Re: Newbie needs advice on Frame > Online Help

[jeremy@xxxxxxxxx (Jeremy H. Griffith)]

On Thu, 15 Jul 1999 08:53:15 -0400, carla_townsend@vankel.com (Carla Townsend)
wrote:

>Framers, please help me!
>
>I've never developed online help of any sort. Never been exposed to it. I 
>am very proficient with FrameMaker, and use it to create all our 
>documentation. I learned today that I will need to develop online help for 
>a new product to be released *soon*. Being completely ignorant of the 
>business of online help, I will deeply appreciate any advice you can give 
>me on how to get from here to there.

The first step is to define "there".  What platform does the new product
run on, Wintel, Mac, UNIX?  Some combination?  If Wintel, does it require
Win9x/NT, or is it Win 3.1 compatible?  Without this basic info, it's not
possible to give much useful advice...

>What do I need to know to get started on this project? I realize this is a 
>broad question, but if you could just point me in the right directions, I 
>would not feel quite so lost. What help software works best with Frame 
>source files? 

Wrong question.  You need to determine your product requirements *first*,
then look for the best way to accomplish them.  If you want to make WinHelp,
there's one answer; for generic HTML, another; for HTML Help, yet another
(though HTML Help is still badly broken, and not something I'd advise a
neophyte to attempt unless it is an absolute requirement of your company).

Then there's PDF, which lets you pass out the print docs on line.  However,
this isn't what most people consider "on-line help"... it's a cheaper way
of shipping the paper docs, so that your customers print them themselves.
While it has some search facilities, it can't really be integrated with a
product the way WinHelp can be...

And, of course, what you need as a tool depends greatly on the content of
your files.  For simple docs, you may find the HTML export built in to
FrameMaker is perfectly adequate.  We've used it ourselves for our current
Web site.  There's no sense in spending hundreds for a tool if the free
one does the job for you.

>I've heard several online help applications being discussed 
>over the years, but I don't know one from the other. If I can find a class 
>offered soon in my locale (North Carolina), I will take it. Otherwise, I 
>will be left to figure this out on my own.

You may not need a class.  Our mif2rtf doesn't require one; it runs well
enough out of the box.  We also run a sample file for you, free, and give
you a detailed analysis of any problem areas we see, along with a starting
.ini file adapted to your specific needs.  We think it is by far the best
solution for WinHelp, and shortly for generic HTML (and the related cross-
platform help systems, like JavaHelp).  For details, see:
  http://www.omsys.com/dcl/mif2rtf.htm

Frankly, we think that if you need a class to use your help tool, there's
something real basic wrong with it.  OTOH, a class on developing WinHelp,
or help systems in general, may be useful, if you learn better from classes
than from books.  (I personally prefer books, but YMMV.  ;-)

Finally, sign up, posthaste, for the best list in town on all forms of help,
WinHlp-L, which has across-the-board coverage (with the author of HTML Help,
Ralph Walden, present and contributing frequently).  It also has a quirky
sense of humor.  <vbg>  Send email to:
  LISTSERV@ADMIN.HUMBERC.ON.CA
with any subject and the body:
  SUBSCRIBE WINHLP-L
with no sig or any other content.  Once you are on, send another message
to the same address with the body:
  SET WINHLP-L REPRO
so that you can see your own posts on the list, it's confusing otherwise.

The best of luck with your new endeavors!

-- Jeremy H. Griffith, at Omni Systems Inc.
   (jeremy@omsys.com)     http://www.omsys.com/
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