scalable white space?
Ezra Steinberg
The default main help window in 32-bit help has the Option Menu, which
allows the user to change the size of the font used to display help
text.
It seems, however, that white space (in my case, the tab character) is
not properly handled when the font size is changed.
I would expect that the amount of white space would be adjusted to
correspond to the change in font size. Instead, the distance stays the
same (for the resolution of the video display, I suspect) regardless of
the font size selected. The net effect is that, when you increase the
font size, the white space between words separated by tabs gets smaller.
We've run into this because we have aligned text in our Word source
files with tabs using an 8-point font (the "default" font size in
Windows NT and 95 help). When we tested how the help topics look with
the font size increased (by selecting Options->Font->Large in WinHelp),
we discovered that the text elements were thrown out of vertical
alignment.
Has anyone encountered this and come up with a way to deal with this?
One thought I had is using tables to align elements vertically. What are
the caveats you know about?
The one case where tables won't work is code samples. In the past we
have carefully indented the various program elements to make the sample
look like how it will be displayed in our development tool. Any thoughts
on how to handle this case?
One final wrinkle is that we plan to import the Word sources into
FrameMaker (our book authoring tool here) so we can use the same text
for the printed books (we've synchronized the FrameMaker catalogs and
the styles in the RoboHelp templates to anticipate this step). Any
solution we come up with should tolerate the migration to FrameMaker
well.
Thanks in advance!
Ezra
HilaireG
Hi Ezra,
You wrote:
> The default main help window in 32-bit help has the Option Menu, which
> allows the user to change the size of the font used to display help
> text.
The approach I use is to ensure that the styles I am using in my Word Help
project files include the appropriate indents and tabs that I will use.
You might have to increase the tab and indent spacing to accommodate the
change of behavior when a user select the enlarge font feature.
> One thought I had is using tables to align elements vertically. What are
> the caveats you know about?
Yes, this would resolve most of your issues. However, make sure to view
the results in all font modes to ensure that your text doesn't get cut off.
> The one case where tables won't work is code samples. In the past we
> have carefully indented the various program elements to make the sample
> look like how it will be displayed in our development tool. Any thoughts
> on how to handle this case?
Generally, I apply a character style defined as "courier new" and apply it
to code samples. If I need to indent (tab), I then use the "space bar".
If an entire line (paragraph) is reserve for code samples, then create an
additional paragraph style defined as "courier new"
> One final wrinkle is that we plan to import the Word sources into
> FrameMaker (our book authoring tool here) so we can use the same text
> for the printed books (we've synchronized the FrameMaker catalogs and
> the styles in the RoboHelp templates to anticipate this step). Any
> solution we come up with should tolerate the migration to FrameMaker
> well.
This should not impact your conversion to FrameMaker.
I don't normally import my Word files with their styles in FrameMaker. I
usually import the information in "text only" format and "massage" the
FrameMaker manual as needed.
Hope this helps,
HilaireG
Barb Hyde
Ezra Steinberg wrote:
>
> The default main help window in 32-bit help has the Option Menu, which
> allows the user to change the size of the font used to display help
> text.
>
> not properly handled when the font size is changed.
>
> I would expect that the amount of white space would be adjusted to
> correspond to the change in font size. Instead, the distance stays the
> same (for the resolution of the video display, I suspect) regardless of
> the font size selected. The net effect is that, when you increase the
> font size, the white space between words separated by tabs gets smaller.
>
> We've run into this because we have aligned text in our Word source
> files with tabs using an 8-point font (the "default" font size in
> Windows NT and 95 help). When we tested how the help topics look with
> the font size increased (by selecting Options->Font->Large in WinHelp),
> we discovered that the text elements were thrown out of vertical
> alignment.
>
> Has anyone encountered this and come up with a way to deal with this?
>
> the caveats you know about?
> >
> Ezra
Ezra, you may also be running afoul of another conflict between what
Word does and what the compiler does. To keep a tabbed series of lines
(bullets, or numbered lists) consistently aligned vertically requres two
style tags. The first tag needs to have a series of tabs specifically
set into it. You cannot use the Word default of every x inches. The
secnd style tag is the same as the first with one extra tab thrown in. I
put the extra tab at the end of the line. I also call the tags Something
and Something_Even.
When building a tabbed list, alternate between the two tags. The reason
you need to do this is that the compiler does not carry the tab
formatting from one line in a style to the next line in the same style
like Word does. The compiler requires that the tab settings for each
paragraph be explicitly stated in the style tag and that different tags
be used for consecutive paragraphs. If you use RoboHelp, this is
addressed in other words in the guide under Fixing indents and tabs.
As for the code samples, I just gave up and made bitmaps of them. Just
open Paintbrush, pick a font and type the stuff in. You can place it
whereever and it will stay there. you can also make SHGs out of them, if
you need to. Be sure to place the bitmaps in the help DOC file by
reference {bml}.
Wind at your back!