File sizes of different help formats

[ramalannie]

I am trying to encourage our team to update the format of our help files from HTML to WebHelp or FlashHelp but there is an issue with the size of the output files generated for WebHelp and FlashHelp as they are much larger than the .CHM file size.

Please can you tell me why the sizes increase for the same project published in different help formats and let me know if there is anyway of reducing this?

Thanks.

[Peter Grainge · Accepted solution]

I think you need to look at this in a different way. Where is the help installed? If it is on a server, then webhelp or flashhelp are the correct outputs. If local, then CHMs are the output you want.

The short answer to you question about the size is while the source may be the same, the outputs are very different. If you created a printed output you wouldn't expect the DOC file to also be the same size. Is the issue coming from your developers and is it really about file size or the number of files. Either way, as above that should not be the consideration. The type of help for the location is what matters.

[ramalannie]

Thanks Peter - you are right, the number of files and the file size are both issues. I think the help is currently installed locally but I see no reason why it shouldn't be server based. Could you also clarify the difference between WebHelp and WebHelp Pro - my understanding is that you use WebHelp for local installations and WebHelp Pro for server installations, is this right?

[Peter Grainge]

No. WebHelp and WebHelp Pro are both for server installation. The Pro version requires RoboServer installed on the server to provide some addtional functionality. You need to look at Adobe's site for information on that.

You can run WebHelp locally but you will have issues with links to PDFs. It is really meant for server installations.

Don't overlook the fact that your developers will have to change all the calls to the help so you might want to talk to them first before changing anything.

[ramalannie]

Thanks, I will.

[johnmccallum]

W!hy is the CHM smaller? Because CHMs are a compressed format. The others are not. Because of the compression, a CHM file can only be browsed with the help viewer. Trying zipping your different formats and they will be about the same. If not, there could be additional content (sometimes unaccessible) in one or the other.

John