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Jeanie asked, Q: "[for] on-line and web-based documentation, I would value
the group opinion about the most useful product to use."
A: Here's an option for Single Source Documents (SSD) -
Look at http://www.vmtech.com whose product HDK (help
developers kitset) can produce Winhelp or HTML from absolutely
standard Word files. In doing so it exploits normal Word document
features such as heading structure, index mark-up, cross-references
and footnotes. these are converted to on-line table of contents,
on-line index, hyperlinks and pop-ups. The document can be printed in
the usual way, or accessed in other ways such as program-context help
or on the web as inter-related pages - you choose. If you alter the
source you only have to recompile to help and/or HTML.
I've used HDK for years. You can do many clever things with it if you
depart from SSD. For your purposes, however, it will import and
process any standard document. Of course, if your text is well
structured and makes disciplined use of styles and reference tools,
then it will convert well. If not - well, a compile is so quick you
will soon see where you have a little work to do, and will soon have
those problems solved.
HDK includes extensive on-line documentation about both the principles
and practice of using SSD.
The HDK user group forum is at Majordomo -at- hilink -dot- com -dot- au to whom I think
you send the message 'subscribe hdk-l' (that's a lower case L).
regards
P
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Peter Collins, VIVID Management Pty Ltd,
26 Bradleys Head Road, MOSMAN 2088, Australia
+61 2 9968 3308, fax +61 2 9968 3026, mobile +61 (0)18 419 571
Management Consultants and Technical Writers
email: peter -dot- collins -at- bigfoot -dot- com ICQ#: 10981283
web pages: http://www.angelfire.com/pe/pcollins/
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