ergo@netcom.COM (Isaac Rabinovitch) (04/20/91)
In <22093@shlump.nac.dec.com> wallis@sieras.enet.dec.com (Barry L. Wallis) writes: >Well, I just recieved the Help Compiler for Windows from Borland. It sure seems >unusable for me. Why? Because it seems to want to deal with files in Rich Text >Format (RTF) for all the formatting commands. The documentation says that you >can use one of three different word processors for it: >1) Word for DOS >2) Word for Windows >3) Word for MAC >(I didn't say they were very different ;-}). Now, I am using the system to >learn Windows programming and *not* to produce income. I have no desire to >purchase Word in order to do this. What other choices do I have? You can write the RTF file with a text editor. It's not any harder than preparing a document using TROFF or TeX. (If you're never heard of TROFF or TeX, don't worry about it.) It helps that the Help Compiler doesn't need about 75% of the formatting information that Word puts in an RTF file. I'm working on a short guide to RTF for the Help File writer. (I was gonna just post it, but all this interest makes me wonder if there's any money in it...) You *can* learn RTF just from reading the MS doc, but I wouldn't care to try it. *I* had a rough time, and I have Word to test my knowledge with, not to mention a lot of previous experience with text formatting software. Not a brilliant bit of technical writing. >BTW, maybe they call it Rich Text Format becuase it will make Microsoft rich? >:-( If that were the way they did it, MS-DOS would be called YB-DOS (Youngest Billionaire) and IBM compatibility would be called ..... >I know about Ami Pro (thanks to Brian Ricker), but, I am looking for something >that is less expensive (under $20.00 would be nice ;-} ). Where did RTF come >from and where can I read about it so I can think about writing a converter. >--- >Barry L. Wallis USENET: wallis@labc.dec.com >Database Consultant Prodigy (don't laugh): DNMX41A >U.S. DECtp Resource Center DECUServe: EISNER::WALLIS (not on the net yet) >Los Angeles, CA "No one voted for me, I represent myself" >--- -- ergo@netcom.com Isaac Rabinovitch netcom!ergo@apple.com Silicon Valley, CA {apple,amdahl,claris}!netcom!ergo "You might well think that... I couldn't possibly comment."