 |
AN
INTERVIEW WITH SHANE McROBERTS,
HTML HELP PROGRAM MANAGER
B
Y S C O T T D e L O A C H
Atlanta Chapter
|
| Scott |
Hi
Shane, thanks for taking some time out to answer some questions. First of
all, how many people work on the HTML Help development team? |
| Shane |
There are
currently about 16 people directly involved, including developers, testers,
program managers, and writers. That's likely to increase in the near future.
Also, we use technology from other groups, including our storage and full-text
indexing mechanisms, so there really are more people contributing than
that.
|
| Scott |
Does your team also develop Microsoft Agent and the Office Assistants, or are
those separate groups? |
| Shane |
Those
are separate groups. |
| Scott |
Do you have much interaction with them? |
| Shane
|
Yes, quite
a bit.
|
| Scott
|
When
is the next release scheduled for HTML Help? |
| Shane
|
We
have recently posted HTML Help 1.22 on our web site, http://msdn.microsoft.com/workshop/author/htmlhelp.
HTML Help 1.3 will be released around the same time as Windows 2000.
|
| Scott
|
Are
there any new features or improvements we can look forward to? |
| Shane
|
The primary
new feature of HTML Help 1.3 is much-improved support for multilingual
environments. HTML Help 1.3 uses satellite DLLs for its resources. With
previous versions, you either had to ship 28 versions of hhctrl.ocx or
installing HH would change the language of the Help User Interface to
the version you did ship (usually English). With HH 1.3, you can ship
your application to whatever platform you like and the language of the
HTML Help UI [User Interface] will always match the language of the operating
system. Note that when I refer to the UI, I'm talking about menus, dialogs,
etc. The other half of our multilingual support is that we now support
content that is a different language from the language of the system.
So a Chinese Help file can now be viewed on a German OS, for instance
(as long as the appropriate language pack is installed).
|
| Scott
|
Is
there a "known issues" list available? |
| Shane
|
Not from
Microsoft.
|
| Scott
|
Where
can I go to keep up with the latest information? |
| Shane
|
http://msdn.microsoft.com/workshop/author/htmlhelp.
The various HTML Help MVPs (listed at that URL) also have useful sites.
|
| Scott
|
Do
you foresee an eventual move to XML or support for XML in the next release?
|
| Shane
|
We definitely
see authors using XML content in HTML Help, and that can be done today.
XML is a powerful technology and we are definitely exploring the possibilities
of using it for appropriate markup in future releases of HTML Help.
|
| Scott
|
Have
you considered moving away from ActiveX and Java to Dynamic HTML to provide
features such as popups, nonscrolling regions, and the TOC and/or index?
|
| Shane
|
We definitely
recommend that authors use DHTML wherever possible -- it's more portable
and lighter-weight than either ActiveX or Java. I'd eventually like to
get a library of Help-related DHTML samples posted to our web site so
authors won't have continuously reinvent scripts.
|
| Scott
|
I
really like information types. Has any progress been made on enhancing them?
|
| Shane
|
Information
types are very interesting, but we've had trouble implementing them as
currently defined. We are looking into similar but more manageable methods
to solve the same problems that information types address.
|
| Scott
|
Have
you been conducting any usability testing on HTML Help? |
| Shane
|
Yes. Most
of the usability tests that were done for HTML Help 1.x were completed
long before I arrived at Microsoft, but we are currently doing quite a
bit of usability testing on our next generation designs.
|
| Scott
|
Do
you see more support for embedded help in MS development tools (VB, etc.)?
|
| Shane
|
I can't
comment on features of other Microsoft products. I think the limiting
factor on embedability is currently not VB (you can easily drop the IE
Web Browser control onto a form, for instance). The problem is that the
architecture of HTML Help 1.x does not lend itself to being embedded.
We definitely want to improve the embedability of future versions of HTML
Help.
|
| Scott
|
What
is your goal for HTML Help (usability, ease-of-use, etc.)? |
| Shane
|
We definitely
want to improve the end-user experience of HTML Help, including usability
and accessibility. One way to do this is to take away some of the control
that authors have. For instance, does it really make sense to let the
author choose whether the TOC is single-click or double-click active?
We should look at the user's system settings (for Explorer) and adjust
accordingly so that all Help TOCs in the standard Help viewer work the
same way and the user gets a consistent experience.
At the same
time, many authors and developers want to provide customized, often embedded,
Help solutions. So we are also looking at ways to make Help more extensible.
|
| Scott
|
Where
do you see online user assistance in 10 years? |
| Shane
|
Ask me in
about 8 years. Seriously, if you look back 10 years, the basic Help model
today isn't much changed from WinHelp 3.0. There have been plenty of innovations,
including moving the navigation panes into the viewer and providing a
more flexible and standard source format, but the basic model -- a window
that pops up and user-controlled navigation -- is the same.
But there's
no way we'll be looking at the same model 10 years from now -- the enabling
technology for better models is finally beginning to arrive. By then we'll
have full-fledged agents that monitor what the user is doing and tailor
the information both to the user and to the current task. Basically users
won't have to wade through mounds of information to get the answer --
they'll just ask the question in a natural way (either by typing or speaking)
and they'll get the right answer. Help will be less intrusive -- it will
feel much more built into the application and the operating system.
|
| Scott
|
Let's
close with a fun question... if you could have any job in the world, what
would it be? |
| Shane
|
I really
enjoy what I'm doing, but if I really had the choice I'd be a stay-at-home
Dad (no, I don't have any kids -- yet). And believe it or not, what I'd
really like to do when I'm done here is get back to writing (I was a CS
major, Lit/Writing minor in college).
|
| Scott
|
Thanks
again, Shane! |
| Trademarks |
- Microsoft,
Windows, and ActiveX are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.
- Java
is a trademarks or registered trademark of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in
the United States, other countries, or both.
- Other
company, product, and service names may be trademarks or service marks
of others.
|
|
Scott
DeLoach is manager of the Society's Online Information SIG. If you have
any questions, you can reach Scott at scott@userfirst.net.
|
Summer
1999
Volume 2, # 3 |
|