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Re: Help System recommendation

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Novice <novice@example..com> writes:

> 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. 

Displaying HTML in a browser is probably the best option, and it doesn't
limit you to using an external web site.  Other options are:

1) distribute static HTML files with your application, and point the
   browser at them using the file:// protocol.  Javahelp supports this
   method.

2) generate HTML files in a temporary directory when help is requested,
   and point the browser at them.

3) embed a little HTTP server in your application (I believe this is how
   Eclipse provides its online help).

1) is the simplest method if static help is good enough.  3) is probably
the best if you need more control at run time.  I don't particularly
recommend 2) even though I'm doing it -- I can only say that the project
was already very late and learning how to embed a server would have
delayed it even further.

-- 
Jim Janney

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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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