Re: FrameMaker/ForeHelp questions

[Deborah Snavely <dsnavely@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Barb asked:

>Can anyone answer any of the questions below re: ForeHelp? 
<snip>
> *	Have you used ForeHelp or ForeHTML Pro4 (from the ForeHelp Premier
> 2000 package) to import Framemaker .MIF files?

Yes. Just got done running my trial book-to-help conversion. Having done the
same conversion through RTF, I give 'em 98%!

> *	If so, how easily is this accomplished?

Pretty easily.  I re-used my 1996 expertise in such conversions (see my
single-source method article in December 1999 InFrame online magazine,
www.inframe-mag.com), which made it quicker for me than it would've been
from a cold standing start, but the process was pretty snappy anyway.

> *	Is the product easy to learn and use?

Yes. I routinely recommend FH over RH!  A junior writer at one place I've
worked of late found it easily usable within hours of installation and was
working on tougher issues within days. 

> *	How flexible and accomodating is the product when creating map files
> for context sensitive IDs?

Pretty good. You can use topic titles or IDs for mapping, you can let it
assign the numbers automatically as you create or assign them yourself, you
can import existing map files (note: if importing from RH project source,
make sure to uncheck "Ignore Disconnected Targets" when you import the
context.rtf file).

> *	Does the project setup property sheet or Wizard let you create TOCs,
> Indexes, Menu button options, easily?

Contents, Index, and help book/topic list yes, in my experience. Don't know
about Menu options. The FH Premier package includes some button packages and
in my experience everything FH gives you is pretty straightforward to use
but I haven't used those.

> *	Is it easy to port the ForeHelp/ForeHTML database or files to a Web
> site? Do you need a lot of OCX and DLL files included?

ForeHTML is a snap to use for Web output. When I wrote vanilla HTML 3.2
files for a Java application, we also posted the whole help project on the
local intranet as documentation and it was a no-brainer.  In that instance,
the only files I provided were the HTML and GIF files in their project
directory. If you need to single-source both the help and the web site in
one go, you can apply both conditions to your project and assign only one to
topics that only apply to one or the other. When you build the project, FH
will generate both sets of files in separate and appropriately named
directories (which you can name as you'd prefer or use FH defaults such as
"WinHelp95" and "html") .

I haven't done any HTML-based help in FH 2000 yet; a quick glance in the
ForeHTML table of contents and context-sensitive help notes in that book
states that the ActiveX control file is included (and gives the path where).
There's a whole chapter about implementing CSH on MS-HTML-help, which I'll
have to examine because my boss was fervently looking forward to losing in
some future web-ified applications. 

> *	If you do need these files, is the shipping information complete?
> (You don't want to ship the HTML package and have the developers tearing
> their hair out because the package needs a DLL or OCX file that no one
> knows about and was not included!)

I have never needed a file that wasn't included with FH Premier.

> *	(I may be asking a question here that is slightly uninformed since I
> don't know JS well.) How easy or difficult is it to incorporate these HTML
> pages into a Web page? Does this require a lot of JavaScript coding or
> function calls?

I don't know Javascript at all. From my limited reading of the new FH 2000
users guides (excellent doc, by the way), I'd be astonished if 

> *	On a scale of 1-5, with 5 equalling excellent, 1 equalling poor, how
> would you rate ForeFront's technical support? Do you have to wait a long
> time for responses? Do they respond on the phone immediately, or do you
> leave your name and number and hope they will call back soon? Are they
> knowledgeable, helpful, and informed? How would you rate their written
> documentation, or online documentation?

ForeFront, Inc. has some of the best technical support I've ever
encountered. If I call during Colorado business hours, I often get someone
within a few minutes. (On an 800 number!)  If they are busy, they generally
respond to phone-mail within an hour or so. They respond briskly to my email
queries; I've held slow-motion conversations with a couple of
email-and-reply cycles in a morning or an afternoon. And I think 3/4 of any
delay is me getting around to reading the message and the length of time
(including interruptions) that it takes me to compose replies.  

The difference between them and RoboHelp isn't quite as astonishing here but
they're darned responsive and way above what we've all experienced with
Adobe and some of us with Quadralay.

Hope this helps,
Deborah Snavely

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