Help Support for Windows Applications

[David M. Morris]

I am having a difficult time determining how I should create and maintain
help for a new Windows application. I have not been able to find a project
template in Visual Studio for help projects and I am not sure what Microsoft
recommends for help authoring tools. I have found an HTML 1.4 Help SDK at
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms669985(VS.85).aspx

The download says it is version 1.3. During the install it said "this
computer already has a newer version of this program" but proceeded to
install anyway. How do I acces this "newer version and is that what I should
be using?

Thanks,

David Morris

 

[Cor Ligthert[MVP]]

David,

For years this is one of the forgotten areas in Net. As you write about
this, they think that you are writting about the help features in Visual
Studio.

But it is good that you write this, you remember me trying to start the
discussion again about this.

Cor

 

[Colbert Zhou [MSFT]]

Hello David,

Based on my understanding, we have two concerns here,

1.The error message "This computer already has a newer version of this
program" reported when installing the HTML 1.3 Workshop.
2.How to create and maintain help for a new Windows application.

For the first concern, actually the error message is a misleading one
because it is referring to the HTML Help viewer components rather than the
compiler components. For detailed information, please read
http://www.help-info.de/en/Help_Info_HTMLHelp/hh_download_install.htm. And
someone has maintains a list of version information about the help files in
http://www.helpware.net/htmlhelp/hh_info.htm.

And, to create a help document for the new Windows Application, we firstly
need to create a help file using the HTML Help Complier components. With
that, we can use the Windows Form's HelpProvider class to provide the help
document. I think we will be interested in reading the following KB article
and document,
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/821777
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.windows.forms.helpprovider.as
px

Please let me know if these address your concerns! If you have any
questions or concerns, feel free to update and I will be more than happy is
there is any future support I can provide.

Have a nice day, David!


Colbert Zhou (colbertz @online.microsoft.com, remove 'online.')
Microsoft Online Community Support

Delighting our customers is our #1 priority. We welcome your comments and
suggestions about how we can improve the support we provide to you. Please
feel free to let my manager know what you think of the level of service
provided. You can send feedback directly to my manager at:
(e-mail address removed).

 

[Cor Ligthert[MVP]]

Colbert,

What is it difficult with you MSFT guys to see what is your first and your
secondname.



However, be aware that this new version still is based on IE 4.0 in my idea
very old.

Cor

 

[David M. Morris]

Hi Colbert,

This does answer my questions. I am surprised that Microsoft has not
continued to update and improve the Help provider for Windows applications.
When I downloaded the HTML Help product, which said it was released in 2003 I
thoght that I was missing a replacement. I tried to search but that was
difficult because "Help" is used in so many contexts.

Thanks,

David Morris

 

[Colbert Zhou [MSFT]]

Hi David,

Yes, the HTML Help Workshop's lastest version is 1.3. The 1.4 and above
versions are just updates or hotfixs for components. So we only provide the
1.3 download link for the HTML Help Workshop as follows.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=00535334-c8a6-452f-
9aa0-d597d16580cc&displaylang=en#filelist

But the documentation in the above download link is updated to 1.4 version.
I am sorry for the confusion here. Hope the clarification helps!

And please let me know if you have any future concerns or questions
regarding to this. I will be more than happy if I can provide future
assistance. Have a nice day, sir!


To Cor,

Colbert is given by my English teacher in the college, as my first name. My
family name is Zhou. I am just aware of that Colbert is usually taken as a
family in Western recently, like Steven Colbert. But I am already used to
it.


Colbert Zhou (colbertz @online.microsoft.com, remove 'online.')
Microsoft Online Community Support

Delighting our customers is our #1 priority. We welcome your comments and
suggestions about how we can improve the support we provide to you. Please
feel free to let my manager know what you think of the level of service
provided. You can send feedback directly to my manager at:
(e-mail address removed).