HelpMaster Site (Helpfile-ish stuff)

  • Thread starter Thread starter filthy-mcnasty
  • Start date Start date
Glev said:
Most people will probably be better off with a eBook if all the file
will
do will be a electronic manual. Why make it so more complicated than
it needs to be?
Click to expand...

Probably true. But these eBook programs are relatively new, most having
emerged after HTML. Back in the "old days", winhelp3 was the only
available (and free and reliable) hypertext presentation medium that
could incorporate graphics. Other than that, Winhelp is particularly
versatile/ configurable to the author's need (custom menus, buttons,
appearance etc., even controlling the help file windows at the API
level) and I still use it often where "fixed format" eBook programs are
too limiting. Still, there *is* a fair old learning curve associated
with that aspect of it... some would even argue that "programming
winhelp" was a type of programming in its own right.
There is a reason most of the files on that site
have stuff like "Any C/C++, Visual Basic 6, Pascal / Delphi," and so
on for sysreq. The site is geared more towards programmers trying to
write help for their programs.
Click to expand...

I don't notice any such profusion of sysreqs on the site. Where abouts?
For most programs listed there the only requirements are an HTML or RTF
topic generator (editor/word processor) and the appropriate help
compiler installed.
Which is easier on the average Windows user? A file that requires the
sometimes bloated WinHelp file system or a file that needs only the
underlying executable processes to run?
Click to expand...

I'd largely agree with that, even though the thread *is* about help
files :). But I'd argue with the bloat issue. Any Windows system will
already have the winhelp engine installed (most will have IE and
therefore the ability to run .chm as well), so .hlp files particularly
will be very lightweight, moreso if compiled at high compression, than
standalone ebook equivalents.
That may be. The fact remains that this site in question has been
associated with programmers far longer than I can think about it. I
will give kudos to some tools if they still exist could be a good
ebook creator.
Click to expand...

Well, when I think back over a decade or so, Josef started his site when
he was an active member of the Winhelp-L list server discussion group.
I'd say about 90% of posts there were concerned with using Winhelp as a
standalone presentation medium; the remainder were program-associated.
Josef was a part of a small group who realised that winhelp was very
amenable to be "hacked" (in the old sense of the word) and much of our
discussion centred around how to get winhelp to do things beyond what it
was never designed to do (those were the days...). So the emphasis has
always been IMO on the application itself, rather than its end use, and
that's my "view" of his site.
 
Probably true. But these eBook programs are relatively new, most having
emerged after HTML. Back in the "old days", winhelp3 was the only
available (and free and reliable) hypertext presentation medium that
could incorporate graphics. Other than that, Winhelp is particularly
versatile/ configurable to the author's need (custom menus, buttons,
appearance etc., even controlling the help file windows at the API
level) and I still use it often where "fixed format" eBook programs are
too limiting. Still, there *is* a fair old learning curve associated
with that aspect of it... some would even argue that "programming
winhelp" was a type of programming in its own right.


I don't notice any such profusion of sysreqs on the site. Where abouts?
For most programs listed there the only requirements are an HTML or RTF
topic generator (editor/word processor) and the appropriate help
compiler installed.
Click to expand...

Take a couple links if you can find one back to its home net site. Too
many links did not work for me.
I'd largely agree with that, even though the thread *is* about help
files :). But I'd argue with the bloat issue. Any Windows system will
already have the winhelp engine installed (most will have IE and
therefore the ability to run .chm as well), so .hlp files particularly
will be very lightweight, moreso if compiled at high compression, than
standalone ebook equivalents.
Click to expand...

IMO, the thread should have been about "How can I create stand alone files
for whatever I want?" or something close.
Well, when I think back over a decade or so, Josef started his site when
he was an active member of the Winhelp-L list server discussion group.
I'd say about 90% of posts there were concerned with using Winhelp as a
standalone presentation medium; the remainder were program-associated.
Click to expand...

A decade back I can not debate. I have none about some of the tools on it
that long or longer. The site proper was not known to me much before 1996.
Compiled html help aka chm files is now the way to go if one has Win95 or
newer.
Josef was a part of a small group who realised that winhelp was very
amenable to be "hacked" (in the old sense of the word) and much of our
discussion centred around how to get winhelp to do things beyond what it
was never designed to do (those were the days...). So the emphasis has
always been IMO on the application itself, rather than its end use, and
that's my "view" of his site.
Click to expand...

All right, I can live with those ideals. My view comes from being a hobby
level programmer. I would never use WinHelp for self displaying documents
back when Win3 was around. I had found too many early ebook creators for
free or even possibly open source ebook creators. I am fairly certain I
still have a few DOS era ebook creaors.


*****************************************************************************
Lefse is really good grub..."Jeg Elsker Lefse! I Love Lefse!" sums it up well
http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dome/3918/index.html
 
Glev said:
IMO, the thread should have been about "How can I create stand alone
files for whatever I want?" or something close.
Click to expand...

Huh!? You can't jump on saying that the thread originator should have
been thinking about something else when he posted the thread;
particularly when the original post was totally unambiguous. He referred
to the site in the subject header and included only a link and a single
quote from the site in the message body:

"Found this looking for something in another thread

http://www.helpmaster.com/

QUOTE) Here you will find the world's largest selection of WinHelp,
HTMLHelp and HTML related files and hints. (UNQUOTE"

If you want to start a thread called "How can I create stand alone files
for whatever I want?" then go ahead and do so, but why on Earth should
the thread originator have named this one any differently? It's exactly
what his post was about. ????
 
Huh!? You can't jump on saying that the thread originator should have
been thinking about something else when he posted the thread;
particularly when the original post was totally unambiguous. He referred
to the site in the subject header and included only a link and a single
quote from the site in the message body:
Click to expand...

I think a better subject line would have been what I suggested. The
original author named it what he or she thought it should be. What is so
hard about that?

[snip]
If you want to start a thread called "How can I create stand alone files
for whatever I want?" then go ahead and do so, but why on Earth should
the thread originator have named this one any differently? It's exactly
what his post was about. ????
Click to expand...

He or she should not have. His or her post was about finding means to
create self displaying files or more properly, that is my take on it.

*****************************************************************************
Lefse is really good grub..."Jeg Elsker Lefse! I Love Lefse!" sums it up well
http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dome/3918/index.html
 
Glev Zarriontal wrote:
[snip]
I think a better subject line would have been what I suggested. The
original author named it what he or she thought it should be. What
is so hard about that?
Click to expand...

What's so hard is that the Subject used by the OP reflected *exactly*
the contents of their post, as I've shown verbatim below, just to make
it clear to you. I imagine that what the OP wrote was exactly what they
intended to write. As you ask, "What's so hard about that?".
[snip]
Click to expand...
Reinserted to emphasise the clear and unambiguous context used by the
OP:

"http://www.helpmaster.com/

QUOTE) Here you will find the world's largest selection of WinHelp,
HTMLHelp and HTML related files and hints. (UNQUOTE"
He or she should not have.
Click to expand...

According to which/ whose rule?
His or her post was about finding means to
create self displaying files or more properly, that is my take on it.
Click to expand...

Your take on it is clearly a baseless extrapolation unless you are some
kind of mind reader. There is nothing in the post content to remotely
suggest that they wanted to discuss this topic at all. Alternatively,
you think people should only post what *you* would like to see appear,
in which case an ego check is in order.
 
PS: Unless you are prepared to take this to private email, I think we are
done. No one else is involved in this thread. By general Usenet rules, we
really should take this discussion to email or drop it.
Click to expand...

Glev, you had the misfortune to run into one of the obsessed idiots
that infest this group. For God's sake avoid email with the cretin.
Just apply kill-filters.
 
Glev said:
We see things differently. Lets leave it at that.

[snip]
Click to expand...

Agreed. I can't see any basis for your argument, and clearly you can't
see what I'm trying to say.
 
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