About help authoring tools

There are many authoring tools and related products available
for creating online help files on Windows. All of the authoring
tools for Microsoft HTML Help files use the Microsoft HTML Help
compiler (hhc.exe) to generate a finished help
file.

What to include

The source files for any help system typically include:

• Topic files (HTML)
  contain the text of your help system as well as footnote codes and
  commands that serve to identify the topics and provide navigation
  and other features.

• Graphics files contain images
  associated with specific topics.

• Project file (HHP)
  defines a single help collection and contains instructions for the
  compiler.

• Contents file (HHC)
  provides the entries that populate the Contents tab of the help
  window.

• Index file (HHK)
  provides index keywords that the author provides, similar to a traditional
  book index, that link to specific topics.

For each project, the compiler generates a single CHM file
that can be opened in an HTML Help window.

How to proceed

If you are using a full-featured Help authoring tool, follow
its instructions for creating the necessary source files and compiling
them. The HTML Help Workshop, available from Microsoft with the
HTML Help compiler, also has help describing how to author help
and how to implement it in a Windows application.

Sample project file

For your convenience,
the text of a sample project file is provided here. (It is also
in one of the topics of the PBUSR150.CHM file
that is installed with PowerBuilder.)

;*******************************************
;
Sample HTML Help project file
; Use a semicolon (;) to
start a comment
; Replace filenames and other options with
values
; for your project.
;*******************************************

[OPTIONS]
Binary
TOC=No
Binary Index=Yes
Compiled
File=project.chm
Contents File=project.hhc
Index
File=project.hhk
Default Window=main
Default
Topic=doc/html/welcome.html
Default
Font=
Flat=No
Full-text search=Yes
Auto
Index=Yes
Language=
Title=Our
Application Help
Create CHI file=No
Compatibility=1.1
or later
Error log file=project.log
Full
text search stop list file=
Display compile progress=Yes
Display
compile notes=Yes

[WINDOWS]
main=”Our
Application Help”,”project.hhc”,”project.hhk”,
“doc/html/welcome.html”,”doc/html/welcome.html”,,,,,
0x23520,222,0×1846,[10,10,640,450],0xB0000,,,,,,0

[FILES]
doc/html/pbusr.html
doc/styles/main.css
doc/images/logo.png

To use the sample project file:

1. Copy the help project
   code to the Windows clipboard.

2. Open a text editor (like Notepad, not a word processor
   like Word or Wordpad) and paste the clipboard text into a blank
   document.

   Alternatively, open the project file in your favorite HTML
   Help authoring tool.

3. Save the document in text format as PBUSR150.HHP.

Edit your project file to specify the details of your help
development environment, such as source file names and directory
path names. For details, see the instructions in the HTML Help Workshop
or your help authoring tool.