Updates to mshcMigrate & H3Viewer. And FAR HTML 5 finally released.
http://mshcmigrate.helpmvp.com/news/mshcmigrateb41h3viewerb22farhtml5
Rob
Helpware news
March 10th, 2010Help 3 Report From Seattle Visit
February 27th, 2010Back from the MVP Summit in Seattle where we spent 3 days with the Microsoft help team in charge of MS Help Viewer 1.0. Here’s a report of some things I picked up on Help 3.
http://mshcmigrate.helpmvp.com/news/helpnews
Also updated API documentation with latest info from Microsoft
http://helpware.net/mshelp3/intro.htm#Links
Rob
Updates Available
February 9th, 2010The following updates are available…
- FAR HTML 5.0.0.728
Build 728 fixes a problem reading/writing Unicode files where sometimes a trailing junk character was added to the file. - mshcMigrate build 36
Fixes same problem as above.
We strongly recommend that all FAR 5 users and mshcMigrate users update ASAP.
VS 2010 RC now available
February 9th, 2010VS 2010 RC release is now available via MSDN subscriber downloads, and publicly available around the 10th of Feb.
So for those stuck on Beta 2 Help this is your chance to get something stable and release quality.
Please, anything you find in the RC that does not go well with mshcMigrate or H3Viewer please contact me (here or directly via robertc at helpware dot net)
Cheers
Rob
Good Press for MS Help Viewer – Part 2
February 4th, 2010Hi all,
Posted again into Brian Harry’s blogмебель в болгарии and CC’d here.
-
David, if you are using Beta 2 (although I suspect you are a partner on LCTP3), then I can well understand your frustration. Maybe my needs are different. I just want the correct help to open in a timely manner when I press F1 in the VS IDE. A 10 secs wait is unacceptable. It wont be 10 seconds in the next release. My response…
DExplore… c++ code, a decade old (they probably use VS 6 or a VS 7.0 Beta when they started the project). From what I understand it has had numerous band-aids and rework applied to it over it’s life time, yet the majority of developers are still frustrated by it and find Google better. And with good reason: Inaccurate F1 results; Long merge delays that lock up VS UI; Difficult to integrate into; A crazy search page; A proprietary file format and no 3rd party redistribution locks out developers; I’m very happy to see the back end of it!
DExplore F1 & search are so poor that most of us now rely on Index and TOC as the primary means of accessing help. MS stats confirm — Typical access usage is now: Index 48%, TOC 25%, F1 17%, Search 10%. 
So it’s easy to understand why users are frustrated and angry over losing both the Index and TOC. Well there is loband TOC which is great for users at the end of the line in China but I personally don’t find it helpful in the context of offline help. You can see my motivation for writing H3Viewer. So the help team recognised that more band-aids on DExplore was not the solution. It was time to bite the bullet and rewrite even if that meant taking a step backwards before moving forward again. With DExplore there was no more moving forward (in fact things were moving backwards).
It may take a while to mature but this new system has a future I think where DExplore was going no where. MS Help Viewer has a good foundation (please wait for the RC or RTM before judging it) and has the potential to become the next general help platform (replacing HTML help). As a general platform the UI will probably be very different. We so desperately need something that will handle large document sets, allows us to write in Unicode, and give developers a rich API (required in an age where UI and UA are blending more and more).
Is this helpful? We live our days in programs like VS and invest a lot of time in them. Change hurts. We are all watching hoping for a good outcome. Brian this is your territory — Have I got the history right? Thanks for allowing me to response.
Re: H3Viewer. I welcome any feedback people care to give please email me. I need feedback. Just remember that the slow access speed (long delays) are due to the current Beta 2 (really Alpha) help engine. The RC release is fast.
Rob
MS Help MVP
www.helpware.net
Good Press for MS Help Viewer
February 2nd, 2010David, Help Agent is the help engine, so we need to wait until that loads into memory before any help calls can be made. So it is Asynchronous operation once it actually loads and is running.
In the past, new help content would lockup VS for minutes as it installed/merged. This wont happen now. But I take your point that you had to wait for several seconds for F1 help to respond first time.
Agent is a .NET app and so we get that customary long delay as the .NET Framework is loaded into memory the first time. But after that Agent will respond quickly. Currently the Beta 2 release is very unstable (beta 2 for VS, but more like Alpha code for Help Viewer). Be assured that you will see a huge improvement in the RC and RTM releases.
I’m using a pre-RC build and I no longer get Agent crashes. If I manually kill off Agent using the tray icon, Agent reloads and services my request within just a second or two (since framework is now loaded in memory). And once Agent is running I can fire off several help API calls in fast succession (I’m building a full TOC on the fly) and get all responses within 200-300 msec. Given this help collection of some half million topics that’s quite impressive. And my Win7 test machine is a very old PC.
Another comment is that if your default browser is IE or FireFox… These browser can load very slowly for me. I use Chrome and get a much better experience. Once the browser is loaded it’s faster of course.
Also there will be alternative viewers you can use (as Brain was saying). If you haven’t tried it yet.. please try my H3Viewer.exe — this is basically a DExplore style Help Viewer with full TOC and Index. I can set this as the default VS 2010 and MS HV viewer. I just did a test then
1. Open VS 2010 (default viewer = Chrome). Time for F1 to complete 1.3 seconds.
2. Open VS 2010 (default viewer = H3Viewer customer viewer). Time for F1 to complete .8 of a second.
But it all depends on whether software has been recently loaded. If Chrome was not run today it would takes 3 seconds to load the F1 topic. And if help Agent has not been loaded today then add several more seconds for .NET Framework to load.
–
Can I just make a general comment (not directed at anyone here). It’s great how everyone has offered fantastic feedback. But please be gentle. The first release of help was basically Alpha. This team started to form only 24 months ago and I think what they have done a remarkable job so far. The API is the best we have ever seen in a help system. The ability to find and display a topic, from a catalog of half a million topics in less than a second is remarkable.
As Brian was saying this wont be a fully featured release. Please don’t expect it to be totally mature for the 1.0 release. 24 months is just not enough time to ramp up a new team, try out various designs, and deliver something with all the bells and whistles. PLEASE BE PATIENT WITH THE TEAM. They are working around the clock to finish this project. From what I have seen so far it’s outstanding work. The RTM will be even better.
IMHO they have been very smart, in that they spent a lot of time designing a kick-arse engine and API (getting the base system right). A lot of people are complaining about losing features. But hey use another viewer. I did my H2Viewer in under a week and it’s almost as powerful as DExplorer. It will all get there in the end. BTW Great to see posters in Brian’s blog know how to post their opinions without be rude about it. Nice!! I know the help team have all this great feedback. It’s probably more effective without the bad language and death threats 
Rob
MS Help MVP
helpware.net
Hi all,
Just posted this to Brian Harry’s blog and thought I’d post here as well.
–
David, Help Agent is the help engine, so we need to wait until that loads into memory before any help calls can be made. So it is Asynchronous operation once it actually loads and is running.
In the past, new help content would lockup VS for minutes as it installed/merged. This wont happen now. But I take your point that you had to wait for several seconds for F1 help to respond first time.
Agent is a .NET app and so we get that customary long delay as the .NET Framework is loaded into memory the first time. But after that Agent will respond quickly. Currently the Beta 2 release is very unstable (beta 2 for VS, but more like Alpha code for Help Viewer). Be assured that you will see a huge improvement in the RC and RTM releases.
I’m using a pre-RC build and I no longer get Agent crashes. If I manually kill off Agent using the tray icon, Agent reloads and services my request within just a second or two (since framework is now loaded in memory). And once Agent is running I can fire off several help API calls in fast succession (I’m building a full TOC on the fly) and get all responses within 200-300 msec. Given this help catalog has some half million topics that’s quite impressive. And my Win7 test machine is very old and slow.
Another comment is that if your default browser is IE or FireFox… These browser can load very slowly for me. I use Chrome and get a much better experience. Once the browser is loaded it’s faster of course.
Also there will be alternative viewers you can use (as Brain was saying). If you haven’t tried it yet.. please try my H3Viewer.exe — this is basically a DExplore style Help Viewer with full TOC and Index. I can set this as the default VS 2010 and MS HV viewer. I just did a test then
1. Open VS 2010 (default viewer = Chrome). Time for F1 to complete 1.3 seconds.
2. Open VS 2010 (default viewer = H3Viewer customer viewer). Time for F1 to complete .8 of a second.
But it all depends on whether software has been recently loaded. If Chrome was not run today it would takes 3 seconds to load the F1 topic. And if help Agent has not been loaded today then add several more seconds for .NET Framework to load.
–
Can I just make a general comment (not directed at anyone here). It’s great how everyone has offered fantastic feedback. But please be gentle. The first release of help was basically Alpha. This team started to form only 24 months ago and I think what they have done an outstanding job so far. The API is the best we have ever seen in a help system. The ability to find and display a topic, from a catalog of half a million topics in less than a second is remarkable.
As Brian was saying this wont be a fully featured release. Please don’t expect it to be totally mature for the 1.0 release. 24 months is just not enough time to ramp up a new team, try out various designs, and deliver something with all the bells and whistles. PLEASE BE PATIENT WITH THE TEAM. They are working around the clock to finish this project. From what I have seen so far it’s outstanding work. The RTM will be even better.
IMHO they have been very smart, in that they spent a lot of time designing a kick-arse engine and API (getting the base system right). A lot of people are complaining about losing features. But hey use another viewer. I did my H3Viewer in under a week and it’s almost as powerful as DExplorer. It will all get there in the end. BTW Great to see posters in Brian’s blog know how to post their opinions without being rude about it. Nice!! I know the help team have noted all this great feedback. It’s probably more effective without the bad language and death threats
Rob
MS Help MVP
www.helpware.net
Latest Multi-Touch Screens for Windows 7
January 12th, 2010Well it was only a mater of time. The next wave of Windows 7 compatible touch screens are here. Great to see the larger machines as well as standalone monitors getting multi-touch. Good for developers.
ACER Computers
http://us.acer.com/showrooms/touch/touchscreen.html
Acer Aspire 5738
The Aspire 5738 with 15″ screen (1366 x 768), 500GB Drive and Win7 multi-touch.
The 5738DG models is 3D. Put on you polarized glasses and watch movies and games in 3D.
Aspire Z5610
The Aspire Z5610 with All-in-one design, 320GB HD, 23″ HD multi-touch screen, built in speaker system.
Aspire 1820PT
The Aspire 1820PT. A convertible (Tablet PC), multi-touch, 11.6″ (1366 x 768 or 1024 x 600) display. Hard disks 160/250/320/500 GB.
Acer TouchScreen display - T230H
Acer TouchScreen display T230H. 58cm (23”) Wide, 16:9 Full HD, Touch, 2ms, 80′000:1, DVI + HDMI, Speakers, MPRII, Black, Height Adjustment, EURO/UK cables, EMEA, adaptive contrast management.
Nice looking display. I’ve just ordered a T230 for myself.
SONY VIAO
Sony VAIO L
Yes there is also a the Sony VAIO L all-in-one series as well.
DELL
Dell now have an all-in-one touch screen as well as a standalone touch screen.
DELL Studio One
Dell SX2210T 21.5"W
Dell SX2210T 21.5″W Multi-Touch Monitor with Webcam
See older posts for other models
Signing Help Viewer 1.0 Files
January 12th, 2010I’ve been having some interesting conversation re MS making us sign help files in Help Viewer 1.0 (Help 3).
So Microsoft’s augments for Signing Help
- User and Vendor can be certain that help files are not tampered with or corrupted.
- User can be certain that the help is from a trusted source.
- In the future Help Viewer 1.x will be everywhere.
It needs to be secure (unlike CHMs which have the ability to ShellExecute anything). - Downloading content from the web (in the future) needs to be secure.
I don’t have a problem with signing Help or reduce the size of attack surfaces. But you can’t force vendors to sign. It’s costly for small companies (> $300 /yr). And signing is not trivial. It takes a lot of time to work through signing.
We are running a Poll on signing in our Help3 Yahoo discussion group. Members are major companies who integrate into VS help. The Poll shows clearly that most companies don’t sign and wont be signing help in the short term.
Windows already has a working security model. Whenever you install something (using an installer) you get challenged with a security warning. Once the user accepts, the install is elevated to Admin mode. There are no more challenges after that point. But currently Help Library Manager challenges you a second time and event blocks silent install if unsigned.
Currently the Help Library Manager wont allow your Installer to install/uninstall/update help unless it is signed. This is unacceptable. The Microsoft future vision of all vendors signing content is fantasy. Certificates are currently too expensive and too much trouble. It’s a different story for large corporations. However the majority of software companies are small and run very lean. For example Helpware (this site) there is no way we can afford to buy certificates.
Interesting how Adobe corp is handling security on Flash applications. So this is content that can be download from the web and put anywhere on the hard disk. Flash apps have access to your whole hard disk. So when you run a Flash app you are “always” challenged with a security warning. To disable this security message you need to enter some path information for your app in a protected folder of Windows. This is good since only elevated installers can added this information. Or the user can add the info by hand. Either way the user is challenged using the same security model Windows uses for all executables.
What should Help Viewer 1.x be doing?
- Work within the existing Windows security model. If there has already been a security challenge, and the install has been elevated, then that should be good enough. Help Viewer 1.0 should not go and challenge again.
- For unsecured environments (XP OS, or UAC turned off) HLM should always challenge (but not stop unsigned content from installing). There is nothing else on the Windows platform that actually blocks installers from installing unsigned content (Challenge yes. Block no).
- Do it like Adobe. Help Library Manager always challenges but to remove the challenge on a help file, your installer must write the help file path to a HKLM protected registry location. So the user is guaranteed to see a security message.
- Signing is good. But should be optional like everywhere else in Windows.
- There is currently no install/uninstall/update solution for installers dealing with unsigned help. Maybe 10% of companies sign. That leaves 90% of companies currently without an install solution. All these companies can do currently is give text instructions to the customer explaining the manual steps involved to add/remove help.
- Help Viewer 1.0 is not like CHMs. The security risks are different. First up all help must be registered through Help Library Manager, which has the option to challenge.
- Downloading – Again this is not like CHMs. HLM requires elevated privileges to install all help, that’s enough. If you want more then go for the HKLM registration idea.
- For old systems such as XP or where UAC is disabled, HLM should “always” challenge so the user is guaranteed to get a security warning.
Well I’m starting to repeat my self so enough said.
Please add your own comments below.
Rob
FAR 5 Beta 722 Update
December 17th, 2009Far 5.0 Build 722 is now available
- Fix: Optimized FAR 5 find and replace so it’s as fast (or faster) than FAR 4. The new Unicode code is fast however any str or char constants left as ANSI get converted to Unicode at runtime slowing down execution in tight code loops. Thanks Reinhard for picking this up, you have earned that free license.
DELL Release 21″ MultiTouch Monitor
December 11th, 2009Is this the first standalone Windows 7 compatible MultiTouch Monitor?
21.5″ Wide Screen, 1920×1080, built-in webcam and dual microphones.
Good to see. Put’s pressure on Samsung.
Delphi HH Kit 2.1
December 3rd, 2009Uploaded a new HTML Help Kit which is compatible with Delphi 2009 & Delphi 2010
Code examples have not really changed since the last 2009 update.
hh.pas – The HtmlHelp() function is either Ansi or Unicode depending on the Delphi you are running (Delphi 2009 + is Unicode).
hh_funcs.pas – Now compiles under Delphi 2010.
As I understand it Delphi 2006 and up now has the basic HtmlHelp() API declaration in Windows.pas. So consider using that instead of hh,pas if you just need to do basic calls to open help.
Also I believe that Delphi 2009 and up has fixed the “Help Events not firing” bug. So our special unit D6OnHelpFix.pas should not be required on newer Delphi systems.
Various updates
November 20th, 2009- H2Viewer 1.4.6 now available
- Now uses Unicode code
- Now uses SAPI 5.x Text-To-Speech engine (Vista and Windows 7 compatible).
- Download: http://helpware.net/mshelp2/h2viewer.htm
- H3Viewer build 9 now available
- Now uses SAPI 5.x Text-To-Speech engine (Vista and Windows 7 compatible).
- Download: http://mshcmigrate.helpmvp.com/viewer
- H2Reg.exe 2.0.1 beta promoted to release status
- Version 2.0.1 is now a Unicode application.
- http://helpware.net/mshelp2/h2reg.htm
H3Viewer now Available
November 16th, 2009Wrote a Help 3 viewer (similar to the old VS Document Explorer).
The H3 API is fantastic. Programmers will love it. One of the easiest projects I’ve done.
Fee free to download and try it. Great to see the full TOC and Index back. A couple of screen shots included.
Help 3 On Channel 9
November 6th, 2009Kathleen McGrath [MS] posted this video of Ryan Linton [Lead PM on Help 3] talking about Help 3 beta 2.
Help 3.0 - New Help System in Visual Studio 2010
Help 3.0 - New Help System in Visual Studio 2010
VS 2010 Beta 2 Help – Slow Going
November 3rd, 2009The Beta 2 help system is ok for small experiments. It’s the bleeding edge and I would strongly recommend waiting for a VS 2010 RC build (Release Candidate) before trying to move large help systems over.
If you want to play with the beta then please read these notes first
WinHelp Download for Windows 7 now available
November 2nd, 2009WinHelp for Windows 7 is now available from the MS site
Thanks MVP Rob Cavicchio
Screen shots of VS 2010 b2 Help
October 21st, 2009Hi all
I created a page with VS 10 beta 2 Help screen shots and info:
Also looks like VS Beta 2 Pro is now available for general download
And don’t forget the Migrate Utility (now build 17) is here
And help documentation is here
Rob
MSHelp3 preview now available
October 20th, 2009Visual Studio 2010 Beta 2 is now available on MSDN Subscriber Downloads. No MSDN Subscription? VS Beta 2 will be available to the world in a few days time.
It contains the first preview of MS Help 3 (The VS 2010 help system).
The beta software is currently labeled MS Help 3, however the official name is “MS Help Viewer 1.0″. Strange name? It’s the same type of thinking when they named “Document Explorer” for VS 2002/2003/2005/2008.
Our free Help Migration Utility is here (download link at bottom of page)
More info on MS Help Viewer 1.0
What can I see?
- In VS 2010 Beta 2, press F1 to checkout the help.
- Use the migration utility to convert a HxS file to Help3 file. Then make a Installation Manifest file (.msha). Then try installing your help using the manifest.
Let the fun begins.
Rob
Various
August 12th, 2009Things to share…
- David Berman - Do Good Design [published by Pearson/Peachpit 2009]
David has published quite an unusual book on design. He says we all participate in design and have responsibility to do Good with it. David uses my FAR product – that’s my link with him. Today he did a interview by phone with our local ABC radio station.
- 12 Tips To Speed-up Your Windows Forms Applications
Retweeting @DenisBasaric: 12 Tips To Speed-up Your Windows Forms Applications: http://devcomponents.com/blog/?p=361. Very handy list of tips from Dennis Basaric – We use .NET and WPF components made by Dennis. - Agilent purchase Varian
As some of you know I work for Varian, inc in Melbourne, Australia. We all need a bread and butter job and I’ve been with them for over 20 yrs. Just over a week ago Varian Inc (about 3,600 employees world wide) were aquired by Agilent. In 1999 HP shed it’s original core business (as Agilent) to focus on it’s computer side. So if all the legal stuff goes through OK Varian inc will soon be known as Agilent. Staff are very positive about the merger. If you have Varian scientific equipment in your labs rest assured it will be quality service as usual. - H3 Merge Utility
The utility to convert a VS Help 2 projects to Help 3 format is shaping up well. The web page is up but the utility wont be available until the VS 2010 Beta 2 is released. - VHDs and Windows 7
Some nice tutorials on using Virtual HardDrives in Windows 7.
Upgrading to Windows 7 RTM
August 10th, 2009Last night I upgrade our 4 Vista PCs to Windows 7 RTM Ultimate. Note there is no direct upgrade path for Windows XP. However MS provide tools to migrate your settings (you could upgrade to Vista first if you were really despite). And yes a clean install is always best, however I just don’t have the time for that. My dev machine however will eventually be a clean install.
Long time to install
All the upgrades took about 3 hrs to complete. One PC said ”Expanding Windows files 21%” for over 30mins. I was just about to give up and reboot when the install started to show life again. In the end all upgrades completed and ran OK.
Unciode, Zip & File Compare
August 6th, 2009We’ve learnt a lot while migrating our main application FAR to Unicode.
WinZip 12 & XCEED Zip compatibility
While upgrading FAR’s Zip support we found that the latest WinZip 12 & XCEED ZIP ActiveX 6.5 both supports Unicode file paths, but are incompatible with each other. Talking to the nice folks at XCEED they say they will be WinZip compatible in the next drop (which should be very soon). I’m hoping the WinZip people will also work on this problem.
Background: The PKZIP spec is old and hazy when it comes to Unicode paths. Unicode paths are stored in a separate list inside the Zip file. When WinZip opens an XCEED zip it cannot find the XCEED Unicode list and has to use the standard PKZIP list. So foreign language Unicode paths show up with names like Help?????.HxC.
Anyway a I’m glad that EXCEED are moving to fix this in their August release. Another component manufacturer ZipForge also say that their August release will support both the EXCEED and WinZip Unicode formats.
BTW I was delighted to see that WinZip 12 can now open .ISO files and optionally view files by folder.
Unicode File Compare
File Compare has not changed much in 10 years. VS WinDiff still only supports ANSI files and file paths.
While searching for a new File Compare program I came across Compare It!
Truely this is the best thing since sliced bread. Not only is it a pleasure to use and is fast as hell, but it fully supports Unicode and binary files. It even allows you to edit files inplace while you compare them. It can also compare files inside a Zip.
This product is outstanding and I highly recommend it. A must for every developer and help & web author.
MS Help 3 TOCs – Tricky
July 19th, 2009In MS Help 1.x and 2.x we create TOCs containing empty links, book marks, and remote links.
But MS Help 3.x stores all TOC information inside HTML topic files using meta statements. So these TOC link types are no longer valid.
As a refresher.. Each help topic can store the following TOC meta data…
- TOC item parent
- TOC item order (if in a group of TOC siblings)
So Empty items; Bookmarks; Remote links are difficult to represent.
As a further restriction the version 3.0 release allows each topic to appear only once in the TOC.
So what’s the solution?
We’ve been working on a Help 2 to Help 3 migration utility. It’s almost complete except for these nasty issues (above). You can see a log file of a test run here.
Our solution (for migrating and importing Help 1.x/2.x TOCs) is to use local redirection files. So you have a number of help topic files, containing TOC meta statements that redirect you to other locations when they load. Simple enough. For an empty TOC link we generate a blank page.
Let me know if you have other ideas.
Help 3 Indexes have other probems. We’ll talk about those another day.
- Rob
MS Help 3 News
July 5th, 2009I was talking to Charles Christian from the MS Help 3 team. VS 2010 Beta 1 Online help does not show any H3 meta tags when I do a view source. Why?
Charles: The meta tags are shown/hidden based on where/how the content is rendered. For http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.string.aspx, you will not see many meta tags, but for http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.string(robot).aspx, you will see a lot of meta tags, but you will not see Help3 specific meta tags. Help3 specific tags will only be available in the Offline help pages (Rob: available Beta 2 drop).
Thanks Charles! – Check out Charles on Twitter
Farewell April Reagan. Welcome Paul O’Rear!
MS PM April Reagan has moved from the Help 3 team over to the MS Surface team. We wish April all the very best in the new job and thank her for all her support, and for a job well done getting MS Help 3 to market. — See also April’s Blog.
Congratulations Paul O’Rear who will help fill this position. Part of Pauls job will be working with ISVs, Partners, Community and Help MVPs. This is especially good news for the Help MVPs who have had a long association with Paul. Looking forward to working together again.
FAR v5 Beta 709
June 30th, 2009We’ve been very busy updating the FAR 5 Beta code. I’ve just uploaded build 709, our most stable release yet.
Unicode Support
It’s a joy to enter and search for Japanese and Chinese text on a English PC. A big thank you must go to Michael from ESRI who has helped enormously with our Unicode version of FAR Web Help (FAR Uncompressed Help). FAR Easter language support is now a snap.
Free FAR 5 License
It’s a huge task migrating a complex application such as FAR to Unicode. For those that like free things we are giving away FAR 5 licenses to anyone who wants to try out the Beta and report any bugs they find. This will be a big help and we thank you in advanced. More about FAR 5 on the FAR Home page
FAR Beta v5.0 is now Unicode
June 12th, 2009I’m very happy to announce FAR Beta 5.0.0.700 is now available.
This version of FAR is Unicode!! http://helpware.net/FAR/
A work in progress. However most of the Help code is complete. This means you can enter and view foreign language chars within FAR even on an English Windows OS. However remember that MS HTML Help 1.x is still an ANSI technology (a limitation of HH not FAR).
I just made an FAR Uncompressed help system containing French, German, English, Japanese text and the Search, TOC & Index all worked beautifully. Search found Japanese words correctly even on my Eng PC. Unicode makes the job much easy. No longer will you have enter the entire Japanese or Chinese character set into FAR to make it parse correctly. This is because there are standard win32 Unicode functions available to tell FAR if characters are Alpha/Numeric/ControlChars/Spaces/Punctuation etc.
All feed back gratefully accepted.You can safely run FAR 4 and FAR 5 side by side. Use the Preferences dialog to control which installation has the Windows file associations.
Rob
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