Copyright: Copyright® 1993 Synergystic Productions


Contents
$5 Help v1.0.0

The Affordable Hypertext and Windows Help Authoring Tools for Word for Windows 6.0

Licence Agreement and Disclaimer -MUST READ

Whats incuded in this Shareware disribution package?

Why ANOTHER Hypertext and Windows Help Authoring Toolkit!?

Installing or uninstalling $5 Help on your system

How to Use $5 Help for hypertext authoring in Word for Windows 6.0

How to Use $5 Help to make Windows 3.x Help files

Some simple ways to fine tune your Help file and More info on the RTF

Registering $5 Help and getting the full version of the Make RTF macro


WhatsIncludedInThisPackage
What's included in this Shareware distribution package?

This Shareware distribution package includes all fully functional tools with ONE MAJOR exception:

The Make RTF macro is limited to only 20 topics, that's 3 more than you need to make an RTF of this help file.

Our sad realization as shareware authors is that gratitude alone is an insufficient registration motivator, no matter how useful and inexpensive the software. As much as we hate the very idea of crippling ,we decided to limit the RTF macro in this way. When you register we will E-mail the complete version to you within 48 hours.

Meanwhile you can build your help file in Word, use the jumps, and refine the layout with Word's WYSIWYG environment. If you find it useful, registration is (like the name says) only $5.


Crippling
One of the great things about shareware is the you can get on-line anytime (middle of the night, etc.),get the tool you need  and be back to work immediately. Crippling limits that ability. If you are in dire straights for a WinHelp authoring tool NOW, give us a call by voice. We're friendly, reasonable people and we can probably work something out.


WhyMoreHelpTools
Why ANOTHER Hypertext and Windows Help Authoring Toolkit!?

Like many programmers, we tried to build WinHelp files with nothing more than MS Word for Windows and found the syntax unintuitive, cumbersome, and tedious. Authoring hyper-text of any kind is difficult without active jumps during editing, and proofing the file as a whole required shelling to DOS and recompiling every on every pass. We searched for tools on-line and found none that met our needs. We already knew the basic syntax and layout. Our help file needs were fairly simple and did not include sound, multi-media, version tracking, or even printed manual layout. We just couldn't justify spending $100's on a commercial help tool. The share ware tools we found seemed under over-priced, under-featured, or not much easier than using Word by itself. We needed WYSWIG layout, active jumps during editing and proofing, and automated compliance with help compiler syntax. It seemed that all these things could be provided with a simple set of WordBasic macros and that there was probably a market for a powerful, inexpensive help and hyper-text tool set for MS Word 6.0.

The result is $5 Help for Microsoft Word for Windows 6.0. It's a complete set of hypertext authoring tools for Microsoft Word for Windows 6.0. that take most of the drudgery and difficulty out of writing help files and hypertext that runs from inside Word for Windows 6.0.


InstallationAndUninstallation
Installing or uninstalling $5 Help on your system.

All of $5 Help is included in the file. $5HELP1.DOT.

Simply copy this file to where ever you keep your MS Word templates.

You can base your documents on this template if you like. It contains all the macros, the toolbar, and a few settings that are helpful when writing help files. The template and the toolbar are fully editable. You can also use Word's Organizer (under File|Templates on the Word menu) to copy the macros and toolbar into your own templates, even your NORMAL.DOT. The macros themselves are the only secured part of the package. They are in execute only format and not editable or readable by the user.

To uninstall $5 Help from your system, delete $5HELP1.DOT and any of it's parts that you may have copied into other templates.


AuthoringHypertext
How to Use $5 Help for hypertext authoring in Word for Windows 6.0

These instructions assume that you are familiar with word processing in general and can operate the basic features of MS Word for Windows 6.0. If you do not know the meaning of an italisized word, you can find it with the search feature in the Word 6.0 Help file. Also note that these steps do NOT have to be done straight through once and only once. You MUST create (select and name) a given topic before you can create jumps to it. Otherwise you can work in any order you want.

Before you start, click the Set Word Environment button. This turns off features that interfere with the working of other macros in $5 Help.

1. Divide your draft information into pages (topics), separated by hard page breaks. Make sure that there are no hard page breaks inside topics, even if some topics are longer than a page. You can avoid confusing soft page breaks by setting the height of page on the paper size tab of the page setup dialog to longer than your longest topic.

2. Select each topic (BUT NOT the page breaks which separate them) and click on the Make Topic button on the $5 Help tool bar. A dialog will prompt you for a topic name and give instructions for naming topics. These are actually naming rules for Word 6.0 bookmarks, which is how topics are stored.

3. Once your topics are defined you can create jumps that jump to those topics. Just select the hot text for your jump and click one of the jump buttons. A dialog will appear listing all of your defined topics. Select a topic and click OK. If you plan to make a help file, the three types of jumps will determine the style of jump. If not you can use the three types any way you want.


MakeTopicButton
 The Make Topic button attaches a bookmark to the selected text and give it the name you supply as the context string for this topic.


ThreeKindsOfJumps
 Single Underline - Standard jumps fill the main help window with a new topic.

  Dotted Underline - Pop-ups do just that, and go away when the user next clicks anywhere.

  Double Underline - Secondary window jumps open a second window that you can define in your help project file.


SetWordEnvironment
 The Set Word Environment button sets the smart cut & paste and auto word selection features of word to OFF. These settings cause additional spaces to be selected when cutting and pasting and will add random spaces to your jump text. A message displays when you run this macro to remind you which settings it affects.

If either of these is already off, the macro just turns off the other. If both are off the macro has no effect. The same message will display regardless.


AuthoringHelpFiles
How to Use $5 Help to make Windows 3.x Help files.

If you plan to compile your hyertext as a Windows 3.x Help file, use the SEE ALL button to turn on and off hidden text and field codes. Hidden information for the RTF is stored there. When you are editing text near an already created jump, it's important to see this information so you do not accidentally edit it or separate it for its jump with new text. Inline graphics - like the button pictures in this file - can be pasted in for WYSIWYG layout. Other Word 6.0 and help comiler supported graphics formats have not been tested with $5 Help.

1. Follow the instructions for authoring hypertext with $5 Help. Pay special attention to the kind of jumps you use. Make sure to keep your topics seperated by hard page breaks with no hard page breaks in mid-topic. Select and name your Contents (top level) topic even if there will be no jump to it.

2. Use the No Scroll button to create any non-scrolling areas you want at the top of topics. Select from the top of the topic (NOT including the page break abve) to the point where you want the non-scrolling area to end.

3. Save your document. The next step is to run the RTF macro and it's a long and complex one. So far it's run smoothly, but it hasn't been tested on YOUR system yet. Make sure the cursor is in your document and click on the RTF button. Watch it go! An RTF is created that's ready to compile. Use the sample HPJ (Help Project File) included with this package.

Note: You must use version 3.10.505 of the help compiler or later to be compatible with RTF's produced by MS Word for Windows 6.0. Look for filename HC505.EXE on the MS Download BBS

or at ftp.microsoft.com on the Internet.

See Also Some simple ways to fine tune your Help file and More info on the RTF


RTFButton
 The RTF button turns your $5 Help document into a help compiler compatable RTF.


NoScrollButton
 The No Scroll button simply changes the paragraph style to Keep Together without changing any other properties. The Keep Together style ends up in the RTF as codes that tell the help compiler where to END the no-scroll area. If hidden chacters are shown, the paragraphs included in the no-scroll area will have a square dot in the left margin of their first line.


SeeAllButton
 The SEE ALL button works as a toggle to allow you to quickly turn the Show Field Codes and Show Hidden Characters features of Word on and off. To use it you must start with both of these option on (or off). If one is off and the other on, it will still toogle both, effictively switching them.


MoreOnTheRTF
Some simple ways to fine tune your Help file and More info on the RTF

The RTF macro creates all footnotes supported by the help compiler for every topic in your document:

The * footnote is for build tags and every topic is assigned a single build tag called BuildAll.

The $ footnote is for topic title and is assigned a title equal to the topics name (context string). This is what shows up in the topic list in the search windows of WinHelp. If you use ThisKindOfFormat to name you topics in the original document, you can page through the RTF and add spaces for easy, meaningful topic names.

The K footnote is for keywords and each topic recieves the single Keyword All. This way you users can chose All in the search window and get a complete list of topics in the help file, even if you don't know what a keyword is. If you want search to be more useful, simple scan your file and create a list of key words ,one per line, in a separate document widow. Put a semi-colon before every keyword in the list. Then scan your RTF again and paste in the keywords from your list, delimiting semi-colons and all.

The + footnote is for Browse sequences. This determines the order a user will see the topics if they use the < and > browse buttons in WinHelp. Each of you topics is assigned a browse sequence in the order the order (top to bottom) of its placement in your file. The first browse sequence is 000001. The 1 is incremented for each topic and five zeros are appended. If you want to move pop-up to the bottom, delete a zero. If you want to move main topics to the top, add a zero. The five zeros allow you to create six levels to your browse sequence just by deleting zeros.

The # footnote is for Context Strings. This is the name you gave your topic when you defined it. You can leave thess as is, the users who read your help file never see them. If you are programming and need context sensitive help, then you know how to use them or can find out in the help comiler guide.


Registering
Registering $5 Help and getting the full version of the Make RTF macro

If you like and continue to use $5 Help you are required to register it.

You can do so in the following ways:

If you have CIS (CompuServe) access GO SWREG and register program # 2414

The $5 will be added to your CIS bill.

We will E-Mail you the complete version of the RTF macro as an attached file within 48 hours of recieving your registration notice from CIS.

If you DO NOT have CIS (CompuServe) access, send:

1. $5 - Any

2. A stamped (your choice of return postage) self addressed disk mailer

3. A NEW, BLANK, FORMATTED, disk.

This is the only way you can make it convienient enough for us to use physical mail and still charge only $5. If we offered a mailed version for an additional price, we would be putting ourselves up for hire to do clerical work. If thousands ordered it, we might even have to hire clerical help, then we'd be managing employees. We use E-Mail becuase we want to write great software that meets users needs not become managers or run a mailing service.

The authors are:

Taylor Brown & Lisa Brice

Synergystic Productions Unlimited

taylorbr@blkbox.com

CIS 72322,765

1503 Nance St.

Houston, TX 77002-1127

1-713-228-4959

We do custom programming and software design in Visual, Access, and Word Basic on a contract basis. Call if you need help with a project.


LicenseAndDisclaimer
License Agreement and Disclaimer

Lets keep this really simple!

If you keep and use $5 Help you agree to register it for $5.

Like all software companies we make NO GUARANTEES!

Like all of our software, we've done our best ot see that that it does what we say it does.

If you simply must sue a software copmpany, keep in mind that this one's pockets would be much deeper if you get a few hundred thousand of your friends to register first.


SampleHPJ
Sample .HPJ

Here's a sample Help project file to use with the RTF this document creates. Just copy it into a plain text file and save. You will need to edit at least the path and name for your RTF.

; Project file

[OPTIONS]

BUILD = BuildAll

COMPRESS = HIGH

CONTENTS = Contents

COPYRIGHT = Copyright© 1993 Synergystic Productions

REPORT = ON

TITLE = Help for $5 Help

WARNING = 3

[FILES]

c:\w\project\5$help\5$hlp.rtf

[BUILDTAGS]

BuildAll

[Config]

BrowseButtons()

[ALIAS]

[BAGGAGE]

[BITMAPS]

[MAP]

[WINDOWS]

MAIN = "$5 Help",,1,,(0,255,255)

MyWindow = "$5 Help" ,(25,230,975,770),0,,,1