Creating help files.

[JohnM]

I have seen a lot of programs here and some questions about distribution but never a topic about help files. So I though I would start one and maybe help out a few people or even learn a few things.

I create a lot of programs and also sell some, so I have to supply help files with my programs.

Writing help files can be a pain but it is sometimes a necessary evil.

On large projects I use a help software to make the .hlp or .chm file but there is a learning curve to this software. It has its place but I wanted to discuss help for mid to small programs.

 

AutoCAD has a command called “Browser” that you can type in the url and it will start your default web browser and navigate to the url. This has become a cool tool for me.

 

To start with I always create a folder for the program in the “C:\Program files” directory so I always know the path to my programs folder for coding purposes. I have the working files stored in another folder on my drive. The C:\Program File location is for the user.

When I create a dialog box I put a help button on the form or forms, later I will put in the browser url to the help file.

In my working folder I create another folder called help so I can separate things and inside that folder I make a folder called dialogs. The dialogs folder will hold the images I make of the dialog boxes.

In AutoCAD I display my first dialog box and use the CTRL+ALT then hit the print screen button, this will only capture the active dialog box and put it on the clipboard.

Then I open windows paint program and paste. Then I save it to the dialog folder I created. Repeat this process fro each dialog box you have.

Then I open Microsoft word and save as an htm file naming it Help.

Start typing your help information and use the insert >picture>from file option and insert your dialog box image. Continue this process inserting all of your dialog boxes where needed.

When finished copy the htm file to your c:\program files location.

Now assign the help button

(command “browser” “C:/program files//”)

Note: I have had issues with the C in C:/program files. This needs to be a capital letter.

Now when the user clicks the help button their browser is started and the file is displayed in the browser.

 

If you have multiple dialog boxes you can make the browser open to a specific line in the browser.

When you make the htm file make a shorcuts or topics list. Like

Dialog1

Dialog2

Dialog3

How to use the program.

 

Now go to each dialog image or a word of text and click on it then go to insert>bookmarks and assign a book mark for that image or text.

Then go back to your list and right click on the shortcut or topic word like dialog1 anf select hyperlink. Then in the dialog box select “place in this document” then you can select a bookmark in the dialog box.

Now when a user opens the help file they can quickly navigate to a shortcut or topic

You can even use this process to but (back to top) hyperlinks through out the document so the user can quickly get back to the start of the file.

 

Now what you can do is open the help file using the button on your programs form then click the shortcut or topic hyperlink to jump down to the second dialog box image.

In the web browsers address bar copy the text and use that url for the help button on the second dialog box. And so on.

Now when you programs user displays a different dialog box with a help button it will open the web browser and jump down to that point.

 

This is what I have come up with so any suggestions or comments would be helpfull

[Freerefill]

Oh wow.. that's a lot more advanced than what I did..

 

... I just wrote it all down in a text file and hacked together a function to print it out line by line >>'

 

That's really awesome though. If I ever write a good enough program, I'll seriously consider writing up an awesome help file like this Thank you for the input!

[flowerrobot]

WOW thanks for that.

 

I thought i using a pdf , with bookmark thing's to do, But i think i like your method

 

Cheers flower

[fuccaro]

I used to use HTML help workshop from Microsoft. It is free and I learnt to use the basics in about 1 hour.

[AQucsaiJr]

This is the exact process I used to create a help file for a drop down menu I created. Cool thing is it is very easy to give all the users on your network easy access to it. I use a couple different HTML editors to get the files looking very professional.

 

Great type up and explanation John. I almost fallowed it to the T, however I needed all users in my network to have access to mine so I had a couple extra steps.

[JohnM]

On large projects I used heplmatic pro ($40) . it does a great job but I think its typical for help file software. I believe there is some free stuff out there as well but typically they are similar.

I’m glad to se that there are others that take the time to write help files. It defiantly makes your software look more professional. Although they are a pain and hardly no one reads them. I have had clients call me and ask questions and I told them the ifo was in the help files but they said it was faster to call and bug me.

The PDF idea is cool to. I do have acrobat standard so I can create my own PDF files, and just about everyone has acrobat reader. I’m just more versed in word but I’ll look into it.

Also has any one used the setfunhelp command?

It allows the user to hit F1 when your program is running to bring up the help file.

Most AutoCAD users don’t know that when you type any command like “line” then hit F1 it will bring up the AutoCAD help file and display the line command help

[fuccaro]

... and AutoCAD's native help file can be completed. Right, you can add your own pages. While working in AutoCAD you can access company standards by pressing F1

[JohnM]

I just came across an issue with using the browser command. The browser command works great if Internet explorer is the default browser but has an issue when firefox or mozilla is default.

The solution is to use the startapp function and call Internet explorer and the issues is resolved

(startapp "C:/program files/internet explorer/iexplore.exe" "My Help Path.htm")

[Raggi_Thor]

...

Now assign the help button

(command “browser” “C:/program files//”)

Note: I have had issues with the C in C:/program files. This needs to be a capital letter.

 

What if you use (findfile) to find that htm file?

 

Then you have to add the folder to support file search path, but it's also easier to move that folder later, for example to C:\Programfiler\ as it's called in Norwegian windows (before Vista).

[JohnM]

You have a good point. I always forget to allow for other languages.

I use INNO Setup for my installation package and it writes the installation path to the registry. I would use (vl-registry-read reg-key [val-name]) to retrieve the install path and strcat the rest of the path together. I just got stuck in my old way thanks for bringing it up.

[Raggi_Thor]

Your welcome

I think in Vista the folder is named "Program Files" but can be shown as the localized name, same with "Mine dokumenter", "Mine bilder" (pictures) etc, etc.