Lesson 8: The Tools of the Trade
Generating online help
Many software products, particularly those with Windows clients, include online help. This is a generic term used to describe documentation integrated into the product that specifically discusses how to perform individual common tasks or the type of information a specific field on a screen expects as input. Online help is usually a joint effort between technical writers and developers, with writers providing the text and developers integrating it into the product.
Online help can be supplied in many formats but the most popular two are WinHelp and HTMLHelp. HTML is not generic HTML files used for online help, but rather a specific format endorsed by Microsoft. This can be a major point of confusion for both technical writers and developers. Several tools generate help in these formats. RoboHelp is by far the most popular.
RoboHelp lets you write your help in either Microsoft Word or the HTML editor of your choice then output it in your help format of choice. It's an integrated tool that builds table of contents, indexes, and other advanced features without the need for extensive hands-on decisions by a writer. You can create What's This? Help - the little blurbs that come up when you hit F1 in a Windows application - or more traditional field or form-based help. It can even take some applications written in C++ and create the basics of a help project for you, making the initial phase-up stage much easier.
