Need help in creating a CHM Viewer

[gxsaurav]

Today I download an E-Book in CHM format & something struck my mind. Although I am using a cyber cafe computer to read this CHM but I found that other then UltraCHM which is paid there is no good looking CHM Viewer for Windows, whether XP or Vista.

The default one in Windows XP & Vista is same like the one released in 1998. I wanted to make it better but don't know how to code. I am looking for help, can someone make a good looking & half decent CHM Viewer with me in .net? I will give the UI Component & how to make the deisgn, you will have to make the underlying engine & program it. The default one in Windows is good enough as far as layout etc is concerned so lets make the default one look & function better....

If you are interested, let me know. I will give the UI components as soon as I get back to Lucknow. It can be made either in WPF (prefered as the backend code is just .net) as well as WinForms(what matters here is the looks cos HTML is rendered using IE engine which isn't WPF accelerated anyway)

 

[dheeraj_kumar]

^^ I was facing the same problem last month. I downloaded an ebook, and couldnt get the HTML Help to zoom in more than it did, for easy reading. I did some research on it, and here are some links:

*www.ultrachm.com/ - UltraCHM, it has the zoom feature I needed. Paid.
*www.help-explorer.com/downloads.php - Help Explorer Viewer - supports Help 1 & 2, Free for single-user.
*www.helpware.net/ - Viewers for Help 1 & 2. Free. Also contains lots of info.
*chmspec.nongnu.org/latest/index.html - CHM file format, completely documented.

 

[gxsaurav]

^^^ i saw those apps but didn't like them much. First they don't fit in the Windows Vista's look & feel environment & 2nd, they don't have enough features & sometimes overkill. That's y I decided to make my own....

 

[RCuber]

@Gx : I will check it out.

 

[gxsaurav]

Like I said previously, since I was out of Lucknow & had no computer & internet here...I am a bit late in posting the application Mock UI here. Today it is complete, here is the Photoshoped Render of what I call "Help Manual"

*img142.imageshack.us/img142/7664/basetw2.th.jpg

Now, I need help from some developers for this. I can provide the UI elements etc but someone need to program it. Charan, your help is appriciated

 

[RCuber]

upload the required UI elements to Skydrive and give me the link .

 

[gxsaurav]

I am having problem with my BSNL connection. None of the Microsoft website is opening. I will give you on Yahoo Messenger.

 

[nitish_mythology]

Make it opensource

 

[chandru.in]

Make it opensource

Do you know whom you are speaking to?

 

[nitish_mythology]

^^
Who knows...he might just accept my suggestion

 

[Krazy_About_Technology]

Hey GX, there is a CHM viewer for Windows Mobile written in C#, its called CHMReader.net. Its an open source project at CodeProject.com. You can download it and source code @ *www.codeproject.com/KB/mobile/CHMR...mpp=25&noise=3&sort=Position&view=Quick&fr=26

I think the code can be easily used for a desktop app as far as parsing of CHM files is concerned. have a look at it.

 

[MetalheadGautham]

^^Now THATS what I am talking about. I knew there was a .net app made for CHM viewing. But I forgot the name. This may or may not be the one I heard of, but its a nice place to start. Porting the code to Windows Vista should be somewhat straightforward I guess.

 

[gxsaurav]

The engine can be easily made yaar, it's just IE's HTML engine to decode the CHM. I m making the UI these days in WPF, weekends par hi time milta hai ab to

 

[Krazy_About_Technology]

Well, then what is left? UI, you are designing. Engine, can be made easily as you said. The only thing that remains is the plumbing code for the UI that connects it to the engine features and there you have it. I was thinking that the Engine for the programmer and UI for the designer, will take most of the time.

I understand that CHM files are just HTML files compiled together into a single file along with extra features like the table of contents and search functionality. I will study the project and try to implement something in .NET 3.5 compatible code (the engine part). Lets see if i could make something out of it.