Hyperviews Online

The Online SIG has compiled fact sheets on Online Help, with significant input from Online Help Lead Char-James Tanny and SIG founder Scott DeLoach. This fact sheet has basic information on formats, for people who are new to Online Help or a particular format, or do not use a particular Help format very often. There are three primary Help formats.

(1) WinHelp is a Microsoft Help format. The content is in RTF and the compiled file is .HLP, viewed locally and not through the web, using the WinHelp viewer native to Windows (3.1 and later). WinHelp is the original Help format and is based on MS Word. HTML Help replaced WinHelp, which is now deprecated and will not be supported by future versions of Windows.

(2) HTML Help is a Microsoft Help format. The content is in HTML complied in a .CHM file. HTML Help adds an index, TOC, and keyword search in the compiled file, which is viewable locally and not through the web, in the Internet Explorer browser. A patch is needed to use HTML Help with Windows 95. HH.exe is the HTML Help viewer. HTML Help replaced WinHelp. For more about HTML Help and RoboHelp, Char James-Tanny has suggested Peter Grainge’s site (December 13, 2005 on the Online SIG email list).

(3) HTML-based Help, a format in which the content is in HTML and the file is not compiled, but is viewable in a browser and can run locally in Windows or run from a web server. Most Help authoring tools produce HTML-based Help, and some tools have a name for this format. WebHelp is the eHelp (now Adobe) name for HTML-based Help. NetHelp is the name of HTML-based Help produced with ComponentOne’s DocToHelp. WebWorks Help is produced by Quadralay’s ePublisher Pro. For more about customizing WebHelp and RoboHelp, Char James-Tanny has suggested Rick Stone’s site (December 13, 2005 on the Online SIG email list).

Other Help formats include the following:

Help 2 can be used only with Visual Studio applications and is published by just a few tools. Vista Help is a Microsoft format that has been under development.

CE Help (sometimes called PegHelp) is a Microsoft Help format for Windows CE (and the later version Windows Mobile) and Pocket PC (but not Windows Smartphone). Peghelp.exe is the Windows CE Help viewer. Windows CE Help files are HTML with a few custom tags, mostly comments like “.”

Microsoft provides the following information about Peghelp.exe and Windows CE Help:
Developing Microsoft Windows CE Help for the Pocket PC and Handheld PC
How to: Display User Help

Help in Windows CE applications, a blog by Peter Foot, is also available.

Microsoft provides a library entry on Pocket PC help and information on creating Help files for Windows Mobile 5.0. All links were current in April 2006.

FlashHelp is an output produced only by the RoboHelp HTML tool. FlashHelp combines Flash and HTML. The output can be read across platforms and browsers. This format has not been updated in several years. Adobe (Macromedia) provides information and whitepapers about FlashHelp. (April 2006)

JavaHelp software is a platform-independent, extensible help system providing the means to incorporate Help in applets, components, applications, operating systems, and devices.
http://java.sun.com/products/javahelp/ 

Oracle Help technologies provide the means for developing and displaying HTML-based Help for Java and web applications. A single help system can be displayed without modification both in a Java environment, using Oracle Help for Java (OHJ), and in a web environment, using Oracle Help for the Web (OHW). OHJ can be used for Help in a Java environment only, and OHW for Help in a web environment. http://www.oracle.com/technology/docs/tech/java/help/index.html

Sun’s JavaHelp and Oracle’s Oracle Help both run locally on any system with the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) installed. These are the only two formats designed specifically for use with Java applications, providing 100% Java compliance. Both formats can be compiled and compressed (.jar file) or uncompiled and uncompressed.

This article was updated May 5, 2006.

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 22nd, 2006 at 11:45 pm and is filed under Online Help and Performance Support, Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.