Help System Glossary

Terms and acronyms associated with the Microsoft Help System:

Acronyms

Acronym Expansion
CDN Content Distribution Network
HAT Help Authoring Tool
LEX Library Experience Team (obsolete)
MSDN Microsoft Developer Network
MTPS MSDN/TechNet Publishing System
MSHA Microsoft Help Assets (AKA asset manifest)
MSHC Microsoft Help Content
MSHI Microsoft Help Index
VSIP Visual Studio Integrating Partner

Glossary

Term Definition
Book A collection of packages. In Help Viewer 1.x, books are defined in an asset manifest file named HelpContentSetup.msha.
Classic View The Classic View is the original MSDN Library view.
Lightweight View The Lightweight Library view was designed to improve Page Load Times, simplify the user interface, and pull more content above the fold. It is the default view in the MSDN and TechNet libraries.
Microsoft Help Viewer A client application that provides online and offline help on top of the Help System Runtime with support for on-demand updates from the internet. First delivered in Visual Studio 2010.See also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Help_Viewer
MSDN Library The MSDN Library provides guidance, reference material and code examples for developers targeting Microsoft platforms, using Microsoft technologies or integrating with Microsoft products and services.See also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MSDN_Library
MTPS The Microsoft/TechNet Publishing System is the publishing, packaging and online delivery infrastructure for the MSDN, TechNet and Expression Libraries and for a number of smaller, targeted sites in the MSDN/TechNet family.
Package A collection of topics and their associated resources (images, scripts, etc.). Packages are ZIP files with an .MSHC extension.
Scoped Library coming soon…
ScriptFree View The ScriptFree Library view trades features for speed. It is our fastest Library view (in Page Load Times)
and we use it to benchmark worldwide Library performance.
TechNet Library The TechNet Library provides guidance and reference material for IT Pros using, deploying, customizing or maintaining Microsoft products, technologies or services.
Topic A single page of XHTML content with a unique identity in the local Help Library.

Leave a Reply

%d bloggers like this: