Help (No really I need Help with Help :)

[Guest]

Hello all,

I have been tasked with coming up with a system for providing help for our
users, and we have some somewhat unique requirements. NO INTERNET. This is
a windows application that will be running a good majority of the time at
about 60,000 feet.

I have done some previous work with and been reading about the "old" .chm
compiled html files and am leaning that way, but thought I would ask this
group what they thought, what kind of tools etc. you would use to provide
some professional looking help to users.

Thanks!
WhiteWizard
aka Gandalf
MCSD.NET, MCAD, MCT

 

[Nicholas Paldino [.NET/C# MVP]]

I'm kind of confused why you can't use the current help document format?
I mean, it's not like the internet is required for using them. Those files
reside on the local machine.

 

[Guest]

Can you point me to some reading/papers etc. I've not had to do help files
for quite awhile, and none yet with .NET. The book I have (which is a .NET
2.0 windows book), is talking about the .chm files as well. Right now I'm
open to anything.

Thanks for the response Nicholas.

WhiteWizard
aka Gandalf
MCSD.NET, MCAD, MCT

I'm kind of confused why you can't use the current help document format?
I mean, it's not like the internet is required for using them. Those files
reside on the local machine.


--
- Nicholas Paldino [.NET/C# MVP]
- (e-mail address removed)

Hello all,

I have been tasked with coming up with a system for providing help for our
users, and we have some somewhat unique requirements. NO INTERNET. This
is
a windows application that will be running a good majority of the time at
about 60,000 feet.

I have done some previous work with and been reading about the "old" .chm
compiled html files and am leaning that way, but thought I would ask this
group what they thought, what kind of tools etc. you would use to provide
some professional looking help to users.

Thanks!
WhiteWizard
aka Gandalf
MCSD.NET, MCAD, MCT

 

[michael sorens]

I was in a similar position, and found some resources that may be of
assistance:
http://www.helpware.net/index.html
http://frogleg.mvps.org/helptechnologies/htmlhelp/hhtutorials.html
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/htmlhelp/html/vsconHH1Start.asp

While somewhat useful, none of those were enough of a rosetta stone for
me, so I am still looking...

~~Michael Sorens
~~Software consultant
~~Open source developer (http://cleancode.sourceforge.net)
~~Adjunct faculty (Spokane Community College)

 

[Nicholas Paldino [.NET/C# MVP]]

There are a number of help documentation tools on the market. I googled
"create help files" and came up with a number of them. I would recommend
looking there first.


--
- Nicholas Paldino [.NET/C# MVP]
- (e-mail address removed)

Can you point me to some reading/papers etc. I've not had to do help
files
for quite awhile, and none yet with .NET. The book I have (which is a
.NET
2.0 windows book), is talking about the .chm files as well. Right now I'm
open to anything.

Thanks for the response Nicholas.

WhiteWizard
aka Gandalf
MCSD.NET, MCAD, MCT

I'm kind of confused why you can't use the current help document
format?
I mean, it's not like the internet is required for using them. Those
files
reside on the local machine.


--
- Nicholas Paldino [.NET/C# MVP]
- (e-mail address removed)

Hello all,

I have been tasked with coming up with a system for providing help for
our
users, and we have some somewhat unique requirements. NO INTERNET.
This
is
a windows application that will be running a good majority of the time
at
about 60,000 feet.

I have done some previous work with and been reading about the "old"
.chm
compiled html files and am leaning that way, but thought I would ask
this
group what they thought, what kind of tools etc. you would use to
provide
some professional looking help to users.

Thanks!
WhiteWizard
aka Gandalf
MCSD.NET, MCAD, MCT

 

[clintonG]

Adobe now owns RoboHelp. I would start with evaluating RoboHelp [1]

<%= Clinton Gallagher
NET csgallagher AT metromilwaukee.com
URL http://clintongallagher.metromilwaukee.com/
MAP 43°2'17"N 88°2'37"W : 43°2'17"N 88°2'37"W

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macromedia_Robohelp

There are a number of help documentation tools on the market. I
googled "create help files" and came up with a number of them. I would
recommend looking there first.


--
- Nicholas Paldino [.NET/C# MVP]
- (e-mail address removed)

Can you point me to some reading/papers etc. I've not had to do help
files
for quite awhile, and none yet with .NET. The book I have (which is a
.NET
2.0 windows book), is talking about the .chm files as well. Right now
I'm
open to anything.

Thanks for the response Nicholas.

WhiteWizard
aka Gandalf
MCSD.NET, MCAD, MCT

I'm kind of confused why you can't use the current help document
format?
I mean, it's not like the internet is required for using them. Those
files
reside on the local machine.


--
- Nicholas Paldino [.NET/C# MVP]
- (e-mail address removed)

Hello all,

I have been tasked with coming up with a system for providing help for
our
users, and we have some somewhat unique requirements. NO INTERNET.
This
is
a windows application that will be running a good majority of the time
at
about 60,000 feet.

I have done some previous work with and been reading about the "old"
.chm
compiled html files and am leaning that way, but thought I would ask
this
group what they thought, what kind of tools etc. you would use to
provide
some professional looking help to users.

Thanks!
WhiteWizard
aka Gandalf
MCSD.NET, MCAD, MCT

 

[Kevin Spencer]

You don't need internet connectivity to view HTML pages. You can create a
file-based HTML web site that your app opens in Internet Explorer. Of
course, you can go with some of the more sophisticated Help solutions, (chm,
Microsoft HTML Help Workshop, etc.), but you can also go with a simple
file-based HTML web Help solution as well.

--
HTH,

Kevin Spencer
Microsoft MVP
Software Composer
http://unclechutney.blogspot.com

If the Truth hurts, wear it.