Converting a HLP file using EasyHTML/Help

Using EasyHTML/Help takes a little longer than HTML Help, but on the tests done, it gives "cleaner" results. Depending upon the size of the original RTF this process could take anywhere between 10 minutes and an hour. It may be prudent to try both HTML Help Workshop and EasyHTML/Help to see which gives the "cleanest" results.

The extra minutes spent doing this could save many hours of clean up time. Some clean up will still be required, though.

EasyHTML/Help (EasyHH) does chew up an amount of memory while it is processing, so it may be wise to shut down other applications when it is running.

Note: All graphics files MUST be in the same folder as the RTF file, otherwise they will not be converted.

Note: If this sequence is NOT followed in this order, the conversion may not be successful.

Open the RTF file in Word 97.
You MUST save the RTF file as a different name - EasyHH won't work until you do this, so Save As now.
Select Tools | Templates and Add-ins... from the menu.
Click Attach
Select EasyHH.DOT from the templates list and click Open.
Click OK. A new toolbar for EasyHH is now available. You can change the toolbar's style between text and icons by clicking the number 1 or 2 at the far left of the toolbar. The remainder of these instructions assume you have the icon style of toolbar active.
Select EasyHH Run Function from the toolbar (the icon with the two shoes).
Select Convert RTF to HTML from the list.
Click OK, then click OK again at the warning message.
The screen will go a little crazy while the conversion is happening - this is normal. When the conversion is complete a message is displayed indicating how many topics and links were converted. Click OK.
Select EasyHH Config from the toolbar. You need to establish the project settings - this is vitally important, otherwise the files are created in the wrong places and you end up with a mess.
Click New to define a new project.
Type the project's name (maximum of 8 characters).
A default PRJ file path will be specified which is the same as where the RTF files etc. are stored. Keep this path and click OK.
Give the new Help file a title (this will appear in the title bar of the HTML Help file).
Select the default (first) topic to be displayed when the HTML Help file is opened by the end-user (e.g. Contents, Index, etc.). If you don't know what the first topic opened is, then open the original HLP file and check it, then find that appropriate topic in the RTF file - this will give you the default topic. If you can't ascertain it, you can always change this setting later.
Check that the file paths for the Built Web Pages and Document Settings folders are correct - they should be the folder you have been using or a sub-folder within it (e.g. Webpages).
Click OK. If the sub-folder of Webpages doesn't exist, click Yes to create it.
Make sure the project you are working on is the one selected in the Projects list. Click OK.
Save the RTF document.
Select EasyHH Process HTML from the toolbar, then click OK. Processing is the most time-consuming part of the conversion process and can take 20+ minutes for a large help file. The screen will not show much activity - except the vertical scroll bar and the status bar, which will change as processes are run.
Once the processing has finished, select EasyHH Build from the toolbar to create the HTML Help. This takes about a minute or so.
Click OK to the message and view the compiled HTML Help (CHM file).
Save the RTF file.
Now the checking and clean up starts... Further builds may be required after changes have been made to the source HTML etc. file. If so, ensure that the earlier CHM file is deleted. When you select Build after deleting the CHM file you'll get an error message - click OK and select Build again - it will now recompile. If you don't delete the CHM file, you will not be able to see your changes.

HTML pages created with EasyHTML/Help for Word