The Cole Digest, Jan. 18, 1995

Gentle Reader,

So, you've got all this data -- say census records -- and you want to share it with all the people in the newsroom.

Chris Feola, the technical guru at the Waterbury (Conn.) Republican-American, has an idea: use the help engine from Windows to do the job. Here's his rationale:

The majority of software sold today comes with a fairly logical place to get help -- the Help menu.

Better yet, all Windows software and many programs for other environments use a single hypertext help system -- the Microsoft Windows Help engine. (A hypertext document is one that allows users to jump directly from topic to topic.)

Help files can be built in a word processor; no heavy programming is needed. In-house databases can be attached to the current file, so a user can look in one place for census data and the location of a command on a menu.

The help engine is standard across all applications, so the same custom Help file can be used in Quark XPress, Macromedia FreeHand and WordPerfect.

And here's an unexpected, undocumented benefit: Windows Help files will run as-is on a Macintosh, because the same engine is used in Microsoft Mac software such as Word and Excel. There are also recompilers that can be used to get them to run on UNIX platforms.

In both cases, you are limited to running essentially plain vanilla Help files -- Help files on Windows and OS/2 can do some fairly wild tricks involving bitmaps, dynamic link libraries (DLL) and other software toys.

Writing the Help files is actually fairly simple. Let's say you want to build a Help file with all the U.S. Census data for your state. You want people to be able to pick "Census" from a menu, then a town, then specific pieces of data -- say, the number of homes that lack indoor plumbing, for instance. (It's on STF-3, in case you think I'm pulling your leg.)

First, bring all your data into your word processor. Microsoft Word is preferred for a simple reason: Microsoft puts out lots of templates and tools for Help programming for Word, and none for competing word processors. It is possible to build Help files in any word processor that can save files in Rich Text Format, but you'll have to build the files by hand -- a tedious process.

Like so many brilliant ideas, the world had already dreamed this one up. There is a flourishing little WINHelp publishing industry churning out in-house documentation, reference works and all sorts of other texts. WINHelp publishers even have their own Listservs and Usegroups on the Internet.

Jump onto the 'Net to get more information.

Onward.

\dmc

[THE COLE DIGEST is written by consultant David M. Cole, editor and publisher of the industry newsletter THE COLE PAPERS. The DIGEST is made available to PressLink members every Wednesday at no extra charge. Send comments by e-mail to cole@plink.geis.com. The COLE DIGEST is the property of The Cole Group, a California sole proprietorship. Reproduction in whole or in part without the written permission of The Cole Group is prohibited. Copyright (C) 1995, The Cole Group. Opinions expressed are those of The Cole Group, unless otherwise noted.

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