Documentation creator packs

[jobro]

[Shalom Helpmaker](http://www.danish-shareware.dk/soft/shelpm/) - freeware

Powerful program that generates standard windows help files. Complete wysiwyg editor. Pages are viewed in individual tabs. Edit content and structurize it in an easy way.

[Oasis SE](http://www.interfeb.com/main_se.html)

This help authoring system contains a fully integrated text editor (ie, it is not dependent on Microsoft Word), a hierachial tree view that allows you to navigate your topics, WYSIWYG editing, embedded bitmaps, support for context sensitive help and the ability to invoke Microsoft's help compiler from within the authoring system. You can generate Windows 95/98/NT help files (WinHelp 4.0) with this system.

[HtmlToHlp](http://www.confluent.fr/javadoc/htmltohlpe.html)

As the name implies, this utility converts your HTML files to RTF files, which can be compiled by the Windows Help Compiler to Windows HLP files. It is free for educational and home use. Other uses require payment of a fee.

[HTML ePublisher](http://www.htmlhelp-epublisher.co.uk/)

This utility helps you create the documentation for your programs in Microsoft HTML Help format. It is free for non-commercial use. If you use it together with free HTML WYSIWYG editors you don't even need to know HTML to write your help files. The free version creates an About button that in the edocs generated.

[Microsoft HTML help](http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/htmlhelp/html/hwmicrosofthtmlhelpdownloads.asp)

The latest version of Microsoft's HTMLHelp can be downloaded from their web site. As you know, Microsoft intends that this version of help replace the original WinHelp. It requires you to have Internet Explorer installed on your computer (and that of your users). It includes the viewer, the Help Compiler, WinHelp converter, and other tools.

[Microsoft Windows Help Authoring Tool (WHAT)](ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/Softlib/MSLFILES/WHAT6.EXE)

This is Microsoft's own Windows Help Authoring Tool version 6.0 for use in developing help files for Windows 3.1\. It's available free from Microsoft's public ftp site.

[Microsoft Help Workshop](ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/Softlib/MSLFILES/HCWSETUP.EXE)

If you don't have a help compiler for Windows 95/98/NT, or if you are using an older obsolete version, you can try getting this version, 4.03 at the time of this writing, from Microsoft's public ftp site.

[Microsoft Help Compiler](ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/Softlib/MSLFILES/HC505.EXE)

If you need to develop help files for Windows 3.1, here is the latest (and probably last) version of Microsoft's Win16 Help compiler, available on their public ftp site.

Source: http://www.thefreecountry.com/programming/helpauthoring.shtml