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The following tables presents briefly the file name extensions and the characteristics of the Help 2 files. The table is based on a list of Rob Chandler (www.helpware.net).
| Description | HTMLHelp 1.x | Help2 |
| Compiled help file. HxI is normally inside the HxS help file but can be compiled as a separate file for CDROM disks. | .chm | .HxS |
| Project file / Collection file. | .hhp /.col | .HxC (XML) |
| Table Of Contents file. | .hhc (Sitemap) | .HxT (XML) |
| Index file. H2 may have multiple indexes. | .hhk (Sitemap) | .HxK (XML) |
| Help 2 now uses XML links instead of objects. | <object> | <mshelp:link> |
| Help 2 now uses XML elements instead of object and Meta tags. | <object> or <meta> | <mshelp:keyword> |
| H2 has programmatic access to data via COM. | No | Data services |
| Content filtering. | Info Types (did nor work) |
Topic attribute filters |
| Modular Help | Merged CHMs or MSDN collections | Help 2.x collections |
| Command line compiler. | hhc.exe | hxcomp.exe |
| Default Help viewer or launch program. | hh.exe | dox.exe (name may change) |
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HxS | Compiled Microsoft Help File | Compiled help file must regsitered on the users machine. |
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HxC | Collection Definition File | Identifies all
other key files and compiler options. Defines navigation data monikers. |
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HxF | Include File | Lists all files to be included in the compiled HxS help file. Supports *.*, *.HTM, *.HTML type syntax. |
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HxT | TOC Definition File | Table of contents definition file. |
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HxK | Index Definition File (Internal Name=K) |
KLinks. Keyword Index appear in the viewers Index navigation control. Typically named "K". |
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HxK | Index Definition File (Internal Name=A) |
ALinks. Associative keywords. Typically named "A". |
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HxK | Index Definition File (Internal Name=MyNamedURL) |
The Named URL Index defines URLs for the HomePage, DefaultPage etc. Typically named "MyNamedURL". |
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HxK | Index Definition File (Name=F) |
The Context window Index contains a list of help mappings as Keyword-URL pairs. Typically named "F". |
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HxE | Sample Definition File | Optional file for defining samples. |
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HxV | Virtual Topic Definition File(s) | Virtual topic feature provides a way to treat any URL (web, pdf, image etc) as a help topic. |
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HxA | Attribute Definition File | Defines topic attributes and filter definitions. |
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