As many of you know, I converted the OI help system to the current Windows standard HTML Help format that you see in Version 4 and beyond.

I have developed tools and techniques for implementing this type of help system, with context sensitivity (the user gets the specific HTML help topic appropriate to the OI window or control that has focus) and other features, for OI applications. This involves calling Microsoft's HTML Help DLL functions with the right parameters, and packaging the calls in either a DLL or OCX.

I'm thinking of turning these techniques into a product, but I was wondering if anyone is interested in it? Do you feel that the OI Help Designer is sufficient? What techniques do you use for help in OI applications? Are you satisfied with them?

Please respond to this thread, or email me at:

[email protected]

Thanks.

Ira

Ira,

1) it would be a good product and I can see using it actually on a rewrite I am getting ready to do ..

2) Here is the problem .. you know this group .. cheap cheap cheap .. and if we think we can do something *similar* in a few days then we do tend to roll our own.

Not good for creating an after market for OI ..

[email protected]

DSigs Radio Free Oregon

Ira,

Well now, here's something I can respond to without complaint. I would say, if it is really a data-based help system with full integration, possibly under a grand (grand means thousand, right?), but that depends on whether I have redistribution rights to the tool as part of my own products.

Incidentally, would you like to include my spell checker and metaphonic indexer with this? I will offer it as a freeware contribution.

Gerald

Gerald,

Interesting…RoboHelp Office retails for $999. This gives you the right to a single-user developer copy plus unlimited "runtimes" (help files generated from the developer copy).

As far as your offer of spell checker and metaphonic index, that would depend on whether I would write a special editor for help files. That's a lot of work for such a tiny market. More likely, I would support external HTML editors, such as FrontPage or Word, and import the results - if I tried to do an OI RoboHelp clone.

I know we like to reinvent wheels, but writing an OI equivalent of Word and FrontPage is a bit much.

Ira

[email protected]

Dave and Colin,

I am actually thinking of a fuller featured product than just a wrapper for function calls. Something like a development environment (perhaps called OIHI?) that allows the OI developer better (because it's database-based) tools than, say, the VB developer, for .chm development.

An example of how it would be more robust: A .chm file is actually a collection of HTML pages stored in (what else?) a Microsoft proprietary compressed HTML format. To read a particular help page requires creating a map file which maps each embedded page to an internal number. That number is used as an argument to get to the page. Creating a map file is a maintenance headache. In OIHI, the map would be stored transparently in an OI table. In an OIHI window, the developer would specify the entry and the program would display the corresponding page.

There are many other features, such as:

1. - keyword search of help text

1. - developing browse sequences (ordered path of help pages)

1. - automatic index generation

1. - automatic TOC generation

1. - importing of .PDF, .DOC, .TXT and other files into OIHI

etc., etc.

that could be added.

Anyway, these are just preliminary thoughts. I'm certainly aware of the "roll your own" mentality of the OI development community. After all, I'm an OI developer as well, and confess to some of that.

I'm also sensitive to price considerations. This product could be anything from a shareware utility to a fullblown help product such as RoboHelp. What would you pay for a tool such as this?

Thanks for your valuable suggestions. Keep them coming.

All the best.

Ira

[email protected]

I agree.

We use KeyHH.exe and call this via RUNWIN, to pass the appropriate HELP file contained within the CHM.

It saves having to make a DLL link, but I would prefer it if such a tool was available from within OI, maybe extensions to the old Utility RUNHELP

It sounds very nice indeed.

I would guess couple-several hundred. Once again it would be a features vs need vs cost vs roll-your-own. Shareware is cool. I most often pay a developer of shareware when I find it something I will use. But that is a hard way to go ..

But it does sound pretty nice indeed ..

[email protected]

DSigs Radio Free Oregon

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