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Groups > comp.lang.java.programmer > #10603

Help System recommendation

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I'm dusting off some old code with the intention of adding decent Help 
systems to them. Before I start writing though, I'm wondering what the 
preferred tools are for generating Help screens for Java programs these 
days. 

I've dabbled with Java Help back in the 2.01 days and it worked reasonably 
well but it looks like it's not very active in terms of development and 
improvements. In fact, when I tried to check out the current version number 
just now on the download page, http://java.net/projects/javahelp/downloads,  
it says there is no current version to download. I'm guessing that JavaHelp 
is no longer available.

So, what are people using these days? 

I'm seeing more and more cases where clicking on Help in an application 
menu brings the user to a website rather than windows on their desktops. Is 
it fair to say that's the preferred approach these days? If so, can anyone 
point me to information about how people are invoking those web-based help 
systems, preferably with examples that illustrate the technique? 

I'm already very familiar with web design, HTML, CSS, etc. I'm just unsure 
about what code goes into the application to direct the user of a desktop 
application to the website. Basically, I just need the code that gets 
executed in the application once the mouse click is detected and it is 
determined that it was Help which was clicked. I can build the website 
easily enough myself.

I'm also curious to know about preferred tools for building help systems 
that don't need an internet connection. In those cases, the application 
itself needs to display help screens without recourse to the web. 
-- 
Novice

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Help System recommendation Novice <novice@example..com> - 2011-12-08 14:45 +0000
  Re: Help System recommendation "John B. Matthews" <nospam@nospam.invalid> - 2011-12-08 20:37 -0500
    Re: Help System recommendation Novice <novice@example..com> - 2011-12-09 05:24 +0000
      Re: Help System recommendation "John B. Matthews" <nospam@nospam.invalid> - 2011-12-09 12:05 -0500
        Re: Help System recommendation Roedy Green <see_website@mindprod.com.invalid> - 2011-12-09 10:25 -0800
          Re: Help System recommendation "John B. Matthews" <nospam@nospam.invalid> - 2011-12-09 22:31 -0500
  Re: Help System recommendation Roedy Green <see_website@mindprod.com.invalid> - 2011-12-09 06:30 -0800
    Re: Help System recommendation Fredrik Jonson <fredrik@jonson.org> - 2011-12-11 16:03 +0000
      Re: Help System recommendation Roedy Green <see_website@mindprod.com.invalid> - 2011-12-12 03:36 -0800
  Re: Help System recommendation Jim Janney <jjanney@shell.xmission.com> - 2011-12-22 11:27 -0700

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