Help engine for developers?

Posted By: tazzo | Jul 29th, 2008 @ 8:02 AM
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Comments: 6 | Views: 600
#Jul 29th, 2008 @ 8:02 AM
tazzo
tazzo
ldevelop
I would to know if will be released a help engine to replace winhelp and htmlhelp.
Vista's help engine is closed and they said that with sp1 probably new help engine will be out but now sp1 is shipped and developers haven't yet a way to create help for consumer application.
#Jul 29th, 2008 @ 8:28 AM
evildictaitor
evildictaitor
if( !succeed( try() ) ) { while(true) try(); }
Most companies are opting for "online help" where the clicking of the help button launches a browser to the respective page on their website.

It's irritating, but Microsoft gives them no choice.
#Jul 29th, 2008 @ 8:33 AM
TommyCarlier
TommyCarlier
I want my scalps!
Our company also uses "online help". It's easy to maintain and you can dynamically add content, like tutorials and screencasts, or add the ability for users to provide feedback (forums, ...).
#Jul 29th, 2008 @ 8:38 AM
harumscarum
harumscarum
out of memory
what happens if you work disconnected?
#Jul 29th, 2008 @ 8:49 AM
TommyCarlier
TommyCarlier
I want my scalps!

Well, our application is a communication application (à la e-mail), so you have to be connected to properly use it Wink

But I get your point, the necessity to be online (and our web server has to be up and responsive) can be a disadvantage.

#Jul 29th, 2008 @ 9:10 AM
W3bbo
W3bbo
The Master of Baiters
What's wrong with *.chm and HtmlHelpWorkshop?
#Jul 29th, 2008 @ 10:39 AM
CannotResolveSymbol
CannotResolveSymbol
{insert caption here}
Mainly just that Microsoft has abandoned *.chm and won't be doing any more development on it.  Meanwhile, Microsoft has two new help systems that are superior to the older systems (HTML Help 2 that's used in Visual Studio and Office and the MAML-based help that's used in Vista), but they haven't released any tools for generating help files in the new formats.

HTML Help 2 doesn't offer much beyond what you can do with *.chm, but Vista's MAML help would be a very useful tool for third parties.  It provides a more context-based, structural language for content (similar to DocBook) and can be translated into a number of formats, like HTML, RTF, or XAML.
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