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Microsoft Takes Its Help Technology in a New Direction
   Help 2.0 no longer slated for public release

By Chuck Martin

Contents

Click a link below to jump to a particular section; click any "CONTENTS" image following a section heading to jump back here.

Introduction     Link to the article Contents

On the heels of Microsoft's announcement on the subject, Microsoft HTML Help MVP Cheryl Lockett-Zubak detailed the company's new direction for its Help technology in her Microsoft Help Update session at the 2003 WinWriters Online Help Conference. The bottom line comprises 3 key facts:

  • HTML Help, in its final version, 1.4, will remain the primary public Help platform for the foreseeable future.
  • Help 2.0 is no longer planned for public release, but will remain the user assistance technology for Visual Studio and .NET.
  • A new technology, still in the planning stages and about which details are still sketchy, is targeted to coincide with the next major OS release.

Microsoft made the surprise announcement about Help 2.0 development in January and many conference attendees were anxious to be the first to get the latest scoop on Microsoft's new direction. Lockett-Zubak noted that Microsoft's direction is important because its "Help development trends are enormously influential on the Help authoring community."

That said, Lockett-Zubak also stressed that Microsoft does not design new technologies for the Help developer community at large. Rather, the company develops Help technologies for two target audiences:

  • Developers of Windows products
  • Developers of Microsoft products

Left unsaid, but easily inferred, is that Microsoft doesn't have as a primary goal the development of a larger, all-encompassing Help technology, one that could be used equally well with, say, cross-browser web applications or UNIX/Linux applications.

HTML Help 1.4     Link to the article Contents

The latest—and last—version of HTML Help is 1.4. This version ships with Windows XP SP1, Internet Explorer SP1, and Windows .NET Server. It is a stable and mature platform. No new features are planned for HTML Help; the only work that will be done is any needed stabilization (read: bug fixes).

The latest release closes a number of security holes, most notably the malicious use of ShortCuts. ShortCuts now have the following restrictions:

  • Topics containing the shortcut must be viewed with HHCTRL.OCX
  • Topics containing the ShortCut must be local (i.e., not on servers, UNC drives, or mapped drives)
  • On Win2K and WinXP, shortcuts can be further restricted:
    • Example: restrict to these folders—windows/help, program files, and Help Center folder (default is for ShortCuts to be enabled)
    • An administrator can restrict all CHMs in a list of folders/subfolders or disable ShortCuts entirely

One of the security patches that Microsoft released for Internet Explorer in January broke part of the HTML Help system. This IE patch cased all ShowHelp calls to fail. To fix this problem, you must download and install the latest HTML Help path, which is available from the Microsoft Download Center or by using the Windows Update feature.

Microsoft Help 2.0     Link to the article Contents

It was just two years ago, at the 2001 WinWriters Online Help Conference, that Microsoft announced to a packed house its newest technology: Microsoft Help 2.0. The news was some of the biggest buzz at that year's conference and Microsoft representatives were readily available to tout this new technology.

Fast forward to 2003. Microsoft posts a news release on its web site, the topic of which creates a new buzz within the Help development community: another new direction. Microsoft Help 2.0, which had never seen the light of day as a generally released Help platform, will not be released.

That doesn't mean it won't be used. Help 2.0 was developed to work side-by-side with HTML Help. But it is a wholly new architecture, not an update. The Help 2.0 technology was designed with large document sets in mind, document sets such as what comes with .NET.

The Help 2.0 technology was not completed in the time frame needed to ship with Windows XP, which was one reason why Microsoft decided not to release it as a public platform. If they were to complete the technology, Microsoft did not want to repeat the problem of having to deploy the Help components separately. It is, Lockett-Zubak said, "against Microsoft policy to add features to an OS after release, even through a service release."

Microsoft Help 2.0 remains an option, along with HTML Help, for anyone developing components that will integrate with Visual Studio and .NET. Microsoft does make available a Visual Studio .NET Help Integration Kit, which includes a Help Authoring Guide, a Help Workshop and compiler, and several white papers. It does not, however, include a redistributable viewer.

Go FAR     Link to the article Contents

Taking a short detour—if you do need to develop Help 2.0, one option is a tool called FAR. (Yes, all caps, no, it's not an initialism.) FAR is a shareware tool developed by Microsoft Help MVP Rob Chandler that can be used for developing both HTML Help and Help 2.0. At just US$49 for a single license, it's far less expensive than the major Help tools.

Chandler had his own conference session where he outlined the features of the current FAR version. FAR is a collection of file and HTML Help utilities for Help authors. More information can be found at the FAR home page: http://www.helpware.net/FAR.External link (Note that this URL is case sensitive.)

The Next Generation     Link to the article Contents

So with HTML Help at the end of its development (but certainly not useful) life and with Help 2.0 not going to be born into the world, what's next? According to Lockett-Zubak, a brand new Help technology that Microsoft is playing close to the vest.

One thing that Lockett-Zubak emphasized is that anything and everything is very much subject to change. What has to be asked is: how much will change? Although it wasn't explicitly stated, one might easily assume that Microsoft wants a comprehensive and robust technology that will be ready to be released along with its next OS release, codenamed Longhorn.

Media reports suggest that Longhorn might be released in late 2004. According to a report in the March issue of PC World magazine,External link schedule slips might push that release date into 2005, which is far more than the two years Microsoft seems to like between major OS releases. The article surmises that the revenue loss that Microsoft would incur during that time might be mitigated by something along the lines of a Windows XP Second Edition. But it seems more likely that Microsoft would target the Longhorn 2004/2005 timetable for the new technology, plenty of time to make changes of any size and scope.

On the other hand, it is not uncommon in the software industry to pretty much freeze a program's feature set once it becomes stable enough to build as a whole, an alpha, or pre-alpha stage. Some might argue that Longhorn is already near or at that state. That same PC World article claimed to be working with a "pre-beta" version of Longhorn, and a March 4 article on ZDNetExternal link reports that an "early test version" of Longhorn has been leaked onto the Internet. But this release isn't feature complete: among other things, still not implemented is the planned new file system, to be known as Windows Future Storage (WinFS).

So the crystal ball is cloudy. Here's what we did find out. Microsoft is adopting structured content development using an XML schema based on DocBook. The focus on technology that enables user assistance based on user needs. Such content can, for example, be published on an ongoing basis, rather than waiting for static product releases.

But Lockett-Zubak talked less about Help development technology than she did about Help development methodology. Microsoft sees this as an opportunity to revamp the way they look at Help development. Microsoft considers its current content development processes as inefficient. Content comes from different areas, although there is some overlap. Developers reuse what they can, when they can find useful content. The goal is an XML-based central content repository with information tagged based on elements and transformed as needed. Microsoft believes there will still be some overlap, but there will also be a lot less effort needed to develop new content. That content will be structured to identify information types.

Microsoft will also be moving toward developing task-based assistance. Early documentation was developed around feature sets, but now user assistance will stem from product task lists based on site visits, user queries, product support, the development team, and newsgroups. Taking this further, Microsoft is moving toward what it is calling the inductive user interface. Products will be designed around user tasks and user assistance will be built into the interface. In the inductive interface, each screen will have a single stated purpose and will help users understand what to do and what to do next.

With Microsoft keeping the technology side of its Help technology development under wraps, Help developers would be well served to familiarize themselves with DocBook to get a feeling for Microsoft's technology direction.

So What's Next?     Link to the article Contents

Lockett-Zubak listed five suggestions:

  • Continue to use HTML Help 1.x and browser-based help (as you've been doing)
  • If you're developing Help for VS .NET or Visual Studio applications, download VSHIK (Microsoft) and FAR (Helpware)
  • Investigate and invest in structured content development
  • Check out DocBook
  • Keep your eyes on Longhorn

up

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Joe Welinske: jw@winwriters.com
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