The RoboHELP 2000 Bible

by John Hedtke and Elisabeth Knottingham

This book and CD combination from John Hedtke and Elisabeth Knottingham is the complete compendium of how to use every aspect of RoboHELP Office 2000. It provides the beginning user of RoboHELP with an introduction to the product and shows how to create winHelp and HTML Help files. It also shows intermediate and advanced users how to get the most out of RoboHELP and the ancillary tools. It will subsequently serve as a complete reference.

The book starts by showing you how to install and configure RoboHELP for your system. It identifies the various tools in RoboHELP used by both winHelp and HTML Help. There will also be a discussion of how to plan your help system. The winHelp section of the book starts by showing you how to navigate the winHelp-specific screens and options to create a winHelp project from scratch, including creating the RTF and HPJ files. The book shows you how to add topics, compile a simple help file, and test and debug. Next, the book discusses adding keywords, adding and testing context-sensitive hooks, adding simple graphics, creating "hotspot" graphics, and adding index and See Also keywords.

The book will then continue with more advanced winHelp techniques: creating macros, creating context-sensitive help, embedding multimedia files of various kinds, using secondary windows, and using the wide range of RoboHELP tools to analyze, test, and decompile winHelp files. The winHelp section of the book concludes with information on managing large online help projects.

The second half of the book will discuss the creation of HTML Help. This involves a process similar to creating winHelp, but HTML Help has different elements and it produces a different product. The section will open with information on how to start an HTML Help project from scratch. As with the WinHelp section, you will see how to use the various tools in the HTML Help editor to add topics, create jumps, creating and testing context-sensitive HTML Help, adding simple graphics, and creating hotspot graphics.

The second half of the book continues with coding techniques specific to HTML Help: adding Java scripts to enhance the basic feature set and taking advantage of different browser features (such as the need to add a Java script idle loop on some help systems that are going to be used by Netscape rather than Internet Explorer). The section will conclude with a discussion of the techniques available for using HTML Help as an Internet-based help system and for using HTML-based help across multiple platforms using RoboHELP's webHelp and other HTML-based helR systems.

Extensive appendixes discuss the winHelp HPJ file, footnote symbols, RoboHELP reports, additional resources for winHelp and HTML Help users, information on installing the product, a quick reference to HTML commands, and information on how to use the CD, which contains a 30-day timed demo of RoboHELP Office 2000, as well as some exceptional tools for working with graphics (such as JASC'S paintShop Pro and their recent product, Media Center 3 plus). There is also an extensive glossary of terms.

John Hedtke has written 21 books to date. His most recent book, MP3 for Musicians (co-authored with Sandy Bradley), contains a CD of MP3 software and MP3 files. John has also written more than 60 software manuals and online help systems and has published dozens of articles in magazines such as windows, publish!, PC Magazlne, and Accounting Technology. He has won 19 regional and international writing awards to date. John does frequent speaking appearances and occasionally consults on how to set up Technical publications departments. John is also very active in the society of Technical Communication, of which he is a senior member and Past President of the puget sound chapter. John attended Reed college in Portland, Oregon, in the early 1970s. When not otherwise engaged at the computer, John cooks, plays the banjo, sings with The washingtonians, and travels to other countries. John lives in Seattle with two large cats, pictures of which, along with a complete bibliography of books, articles, and awards, can be found here at his web site.

Elisabeth Knottingham has Bachelor's Degree in physics and English from the University of Washington in Seattle. she was a contributing author on Peachtree Complete Business Toolkit, in which she described in detail how to design and maintain a web site from the viewpoint of a novice web user and designer. Elisabeth has also done HTML consulting and training seminars for several companies and organizations and has conducted seminars in basic, intermediate, and advanced HTML, Java, and CGI for technical communications specialists. Her most recent book is the best-selling visio 2000: The official Guide. Elisabeth lives in Seattle with her husband, Lonnie Foster. They have two cats, who are larger and smarter than John's cats.

The RoboHELP 2000 Blble, 1000 pages, $39.99, available July 30, 2000 from IDG Books worldwide ISBN 0764546449