Help Decompiler Shell 2.02b instant download (583kb) Help Decompiler Shell source code download (137kb) PBP components and shared files (256kb) (needed to compile all PBP utilities) (Last updated 18/06/04) MS Help Workshop 4.03 WinHelp compiler (1.5mb) HELPDECOntrol (1998 16-bit w'source, no longer supported, 210kb) HELPDECO download page at Simtel.net Comparable (or better) products in this category

What it does Screen shots What it doesn't Version history Software specifications Copyrights & trademarks

This standard view shows decompiler output in the list at right, the instant drag-and-drop
decompile area, and access to seven primary HELPDECO decompiler/processor modes.
The most sophisticated control ever for the most sophisticated Help/Viewer/MediaView
decompiler ever. More screen shots...

Notable features

Five complete, discrete utilities in one: help decompiler shell, help baggage explorer/extractor, Windows Help customizer, helpfile link resolver, "helpfile leftover" cleaner. Support for all file types readable by HELPDECO.EXE: Windows helpfiles, MediaView and Multimedia Viewer files, Help annotation files, ThinHelp cache files and more. Helpfile and MediaView/Multimedia Viewer file decompilation with point-and-shoot simplicity. Specify a file to decompile and an output path, point the program to a valid copy of HELPDECO and the shell handles the rest. Built-in "baggage explorer" for examining and extracting individual files from compiled RTF-based hypertext. Includes a visual directory lister, point-and-shoot file extraction controller, and virtually all the features you'll need to pull just about any type of data out of a Help/Viewer/MediaView file. Complete support for all HELPDECO command line options including hex dumps of internal file structures, creation of .CNT (table of contents) files, production of printable/recompilable Help/Viewer source files, directory listing and annotation merging. Extensive logging functions. Store a list of all files processed, an additional log of all files extracted by HELPDECO, and a third log of HELPDECO decompiler output storable in six different ways. Maintains complete records of all files produced or processed by HELPDECO for handy reference and one-touch system cleanup using the "trash collector" utility. Instant drag-and-drop processing. Drag any RTF-based helpfile or Windows hypertext document onto the "drop zone" for instant decompilation or processing. Integrated full-featured log editor displays all HELPDECO console output with a full Notepad-style featureset and an "instant menu" for loading, browsing and annotating logfiles and HELPDECO documentation. Carefully-worded balloon help for all controls to get you up and running quickly, and a complete helpfile for detailed assistance. Integrated "trash collector" functions including instant removal of all decompiled output; restoring, tracking and removing decompiler output files; and cleaning logfiles of obsolete files and duplicate entries. All of the interface options and productivity touches you expect and appreciate from Plain Brown Power software...minimize to system tray, close-on-Escape, custom interface and log editor fonts, custom app title, full helpfile and balloon hinting for virtually every control, saved size and position for every dialog in the application...over 80 separate user-settable saved options in all.

Think you'd never use a decompiler? Think again. Decompiled helpfiles can be more useful than their compiled counterparts. It's not generally known outside Help authoring circles that Windows Help files, and a lot of the big multimedia files on older CDs, can be decompiled...perfectly. A decompiled helpfile can be modified and edited as a RichText document, converted to Acrobat documents, have its annotations merged perfectly with the associated topics for the ultimate in personalization, used as a stand-alone editable document rather than compiled non-editable hypertext (helpfiles decompile to RTF format source, compatible with Word/Wordpad/etc.), converted to HTML, recompiled as a complete functional WinHelp file, and more. You wouldn't think a tool "strictly for hackers" could be so useful, or so easy to use. (We could make almost the same claim for Microsoft's Help Workshop, which you'll need to recompile decompiled helpfiles after editing or modification.)

A complete Windows helpfile customizer is just one of four discrete utilities bundled into this feature-packed interface.

This small utility is designed to provide a point-and-shoot interface to the popular, sophisticated, highly complex and free HELPDECO.EXE helpfile decompiler and internal file extractor. With the exception of a few minor features generally needed only by Help programmers and hackers, it provides complete access to HELPDECO's command line options and gives you the optional ability to interact with HELPDECO while it is running. Together, these programs allow you complete access to the internals of Windows RTF-based HLP files, permitting complete decompilation to fully-recompilable source code, including RTF-formatted text and all included bitmaps, or extraction of specific files or data contained within a helpfile. And with Help Decompiler Shell's integrated full-featured log editor and feature-packed file manager, working with a sophisticated console mode program was never this quick, easy or convenient.

Help Decompiler Shell is a front end for a program called HELPDECO.EXE. It is not a self-contained application, and the publishers of Help Decompiler Shell are not the authors of UPX.EXE. Our distribution does not contain the most recent Windows version of the UPX compression software, but our efforts were limited strictly to the development of the Windows interface. Download the most recent version of HELPDECO.EXE from this link. HELPDECO cannot decompile Microsoft HTML Help (.chm) files. In addition to HELPDECO/Help Decompiler Shell, we recommend adding the free Key Tools utility to your collection for disassembly of HTML Help hypertext binaries.

Legal issues

Most developers don't give you the right to decompile helpfiles. Decompiling a helpfile, Viewer file or MediaView binary essentially qualifies as reverse engineering. But some do. Never guess at which publishers allow such permission. If decompile permission isn't strictly granted in the terms of the software license, assume that you don't have such permission.

Lack of permission hasn't stopped literally millions of Windows users from using the decompilers in RoboHelp, DocToHelp, Help2RTF, and, of course, HELPDECO to decompile helpfiles for the purposes of generating more usable documentation for themselves. We can't support or condone this type of behavior, but we do believe that the purpose of compiled hypertext is to provide quality documentation. And if you feel that decompiling a helpfile or other hypertext binary allows you to create better documentation for your own use, well, that's between your lawyers and their lawyers to decide, not for us to judge. All we do is provide the means, and we do not provide this software for the purposes of engaging in illegal behavior.

The publisher grants decompile permission for all Plain Brown Power helpfiles. We've done so implicitly and in writing since 1995. We use a number of unique techniques in our documentation and we don't mind you decompiling to find out how we work our magic. We also encourage decompilation for print preparation or for creating better-quality documentation for your personal needs

These tools, as with all Plain Brown Power utilities, have their limitations. Most of the known limitations in Help Decompiler Shell are voluntary and deliberate, or limitations imposed by Windows itself or its programming interface's limitations. If there's a limitation here that significantly affects your decision about whether this tool deserves a permanent place in your toolkit, by all means let us know.

Help utility downloads HTML Help decompiling has been possible for some time, thanks to the efforts of the much-beloved Ralph Walden and Cheryl Lockett Zubak. Ralph actually wrote the file specification and managed the development of the HLP file format and the Windows help engine; Cheryl has authored several of the best-selling books ever on Windows Help development. KeyTools is a free program from this team which can disassemble HTML helpfiles (.chm files) into recompilable source code. Key Tools download at KeyWorks. Cub Lea has been one of the most prolific developers of software for Windows Help (RTF-based HLP format) since 1996. While he no longer supports his programs, he offers a wealth of WinHelp-related utilities, development extensions and unique helpfiles at his site. WinHelp archive at cublea.net.

Command-line operation: Command-line launch accepts a single file. Multiple files passed on the command line will produce an error. This limitation is enforced to insure proper handling of files with spaces in their pathnames. The single-file limitation does not apply to drag-and-drop from Explorer.

Windows NT-type operating system limitations: Help Decompiler Shell is a 32-bit Windows application which executes and optionally monitors a 16-bit console mode application. In NT-type Windows operating systems (WinNT 3.5x/4.x, Windows 2000, Windows XP Pro) a 32-bit Windows program cannot monitor the console output of a 16-bit program. This means that HELPDECO.EXE must be run in a console mode window on these operating systems, not "quietly" with console output piped directly to the log editor. This results in a reduction in console mode output detail in NT-type operating systems, but the program can still build the same complexity of command strings for executing HELPDECO and can still load and display HELPDECO output.

Replacement of other decompilers: Help Decompiler Shell in conjunction with HELPDECO will not take the place of special-purpose decompile utilities for helpfiles such as Help to RTF or the bundled decompilers with RoboHelp and DocToHelp. HELPDECO provides features no other decompiler can offer, but it does not permit the same level of print-ready quality RTF document that the Herdsoft, Wextech and Blue Sky utilities offer. This should be considered a complement to, rather than a replacement for, special-purpose helpfile decompilers.

Shell extension support: Help Decompiler Shell does not function as a shell extension. The need to regularly decompile or examine internal structures in helpfiles is so rare that we felt there was no need to implement this capability to support what we felt would be very few users who would ever care.

Long filenames: HELPDECO is a 16-bit console mode application, and was never designed to support long filenames used in 32-bit Windows operating systems. It can manage files with long filenames provided that their names are correctly passed on its command line, but it cannot produce long filenames in its output. Therefore, when extracting a file such as mybigfathelpfile.hlp, the resulting files will be mybigf~1.hpj, mybigf~1.rtf etc. The program makes no attempts to correct truncated filenames because the project files produced by the program will still reference the short filename.

Resource consumption: We normally pay close attention to resource consumption in the development of our products. This application tends to be used infrequently and doesn't usually remain open for long on the desktop, so resource consumption was given relatively low priority. Non-NT users should take note of the fact that the program can consume as much as 10% of total system graphics resources if all tabs are activated in a single session. This is due to the large number of controls provided on a single tabbed dialog. If the system is critically low on graphics resources, this could result in a system lockup or "blue screen of death". It is assumed that this program will be used by individuals competent enough with Windows to adequately manage their system resources. In normal use, when just one or two tabs are activated during a session, the program uses 5% or less of the total USER/GDI resource heaps.

Supported HELPDECO.EXE versions: Only HELPDECO.EXE version 2.1, the last known public distribution of this program (released in 1997; it is difficult to find any earlier versions on the Internet) is officially supported by Help Decompiler Shell. Other versions from 1.7 upward may be used with a degree of success, but the program is oriented toward controlling HELPDECO version 2.1.

Package title	Help Decompiler Shell	HELPDECOntrol
Version	2.00b	1.00
Download file size(s)	583kb	210kb
Installer/uninstaller		No
Source code available	Yes	Yes, included
Win31/NT3.51-compatible	No	?
Win95/98/ME/XP-compatible		?
WinNT4/W2K/XP Pro-compatible		?
Copyright/distribution status	Donationware	Donationware

HELPDECOntrol and Help Decompiler Shell are copyright ©1999-2002 Cub Lea. This software may not be redistributed except by the publisher or an exclusive licensee. Neither the archive, the installation, nor any files contained in the original archive as posted by the publisher may be modified in any fashion except where otherwise specified.

Trademarks? Are you kidding? I purposely chose the simplest, most generic names we could think of for Plain Brown Power software products. I'm a professional myself, and I don't believe that fancy names or expensive trademarks add a thing to the work environment. I've yet to meet a professional who did believe that...who wasn't a marketer or salesperson.

Posting and non-Internet publication permissions

Please do not post this software on other websites. The posting of a short-term release with problems which have since been fixed reflects badly on everyone, and that includes you as the host.

If you wish to link directly to the download archive, then don't even ask...you can't. Bypassing the license page is strictly forbidden.

CD/DVD publishers are not permitted to include this software on magazine disks, shareware CDs, etc. Since there is no simple way to do this and still retain my protection against unwanted legal action, I can't allow this software to be redistributed in any other way but on this site through the license pages.

Here's a small collection of links to related products and resources we recommend if our tools don't meet your needs. If our software can't solve your problems, then it's quite likely one of these links will provide what you need.

Product:	Brief description:
KeyTools	HELPDECO.EXE can't decompile HTML Help projects. But here's a program that can. And it's authored by none other than Ralph Walden, the beloved Microsoft developer (bet you've never heard those three words in one sentence before...Ralph really is a pearl) who gave us the WinHelp hypertext engine. Even better, it's free. An absolute must-have tool for anyone who deals with compiled documentation.
HELPDECO Shell	The only real competitor to Help Decompiler Shell. If you need something quick and simple and don't mind sacrificing a few features for free software, this is worth a look. (Link is near page bottom.) Also, take a gander around Jozef Becker's superb Helpmasters site while you're there...Jozef has been the world's documentation-tool archivist par excellence for nearly five years. Bookmark this page while you're there, since it will nearly always contain a working link to HELPDECO should you ever lose track of this vital program.

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