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date: Fri, 09 Mar 2007 11:00:20 PST,
group: microsoft.public.vstudio.helpauthoring
back
WinHelp in Vista
I've had an MFC application that I've brought forward since Win 95 that has
used WinHelp and worked fine through Win 98, WinNT, Win2000, and WinXP. Now,
for no really good reason that I can see, Microsoft has stopped supporting it
in Vista! There's talk about a downloadable Winhlp32.exe but I still haven't
seen it. I'd just as soon tell my users to just download that and be done
with it but I suspect that it may just never appear so I feel forced, against
my will, to convert to HTMLHelp <sigh>. I've read some about a converter but
I suspect I'm going to run into all sorts of issues with it. And then, after
I have a .chm file I know there are some issues where security in XP won't
let them run. Even if I get that portion of the help converted, I have lots
of F1 type help and help buttons on my dialogs and menus. Since I'm just
starting to look into this, I'm not sure what all I'm going to have to do to
my program to make it use HTMLHelp; are there any guideline articles on
changing an MFC app from WinHelp to HTMLHelp? And if I change to HTMLHelp
will Win98 users still be able to use my app and get help? Or is there some
other help approach I should take that will work from Win98 through Vista
(and beyond)? Thanks!
date: Fri, 09 Mar 2007 11:00:20 PST
author: LarryW am
Re: WinHelp in Vista
Hello Larry,
I think following postig makes you lucky:
http://tinyurl.com/2t4b9y
Discussion some days ago was here:
http://tinyurl.com/3ctqtl
But note - Microsoft recommends that software developers discontinue using
the Windows Help application in Vista. Software developers who ship programs
that rely on .HLP files are encouraged to transition their Help experience
to an alternative Help file format, such as CHM, HTML, or XML. For further
information see:
http://www.help-info.de/en/Help_Info_AP_Help/ap_help_vista_support.htm
When migrating from WinHelp to HTMLHelp there are some (!) issues e.g. with
context sensitive help. It appears all this information is lost when
converting with HTMLHelp Workshop. Unfortunately there is not a convenient
one-to-one conversion mechanism in this basic tool. If you use a tool like
RoboHelp, you may be able to more successfully import your .hlp source and
convert it to an HTML Help project.
More to read for you (some content is only freeware solution for a migration
HLP => CHM):
http://www.help-info.de/en/Help_Info_WinHelp/hw_converting.htm
Note the link in the article above:
http://tinyurl.com/3dq2jp
HTMLHelp was released with Win98 but Internet Explorer 4.0 or greater is
required - should work ..
CHM is recommended at this stage but for single-sourcing have a look at
(googling for) DocBook, DITA, (AML - only for MS and OEM's) and XML with
XSLT. As you can see XML is in great demand.
Web-based Help is another alternative for HTML based help.
Simple example:
http://www.help-info.de/en/redirect.htm
Don't hesitate posting again here.
--
HTH
Best regards
Ulrich Kulle
***********************************
http://www.help-info.de
***********************************
"LarryW" <lwdaddio@newsgroups.nospam> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
news:VA.00000041.05e989d1@newsgroups.nospam...
> I've had an MFC application that I've brought forward since Win 95 that
> has
> used WinHelp and worked fine through Win 98, WinNT, Win2000, and WinXP.
> Now,
> for no really good reason that I can see, Microsoft has stopped supporting
> it
> in Vista! There's talk about a downloadable Winhlp32.exe but I still
> haven't
> seen it. I'd just as soon tell my users to just download that and be done
> with it but I suspect that it may just never appear so I feel forced,
> against
> my will, to convert to HTMLHelp <sigh>. I've read some about a converter
> but
> I suspect I'm going to run into all sorts of issues with it. And then,
> after
> I have a .chm file I know there are some issues where security in XP won't
> let them run. Even if I get that portion of the help converted, I have
> lots
> of F1 type help and help buttons on my dialogs and menus. Since I'm just
> starting to look into this, I'm not sure what all I'm going to have to do
> to
> my program to make it use HTMLHelp; are there any guideline articles on
> changing an MFC app from WinHelp to HTMLHelp? And if I change to HTMLHelp
> will Win98 users still be able to use my app and get help? Or is there
> some
> other help approach I should take that will work from Win98 through Vista
> (and beyond)? Thanks!
>
date: Sat, 10 Mar 2007 10:38:58 +0100
author: Ulrich Kulle infoREMOVE##
Re: WinHelp in Vista
Thanks! I suspect that now that it's available for download that it will just
proliferate and people like me will just keep using WinHelp since converting to
HTML help looks to be very painful. I can't afford the several hundred dollars
for RoboHelp just to get a conversion that, since Microsoft is dropping
support, they should have made available which would do a decent conversion,
including context-sensitive help. I've taken a glance at the instructions for
doing it manually and they don't look very easy <sigh>.
In article , Ulrich Kulle wrote:
> From: "Ulrich Kulle" <infoREMOVE##THIS@help-info.de>
> Subject: Re: WinHelp in Vista
> Date: Sat, 10 Mar 2007 10:38:58 +0100
> Newsgroups: microsoft.public.vstudio.helpauthoring
>
> Hello Larry,
>
> I think following postig makes you lucky:
> http://tinyurl.com/2t4b9y
> Discussion some days ago was here:
> http://tinyurl.com/3ctqtl
>
> But note - Microsoft recommends that software developers discontinue using
> the Windows Help application in Vista. Software developers who ship programs
> that rely on .HLP files are encouraged to transition their Help experience
> to an alternative Help file format, such as CHM, HTML, or XML. For further
> information see:
> http://www.help-info.de/en/Help_Info_AP_Help/ap_help_vista_support.htm
>
> When migrating from WinHelp to HTMLHelp there are some (!) issues e.g. with
> context sensitive help. It appears all this information is lost when
> converting with HTMLHelp Workshop. Unfortunately there is not a convenient
> one-to-one conversion mechanism in this basic tool. If you use a tool like
> RoboHelp, you may be able to more successfully import your .hlp source and
> convert it to an HTML Help project.
>
> More to read for you (some content is only freeware solution for a migration
> HLP => CHM):
> http://www.help-info.de/en/Help_Info_WinHelp/hw_converting.htm
> Note the link in the article above:
> http://tinyurl.com/3dq2jp
>
> HTMLHelp was released with Win98 but Internet Explorer 4.0 or greater is
> required - should work ..
>
> CHM is recommended at this stage but for single-sourcing have a look at
> (googling for) DocBook, DITA, (AML - only for MS and OEM's) and XML with
> XSLT. As you can see XML is in great demand.
>
> Web-based Help is another alternative for HTML based help.
> Simple example:
> http://www.help-info.de/en/redirect.htm
>
> Don't hesitate posting again here.
>
> --
> HTH
> Best regards
> Ulrich Kulle
> ***********************************
> http://www.help-info.de
> ***********************************
>
> "LarryW" <lwdaddio@newsgroups.nospam> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
> news:VA.00000041.05e989d1@newsgroups.nospam...
> > I've had an MFC application that I've brought forward since Win 95 that
> > has
> > used WinHelp and worked fine through Win 98, WinNT, Win2000, and WinXP.
> > Now,
> > for no really good reason that I can see, Microsoft has stopped supporting
> > it
> > in Vista! There's talk about a downloadable Winhlp32.exe but I still
> > haven't
> > seen it. I'd just as soon tell my users to just download that and be done
> > with it but I suspect that it may just never appear so I feel forced,
> > against
> > my will, to convert to HTMLHelp <sigh>. I've read some about a converter
> > but
> > I suspect I'm going to run into all sorts of issues with it. And then,
> > after
> > I have a .chm file I know there are some issues where security in XP won't
> > let them run. Even if I get that portion of the help converted, I have
> > lots
> > of F1 type help and help buttons on my dialogs and menus. Since I'm just
> > starting to look into this, I'm not sure what all I'm going to have to do
> > to
> > my program to make it use HTMLHelp; are there any guideline articles on
> > changing an MFC app from WinHelp to HTMLHelp? And if I change to HTMLHelp
> > will Win98 users still be able to use my app and get help? Or is there
> > some
> > other help approach I should take that will work from Win98 through Vista
> > (and beyond)? Thanks!
> >
>
date: Sat, 10 Mar 2007 14:46:20 PST
author: LarryW am
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