== imported from old Helpware News Blog
FAR 4.2 Released
(Mon 01 of Jan, 2007)
We’ve just released FAR 4.2 (Build 660).
Mostly addresses Vista compatibility issues. Some minor fixes.
http://helpware.net/FAR/
HAT-Matrix.com is Now Open
(Mon 23 of Oct, 2006)
Fellow Help MVP Char James -Tanny and husband Jim have just opened their new web site HAT-Matrix.com where you can do side by side comparisans of various help authoring tools.
Thanks Char and Jim
New article: Helpware and Vista Compatibility
(Sat 21 of Oct, 2006)
Helpware and Vista Compatibility
Important read for those migrating to Windows Vista
(Sat 21 of Oct, 2006)
H2Reg 1.5 now available
http://helpware.net/mshelp2/h2reg.htm
H2Reg is now Vista ready. H2Reg.exe now has a manifest file embedded in it to elevate it’s execution level to “Run as administrator”. This allows h2reg to run correctly under Vista UAC mode.
See the article above for the full story if you are interested.
Thanks to Walter from Northwoods Software for assisting us work through the Vista issues.
Cheers
Rob
The Helpware Group
http://helpware.net/
Customizing VS 2005 Search
I’ve written an article explaining how to customize the VS 2005 search
http://helpware.net/mshelp2/dexplore/vs8search.htm
The following documents were updated…
(Thu 31 of Aug, 2006)
Context Ids in Merged Help
Added a 3rd solution for applications that need to open a CHM topic in a slave CHM.
Removing the “Jump to URL” menu item
It has been thought that you can remove the HTML Help “Jump to URL” menu item by removing HH Workshop. As an MVP I am privileged to have access to the HTML Help source code … so I looked up exactly what hides / shows this item. Turns out it always shows unless you enable the NoRun Policy. BTW: I did ask permission to publish this info first.
VS 2005 Search
The 3rd update of the VS 2005 SDK is due any day (called Aug or Sept 2006 SDK). It tells you how to integrate your search with the VS 2005 DExplore search. I was thinking of adding this to H2Reg but on closer examination I think I’ll leave it to the developer to do. On a negative note I find VS 2005 search pretty poor. I wish MS would allow us to use the TOC/Index Filter for searching (like it was in VS 2003). Even with the info you will get with the SDK it is still difficult for 3rd parties to extend search in VS 2005 help.
Using H2Reg with VS 2005 Express
The following site documents have been updated
The update is pasted below.
Rob
We’ve had a few folks asking how to integrate content into VS 2005 Express (the cut-down version of VS 2005). Is it the same as VS 2005?
With Express you still plug into MS.VSIPCC.V80 (so plug-in section does not change).Express uses a collection called MS.VSExpressCC.v80 instead of ms.vscc.v80.
So if you use a pre-merge section (also requires the h2reg.exe -M command switch )
then you need to add this extra collection name.
To merge all versions of VS use
Merge_Namespace
ms.vsipcc+
ms.vscc+
ms.vsexpresscc+
To merge VS 2003 and above
Merge_Namespace
ms.vscc.2003
ms.vsipcc+
ms.vscc.v*
ms.vsexpresscc+
To merge only VS 2003 + VS 2005
Merge_Namespace
ms.vscc.2003
ms.vsipcc.v80
ms.vscc.v80
ms.vsexpresscc.v80
FAR Beta Build 652
TOC / Index Editor can now import a TOC. So effectively combine TOC files or index files.
TOC Edit Menu: “TOC > Import File Content”
This has been a requested item from authors for many years. So we hope people will find this useful.
H2Reg PreMerge Not Working under VS 2005
David Boocock from Unisys just pointed out to me that his H2Reg -M PreMerge was not working. The merge appeared to work but when VS 2005 documentation viewer opened it automatically performed another merge.
On further investigation it appears that it is not enough to simply merge the MS.VSIPCC.v80 collection (as it was in the VS 2005 Pre Release). You must also merge the main MS.VSCC.v80 collection as well.
I just added the following to the H2Reg Home page.
H2Reg PreMerge Not Working under VS 2005
David Boocock from Unisys just pointed out to me that his H2Reg -M PreMerge was not working. The merge appeared to work but when VS 2005 documentation viewer opened it automatically performed another merge.
On further investigation it appears that it is not enough to simply merge the MS.VSIPCC.v80 collection (as it was in the VS 2005 Pre Release). You must also merge the main MS.VSCC.v80 collection as well.
I just added the following to the H2Reg Home page
9. VS 2005 PreMerge [2006-05-03] Here is H2Reg script required to pre-merge a VS 2005 collection at registration time. We found that both MS.VSIPCC.v80 and MS.VSCC.v80 need to be merged. Otherwise you will still see the merge update message when you open the VS 2005 document viewer. To merge all versions of VS use [Merge_Namespace] ms.vsipcc+ ms.vscc+ To merge VS 2003 and above [Merge_Namespace] ms.vscc.2003 ms.vsipcc+ ms.vscc.v* To merge just VS 2003 and VS 2005 [Merge_Namespace] ms.vscc.2003 ms.vsipcc.v80 ms.vscc.v80
Franks MS Help 2 Tutorials updated
Changes to previous TestCase/Lab:
- Added a flat TOC web page to the .chm for Web Accessibility for Physically Challenged users.
- Added title and accesskey (for Navigation) attributes to all Headings, Hyperlinks for Web Accessibility for Physically Challenged users where necessary.
- All alt attributes for Images give a full description of them for Web Accessibility for Physically Challenged users.
- Added BACK, TABLE OF CONTENTS and NEXT buttons (horizontal unordered lists) to each Topic web page for Web Accessibility for Physically Challenged users.
- Added a Div Toggler javascript function to each Topic web page to increase user interactivity with static web pages.
- Added a border to <div>s containing instructive content to concentrate users attention.
- Made Phase 6 optional adding H2Reg_cmd.ini file to H2 Pre-Build packages.
FAR 4.1 now available
Change notes:
http://helpware.net/FAR/farupdate.htm
Rob
Installing Help 2 SDK (H2 compiler) without VS dependency
This solution allows authors to install VS Oct SKD (H2 Compiler) without first installing VS 8.
Many thanks go to James Chaldecott who has updated Martin Sojdr’s Beta solution and made it work with the latest RTM version (VS 2005 October SDK).
We are grateful to both Martin Sojdr and James Chaldecott for making this solution available.
Download and Instructions here:
Background:
Why do we want this? Because VS is very expensive and authors can write and compile help using authoring tools such as FAR or Help Studio etc without the need for purchasing VS. Also if you are integrating help into a 3rd party systems such as Borland’s Delphi 2005 then purchasing VS not required and a waste of money.
Rob Chandler
MS Help MVP
HH Kit Update 1.8
Hi folks
Longtime between posts but there are some changes to the HH Kit code.
HH.pas //IMPORTANT for Windows Vista
The main change I want to draw your attention to is for hh.pas.
In Windows Vista (Longhorn) HH.pas will fail to open the hhctrl.dll
library.
Details:
HHCtrl.dll is an ActiveX control and as such can potentially be
downloaded on demand to the Windows ActiveX cache instead
of the WIndows System folder where it normally lives.
(with newer operating system HHCtrl.dll can always be found in Windows System).
The HH.PAS unit tried to cover all bases and correctly look for
the path to hh.pas via the registry (the GUID is constant).
For Windows Vista (code name Longhorn) the registry path has changed
from
c:windowssystem32 to %systemroot%system32
The old HH.pas fails to cope with this and load library call fails (no help).
The new HH.pas now expands the NaV and now also defaults to
the Windows System folder if hhctrl.dll is not found. So now all bases are
covered and the file is future proof.
HH Kit Download: http://helpware.net/delphi/index.html
Release Notes: http://helpware.net/delphi/hh_doc.txt
hh_funcs.pas //TRIVIAL
There are some trivial changes to hh_funcs.pas v1.8
Release Notes: http://helpware.net/delphi/hh_doc.txt
D6OnHelpFix.pas
A couple of kind gentlemen with good memory leak checkers
found a 20 byte memory leak in D6OnHelpFix.pas (The OnHelp?
event fix for D6 and above).
If this concerns you then please get the latest
D6OnHelpFix.pas (included in Example 12 download)
http://helpware.net/downloads/example12.zip
Delphi Examples //TRIVIAL
Because of the above changes I also updated the
12 examples on the Yahoo Groups site.
So minor update but its there to download if you want it
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DelphiHHKit/files/
Email me if you have any question
Cheers
Rob Chandler
MS Help MVP
Support /at/ helpware.net
Friday, July 29, 2005
Helpware Site Updates
1. Martin Sojdr provides new a fix for installing VS 2005 SDK without VS 2005
Martin to the rescue again. If you author help using a 3rd party tool such as FAR, or author for Borland collections then you don’t need to purchase VS .NET. The problem is that VS 2005 SDK (contains H2 compiler) wont install if it can’t find VS 2005 present. This latest fix from Martin allows you to install the new VS 2005 SDK without VS 2005.
http://helpware.net/mshelp2/h2faq.htm#novsnet2
2. New FAR v4 build 632 now available
FAR 4.0.0.632 Beta has some new Batch commands – MakeHxT, MakeHxK, JSSearch, MakeUncompHelp.
3. H2Reg 1.4.3 now available
H2Reg documentation has been updated in preparation for the VS 2005 release. It also now plugs into MS.VSIPCC.v80 (VS 2005 collection) instead of MS.VSCC.v80 following new recommendations by MS.
http://helpware.net/mshelp2/h2reg.htm
posted by Rob Chandler, www.helpware.net at 2:04 PM
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
Beta Updates
posted by Rob Chandler, www.helpware.net at 2:40 PM | 0 comments
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
Beta Updates
Hi folks
Regular updates to FAR 4 are planned for bug fixes etc.These updates will be available as Beta releases from – http://helpware.net/FAR/
If you see a feature fix you need feel free to download and use it. There is no difference between the release version and these updated Beta versions. Beta download is what we currently use in house.
These minor updates will not go through the FAR.exe built in update notification.
FAR Beta 4.0.0.623 has just been uploaded
Rob
posted by Rob Chandler, www.helpware.net at 12:41 AM | 0 comments
Saturday, May 21, 2005
FAR 4.0 now available
FAR v4.0 is finally available for download.
http://helpware.net/FAR/
Thanks for all the kind folk who helped us prepare
for this release. If you didn’t get your fix in don’t be
too concerned. We have regular updates planned.
These will be available as Beta downloads.
If you do see problems with this release please
let us know (contact info can be found in the website).
Rob
posted by Rob Chandler, www.helpware.net at 5:21 PM | 0 comments
Sunday, May 15, 2005
FAR V4 RC1
FAR V4 Release Candidate 1 is now available.
FAR Home Page: http://helpware.net/FAR/
All major updates have been completed. Last chance to
send in your feedback. We had to change the v4 license key
system (v3 keys not changed). Email us if you have a FAR v4 key
that needs updating. Just a reminder that V3 licenses will work
in V4 and unlock most (but not all) features.
posted by Rob Chandler, www.helpware.net at 1:26 AM | 0 comments
Friday, May 13, 2005
Welcome to the Helpware Blog
Welcome to my blog. Helpware and Help Industry news.
So until I write an RSS feed editor (a new feature for FAR?)
the good old Blog is the best way to publish Helpware news.