Help authoring tool supports creation of Windows 95/NT & Windows 3.1 Help files, as well as printed documentation!

HelpBreeze, an add-in to Microsoft Word 6.0 or 7.0, offers full support for creating both 32-bit Windows 95/NT Help files and 16-bit Windows 3.1 Help files in an integrated, WYSIWYG authoring environment.

WYSIWYG Authoring Environment

HelpBreeze displays Help elements such as graphics and embedded buttons visually, rather than as Help compiler placeholder codes. This allows Help authors to work in a WYSIWYG environment, while taking full advantage of all the leading-edge word processing features in Microsoft Word.

A full range of point and click tools are provided for creating all the new elements available in Windows 95/NT Help files. In addition, authors can immediately test features such as hypertext links, "Related Topics" keyword jumps, the Windows 95 Contents tab and keyword/index searches without the need to recompile the Help file.

Windows 95/Windows 3.1x Cross-Platform Authoring

HelpBreeze includes the Windows 95 Emulation DLL, a royalty-free WinHelp add-in, which allows Windows 3.1 Help files to employ many of the new Windows 95/NT features. Using this add-in, Windows 3.1 Help files can take advantage of an expanding Contents outline, A- and KLink "Related Topics" links, embedded (authorable) buttons, shortcut macros, multimedia and a right mouse button pop-up "context" menu. Also included, is a powerful full-text search utility which allows end users to search for any word or phrase in the Help file.

With the Windows 95 Emulation DLL, authors can build both 32- and 16-bit Help files from the same source documents while using the new Windows 95 features on both platforms. In addition to its utility as a cross-platform tool, the Windows 95 Emulation DLL can also be used simply to add additional capabilities to any Windows 3.1 Help file.

Single Source Help File/Printed Document Authoring

HelpBreeze is the Document Wizard, an automated tool which can create a professionally-formatted manual or report from the information in a Help project. The Wizard offers true single source capability, and will create a complete printed document including a title page, table of contents and index. The author can specify that material ranging from a single word to an entire chapter appear only in the Help file or only in the printed document. For example, screen shot illustrations could be included in the manual, but not in the Help file.

Unlike competing single source tools, which require a full Print to Help conversion any time the author updates the source files, the Document Wizard generates the printed document from the Help source files based on an outline designed by the author. This allows the author to create, test and compile the Help file in an interactive, WYSIWYG environment and provides immediate access to an up-to-date Help file without a lengthy conversion. Maintaining the primary source in Help, rather than printed document, format is an advantage because, in most cases, the online version will be updated and redistributed more often than the printed version.

Internet Access

HelpBreeze includes Web Dialer -- a royalty-free utility which can be used to add direct Internet WWW access to any 16- or 32-bit Help file or application. Authors can create hotspots which when clicked will start the user's web browser and connect it to the proper URL (or switch the browser dynamically if it is already running). Web Dialer supports all the leading browsers, including Netscape, Internet Explorer, and various versions of Mosaic, and will work under Windows 3.1, 95 or NT.

HelpBreeze makes the creation of Internet links easy by integrating directly with the author's web browser. To create a remote link, the author simply connects his or her browser to the proper web site and then clicks a button to embed a link to the URL in the Help file.

Features

• Full support for all the new features in Windows 95 Help and continued support for Windows 3.1 Help in a single integrated package that will work with either Word 95/7 (32-bit) or Word 6.0 (16-bit)
• Easy-to use, WYSIWYG environment. HelpBreeze displays graphics, authorable buttons and other elements as they will appear in the Help file not as "{bmc myfile.bmp}" style compiler codes
• A What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get environment makes developing Help files easier and faster because you don't need to recompile every time you want to see what your topics will look like -- And you can use Word's powerful spell checker and other proofing tools without constantly running into the cryptic compiler codes
• You can test Windows 95 features such as A- and KLink macros and the Contents tab, as well as jumps and pop-ups and keyword/index searches as you create the Help file, without compiling
• The Windows 95 Emulation add-in DLL allows Windows 3.1 Help files to use Windows 95 features such as full-text search, Contents outline, multimedia, authorable buttons, and "Related Topics" links
• You can generate and maintain printed manuals and reports from the same source as the Online Help, using HelpBreeze's Document Wizard
• Includes What's This Assistant a separate utility for creating Windows 95 "What's This" Help
• To create effective "What's This?" topics, you need to be actually viewing your application while you write the pop-up text -- What's This Assistant makes this easy by providing a "floating index card" interface -- Also included is direct integration with Visual Basic 4.0, so you can connect topics to controls on a VB4 form with a few clicks of the mouse
• Includes a distributable add-in utility that lets developers add Internet WWW access to any Help file or application
• Unique modular project tools make it easy to develop Help systems which consist of more than one .HLP file. These tools can also be used to enable multi-author teams to create large Help systems using modular design techniques
• Automatically converts any existing Word document into a Windows Help file complete with topics, hypertext links, browse sequences and keywords
• Includes intuitive visual dialogs for creating/inserting topics, hypertext jumps, pop-up definitions, graphics and other Help file elements -- No need to worry about the specifics of the formatting required by the Help compiler
• The HelpBreeze Topic Wizard automatically creates any number of fully formatted help topics based on a list of topic titles
• Provides point and click definition for all help compiler options and settings
• Help files can be compiled in the background and tested without leaving Word for Windows
• Includes complete support for the advanced features of the Windows Help system, including Help macros, custom buttons and secondary windows, as well as DLL-based routines and embedded windows
• Visual tools for defining macros, custom buttons and secondary windows insulate the author from programming details and allow non-technical users to develop sophisticated Help systems
• Hypertext links can be tested and used for navigation without compiling the Help file -- A double click of the mouse executes the jump within Word for Windows
• The standard Word for Windows bullet tool can be used to apply bitmap bullet points in a variety of styles
• Drag-and-drop browse sequence creation and reordering
• Automatically generates printable reports listing all topics and hypertext links
• Directly imports existing .RTF and Help project (.HPJ) files created with other Help authoring tools
• Includes complete support for generating identifiers for context-sensitive Help, or utilizing the identifiers in an existing include (.H) file
• Add bitmap slide shows and animations to any Help file using our royalty-free slide show DLL
• Includes the Windows 95 and Windows 3.1 Help compilers and Hotspot Editor (SHED.EXE)

System Requirements

• A personal computer running Microsoft Windows 95, NT (3.51 or later) or Windows 3.1x. (Windows 95 or NT is required to create 32-bit Help files)
• Microsoft Word 7.0 for Windows 95 or Word 6.0 for Windows 3.1 (both 32- and 16-bit versions of the HelpBreeze software are included)
• The Windows 95 and 3.1 Help compilers and tools are included with HelpBreeze