The Freelance Story Teller
MSWord WHAT Series of Templates
If you author WinHelp files for the Windows 95 and
above operating systems, you may have a problem. The
Windows 3.1 HCP compiler can not decipher Microsoft® Word 97 rtf script.
For that matter, only version 2.2 and above of the Windows 95 HCW/RFTHC is able
to compile MSWord 97(and above) rft script. (There is a third party fix in the
form of a DOS utility from the folks at EasyHelp;
and most major authoring tools have come up with a fix.) Too, at least one of the What6 macros will not function under MSWord
95. So, it would seem that the What series of
templates have run their course. Then again, maybe not…?
It depends on what type of software components you have laying about. Some of you might
like to try this solution:
1.Do minimalist installation of Microsoft Word 6.0, obviously in a separate directory /
folder. This may play havoc with you register, but the previous settings can be easily
recovered by running Office / MSWord setup, then selecting the recovery option. If you are
running Word 7.0 or higher now, there should be no compatibility issues as MSWord 6.0 installs its
common utilities (proofing, word art, etc.) in the Windows MSAPPS sub-directory, and
MSWord 7.0 and high installs them in the Program Files directory.
2. Move the Normal template (normal.dot) elsewhere for safe keeping, and rename
What6.dot to normal.dot - placing it in the template sub-directory / folder.
3. Uncheck the MSWord 6.0’s options: Smart Cut and Paste and Replace Straight Quotes.
To remove possible compatibility issues with some graphics programs, remove the Grphflt
sub-directory / folder from the MSAPPS sub-directory. Doing this will limit MSWord 6.0
insertable graphics handling capability to *.bmp and *.wmf bitmaps, but those are the only
bitmaps WinHelp supports. Referenced *.shg bitmaps will not effected.
4. Open the new normal dot, display the help tool bars, then save the template.
The result is a pretty powerful stand alone Help Authoring tool. Just how powerful depends
on how many Word macros you add to the template. Mine is heavily modified. I’d share
it, but … It contains hard coded macros to files on my system. Too, it contains the
macros from the MSWord 95 help template - another unsupported tool developed separately
from the Microsoft help folks. I am not sure how Microsoft would feel about offering
modified versions of their tools to the public. Still, adding macros
is pretty easy.
To complete the package you’ll need a tool for the project file (hpj). WHPFE /
WHPFE32 - to toot my own horn, will get the job done for Windows 3.x formatted help files.
Microsofts own HCW will do the job for Windows 95 and above WinHelp files.
Okay, this is all very well - and fun to see what can be put together. But many of you who
will not want to mess around with stunts like this. Might be time to start looking for an
authoring tool - shareware would probably meet most of your needs.
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