16.1.3 Evaluating Microsoft HTML
Help
HTML Help from Microsoft does a thorough job, even
though it is slow and has numerous defects.
Some disadvantages:
- Your users cannot access compiled
HTML Help on a network drive; the CHM file must be local.
- HTML Help does not perform exactly
as documented. Some features are missing, others have defects, and the
software is no longer being maintained.
- HTML Help requires Internet Explorer
4.x or a later version. HTML Help uses most of the guts of Internet
Explorer, which opens the user’s system to numerous security hazards
via ActiveX features.
- The compressed .chm files can be used only
on Windows systems, not on Macintosh or UNIX, because the Java applet
is poorly implemented. This is the main reason other Help-authoring-tool
vendors use their own proprietary Java applets to provide a tri-pane
window and search functionality, which you need for cross-platform applications.
- Pop-ups are just plain text: no
font variations appear at all, not even bold or italic.
- Opening Context Sensitive Help the
first time can be very slow.
On Windows 2000, Microsoft itself gets around the
last two problems by using WinHelp for Context Sensitive Help and pop-ups,
HTML Help for the rest.
Previous Topic: 16.1.2 Evaluating
Microsoft Windows Help (WinHelp)
Next Topic: 16.1.4 Evaluating
WebHelp
Parent Topic: 16.1 Weighing
Help-system alternatives
Sibling Topics:
16.1.1 Considering
Help-system features
16.1.2 Evaluating
Microsoft Windows Help (WinHelp)
16.1.4 Evaluating
WebHelp
16.1.5 Evaluating
OmniHelp
16.1.6 Evaluating
JavaHelp and Oracle Help for Java
16.1.7 Evaluating
Eclipse Help