why do people create CHM files when PDF format is the best ?

[LeviS LoVEr]

The thread says it all ..

Why?

[xtrabit racing]

Because CHM file format and CHM help reader interface is better than a simple PDF file. CHM system is optimized for help files.

[jakem1]

What makes you think that pdf format is the best?

[D.J.P]

  On 06/06/2010 at 10:47, Dead said:

Because CHM file format and CHM help reader interface is better than a simple PDF file. CHM system is optimized for help files.

This. Plus the fact that XP and higher have support out of the box, where there is no guarantee somebody has a PDF viewer on their machine (most do, but of course you never know)

[Brody McKee]

This question is fundamentally flawed. PDFs and CHMs are not the same thing. A PDF is a document, a CHM is help file.

[Osiris]

why do people buy the cows when they can get the milk for free? who knows.

[MS Bob 11]

PDF is a fixed document format. Notice that text does not reflow in a PDF unlike HTML or CHM (Compiled HTML) where depending on your screen resolution and width of the app window, text reflows.

[LeviS LoVEr]

  On 06/06/2010 at 10:48, jakem1 said:

What makes you think that pdf format is the best?

beacause PDF files are easier to read.. I asked this question in context of E-books..

[Richard Hammond]

Because you dont need a third party program to view CHM files.

[HawkMan]

  On 06/06/2010 at 11:08, LeviS LoVEr said:

beacause PDF files are easier to read.. I asked this question in context of E-books..

You didn't though, there was no mention of ebooks in your post.

and in that regard, pdf is still a bad format since it's not designed to reflow, ebook readers will usually reflow a pdf ebook, but not very well compared to a proper ebook format

for help files: CHM

for Ebooks: ePub(and similar)

for print documents: PDF.

[LeviS LoVEr]

  On 06/06/2010 at 11:13, HawkMan said:

You didn't though, there was no mention of ebooks in your post.

and in that regard, pdf is still a bad format since it's not designed to reflow, ebook readers will usually reflow a pdf ebook, but not very well compared to a proper ebook format

for help files: CHM

for Ebooks: ePub(and similar)

for print documents: PDF.

oops !! angry young man.. :)

okies.. but i think ePub is not that popular format..

[.Neo]

  On 06/06/2010 at 10:53, D.J.P said:

This. Plus the fact that XP and higher have support out of the box, where there is no guarantee somebody has a PDF viewer on their machine (most do, but of course you never know)

Luckily not all people run Windows. Mac OS X has full PDF-support right out-of-the-box.

  On 06/06/2010 at 11:04, tuxplorer said:

PDF is a fixed document format. Notice that text does not reflow in a PDF unlike HTML or CHM (Compiled HTML) where depending on your screen resolution and width of the app window, text reflows.

Not sure if I understand you correctly. Apple managed to overcome that issue in Mac OS X Snow Leopard's Preview application. Preview is "smart" enough to select files the way you would expect them to be selected.

[jakem1]

  On 06/06/2010 at 12:01, .Neo said:

Not sure if I understand you correctly. Apple managed to overcome that issue in Mac OS X Snow Leopard's Preview application. Preview is "smart" enough to select files the way you would expect them to be selected.

Tuxplorer isn't talking about selecting text within a document, he's talking about the text reformatting itself when the size of the application window changes just like the text in your browser will move around as the size of your browser changes.

[D.J.P]

  On 06/06/2010 at 12:01, .Neo said:

Luckily not all people run Windows. Mac OS X has full PDF-support right out-of-the-box.

I assumed the OP was talking about on Windows since .chm files are Windows Help File. However point taken. :)

[HawkMan]

  On 06/06/2010 at 11:59, LeviS LoVEr said:

oops !! angry young man.. :)

okies.. but i think ePub is not that popular format..

If you buy your ebooks epub is a very popular format, in fact in europe it's almost exclusive, in the US Amazons format which I forget the name of is more popular.

but yeah, you're "downloading" them, then PDF is more used.

[ajua]

For help files, CHM's are better organized than a PDF. You can have a PDF neatly organized, but it would take more time to produce it.

As anyone can produce CHM and PDf for free both should be available when possible, though.

[nkormanik]

People say CHM is for "help" files, and, yeah, that's basically what it was made for, I guess.

HOWEVER, seems to look at CHM far too narrowly. Suppose one has 10 (or how ever many) html files that one wants to keep together as a set, and view, as a single file and collection, all together at once.

Some of the html files may be more than a screenful, maybe a screen and a half, or more, while others may fit in one screen.

You don't want the rigidity of PDF freezing everything in place. You want a nice flow, exactly like what you experience in a good web browser.

CHM allows for that. And to my knowledge it's the ONLY format that allows for it.

Now, MAKING the CHM --- combining those 10 html files together into a single file --- is a bit of a problem. However, if you can get them into CHM format successfully, then you have a very nice single file set.

Does anyone else know of any other good way of accomplishing the above???

Thanks,

Nicholas Kormanik

[still1]

because you dont to install any software for chm to work unlike PDF. its an help file format which let you do a lot of stuffs that cannot be done in a PDF.

like linking the file to look for data(help data) from the internet.

[nkormanik]

Does anyone know if another format is offering the same functionality as CHM, but moving ahead in functionality?

In other words, as CHM superseded HLP, is there something superseding CHM?

For instance: EPUB?

Thanks,

Nicholas Kormanik

[Jen Smith]

  On 15/06/2010 at 21:11, nkormanik said:

Does anyone know if another format is offering the same functionality as CHM, but moving ahead in functionality?

Well, there's Help 2.0, which replaced CHM's, but relying on Microsoft Document Explorer can be a hassle. And now there's Microsoft Help System (Help 3) which replaces that, but instead of relying on DExplorer, it now uses whatever web browser you have set up, and has a few interesting new features.

Personally though, for interactive help, I'm still a fan of CHM's. Lightweight and easy to deal with, and there's CHM viewers for Windows, Mac and Linux.

[soldier1st]

each format has it's strenghts and weaknesses. windows by default does not come with pdf support(it can be added) but the chm format comes by default. in ubuntu both come by default but not in windows.pdfs can have higher picture quality than chm files.

[Hoang V Nguyen]

It's good for help files because you can organize your file, topic as categories or menu, just click or find. Done well

[Growled Member]

  On 06/06/2010 at 10:54, mrmckeb said:

This question is fundamentally flawed. PDFs and CHMs are not the same thing. A PDF is a document, a CHM is help file.

This. Use every format as it was intended and all will be right in the world.