RE: Another Mif2Go Question

[hedley_finger@xxxxxxxxxxx]

All:

> [...] In nearly all cases when you see "HTML Help" it means "Microsoft's
HTML Help",
> which is a compiled CHM file that uses HTML files as input.
>
> Hence, mif2go is correct in stating that you need to get the Microsoft
Help
> Workshop to build (MS) HTML Help.  [Free from
<http://www.microsoft.com/>.]
>
> If what you want is an "HTML-based online help system", you can certainly
> obtain this with mif2go under its "Standard HTML" option.
>
> Mif2go supports other formats, too:
>
> Standard HTML
> Generic XML
> MS HTML Help
> Word 7/95 Print RTF
> Word 8/97 Print RTF
> WinHelp 3 RTF
> WinHelp 4/95 RTF
> JavaHelp
> XHTML

Glenn is correct in stating that you can produce other kinds of HTML-based
help from mif2go.  But MS HTML Help and JavaHelp are the only HTML formats
that package Java applets, ActiveX controls, and JavaScript controls to
display those nifty Contents tree, Index listing, Search, and Favorites
tabs.  Unlike ForeHelp, RoboHelp, Webworks Publisher, etc. which supply
their own proprietary 'universal' cross-platform formats complete with
navigation functions, mif2go does not.  If you use one of the other vanilla
HTML/XHTML formats you will have to roll your OWN JavaScript or obtain it
from elsewhere.  You can use macros to incorporate applets and scripts into
the HTML output stream.

But I have to tell you that, although I am a FrameMaker expert, I have been
trialling-and-erroring (horrible word!) for over a week to get satisfactory
results and the end is not yet in sight.  You configure mif2go by editing a
very large *.ini file that is partly documented in a manual and partly in a
cryptically commented version of the file.  If you are not a FrameMaker
expert, be prepared for a learning cliff.

That said, the initial output with vanilla settings was quite impressive
although the output was bloated with <font> tags that I am presently
replacing with <span> tags via macros to handle char formats.

Once this pain is over the result should be a universal process with all
mif2go options, CSS formats, and macro includes that can be applied to all
of our user guides with 'just a click of the button'.  But there is
considerable pain getting there.

[Windows 2000, FrameMaker 6.0p405, FrameScript 1.27C01, Enhance 2.03,
Acrobat 4.05.2, mif2go 31r25, IXgen 5.5.h]

Regards,
Hedley

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Hedley Finger
Technical Communications/Technical communicator and FrameMaker mentor
MYOB Australia <http://www.myob.com.au/>
P.O. box 371   Blackburn VIC 3130   Australia
<mailto:hedley_finger@myob.com.au>
Tel. +61 3 9894 0945
Mob. +61 412 461 558



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