RE: Online help formats (Was: ANNOUNCE: WebWorks Publisher training)

["Debbi Leipold" <debbi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I do not feel that pdf is a viable form for on-line help but can be included
as part of an on-line help system.  On-line help is hyperlinked based.
Although you can do links in pdf you are basically contained to a long
document format.  People want the short file appraoch in help where you link
and just have short pieces in view.

At the frame users conference there was someone who did do this and not to
discourage them but I was not impressed.  You need easy search and short
piece capability.  Maybe in th efuture but now I don't see an entire help
system in pdf.  I do see on-line documents included in a help system and
with the ability to integrate pdf and html in browsers it  provides a really
cool and really efficient way to dissemniate information.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: tmi@telelogic.se [mailto:tmi@telelogic.se]
> Sent: Wednesday, March 17, 1999 2:36 PM
> To: FrameUsers; Framers
> Cc: Debbi Leipold; Jeremy H. Griffith; Technical writers
> Subject: Online help formats (Was: ANNOUNCE: WebWorks Publisher
> training)
>
>
> On Wed, 17 Mar 1999, Debbi Leipold wrote:
>
> > I feel we (the help industry) will end up with some sort of
> html/xml base
> > and that is where I am putting my resources.  Why go from frame
> to rtf to
> > help when you can go from frame to help pretty easily.
> >
> > As a tech pubs manager for a software developer, I have
> evaluated the trend.
> > Look at most major software and aside from microsft products
> that still use
> > winhelp, everyone is going to an html based solution.
>
> I'd like to ask you, and everyone else, what you think of PDF as
> an alternative? I admit that PDF isn't primarily designed for
> online help, but it works and Acrobat 3 itself uses it.
>
> The main advantages are of course very simple conversion from Frame,
> nearly all types of hypertext links are preserved, complete control
> of layout, the possibility to get good print-outs, built-in search
> engine, and automatic bookmarks (TOC).
> The main problems we have with our own HTML conversion (not using WWP),
> are that complex graphics convert badly, the limited formatting
> capabilities of plain HTML, lousy print-outs, and the fact that the
> user can change the size and fonts, thereby reformatting the whole
> document and "destroying" the layout (which I think is a Good Thing
> with HTML in general; I don't like fixed page sizes in HTML).
>
> Disadvantages are problems with fuzzy text and graphics online, a
> binary and proprietary format, limitations in the API for calling
> Acrobat Reader as help viewer (cross-platform), and perhaps (?)
> performance issues (memory, speed, filesize).
>
> Have anyone seen any help system using PDF, apart from Acrobat 3?
> What help format is used in Acrobat 4?
> *If* you think PDF is mainly for distributing electronic documents
> for end-user printing, why do you need all the hypertext links?
> I mean, if you distribute PDF and expect your users to read the PDF
> docs on-screen and follow all links, doesn't it then in fact become
> a PDF online help system?
>
> There, was that provocative enough? ;-)
>
> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
> Thomas Michanek, Documentation Manager, Telelogic Tau
> Telelogic AB, Teknikringen 9, SE-58330 Linkoping, SWEDEN
> PHONE/FAX:  +46 (0)13 200656/212166
> EMAIL:  mailto:Thomas.Michanek@telelogic.com
> WWW 1:  http://www.telelogic.com
> WWW 2:  http://hem1.passagen.se/framers
> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
> See you at the Telelogic User Conference '99, May 19-21, in
> Barcelona, Spain: http://www.telelogic.com/news/userconf.asp
>


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