First, Mr. Chip, I found a blog which mentioned that the MS folks would indeed like to migrate away from the chm format. Guess you were right. The big switch in Windows 8 and in visual studio 12 is to get away from html based processors internally and to use com instead of html processing which means the connection to f1 help in Windows Apps will be faster, ugh! more com. I should have known that you would be on top of anything perhaps related to OFFICE and help is a part of that. Visual Studio is using the Help Viewer 2.0 but I am not sure about the Windows 8 version. One blog said they will be the same viewer and another said the Windows 8 Team is going to use a modified version of 2.0 and I have seen it referenced someplace as 3.0 but all the names and numbers, it is MS after all so what it is,I guess, isnt always what it is. That said, there are hooks in visual studio to work with the help class and it may be, again I am not sure who creates their English versions of documentation, that I could display the Navigation and Topic parts of the window seperatly so I could trap kthe KeyUp event and display the Table Of Contents and Topic details seperatly enough to work will with a screen reader and still provide the sophisticated interface for visual users.
I think it has a API so it may, or not, be callable from a VBScript but might require a wrapper of some sort like the bloody UIA API. I have already spent way too much time on trying to make help accessible so I think I will just use the built-in POP UP in .net which blind folks can read with the mouse keys if they want. When I get my current project done, now behind by abut a week, I may dig into the possibility of using some of the managed classes related to the new 2.0 (or 3.0) HelpViewer depending on if I use the Windows native api 8 version or the Managed Code version if that all makes sense. I looked quickly at the website Steve mentioned, the product, and it wasnt in English and mentioned something about including an English pack in some folder if I wanted to download it. I will look at it again though since Steve sounds like a native English speaker from the audio files I listend to. Again, sorry this is long but I have learned that what should have been a really simple thing to do is now all wrapped up in complicated and not well documented procedures with some things working in one case and for one version while others do not or may or not or even that they dont have the stuff that the other one doesnt have or now I think I will go have some coffee, it is too early for gin. Rick USA----- Original Message ----- From: Chip Orange To: [email protected] Sent: Monday, October 22, 2012 7:55 PM Subject: RE: Help Files CHM Thanks for checking it over and letting me know Rick that CHM is still viable; don't know what I was thinking of. You do know Steve is with GW right? If they're using something as you say, then I'd follow up on his recommendation if you don't feel like scripting winCHM. Good luck, Chip From: RicksPlace [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Monday, October 22, 2012 4:15 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: Help Files CHM Hi Chip: I read through some pages and didnt find anything indicating MS was dropping support of chm files anytime soon. Perhaps Imissed something but it doesnt look like any changes are in the air from the few dozen headline articles I looked at. I have the MS WorkShop working except that the viewer doesnt work with f6 to switch back and forth between panes, perhaps some setting someplace but I couldn't figure it out. I just tried WinChm but that is really confusing and I was not able to get a chm file built on my first go around with that product. I asked Martin to give me a step by step to create a simple project and am waiting to see if he has time to do it. Steve mentioned another product but I have to find the e-mail and download and try that one out as well. Man, these products appear to be using the same API under the covers so far. While it would be a major project it may be possible to use the MS API and create a really screen reader friendly version of the MS application as it looks like some others have done. Perhaps I am wrong but the output logg was almost identical in termonology and content as the MS WorkShop log. There is a API available to use all the features of the MS Help system for programmers but, sigh, I am in the throws of another project and this, what should be simple, task has taken me almost a week already. I'm getting too old for this kind of hassle. Why cant things just work, hay, my stuff works and I dont even get paid. Anyway, I'll wait on Martin and see if I can find Steve's e-mail to check out the product he recommended. The whole reason for this is that the bloody PopUp Context help in .net works great but a screen reader user needs to read it with the mouse so I thought, hay, it should be really easy to create a chm file to use for a Table Of Contents and for dynamic Context Sensitive help. Not! The guys at GW are using something for their CHM creation, I wonder if it is accessible to blind folks? Well, sorry for the long speech but I am really, really tired of beating my head against this wall. Rick USA ----- Original Message ----- From: Chip Orange To: [email protected] Sent: Sunday, October 21, 2012 8:12 PM Subject: RE: Help Files CHM Hi Rick, I was under the impression that MS was no longer supporting the use of .chm? Here's a wiki link, but a quick look didn't show me a definite answer to my concern, so maybe it still is (or maybe they changed their mind again?) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Compiled_HTML_Help Maybe if you read it more thoroughly you can come to a conclusion. You can always opt to create a .html file (or a series of files) for your help system if you think it's hard to create .chm files or if you think they may not be supported. I believe there are many free html generators (even MS Word will do it for you). I've noticed a lot of the newer apps have been experimenting with this approach. Hth (and please let us know if you get an answer to whether .chm is going to be supported), Chip From: RicksPlace [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Sunday, October 21, 2012 3:46 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Help Files CHM Hi: Has anyone created a chm help file like the one used for WindowEyes Help? I puttered with html help WorkShop but didnt get very far this weekend. Is there something accessible with some decent documentation out there? Rick USA
