Re: Attention: HLP file format is phased out

"Kostya" <thanks@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:4534b158@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
In WinHelp, you can get word suggestions while typing in the full text
search window, which means that when you aren't sure of the spelling, you
can quickly see it. Matching page results also update interactively,
which is very helpful when you need more than one word to help narrow
down the search.


This pathological desire to take something that works well and
replace with some ugly crap drives me nuts. Personally I think
that they just want to bump use of IE.

I remember talking with Ralph Walden (WinHelp development lead at Microsoft
at time) when the first version of HTML Help was shown (I am thinking
1997/1998 - but do not quote me on the date). The reasons they went to this
format (if memory serves) was because it allowed them to consolidate Web and
Help documentation using the same format (HTML instead of RTF) and there
were enough size limits in the original HLP format that they started to bump
against them in tools like the MSDN (which was based on MediaView - an
extension of the WinHelp format that could have embedded videos etc...)

So basically - since they knew they are already running out of space in the
..HLP format - they decided to take the opportunity and base the input source
on HTML which they estimated (correctly, as we have been proved) would
overtake RTF in popularity.

This basically was the reason for the change - I am guessing that since they
spent a lot of development time on the HTML based formats from there on -
WinHelp got very little (or no) development and at this point it is just too
out of date.


.

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