makes it easy to quickly write your own help files, without the cost of an expensive word processor (such as Microsoft Word for Windows) and without the frustration of an extensive learning curve just to operate it.
.link %MH " MiniHelp"
performs admirably, great for writing small or large Help files (this indicated a non-visible hotspot in the first occurrence of the word
.bold MiniHelp
in this paragraph).
The command
.pop POPUP "pop"
allows you to create popuplinks.
.fontsize 15
How do you make a bitmaplink?
.fontsize 12
Click on the disk
.bmlink DISK "disk.bmp"
and jump to another topic!
.hpjbitmap disk.bmp
.fontsize 10
MiniHelp also does support the use of
.link *BROWSE "Browse indexing"
directly with the use of the command,
.bold .browse.
The following hot spot demonstrates the execution of a macro from the hot spot. You declare these in MiniHelp Plus v3.1 with the ".macrolink" command.
.bold CAUTION:
Clicking on this hot spot will exit you from this Help file!
\sb300
.macrolink Exit() "Goodbye"
\sb300
The following bitmaps were inserted using the MiniHelp Plus v3.1 ".bitmap" command. Refer to the source file to see how to do it!
.hpjbitmap btn_up.bmp
.bitmap btn_up.bmp
This is a bitmap that does nothing but look good!
\sb300
\qr
This is a bitmap that does nothing but look good!
.bitmap btn_up.bmp
\sb300
\qc
.bitmap btn_up.bmp
This is a bitmap that does nothing but look good!
\par
\pard
The following demonstrates how to place a bitmap at the left margin and wrap the subsequent text around the right edge, using the MiniHelp Plus v3.1 command ".lbitmap."
.hpjbitmap foot.bmp
.lbitmap foot.bmp
Now, this text should wrap around the right edge of the bitmapped image at the left margin, giving your document that professional, polished look!
And now we'll do the same thing, but place the bitmap at the right margin and wrap the subsequent text around the left edge, using the MiniHelp Plus v3.1 command ".rbitmap."
.rbitmap foot.bmp
Now, this text should wrap around the left edge of the bitmapped image at the right margin, allowing you flexibility in bitmapped image placement using the MiniHelp Plus v3.1 command ".rbitmap."
Before, MiniHelp Plus users were unable to include "curly braces" in their text. Whenever they attempted to do so, it corrupted their RTF output file. Now, I have discovered a workaround to this. If you find it necessary to include curly braces in your Help file, they
.ulboldital must
be entered as follows (click on the curly braces to see the solution!):
.pop CURLY "\'7B \'7D \'7B \'7D"
\par\pard
;.hpjopt bmroot=c:\helpbmp
Also new in MiniHelp Plus v3.1 is the
.bold IMPROVED
".pop" and ".macrolink" commands, which detects whether you have entered the name of a bitmapped image to display on the screen as the hot spot, or whether you simply entered text to display as the hot spot.
.pop POPUP2 ".pop"
.pop BMPOPUP "key1.bmp"
Plus, there are many, many more features of MiniHelp Plus v3.1. To find out more, check out the extensive online Help file and the MiniHelp Plus v3.1 User's Manual!
.topic MH
.title MiniHelp
.keyword MiniHelp
.keyword Help Authoring aid
.browse 0002
.tmacro About()
.fontsize 14
This file was prepared with MiniHelp Plus v3.1, the easy and inexpensive approach to Help Authoring.
.topic POPUP
.title Popuplinks
.keyword popuplinks
.keyword .pop
.browse 0003
.fontsize 10
That's right, provisions were made for popuplinks, something the original MiniHelp did not have. To do one, simply issue the command
.bold .pop,
followed by the name of the topic to jump to, followed by the text to display on the screen set off in quotes.
.topic DISK
.title Bitmap Links
.keyword Bitmap Links
.browse 0004
.fontsize 10
With the
.bold .bmlink
command, creating Hot Spots with bitmaps is very easy! Issue the command
.bold .bmlink
.italic TOPIC_NAME "bitmapfile.bmp"
and your chosen image will appear. Then, whenever anyone clicks the mouse on it, they will be taken to another, pre-defined topic!
.topic BROWSE
.title Browse Sequencing
.keyword Browse
.keyword Browse Sequencing
.browse 0005
.fontsize 10
You can use Browse Sequencing (which allows you to use the Browse Buttons) by simply using the command
.bold .browse,
followed by the appropriate parameters! See the MiniHelp Plus v3.1 online Help File for documentation.
.topic POPUP2
.title The Improved .pop Command: Text
.keyword .pop;popuplinks;text
.browse 0006
.fontsize 10
This demonstrates the normal way of creating and displaying a popup link, using text as the hot spot on the screen. Click on the image below to see the enhancement!
.topic BMPOPUP
.title The Improved .pop Command: Bitmaps
.keyword .pop;popuplinks;bitmaps;.macrolink
.browse 0007
.fontsize 10
This demonstrates the enhancement to the ".pop" command: You may now define bitmap images as a hotspot for popup links! MiniHelp Plus v3.1 checks the text you input to see if it is a bitmapped image file, ending in
.bold .bmp.
The format is as follows:
\qc
.bold .pop BMPOP "key1.bmp"
.hpjbitmap key1.bmp
\par\pard
MiniHelp Plus checks the last four (4) characters of the "text string" to see if it ends in
.bold .bmp.
If it does, it branches off and reformats its RTF output. If not, then it procedes on as normal, and formats text to display on the screen. If your image is not in the standard Windows bitmap format (.bmp), you will need to convert it into one of these three acceptable formats using a format conversion utility, such as Paint Shop Pro (shareware program available for download everywhere or JASC, Inc., 17743 Evener Way, Eden Prairie, MN 55346 USA; $49.00 Registration plus $4.00 S&H).
The same enhancement has been added to the
.bold .macrolink
command, allowing you to execute Help Macros from a bitmapped image defined as the hot spot.
