Re: Single Sourcing

[Alec Sonenthal <alec -at- GREENBROOK -dot- COM>]

Xiang Li,

Your situation is not unusual. The graphic problem  may or may not be
caused by Helpbreeze -- there are lots of other variables that can cause
this to happen. Helpbreeze is a very robust and well-written tool and
has a very loyal following.

RoboHELP is a fine tool -- I use it all the time. However, while their
conversion tools do a lot of the work for you, they still present you
with the need to tweak and work the end result.

With other single source tools (such as Doc-to-Help or HDK), you create
a single source document (such as word). You format the structure of the
word document for perfect printing.

The tool, using hidden commands and conversion rules, will convert your
print document into a structured help system, with indexes, glossaries,
popups, links, see also, hotspot graphics, and more.

Make a change in the original source document, and you simply need to
run a new conversion and you are done. This is theory at any rate. Works
quite well, but it takes some time and energy to learn the conversion
rules and how to manage your source document effectively. The moment you
are forced to "tweak" your conversion, you are defeating the concept of
single sourcing.

This is in no way a slam on RoboHELP -- it is simply an anknowledgement
that its help to print conversion is not really hands-off. You can do a
lot stuff by managing your print version template, but ultimately, it is
not as seamless and hands-off as other tools that were originally
designed for effective single sourcing.

Hope this helps,

Alec Sonenthal
Help University, Inc.
http://www.helpuniversity.com

Sponsor of Helpnet and robohelptrainers.com
http://www.robohelptrainers.com

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