Import a Word DOC file to WinHelp

This technique requires two programs:

• RoboHELP Classic (any version)

• RoboHELP HTML Edition (any version)

The conversion is a three-step process:

1. Import a Word document to a WinHelp project

2. Convert the WinHelp document to an HTML Help project.

3. Import the resulting HTML files into RoboHTML

In a previous tip (RoboHELP Tip - July 2000) you learned a method of converting a 10 page Word document into many individual Word documents. Those DOC files could be imported directly into RoboHTML provided you were using Word 97, when using Word 2000 you should probably try using one of the conversion utilities in the previous step, or try the conversion method described below.

Conversions

Converting a document to WinHelp and then to HTML Help is a process. Let's take WinHelp first. There are two actual conversions taking place in WinHelp: topic conversions and image conversions. Each heading style (Heading 1, Heading 2, etc) is converted into a single help topic.  During the conversion process, footnote codes are created. The footnotes allow the topic to be referenced in different places in the WinHelp system.

The table below shows WinHelp footnotes and their HTML equivalents:

A topic called Getting_Started converts to the following:

In addition, graphics are converted to Help graphics (usually bitmaps).  If you convert your graphics, think about what file names to use for each graphic. Depending on the graphic quality, you may need to recapture your screen shots.

Note: Graphics often become dithered during conversion due to display settings.

Open the Word DOC file you want to convert

1. Locate and open a document in Microsoft Word that you wish to convert to HTML.
   The following document is displayed in Word's Outline view (View: Outline).
   Each Heading 1-3 will become a WinHelp topic and eventually an HTML file.
   
   You should rewrite any vague headings. For example, If you have a heading named "Summary" you should consider renaming it to "Chapter 1 Summary".

2. When finished, close and save the document.

Open RoboHELP Classic

1. Create or open a WinHelp project using RoboHELP Classic.
   The purpose: RoboHELP Classic's automated features do conversions rather efficiently.

2. Choose File: Import: Document on the RoboHELP Explorer menu.

3. Select and open the DOC file you want to convert.
   The following dialog box appears:
   
   I recommend the configurations above and below.  
   
   Prompt when creating topics. New topics are created using the heading name. Prompting at each topic takes longer but it allows you to name each topic as it is created, giving you more control over the names of your topics.
   
   Extensive Duplicate Topic Checking.  Unfortunately, there's no way to turn extensive duplicate topic checking off, which I believe is a bug in the program. If you have several topics called "Summary", you end up with topics named Summary, Summary1, Summary2, etc. You should attempt to change conflicting and vague titles before converting your document. For example Chapter 1 Summary, Chapter 2 Summary is much more descriptive.
   
   Convert Index Entries into Keywords. Automatically creates index words if they existing in the DOC file.
   
   Apply RoboHELP Style Formatting.  Non issue since HTML uses style sheets.
   
   Fix Hanging Indents. Good idea to leave this turned on.
   
   Convert to Help Images. Images converted may become dithered during conversion, but graphic file names can be created.  All graphics found in the DOC file are removed from the page and a bitmap (BMP) file is saved in the project folder. When converting to HTML in the next exercise, the graphic files are converted to GIF.  The Colors selection usually works best set at the same color range set in Control Panel: Display properties.

4. Click OK.
   When you click OK, graphic images are converted first, then topics are converted, so you must be prepared to rename all the graphics.
   
    

5. Once all the graphics are converted, all Headings (Heading 1, 2, 3, etc)  in the DOC file are converted to WinHelp topics.
   When finished the topics look something like the following. Note the footnote codes discussed earlier appear on the top line:
   k like:
    

6. When finished you should have the following topics in RoboHELP Classic.
   
   In the example above I would have been dissatisfied with the result since many topics are followed by an underscore character. To start over, simply delete the document (myware.doc) and start again.
   The next time the you must overwrite the myware.doc, myware.rtf, and myware.rbh files.

7. Next, Convert WinHelp to HTML-Help