --- yeah, just checked and RoboHTML only
works with Internet Explorer 3.02 or later (whew).

I would imagine that you don't ship the individual help files (html)
pages -- just the compiled ".chm" file -- the way you would send a .hlp
file to a user not the actual source documents. Again, I can't say for
sure because I just opened the box today.

I'm interested in hearing more on this subject.

-Kathryn

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Larry Weber [SMTP:larry_weber -at- HOTMAIL -dot- COM]
> Sent: Monday, November 03, 1997 5:02 PM
> To:   TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU
> Subject:      QUESTION: Moving from WinHelp to HTML Help
>
> This is a question for those intrepid souls out there diving into the
> HTML Help fray and those planning such a move:
>
> HOW and WHY are you implementing HTML Help at this time? From what I
> understand, you presently can only develop HTML Help for one of the
> two
> major browsers. Are you shipping a browser? Next, where do the HTML
> files reside? Do they reside on a single server that your users access
> via the internet, or do you actually ship the HTML files and store
> them
> on the user's machines?
>
> If the HTML files reside on an internet server, have you gotten
> feedback
> concerning the response time to access the HTML file vs. response time
> to access a local WinHelp file? How does this architecture handle
> context-sensitive Help? Also, have you collected any data about the
> types of information that users access (i.e., have you made any
> conclusions about what users actually USE in the online doc)?
>
> Finally, is it just me, or does anyone else get the feeling that this
> HTML Help thing is (presently) more trendy than actually feasible?
>
> Larry Weber
> larry_weber -at- hotmail -dot- com
>
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