HTMLHelp ( Microsoft Compiled HTML Help ) is a proprietary context-sensitive help file format developed by Microsoft Corporation and released in 1997 as a replacement for WinHelp format. It contains a set of HTML-pages, may also include content with links to pages, an index, as well as a base for full-text search in the content of pages. All .CHM files ( .chm (values) ) included in the LZX algorithm are compressed.
| Microsoft Compiled HTML Help | |
|---|---|
| Expansion | |
| MIME type | application / vnd.ms-htmlhelp [1] |
| Developer | |
| Published | 1997 |
| Format type | |
| Expanded from | and |
| Developed in | .lit |
| Windows component | |
| Microsoft Compiled HTML Help | |
|---|---|
| Component Type | Help system |
| Included in | Windows 98 |
| Replaced | Microsoft Windows Help |
To view .CHM files, use the standard viewer built into all versions of Microsoft Windows , starting with Windows 98 , and Windows NT . In addition, there are a number of third-party browsers , FBReader, and others.
You can use free tools to create .CHM files: - Microsoft HTML Help Workshop, Htm2Chm, plugins for Total Commander , as well as other tools.
Content
- 1 History
- 2 Advantages and disadvantages of the format
- 3 HTMLHelp on other platforms
- 4 See also
- 5 notes
- 6 References
History
- February 1996 - Microsoft announces plans to stop developing WinHelp and start developing HTMLHelp
- August 1997 - HTML Help 1.0 released as part of Internet Explorer 4.0
- February 1998 - HTML Help 1.1a ships with Windows 98
- January 2000 - HTML Help 1.3 ships with Windows 2000
- July 2000 - HTML Help 1.32 released with Internet Explorer 5.5 and Windows ME
- October 2001 - HTML Help 1.33 comes with Internet Explorer 6 and Windows XP
- March 2001 - Plans for a new Microsoft Help 2, also based on HTML, announced at WritersUA
- January 2003 - Microsoft decides not to release Help 2 as a widely used platform
In 2002, Microsoft distributed information about a number of security issues related to the .CHM format, and a number of patches were released. [2] In addition, it was announced that the format would no longer be finalized; instead, there would be a transition to a new generation of Windows help system called , which will be included in the Windows Vista operating system.
Advantages and disadvantages of the format
- Benefits
- The file size is smaller than regular HTML .
- All the formatting capabilities available in HTML and CSS are used .
- Full text search capability.
- Ability to view multiple .chm files as one, with common content and subject index (in particular, early versions of the MSDN Library were provided in HTMLHelp format).
- disadvantages
- Undocumented.
- There is a well-known failure that prevents these files from being viewed.
- Files may not open if the file path contains Cyrillic characters, as well as the characters "_" and "#".
HTMLHelp on other platforms
In order to create open tools available on different platforms, the CHMlib project was launched , within the framework of which a library was developed; Based on the latter, a number of software products have been created, including:
- arCHMage
- xCHM
- Gnochm
- Chmsee
- Kchmviewer
- Chmox
- extract_chmLib is a command-line tool that exists within the framework of the Debian project, allowing you to convert from chm to html
See also
- Microsoft Windows Help
Notes
- ↑ Techtonik, Anatoly application / vnd.ms-htmlhelp unopened (April 11, 2006). Date of treatment March 7, 2012.
- ↑ WinWriters - Security and Microsoft Help
Links
- HTMLHelp on MSDN
- Htm2Chm - one of the most common free CHM generators
- chmlib - a program library for working with the CHM format
- How to create a CHM file (HTM2CHM and HTML Help Workshop in action) - article / guide to creating a CHM file