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Word2Help User Manual - What's inside (for advanced users and developers) |
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HTML generation in Word2Help
First, I do not use built-in Word features for HTML.
HTML pages for all modes look as generic well-formatted HTML in comparing with "Word HTML". This speeds up loading process dramatically and gives you ability to use any HTML browser/viewer not just Microsoft Internet Explorer to browse your articles.
HTML generation is template-driven process. You can use same simplest templates language. I have done some code for sub-templates and HTML tag redefinition support (as example, using CSS tags).
Tables and inline graphics are supported.
URL links and bookmark/content interlinks are supported.
Word2Help plugins
Word2Help gives you a platform to integrate your text sources into publications. In common, any source types and any output formats can be supported. Because...
…Because I create Word2Help kernel as COM library. All readers and writers are plugins for kernel. All plugins support same set of interfaces. Developers can create plugins and support its own input and output formats. There are two kinds of supported plugins: readers and writers.
- Reader plugin runs at first phase of Word2Help compilation: reading source documents and full out articles database. If you can use Word2Help to process another types of source documents, you can create your own reader plugin for Word2Help. I created Microsoft Word reader plugin.
- Writer plugin will be activated when Word2Help had extracted articles from sources. At this phase Word2Help run each configured writer in the Word2Help project and each writer saves articles database in its own format: Dreamweaver, Compressed HTML and so on.
"Microsoft Word reader", "Macromedia Dreamweaver writer" are just Word2Help plugins. These plugins are included with Word2Help but you can create and use your own plugins.
HtmlHelp writer plugin
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HtmlHelp writer gives you ability to specify HtmlHelp compiler (HHC.EXE) location explicitly. To do it, add "HHCPath" parameter to "@.HtmlHelp" section in your project. If "HHCPath" did not specify, Word2Help tries to detect its location automatically. Word2Help scans "HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\AppPaths" to determine HHC.EXE location. Use HHCPath as shown below:
@.HtmlHelp:
HHCPath=C:\Program Files\HtmlHelp WorkShop\hhc.exe
[…another parameters…]
Using Word2Help as part of your projects
Word2Help core services are COM library. Start your work from importing type information from w2hlib.dll. I've tried to create intuitive and easy to understand interfaces. But, if you have troubles with Word2Help re-using and/or extending, just ask me: www.softilium.com/contacts.htm.
NOTE. Word2Help is written in Delphi. Examples and discussions consider that you know basics of Objects Pascal. However, you can use any COM enabled language to extend Word2Help.
Using a special class factory for plugins
I have created a special class factory for Word2Help plugins. It is intended to save additional plugins information in the special registry key. This will be used later to browse all Word2Help plugins. Word2Help class factory is inherited from TAutoObjectFactory and override one method: UpdateRegistry. See "SDK\Delphi\cls_w2hClassFactory.pas" source for details.
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