How to add or handle help files to a .NET project?

Question

I have been tasked to add an on-line help file to a windows application. So I have several questions in my mind:

• How do you create help files and how do you add them to a Windows Forms project?

• Is there a good way to handle them in a VS solution?

• Is there a tutorial on how to do this?

Answer 1

Here are indications to a few resources about how to create a help file:

Your best bet right now is to download the Visual Studio 2005 SDK here:

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/vstudio/aa700819.aspx

This comes with HelpStudio Lite, which will get you started right away. Here's some info on the paid version:

http://www.innovasys.com/products/hs2/overview.asp

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+1 to Dr. Explain.

Their latest version does a nice job creating HTML help files (CHM). It creates nice visual help files which are great for my users since they seem to want to read anything.

You can do a google search too.

Answer 2

There is built-in support for CHM files in .NET. The cheapest way to create these is with the freely available HTMLHelp Workshop, although there are commercial products out there that do a much better job such as Flare or RoboHelp.

Once you have a CHM, you can use the System.Windows.Forms.Help static methods to show the help when and where you want.

You do not need the Visual Studio SDK to provide this feature. HelpStudio Lite is predominantly included for the provision of MSDN-style help that can be integrated with Visual Studio help collections for deploying new frameworks or SDKs.

Answer 3

Help and Manual is a great tool for creating help files and documentation.

I have used it for a long time, and it is well worth the price.