MS HTML Help Workshop

[Ted Byers]

Is anyone out there using this product? It is available for download from
the MSDN website.

I have encountered a problem in an ohterwise nice product. What is
happening is that I used MS Word 2000 to create a document, and then had
Word save it as html. So far, all is fine. If I display the resulting html
file in Internet Explorer, it displays perfectly. However, if I use the
HTML Help Workshop to compile it, all of the equations created with the
equation editor in Word are replaced by a tiny, inert icon. Such a compiled
file is effectively useless to me.

Does anyone know how to get HTML Help Workshop to compile such files in such
a way that the equations will display properly?

If anyone is interested, I can pack up the html files and related files into
a zip archive and email them to whoever asks.

Ironically, if I use MS Help Workshop, an save the same file as rtf, for
import into Help Workshop, the resulting hlp file displays the equations
properly but loses the hyperlinks and character formatting (such as text
colour and subscripting).

While I have learned how to address the problems with MS Help Workshop, I
rather prefer what the MS HTML Help Workshop produces generally, but I have
to get it to properly display my equations.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Ted

[Pete Lees]

Ted,

> I have encountered a problem in an ohterwise nice product. What is
> happening is that I used MS Word 2000 to create a document, and then had
> Word save it as html. So far, all is fine. If I display the resulting html
> file in Internet Explorer, it displays perfectly. However, if I use the
> HTML Help Workshop to compile it, all of the equations created with the
> equation editor in Word are replaced by a tiny, inert icon. Such a compiled
> file is effectively useless to me.
>
> Does anyone know how to get HTML Help Workshop to compile such files in such
> a way that the equations will display properly?

There's a well-known problem with graphics/equations/etc failing to
display when you compile Word-generated HTML files into a .chm. This
is because of all the Office-specific markup that Word adds to the
HTML, and the solution is usually to run the HTML files through the
Microsoft Office 2000 HTML Filter, available from:

http://office.microsoft.com/Downloads/2000/Msohtmf2.aspx

Alternatively, you could try deselecting the Word option "Rely on VML
for displaying graphics in browsers", as the HTML Help compiler can't
read VML.

Tools > Options > General > Web Options > Pictures > Rely on VML...

For some additional notes on using Word to author source files for
.chms, see:

http://helpware.net/FAR/far_faq.htm#wordhtml

Pete