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| I use ForeHelp, but that's of no consequence as I'm looking for
| information
| to include in a report for my boss. My only directions for writing this
| report is that she wants to know some general information about
| converting...problems, things to look out for, advantages to converting (I
| guess so she can decide if we want to stick with WinHelp for a while). I'm
| not exactly sure what she's using the information for...I'm just
| gathering,
| summarizing, and regurgitating information.
I'm not aware of any major problems particular to ForeHelp in terms of
converting a WinHelp system to HTML Help. There is not a 1:1 correspondence,
though, between the WinHelp and HTML Help feature sets. For example, if
you've used a lot of WinHelp macros, most will not convert well to HTML Help
(notable exceptions include JumpID and ALink).
| Have you used RoboHelp to convert from WinHelp to HTML Help?
Yes, many times.
| Did you have
| problems with how the navigational tools worked after conversion?
Standard navigation features like the TOC, Index, and Search tabs convert
without problem. Browse sequences are not supported in HTML Help, although
RoboHELP 2000 includes a DLL that provides this functionality. Jumps and
popups convert without problem.
| Did the
| topics need to be re-formatted extensively?
Well, "need" is a funny word. No, they didn't need to be reformatted, but
yes I did make a lot of changes to take better advantage of the HTML Help
platform.
At the end of the day, you can certainly convert your WinHelp system to HTML
Help without major hassles, especially if it's a one time conversion. That
said, it sounds as if your boss might be more interested in comparing
WinHelp and HTML Help as appropriate platforms for delivering user
assistance. And that is a whole 'nother question! <g>
