A Flexible, Network-Aware Online Help Technology for 32-Bit Windows Systems

FlexHelpTM

A flexible, network-aware online help technology for 32-bit Windows systems

Download a free evaluation copy from http://www.solutionsoft.com/flexhelp.htm

Solutionsoft

FlexHelp is a trademark of Solutionsoft.

A free evaluation copy of FlexHelp can be downloaded from: http://www.solutionsoft.com/flexhelp.htm

FlexHelp White Paper - Page 2 Introducing FlexHelp

FlexHelp is a flexible online help system that allows you to easily add context-sensitive help topics to specific dialog boxes and windows in any Windows application. With FlexHelp, you can add help topics using simple drag and drop techniques—without any need to access the program source code or recompile applications. In addition, FlexHelp systems are network-aware—so new help topics can be added or existing topics can be modified simply by updating the files in a central network location—and all users will see the updated information almost immediately. This makes FlexHelp a great tool for support/help desk professionals who need to get highly specific information to users while they are using supported 3rd party applications. With FlexHelp, problems can be solved before the user picks up the phone and calls the help desk. As its name implies, FlexHelp is highly flexible. You can spend a few minutes creating text pop-up topics and attaching them to the proper dialog boxes in an application. Or you can spend hours creating a complex context-sensitive help system using technologies like WinHelp, HTML Help or standard HTML. FlexHelp works with Windows 95, 98, NT, 2000 and XP and can be used to add help topics to both 16- and 32-bit applications.

FlexHelp compared with Traditional "Production" Help Technologies

Online Help for Microsoft Windows applications is usually implemented using one of the two technologies built into the operating system. Windows Help (WinHelp) has been used since Windows 3.1 and is supported on all 32-bit Windows platforms. HTML Help is a newer techonology, which is included in Windows 98 and 2000. FlexHelp is not intended to be a replacement for these technologies, and in fact can be used in conjunction with them. WinHelp and HTML Help are primarily designed to be a vehicle for creating "production" help systems that ship with Windows applications. Implementing context-sensitive help systems with these technologies requires collaboration between the help author and the programmer, and it is generally necessary to modify the program source code and/or recompile the application to implement the help system. In contrast, FlexHelp requires no access to the source code or need to recompile. Context-sensitive help can be added to virtually any 3rd party Windows application without any knowledge of the program internals. While FlexHelp topics appear to be "attached" to applications, in fact they run as a completely separate program. Therefore, no modifications are made to the host application and there is no danger of corrupting program files. The table on the next page shows a detailed comparison between FlexHelp and production help technologies such as WinHelp, HTML Help and JavaHelp.

FlexHelp White Paper - Page 3 Production Help Technologies FlexHelp Example Technologies WinHelp, HTML Help, FlexHelp JavaHelp Information Display Specific to technology Flexible: plain text, HTML, WinHelp, Word documents, multimedia, etc. Linking help topics to an Yes No application requires access to source code/recompiling Help topics can be added to No Yes 3rd party applications Topics can easily be No Yes added/removed/updated over corporate network Who should use it? Help authors, developers Help desk/support staff, training staff, MIS staff, help authors, project managers, developers Appropriate uses Generic, production help  Supplementary/custom help systems for Windows systems created by internal applications developed in-house. support/help desk staff  Help systems or computer- based training systems for 3rd party applications.  Project/task-specific information integrated into applications. · Prototype help systems that will later be converted to production technologies.

What can you do with FlexHelp?

FlexHelp allows you to link online help information to specific dialog boxes or windows in virtually any Windows application. You can link information to applications in two ways: buttons and panels. Buttons Buttons can be attached to any portion of the host dialog box or window—including areas that can't normally display buttons, such as the window title bar. You can make buttons blend in so that they look like a native part of the host application—or you can make them stand out by using distinctive colors for the text and background.

FlexHelp White Paper - Page 4 This illustration shows a FlexHelp button attached to the title bar of the Windows Calculator. Clicking the button displays a text pop-up—one of the many options for displaying information provided by FlexHelp.

When the user clicks the button, the online help information that you specify will be displayed. There are a number of ways to display this information. You can use a plain text pop-up window or an HTML page, or URL displayed in the FlexHelp HTML Viewer or in the user's browser. You can also link to a Windows Help (WinHelp) file or an HTML Help file. Or you can use any application accessible from the user's computer to display a document. For example, you could open a .doc file in MS Word, display an .avi file or run a specific portion of a computer-based training application. Panels Panels are used to integrate information directly into the application. A panel appears as an extension of a dialog box or window and displays information immediately—without the need for the user to take any action. Panels are a great way to be absolutely certain that the user sees vital information.

This illustration shows a FlexHelp panel attached to the right side of the Display Properties dialog within Windows Control Panel.

FlexHelp panels allow you to integrate information directly into applications. Panels can also optionally act as buttons, linking the user to more detailed information. This example shows a plain text panel. FlexHelp also offers HTML panels which can include text, graphics, links or any other content supported by Microsoft Internet Explorer.

FlexHelp offers two types of panels: text or HTML. Text panels display information in plain text format and can optionally act as clickable buttons that link the user to additional information. HTML panels directly display an HTML file or URL. In order to use HTML panels, the end user must have Microsoft Internet Explorer installed.

Who can use FlexHelp

FlexHelp can be used productively by a variety of audiences: Support/Help Desk Professionals An application's online help system is often the last line of defense before the user picks up the phone and calls the help desk. Unfortunately, the people running the help desk often have little or no control over the help systems for the 3rd party applications they have to support.

FlexHelp White Paper - Page 5 Since the online help is created by the application vendor and is usually a generic, "one size fits all" system, it often falls short of an organization's specific needs. Perhaps the help system does not adequately address specific uses of the application that are important within the organization. Or maybe a large percentage of support incidents are related to the organization's specific computing environment and cannot be addressed with a generic system. Or perhaps the online help is just poorly written, incomplete, or put together as an afterthought by the software vendor. FlexHelp gives the help desk staff the ability to fill in the blanks in the help system that comes with supported applications. Best of all, FlexHelp systems can be updated and expanded dynamically and maintained from a central network location. For example, if issues arise with a software upgrade, the help desk staff can create help topics to address these issues, update the system and have the information propagate throughout the organization almost immediately—resulting in a dramatic reduction in user calls. Most of the software tools available to help desk professionals are reactive in nature. For example, you can invest in improved help desk management software or in a web-based knowledge system, but these tools simply increase the efficiency with which the support organization can respond to user incidents. FlexHelp in contrast is a proactive tool because it allows the support organization to get information to the user while the application is in use—before a support incident is even generated. Most support professionals would probably agree that a significant percentage of incidents tend to be focused on the same few problem areas. With FlexHelp, these issues can be isolated and documented directly at the problem point within the application. This translates into fewer repetitive support calls and improved availability of help desk staff to solve other problems. Because help desk professionals may not have time to learn complex authoring software or design elaborate help systems, FlexHelp is designed to be fast and easy. Buttons and panels can be added to applications in seconds using drag and drop techniques. Information can be displayed a variety of ways, ranging from simple text or HTML files which may already exist on your intranet—to custom help systems created with Windows Help or HTML Help. Training Staff FlexHelp offers a unique opportunity to directly integrate computer-based training resources with host applications. FlexHelp buttons can open any multimedia file or document in any format for which the user has access to the appropriate viewer software. With FlexHelp, you can easily attach tutorials and interactive training materials to specific points within the host application. Project Managers Because traditional online help systems are fixed and must be useful to a wide range of users, they are limited to providing generic assistance for using the application itself. In contrast, FlexHelp can be used to attach virtually any information to specific points within an application, and that information can be updated at any time. This makes it possible to go beyond application help and make information about the current task or project available at convenient points within heavily used applications. For example, the members of a financial analysis group may spend the majority of their time working with a spreadsheet application. With FlexHelp, the project/group manager can easily provide the entire group with links to up-to-date project/task information from directly within the spreadsheet. Help Authors/Technical Writers Help authors who are creating the production help system for a Windows application being developed in- house will generally want to directly use one of the help systems built into Windows (WinHelp or HTML Help), rather than using FlexHelp. However, there are some specific instances where FlexHelp will be very useful to this audience: Prototype help systems Developing a context-sensitive help system using WinHelp or HTML Help requires a close working relationship between the software developers and the help author. In cases where both the application and

FlexHelp White Paper - Page 6 the help system are rapidly developing and changing, it can be difficult to keep the two efforts synchronized. With FlexHelp, the help author can take full control of implementing and testing a prototype context- sensitive help system. The system can be revised as needed and tested for both proper operation and usability without the need to involve the software developers. Once both the software and the help system are stable, the help system can be permanently linked to the application using the traditional method. Legacy Applications FlexHelp can be used to develop help systems for applications for which the source code and/or the original software developers are no longer available. This includes older 16-bit Windows applications and DOS programs which run in a batch window within Windows. Add-in/Helper Applications In cases where the software being documented operates as an add-in or helper utility to a 3rd party host application, FlexHelp makes it possible to add additional help topics to the host application. Alternative/Supplementary Help Systems for 3rd Party Software With FlexHelp, help authors can potentially create complete alternative help systems for 3rd party software applications. This may be useful if the help system provided by the vendor is poor, or if the help author wants to create a help system directed to a specific subset of users. An example might be a vertical market help system for a mass market productivity application (e.g. legal-specific help for MS Word).

Obtaining an Evaluation Copy of FlexHelp

Solutionsoft provides a free, fully functional evaluation copy of FlexHelp. This will allow you to create and test your own FlexHelp systems, as well as view some demonstration samples. To obtain a free evaluation copy, visit:

http://www.solutionsoft.com/flexhelp.htm.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does FlexHelp Work? FlexHelp requires two main components, an authoring tool (FlexHelp Author) which can be used to create FlexHelp systems, and a run-time component which is installed on end users' computers and allows FlexHelp buttons and panels to be displayed. The run-time component can be distributed royalty-free and is a very small program which uses minimal resources on the user's computer. The user can control the operation of the run-time software with the FlexHelp Settings utility. This utility lets the user turn off FlexHelp completely or disable individual help systems. Does FlexHelp Modify the user's Applications/Windows itself/the Registry/etc? No. FlexHelp runs completely separately from the "host" applications. While FlexHelp buttons and panels appear to be "attached" to the host application, in fact they are completely separate and can be easily disabled by the user with the FlexHelp Settings utility. Absolutely no modifications are made to program files, global system settings or the Windows registry.

FlexHelp White Paper - Page 7 Can I maintain the FlexHelp files on a network so that buttons and panels can be added/removed/updated without the need to change files on the end users' computers? Yes. FlexHelp is designed to do this. How long does it take to create a FlexHelp system? It is really up to you. If you display information in simple text format or in HTML, you can put together a system in minutes. If you want to use formats such as Windows Help or HTML Help which require special authoring tools, it may take longer. Because it is so easy to update FlexHelp systems, you always have the option of getting a simple solution out quickly and then later replacing it with more elaborate documentation as time permits.

FlexHelp is a trademark of Solutionsoft

FlexHelp White Paper - Page 8