This window is available from the Authoring menu in the main window. The Help Wizard provides assistance in creating and maintaining MS Help projects -- both .CHM (HTML Help 1.x) or .HxS (MS Help 2.x) files are support.
This dialog requires that you have installed the appropriate Help SDK/Workshop. MS Help Workshop is a free download from the MS Web Site.
The Wizard will take you step by step through the process of creating a help file. Before starting make sure you have created a local web using an HTML editor such as HomeSite, FrontPage or DreamWeaver.
The MS help compiler (HH and H2) requires that we first create a help project file. The project file contains all our project settings, such as which Table of Contents and Index files to use, which HTML topics and images to include, the name of the target help file and so on. You can create a brand new help project, or open an existing help project and modify and recompile it. None of your HTML topic files will be modified by this Wizard.
The help project file must be created in the root folder of the local help web. Get this right and you are off to a good start.
Tip: Power users, you can Right click on any page to display a popup menu of shortcut commands.
Buttons
Click the Next button to move through the steps and enter the required information. You can click the back button at any time to move back through the previous pages. Click Close at any time to close the window.
Are you making MS HTML Help 1.x help (.CHM) or MS Help 2.x help (.HxS)? Select which help system you want to work with. If you do not have the appropriate SDK/Workshop installed then that option will be disabled. The steps for producing each type of help are very similar. However the underlying project files used are different.
HTML Help 1.x MS Help 2.x Description .HHP .HxC Project file. Contains all the settings need to create a help file. For HH 1.x it also contains the list of files to compile into the final help file. --- .HxF File List File. Defines which Web files to compile into your help. For HTML Help the file list is kept in the .HHP project file with the other settings. .HHC .HxT Table of Contents file. .HHK .HxK Index file. .CHM .HxS Output help file. The help compiler takes the HHP or HxC project file and compiles all files and settings into the final help file. Need more information? Read HTML Help or MS Help 2.0 workshop online help or better still, buy a good help authoring book.
Press Next to continue.
A project file is required to store the settings. The help compiler uses the project file to produce the final help file.
The project file must be created in the root folder of your local web.
Enter a full path to a project file. Make sure you enter the correct file extension.
HTML Help 1.x MS Help 2.x .HHP .HxC Type in the name of an existing file if you want to modify and/or recompile an existing help project.
Type in a new project filename to create a new help project.
The dropdown list displays a list of project files you have created in the past. Instead of browsing for a filename you can select one from the dropdown history list.
Use the browse button to select an existing project file from the file system. Alternatively browse to the root folder of your web and enter the name of a new project file.
Clear Project Settings CheckBox:
This setting is enabled when you type in the name of an existing project file. So if you see it disabled you know that you typed in a new project file that has not yet been created. If you check this box then pressing Next, the Wizard will ignore the existing project file and use the default project settings instead. Checking this box means you will lose your old project file settings permanently if you chose to save to disk later in the Save page.
Tip: The dialogs title bar displays the name of the current project file. A trailing * indicates whether changes need to be saved to disk.
Press Next to open the specified project file.
This page allows you to choose which HTML, JPG, GIF, etc files to compile into the final help file. For a list of commands, right click on the file list box or press F10. If no files exist when you enter this page, then you will be asked if you want to search for files -- same as running the "Add Web Files" command (see below).
Commands popup menu:
Add Files Opens the file multi-select dialog. Select which file(s) you require, then click the Open button. Only unique files are added to the file list. Add Web Files Automatically search for all Web type files in and below the project directory and add them to the file list. The search filter (.HTM*, .JPG, .GIF etc) is specified in the Preferences dialog (press F12). Remove Selected Select one or more files then select this to remove the files from the list. You can also press the DEL key. Set Home Page Marks the selected HTML file as the active Home Page. The Home Page is the topic displayed when the Help windows Home Page toolbar button is clicked. Alternatively press the Home mini button top right of the file list. The Home and Default pages are often the same. Set Default Page Marks the selected HTML file as the active Default Page. The Default Page is the initial topic displayed as the Help window opens. Alternatively press the Default mini button top right of the file list. The Home and Default pages are often the same. Open File Opens the selected file in the associated windows program. Open File as Text Opens the selected file in a text editor. The Text editor is specified in the Preferences dialog. Validate Files Checks that all files in the list actually exist. Invalid files are selected for you so you can simply press the DEL key and remove them from the list. Select All Selects all items in the file list. Show Full Path Visual setting only. When checked, the Folder column displays full path information. When unchecked the folder column displays the path relative to the project folder. Import/Export You can move the file list to or from the main window file list control. EG. You might want to export the list to the main window so you can return to the main window and run a report. Press Next once you have a file list and select your Home and Default pages.
Choose which help window features you require.
Table Of Contents Check if you require a TOC navigation page. Index Check if you require an Index navigation page. Search Check if you require search navigation page. Favorites Check if you require a favorites navigation page. Toolbar Check if you require toolbar buttons across the top of the help window. Note: Disabled controls indicate that the help system does not support disabling this feature.
Press Next to continue.
This page is displayed only if you check the Table Of Contents checkbox on Page 4.
Enter the name of a TOC file. Do not enter any directory information. The TOC file should be in the same folder as the project file. Make sure you enter the correct file extension.
HTML Help 1.x MS Help 2.x .HHC .HxT Create TOC button:
Generates a TOC file using the files and folder specified in the file list on Page 3. Once you have created a TOC file you can edit it and fine tune it in the FAR TOC/Index editor.
Edit TOC button:
Opens the specified file in the FAR TOC/Index editor. This control is disabled if the file does not exist.
Note: You only need to create a TOC file once. After that you can maintain it using the TOC/Index editor.
Press Next to continue.
This page is displayed only if check the Index checkbox on Page 4.
Enter the name of an index file. Do not enter any directory information. The Index file should be in the same folder as the project file. Make sure you enter the correct file extension.
HTML Help 1.x MS Help 2.x .HHK .HxK Create Index button:
Generates an Index file using the files and folder specified in the file list on Page 3. Once you have create an Index you can edit it and fine tune it in the FAR TOC/Index editor.
Edit Index button:
Opens the specified file in the FAR TOC/Index editor. This control is disabled if the file does not exist.
Note: You only need to create an Index file once. After that you can maintain it using the TOC/Index editor.
Press Next to continue.
Enter the Help window title. This is the text displayed in the title bar of the help viewer window.
Enter the name of the target help file. Do not enter directory info. The help file is created in the same folder as the project file. Make sure you use the correct file extension.
HTML Help 1.x MS Help 2.x .CHM .HxS Click Next to save your project settings to disk.
Note 1: If "Save to disk" is checked, then all project settings are saved to disk when the Next button is clicked. You can uncheck the save box to disable the save action on Next. If the box is not checked as you enter the page, it indicates that there are no modifications to save. If required you can force a save at anytime by checking this box and pressing Next.
Note 2: TOC and Index files are not saved here. They are modified or created in the TOC and Index pages .
Click the Compile button to compile the final help file. Examine the log and make sure there are no errors. If you do find errors then fix them and recompile.
Once you have created your help file click the View button to test it.
Select the Finished action and click the "Finished" or the "Close" button. Using the Finish actions you can close this window and move on to the full project editor where all project settings will be made available. Or you can to create an uncompressed help system that could be used on the web. Making uncompressed help is simply adding TOC and Index to help web.
MS Help 2.x Note:
MS Help 2.x requires that HxS help files be registered before you can display them. This program creates a temporary test namespace (FAR.Filename) and FileId so that you can immediately view the help file. Again move to the Advanced Project Editor to fine-tune your settings.