User Assistance Book Gallery

This is a collection of front and back covers from user assistance reference books. It is here as a historical record. However, the long (too long) lifespan of Windows Help means these references are technically still active. Click the covers to view more detail.

Published in 1990. This book may have been the first to include details about WinHelp. The three pages shown are the only references to it.

Published in 1990 as an overview companion to the SDK Reference.

Published in 1990. This had the first comprehensive description of how to create WinHelp. There are five chapters covering design, authoring in RTF, compiling, and error messages.

Published in 1992, this was a follow-up to the previous Tools reference. The Help content was all contined in a single chapter with error messages in an appendix.

Published originally in 1993 with a second edition in 1995 for SAMS. 462 pages plus 3.5″ floppy. This was the first-third party book to cover Windows Help development. In additionl to the technical aspects of WinHelp, the book delved into best practices for design and implmentation of Help. It included short reviews of the three Help authoring tools available at the time: WHAT/WHPE, RoboHelp, Doc-To-Help, and Help Magician.

Published in 1994. 383 pages plus 3.5″ floppy. In addition to the basics of WinHelp, this book gets into the nitty gritty of context-sensitive Help. It covers everything a programmer would want to know about the WinHelp() API.

Published in 1996. 684 pages plus CD. A magnum opus of WinHelp. This book covered all of the changes for WinHelp 4.0. It is probably the most comprehensive WinHelp resource.

Published in 1996 for Thomson. 613 pages plus CD. Windows 95 is in the title, but technically it covers the changes brought out in WinHelp 4.0.

Published in 1995 for Microsoft Press. 328 pages plus CD. This book is interesting because it was written from the perspective of the the Microsoft developers who created WinHelp and the MS staff who were creating Help for applications. Authors credited inside last page – Ralph Walden, Kevin Otnes, Gayle Picken, Kim Parris and others.

Published in 1995 by Blue Sky Software. 80 pages. Blue Sky Software was the creator of RoboHelp and this book was mainly a marketing device to promote that product.