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Kathy_T_Casey
Inspiring
May 8, 2006
Answered

Output for Linux

Hi all.

We have a new client who has a Linux environment and I was just wondering what sort of output is best for this. Currently, we use a .chm to provide context sensitive help for our application but I believe that won't work for Linux people. Does that sound right?

I realise that an alternative output will no longer be context sensitive but it would still be nice to give them access to the content.

Any suggestions would (as always) be greatly appreciated.

Regards
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    Kathy_T_CaseyCorrect answer
    Inspiring
    May 10, 2006
    Hi there gewb!

    Thanks - I'll get our architect to have a look and see what they need to plan for the new re-vamped version.

    Regards

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    6 replies

    GEWB
    Inspiring
    May 10, 2006
    Hello Kathy -

    I don't do Progress...however, I can't imagine this being too difficult. Try visiting Progress.com, and enter this in the Search:

    How to call context sensitive Help?

    Regards,
    gewb

    http://progress.atgnow.com/esprogress/preview.do
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    Kathy_T_CaseyAuthorCorrect answer
    Inspiring
    May 10, 2006
    Hi there gewb!

    Thanks - I'll get our architect to have a look and see what they need to plan for the new re-vamped version.

    Regards

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    GEWB
    Inspiring
    May 9, 2006
    Hello Kathy -

    Tell us about the app...Web, JAVA, what?

    Regards,
    gewb
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    Kathy_T_CaseyAuthor
    Inspiring
    May 9, 2006
    Hi there gewb!

    Currently, our application is written in Progress. In the next year, we are re-doing the whole application in .net. So I guess I'd like to know what can be done for our new client for the next year or so and what sort of output I should look at for the new re-vamped application.

    Any ideas?

    Regards

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    Anonymous
    May 9, 2006
    Hi Kathy,

    I asked a similar question about a year ago, so here's my take on the subject.

    A .chm file is a proprietary Microsoft format so only works under Windows. You can find programs that interpret .chm files on other operating systems, but then you have to distribute the interpreter program as well as the help, and I'm not sure how good the results are.

    WebHelp is the way to go for a Linux environment, although there are a few oddities in the way it displays. Peter Grainge's site has an excellent section about WebHelp in other browsers. Here's the link.

    The main difference between .chm and WebHelp output is that WebHelp is not compiled, so you have to supply the client with ALL the output files, not just a single file.

    Can't help with context sensitive help as I haven't used it, but I'm sure somebody else can chime in with the necessary information.

    Good luck!

    Anne
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    Kathy_T_CaseyAuthor
    Inspiring
    May 9, 2006
    Hi there AuthorAnne!

    I can generate WebHelp for our new client for them to use as an independant reference point.

    In about 12 months time, the whole application is being rewritten in .net so I guess we should look at changing over to WebHelp (or whatever is the best alternative to the .chm) for all the online help.

    I've worked with WebHelp projects where they are context sensitive but I believe it takes quite a bit of work for the developers to make it happen. Still, as our client base is getting broader, perhaps the rewrite time will be the perfect opportunity to change over.

    I might just pre-empt this foreboding task with a quick email to management and make myself 'unavailable' for the next couple of hours until they've got used to the idea.

    Regards

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