35.10 Gathering and processing Help-system files

Most Help systems require additional steps after Mif2Go generates output files from your FrameMaker document, and before archiving files for distribution. You can have Mif2Go automatically do the following:

WinHelp	Run the WinHelp compiler; see §8.2.13 Compiling a WinHelp project.
HTML Help	Run the HTML Help compiler; see §9.14 Compiling and testing HTML Help.
OmniHelp	Copy viewer files to the WrapPath directory (needed only if they are not already in the project directory); see §10.13 Assembling OmniHelp files for viewing.
JavaHelp	Run the full-text-search indexing program; see §11.5.2 Creating a search index for JavaHelp.
Oracle Help for Java	Run the full-text-search indexing program (although you might not get a usable search index); see §11.5.3 Creating a search index for Oracle Help.
Eclipse Help	Archive topic files into doc.zip; see §12.8 Packaging Eclipse Help files.

Compile WinHelp or HTML Help

To direct Mif2Go to compile WinHelp or HTML Help:

[Automation]

; CompileHelp = No (default, run compiler separately),

; or Yes copy all needed files to the WrapPath, if given,

; then compile with hhc (HTML Help) or hcw (WinHelp).

CompileHelp = Yes

By default, CompileHelp=No. See:

§8.2.8 Setting basic WinHelp options in the configuration file

§9.14 Compiling and testing HTML Help

Index JavaHelp or Oracle Help

To direct Mif2Go to run the JavaHelp or Oracle Help indexer to create a search index:

[JavaHelpOptions] or [OracleHelpOptions]

FTSCommand = path/to/indexer

If FTSCommand is missing or is set to blank, Mif2Go does not run the indexer. See:

§11.5 Providing full-text search for JavaHelp / Oracle Help

Certain automation settings are activated

When CompileHelp=Yes or FTSCommand=path/to/indexer, Mif2Go acts on those [Automation] settings that need to be processed prior to compilation or indexing, regardless of the setting for WrapAndShip. Then Mif2Go runs the appropriate compiler or indexer. Table 35-4 shows which settings are activated.

Table 35-4 Automation settings activated by CompileHelp or FTSCommand

[Automation] setting	Action	Ref.
CopyCssFrom	Copy CSS files from the designated directory	35.8
CopyGraphicsFrom	Copy graphics files from the designated directory	35.7.1
CssCopyFiles	Select only specified CSS files for copying	35.8
DeleteExistingMIF	Delete prior MIF files from the project directory before conversion	35.4.4
EmptyGraphPath	Delete prior copied graphics files before copying	35.7.3
EmptyOutputDir	Delete files from the project directory before conversion	35.4.1
EmptyOutputFiles	Select only specified files to delete from the project directory	35.4.2
EmptyWrapPath	Delete all files from the WrapPath directory before copying	35.6
GraphCopyFiles	Select only specified graphics files for copying	35.7.1
KeepCompileWindow	Keep the compiler window open after compiling: for WinHelp for HTML Help	8.2.13 9.14.1
WrapCopyFiles	Copy only specified files from the project directory	35.6
WrapPath	Directory to which files are copied for compiling and assembling for distribution	35.6
ShipPath	Directory to which compiled or archived files are copied or moved	35.12

Assemble files without compiling or indexing

When CompileHelp=No (the default for WinHelp and HTML Help), or FTSCommand is not specified for JavaHelp or Oracle Help, you must run the compiler or indexer separately. If WrapAndShip=Yes, uncompiled or unindexed Help-system files are assembled for distribution; see §35.2 Activating and logging production of deliverables. You might use this combination for WinHelp if you are sending files to be branded by a subcontractor, or to be integrated with other WinHelp systems. For HTML Help, you might send uncompiled files for use on a server.

Assembling and archiving are optional

For WinHelp or HTML Help, you can set the value of WrapPath for compiled Help output to blank (or explicitly to the project directory), because the Help compilers rely on a list of files to include in the compilation. Eliminating a separate wrap subdirectory avoids creating a duplicate set of output files. Also, archiving is not always necessary for compiled Help, because compilation itself creates a compressed deliverable.

Convert first, compile and archive later

Having Mif2Go run either Help compiler as part of the conversion can be problematic for large projects. Instead, you can do the conversion as a first step, then run Mif2Go again to compile and prepare the deliverable; see §35.13 Postprocessing separately from converting.

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