## 9.1 Understanding how Mif2Go produces HTML Help

Microsoft HTML Help is specialized for use with Microsoft HTML Help Workshop, which is used to compile the HTML files Mif2Go generates.

Note: HTML Help does not always perform as documented; there are many defects, some pieces are missing, and the software is no longer maintained. These are issues that Mif2Go cannot address.

To produce HTML Help, Mif2Go does the following:

• creates an HTML Help project file

• generates HTML topic files from your FrameMaker document

• optionally runs HTML Help Workshop to compile the HTML Help project.

Initial project file

When you create a Mif2Go HTML Help project, Mif2Go automatically generates a starting Microsoft HTML Help project file. This file is named for your FrameMaker document, with extension .hhp, and placed in the project directory. For example, if you are converting MyDoc.book, Mif2Go creates an HTML Help project file named MyDoc.hhp.

Project file can be regenerated

The HTML Help project file contains the basic information needed to compile your HTML Help project. Once created, Mif2Go does not touch the HTML Help project file again, though you can tell Mif2Go to regenerate it each time you run a conversion; see §9.2.9 Regenerating the HTML Help project file.

Project file can be edited

You can edit the HTML Help project file yourself, either in a plain-text editor such as Notepad, or in HTML Help Workshop. Editing in HTML Help Workshop is risky, because the editing facility has known defects.

Compiled CHM file is the final output

The HTML Help project file and the generated HTML files become input for HTML Help Workshop, which compiles all the HTML topic files into a single “Compiled HTML File” named for your FrameMaker document, with extension .chm. The CHM file is the file you distribute, for use with the Microsoft HTML Help viewer. You can direct Mif2Go to run the compilation, or you can use HTML Workshop yourself to compile.

View compiled file with the viewer

The only way to access all features of HTML Help is to use the HTML Help viewer; you cannot view a CHM file with a Web browser. Neither Internet Explorer nor Firefox is able to display the tri-pane and search windows, although Internet Explorer (but not Firefox) can be persuaded to look inside a .chm on your local system. This is true regardless of the tool used to generate HTML Help.

View uncompiled files with a browser

If you are interested only in viewing HTML topic files, without the Contents, Index, Search, or the toolbar buttons, you can use a browser. If that is your intention, when you use Mif2Go to generate HTML Help, choose configuration options that do not produce <object> tags (which means no pop-ups or secondary windows); those tags appear in Firefox as extra spaces, and do not work as intended. You are better off converting to XHTML (or, if necessary, standard HTML); including in the conversion your FrameMaker TOC and IX to provide Contents and Index; and adding navigation (see §20 Providing navigation in HTML) to the top and bottom of each output page. Also see §9.5.2 Specifying href link syntax for HTML Help.

| 9 Generating Microsoft HTML Help |  | 9.2 Setting up an HTML Help project |