Reference > International Languages and Unicode

This topic provides some important background information that will help you to understand how to use Help & Manual with languages that cannot be edited or displayed properly without Unicode.

In addition to reading this section please also see International languages setup and Language Settings for details on configuring your project output in the language you are using, both with Unicode-based languages and other languages.

Unicode support in Help & Manual's output formats:

Provided the other requirements listed below are met Help & Manual can output projects written in Unicode-based languages to all its output formats.

Windows versions supporting Unicode:

Help & Manual requires Windows 2000, XP or Vista. You cannot run the program on Windows 95, 98, ME and NT4 because these versions of Windows do not support Unicode.

Windows language version requirements:

Although you can edit and compile projects on any language version of Windows that is properly configured you can only test the compiled Unicode HTML Help or Winhelp properly on a version of Windows with a matching language.

For example, Chinese Winhelp and HTML Help can only be tested properly on a Chinese version of Windows. You may be able to display the help, but things like full-text search and the index will not work correctly.

This means that ideally, a matching language version of Windows 2000, XP or later is probably required for development of help in Unicode-based languages. You need a Chinese Windows to develop Chinese help, Thai Windows to develop Thai help and so on.

Requirements for publishing projects:

The Microsoft help compilers for HTML Help (CHM files) and Winhelp (HLP files) are quite old and they are not Unicode enabled programs. This means that some special configuration settings in Windows are required when you are publishing projects using Unicode-based languages like Chinese or Thai to these formats.

Webhelp, eBooks, MS Word RTF, Visual Studio Help / MS Help 2.0:

You can compile Unicode projects to these formats with any version of Windows 2000, Windows XP or later provided you have the necessary language support installed to display and edit the language you are using. Help & Manual itself handles the Unicode output to Webhelp, eBooks and MS Word RTF, and the MS Help 2.0 compiler is fully Unicode-compliant.

Winhelp and HTML Help:

The Winhelp and HTML Help compilers are not natively Unicode-enabled. (This is a restriction of the compilers, not of Help & Manual). To be able to compile a project written in a Unicode-based language to Winhelp or HTML Help the "system locale" of your version of Windows 2000, Windows XP or later must be set to match the language you are using. This is necessary to enable the HTML Help and Winhelp compilers to process the language correctly for Unicode output.

Note that the system locale and the user locale are different! Simply setting the display and/or data entry language does not change the system locale!

1.	Log in to a user account with administrator privileges.

2.	Open the Regional and Languages section in the Windows Control Panel.

•	Windows 2000: Activate your language in the list of languages at the bottom of the main tab and then select the same language as the locale at the top of the same tab.

•	Windows XP: Select your language as the default language for non-Unicode programs in the Advanced tab (this tab is only displayed if you have administrator privileges!).

•	Windows Vista: Select the Change System Locale button in the Administrative tab (this tab is only displayed if you have administrator privileges!).

3.	Click on OK to apply the setting and then restart Windows.

Requirements for viewing Unicode-based help:

Webhelp, eBooks, MS Word RTF:

You can view Unicode help in these formats with any version of Windows 95 or later provided you have the necessary language support installed to display the language in question. The browser and word processor used to display Webhelp and RTF must be Unicode-enabled, of course.

Winhelp and HTML Help:

You can display Unicode in these formats with any version of Windows 95 or later provided you have the necessary language support installed to display the language you are using. However, some features of the help, such as the full-text search and index, will only work properly on Windows versions with a matching language. (Windows 95 and Windows NT4 must also be updated with MSIE 4 or later and the HTML Help runtime to be able to display HTML Help, of course.)

Visual Studio Help / MS Help 2.0:

MS Help 2.0 is only supported on Windows 2000, Windows XP or later. However, it is fully Unicode-compliant and will display properly with all features on any language version of these versions of Windows provided they have support installed for the language of your help file.