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Mif2Go User's Guide, Version 55

  

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8 Generating WinHelp > 8.3 Converting text > 8.3.1 Converting formats for WinHelp > 8.3.1.1 Converting paragraph formats


8.3.1.1 Converting paragraph formats

Many of the settings described in §6.7 Converting paragraph and character formats for print RTF apply equally to WinHelp output.

Sidehead formats

In [HelpOptions], set Sideheads=Left. This is usually the best choice for WinHelp:

[HelpOptions]

; Sideheads = Left (default), Indent (looks more like doc), or Normal

Sideheads=Left

Run-in headings

By default, for WinHelp output Mif2Go separates each run-in heading from its following paragraph. To have Mif2Go emulate the FrameMaker run-in heading format in WinHelp:

[HelpOptions]

; RunInHeads = Runin (Word default) or Normal (help default)

RunInHeads=Runin

When RunInHeads=Normal, for WinHelp Mif2Go inserts a carriage return between the run-in heading and the paragraph that follows.

When RunInHeads=Runin, the following paragraph starts on the same line as the run-in heading, as it does in FrameMaker. However, this setting does not work correctly if you use the run-in heading for a WinHelp topic start, because topic-start formats disappear from the body of the topic.

Reference frames

You can choose whether or not to include reference frames defined for paragraph formats, and if so, whether to use the actual reference-page graphic or just its name. You might want the name if it is descriptive, such as “Note” or “Caution”.

[HelpOptions]

; RefFrames =

; Graphic (show FrameAbove and Below),

; Text (name only), or

; None

RefFrames=Graphic

If some of your paragraph formats include a line above or below, and you do not want those lines to appear in your help file:

[HelpOptions]

RefFrames=None

If you specify Text to include just the name, also specify a format (FrameMaker paragraph format) for the name. For example:

[HelpOptions]

; RefFrameDefFormat = the format to be used for Text reference frames

RefFrameDefFormat=AlertHead

Tabs

Mif2Go uses font metrics (see §6.9.3 Specifying font types) to convert tabs. You can specify a default tab width in twips (twentieths of a point):

[HelpOptions]

; DefTabWidth = 0 (default, ignore undefined tabs)

; or twips (720 for 0.5")

DefTabWidth=0

When too many tabs are defined, sometimes the Help Compiler fails with a heap corruption error. Mif2Go provides an empirical default maximum of 32 tabs defined per paragraph format:

[HelpOptions]

; HelpTabLimit = maximum tab definitions allowed

; in paragraph formatting

HelpTabLimit=32

If you need to increase the limit, do so gradually, and watch out for compiler errors. We have found that 45 fails consistently.

Note:  The maximum applies to number of tabs defined, even if they are never used.  



8 Generating WinHelp > 8.3 Converting text > 8.3.1 Converting formats for WinHelp > 8.3.1.1 Converting paragraph formats