© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. Presented By: Kevin Lewis Creating a JavaHelp System Start

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. Contents  What is JavaHelp?  What you need  Demo  Components of a JavaHelp system  How they work together  Directory and file organization  XML and JavaHelp  Topic, data, and navigation files  JavaHelp system enhancements  Secondary windows  Pop-up windows  Custom lightweight components  Merging HelpSets Contents Demo Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts Components of a JavaHelp System Enhancements What is JavaHelp?

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. Contents  Presenting a JavaHelp system  Standalone  Context-sensitive  Embedded  Help-authoring tools  RoboHELP  Closing thoughts  Future of JavaHelp  Survey information  More information  Questions & answers Contents Demo Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts Components of a JavaHelp System Enhancements What is JavaHelp?

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. What is JavaHelp?  Online help system written in Java  Platform independent  Best for Java-based interfaces  Topic files based on HTML  Data and navigation files based on XML  Installation options  Local application  Network application  Java applet  Java product suite Contents What is JavaHelp? Demo Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts Components of a JavaHelp System Enhancements

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved.  JavaHelp download   Java runtime environment (JRE)  JDK 1.1 or, preferably, Java SDK 1.2 or higher  Version 1.1 with JDK 1.1 requires Swing 1.1 or higher  Optional help-authoring tool  Java developer What You Need What is JavaHelp? Contents Demo Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts Components of a JavaHelp System Enhancements

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. Demo System uses standard tripane window Demo Contents What is JavaHelp? Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts Components of a JavaHelp System Enhancements

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. Demo Toolbar Demo Contents What is JavaHelp? Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts Components of a JavaHelp System Enhancements

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. Demo Navigation pane Demo Contents What is JavaHelp? Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts Components of a JavaHelp System Enhancements

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. Demo Content pane: uses standard HTML Demo Contents What is JavaHelp? Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts Components of a JavaHelp System Enhancements

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. Demo ‘File’ menu offers standard ‘Open’ (for opening other HelpSets) and ‘Exit’ menu items Demo Contents What is JavaHelp? Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts Components of a JavaHelp System Enhancements

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. Demo ‘Options’ menu offers option for changing the font in the navigation pane Demo Contents What is JavaHelp? Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts Components of a JavaHelp System Enhancements

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. Demo Standard previous and next buttons function like in a Web browser—not in a predefined order Print buttons for setting up your printer and printing the current topic Demo Contents What is JavaHelp? Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts Components of a JavaHelp System Enhancements

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. Demo Tabs for switching between TOC, index, and word-search index Demo Contents What is JavaHelp? Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts Components of a JavaHelp System Enhancements

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. Demo Standard TOC with expandable and collapsible categories Categories and/or topics can link to topics Synchronized Demo Contents What is JavaHelp? Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts Components of a JavaHelp System Enhancements

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. Demo Standard index with primary and secondary index terms Find feature for user to type word to search for in index Demo Contents What is JavaHelp? Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts Components of a JavaHelp System Enhancements

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. Demo Word-search index for user to search contents of all help topics for word or phrase Search results are listed by topic title in order of likely match Circle shows how close the match is Number indicates how many times the search term is found in that topic System displays #1 topic and highlights the search term Demo Contents What is JavaHelp? Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts Components of a JavaHelp System Enhancements

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. Demo Show and hide buttons for showing and hiding the navigation pane Demo Contents What is JavaHelp? Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts Components of a JavaHelp System Enhancements

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. Demo Invoke secondary and pop-up windows using links in text, buttons, or images Demo Contents What is JavaHelp? Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts Components of a JavaHelp System Enhancements

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. Components of a JavaHelp System  Topic files (HTML)  Data files  HelpSet file (XML)  Map file (XML)  Navigation files  TOC (XML)  Index (XML)  Word search index  HelpSet Viewer Components of a JavaHelp System Contents What is JavaHelp? Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts JavaHelp System Enhancements Demo

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. How the Components Work Together Components of a JavaHelp System Contents What is JavaHelp? Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts JavaHelp System Enhancements Demo

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. Directory and File Organization TypeFacerHelp JavaHelpSearch HelpSet.hs Map.jhm TOC.xml Index.xml Images Topics FieldLevelHelp Standard directory and file structure for a JavaHelp system Components of a JavaHelp System Contents What is JavaHelp? Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts JavaHelp System Enhancements Demo

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. Directory and File Organization TypeFacerHelp JavaHelpSearch HelpSet.hs Map.jhm TOC.xml Index.xml Images Topics FieldLevelHelp HelpSet data and navigation files at top level of project folder Components of a JavaHelp System Contents What is JavaHelp? Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts JavaHelp System Enhancements Demo

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. Directory and File Organization TypeFacerHelp JavaHelpSearch HelpSet.hs Map.jhm TOC.xml Index.xml Images Topics FieldLevelHelp Directory that you create when generating the word- search index Components of a JavaHelp System Contents What is JavaHelp? Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts JavaHelp System Enhancements Demo

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. Directory and File Organization TypeFacerHelp JavaHelpSearch HelpSet.hs Map.jhm TOC.xml Index.xml Images Topics FieldLevelHelp Contains image files for images used in topic files as well as navigation system Components of a JavaHelp System Contents What is JavaHelp? Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts JavaHelp System Enhancements Demo

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. Directory and File Organization TypeFacerHelp JavaHelpSearch HelpSet.hs Map.jhm TOC.xml Index.xml Images Topics FieldLevelHelp Contains HTML topic files and other subdirectories— subdirectory structure is easy to manage if you copy the structure of your TOC Components of a JavaHelp System Contents What is JavaHelp? Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts JavaHelp System Enhancements Demo

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. Directory and File Organization TypeFacerHelp JavaHelpSearch HelpSet.hs Map.jhm TOC.xml Index.xml Images Topics FieldLevelHelp Contains HTML files for field-level help topics Components of a JavaHelp System Contents What is JavaHelp? Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts JavaHelp System Enhancements Demo

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. Topic Files  HTML-based  Use hyperlinks and other standard HTML components  Employ lightweight components  Standard JavaHelp components  “Home-grown” components  See JavaHelp documentation for limitations Components of a JavaHelp System Contents What is JavaHelp? Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts JavaHelp System Enhancements Demo

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. XML and JavaHelp  JavaHelp files are XML-based  HelpSet  Map  TOC  Index  HelpSet Viewer uses DTDs for each JavaHelp file Components of a JavaHelp System Contents What is JavaHelp? Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts JavaHelp System Enhancements Demo

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. HelpSet File  XML-based  “Master control” file in system  System reads this file first  HelpSet data elements  Title of help system  Location of map file  Default help topic on startup  Navigation elements  Internal information  Tool tip labels  Name and location of navigation files  Delete or rearrange order for the same appearance in the viewer’s navigation pane Components of a JavaHelp System Contents What is JavaHelp? Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts JavaHelp System Enhancements Demo

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. HelpSet File <!DOCTYPE helpset PUBLIC "-//Sun Microsystems Inc.//DTD JavaHelp HelpSet Version 1.0//EN" " … HelpSet Data Elements … Navigation Elements Uses the tag to nest all of the information Components of a JavaHelp System Contents What is JavaHelp? Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts JavaHelp System Enhancements Demo

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. HelpSet File HelpSet Data Elements Typeface Tester Online Help overview Specifies the title of the help system Components of a JavaHelp System Contents What is JavaHelp? Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts JavaHelp System Enhancements Demo

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. HelpSet File HelpSet Data Elements Typeface Tester Online Help overview Location and name of map file and the map ID of the default help topic Components of a JavaHelp System Contents What is JavaHelp? Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts JavaHelp System Enhancements Demo

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. HelpSet File Navigation Elements TypeFacer TOC TOC javax.help.TOCView TOC.xml Text for the tool tip Components of a JavaHelp System Contents What is JavaHelp? Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts JavaHelp System Enhancements Demo

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. HelpSet File Navigation Elements TypeFacer TOC TOC javax.help.TOCView TOC.xml Internal information Components of a JavaHelp System Contents What is JavaHelp? Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts JavaHelp System Enhancements Demo

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. HelpSet File Navigation Elements TypeFacer TOC TOC javax.help.TOCView TOC.xml Location and name of file containing navigation data Components of a JavaHelp System Contents What is JavaHelp? Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts JavaHelp System Enhancements Demo

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. Map File  XML-based  Assigns URLs to map IDs (shorter “nicknames”)  Map topic files and image files used in navigation controls or lightweight components  Use IDs instead of full URL  HelpSet and navigation files  Topic files for secondary windows Components of a JavaHelp System Contents What is JavaHelp? Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts JavaHelp System Enhancements Demo

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. Map File <!DOCTYPE map PUBLIC "-//Sun Microsystems Inc.//DTD JavaHelp Map Version 1.0//EN" " … Map IDs with corresponding URLs Uses the tag to nest all of the information Components of a JavaHelp System Contents What is JavaHelp? Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts JavaHelp System Enhancements Demo

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. Map File I use optional comments to identify different sections in the map file Components of a JavaHelp System Contents What is JavaHelp? Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts JavaHelp System Enhancements Demo

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. Map File Map ID Corresponding URL Components of a JavaHelp System Contents What is JavaHelp? Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts JavaHelp System Enhancements Demo

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. TOC  TOC file in HelpSet  XML-based  Uses map IDs to map top level, category, and topic titles to topic files  TOC file dictates structure of TOC in help system  Nest items to create top level, category, and topic levels  TOC component in help system  Traditional online help TOC  Uses default top level, category, and topic icons or custom icons for each  Synchronized Components of a JavaHelp System Contents What is JavaHelp? Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts JavaHelp System Enhancements Demo

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. TOC <!DOCTYPE toc PUBLIC "-//Sun Microsystems Inc.//DTD JavaHelp TOC Version 1.0//EN" " … TOC structure for top level, categories, and topics Uses the tag to nest all of the information Components of a JavaHelp System Contents What is JavaHelp? Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts JavaHelp System Enhancements Demo

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. TOC Notice the nests and the hierarchy for top level, category, and topics Components of a JavaHelp System Contents What is JavaHelp? Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts JavaHelp System Enhancements Demo

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. TOC The TOC file yields this TOC in the help system Components of a JavaHelp System Contents What is JavaHelp? Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts JavaHelp System Enhancements Demo

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. TOC First item in the nest creates the top level Components of a JavaHelp System Contents What is JavaHelp? Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts JavaHelp System Enhancements Demo

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. TOC Map ID of the image to display with the corresponding line in the TOC Components of a JavaHelp System Contents What is JavaHelp? Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts JavaHelp System Enhancements Demo

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. TOC The top level text to display on the corresponding line in the TOC Components of a JavaHelp System Contents What is JavaHelp? Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts JavaHelp System Enhancements Demo

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. TOC Series of TOC items yields those lines in the TOC Components of a JavaHelp System Contents What is JavaHelp? Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts JavaHelp System Enhancements Demo

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. TOC Map ID for the topic icon —if you don’t specify an image, JavaHelp uses its own default Components of a JavaHelp System Contents What is JavaHelp? Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts JavaHelp System Enhancements Demo

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. TOC The topic title to display on the corresponding line in the TOC Components of a JavaHelp System Contents What is JavaHelp? Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts JavaHelp System Enhancements Demo

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. TOC The map ID of the topic file to display when the user selects that topic Components of a JavaHelp System Contents What is JavaHelp? Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts JavaHelp System Enhancements Demo

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. TOC Notice that the nest creates a category with topics Components of a JavaHelp System Contents What is JavaHelp? Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts JavaHelp System Enhancements Demo

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. TOC Map ID for the category icon —if you don’t specify an image, JavaHelp uses its own default Components of a JavaHelp System Contents What is JavaHelp? Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts JavaHelp System Enhancements Demo

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. Index  Index file in HelpSet  XML-based  Uses map IDs to map index terms to topic files  Index file dictates structure of index in help system  Must manually alphabetize index terms  Nest items to create primary and secondary index terms  Must manually produced “see” or “see also” terms  Index component in help system  Traditional online help index  Feature to type keyword to search the index Components of a JavaHelp System Contents What is JavaHelp? Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts JavaHelp System Enhancements Demo

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. Index <!DOCTYPE index PUBLIC "-//Sun Microsystems Inc.//DTD JavaHelp Index Version 1.0//EN" " … Index structure for index terms Uses the tag to nest all of the information Components of a JavaHelp System Contents What is JavaHelp? Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts JavaHelp System Enhancements Demo

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. Index Notice the nest to specify primary and secondary index terms Components of a JavaHelp System Contents What is JavaHelp? Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts JavaHelp System Enhancements Demo

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. Index Partial index from the index file Components of a JavaHelp System Contents What is JavaHelp? Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts JavaHelp System Enhancements Demo

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. Index The index term to display on the corresponding line in the index Components of a JavaHelp System Contents What is JavaHelp? Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts JavaHelp System Enhancements Demo

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. Index The map ID of the topic file to display when the user selects that index item Components of a JavaHelp System Contents What is JavaHelp? Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts JavaHelp System Enhancements Demo

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. Index Notice that the nest creates primary and secondary index terms Components of a JavaHelp System Contents What is JavaHelp? Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts JavaHelp System Enhancements Demo

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. Word Search Index  Word-search index files  Create with the jhindexer command that accompanies JavaHelp  Results in a set of files within one ‘JavaHelpSearch’ directory, which you include with your delivered files  Uses stopwords to eliminate common words such as “a” or “the”  Word-search index component in help system  User enters a “natural language query”—similar to conducting a search through a Web site’s search engine  Help system searches database in the ‘JavaHelpSearch’ folder Components of a JavaHelp System Contents What is JavaHelp? Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts JavaHelp System Enhancements Demo

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. Word Search Index 1.To build word-search index, start with all help topics under one master ‘Topics’ directory in your master project file  One reason to follow my recommendations for directory and file structure 2.At a command prompt, make the project directory (the one immediately above the ‘Topics’ directory) the active directory 3.Run the jhindexer command against the ‘Topics’ directory  C:\jh1.1\javahelp\bin\jhindexer Topics (Windows)  /jh1.1/javahelp/bin/jhindexer Topics (Unix) 4.Run the help system and try it out Components of a JavaHelp System Contents What is JavaHelp? Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts JavaHelp System Enhancements Demo

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. JavaHelp System Enhancements  Secondary windows  Pop-up windows  Other lightweight components  Merging HelpSets Contents What is JavaHelp? Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts Demo JavaHelp System Enhancements Components of a JavaHelp System

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. Secondary and Pop-Up Windows  Use lightweight components  Implemented in the topic file as an object  Invoked with buttons, images, or text Components of a JavaHelp System Enhancements Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts Contents What is JavaHelp? Demo

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. Secondary and Pop-Up Windows  Both programmed the same but function differently  A pop-up always appears adjacent to the link that invokes it, but you can specify where a secondary window appears  Users can’t adjust or move a pop-up, but they can minimize, maximize, resize, and move a secondary window  A pop-up does not have a title bar—it just contains text, but a secondary window has a title bar  A pop-up closes automatically when the user clicks another area in the viewer, but the user must manually close a secondary window Components of a JavaHelp System Enhancements Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts Contents What is JavaHelp? Demo

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. Secondary and Pop-Up Windows The code, embedded in the topic’s HTML file, produces a button that invokes a popup window Components of a JavaHelp System Enhancements Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts Contents What is JavaHelp? Demo

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. Secondary and Pop-Up Windows The ‘CLASSID’ is the same for both secondary and popup windows Components of a JavaHelp System Enhancements Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts Contents What is JavaHelp? Demo

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. Secondary and Pop-Up Windows The ‘id’ parameter specifies the map ID for the topic file containing the text to display in the window The text in this popup window comes from the file assigned to the map ID ‘pop.jhtoc’ Components of a JavaHelp System Enhancements Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts Contents What is JavaHelp? Demo

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. Secondary and Pop-Up Windows The ‘viewerActivator’ parameter specifies which mechanism is used to invoke the window: text, image, or button The system uses a button to invoke the popup window Components of a JavaHelp System Enhancements Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts Contents What is JavaHelp? Demo

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. Secondary and Pop-Up Windows The ‘viewerStyle’ parameter specifies whether to open a popup window or a secondary window The window invoked is a popup window Components of a JavaHelp System Enhancements Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts Contents What is JavaHelp? Demo

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. Secondary and Pop-Up Windows The ‘viewerSize’ parameter specifies the size of the window in pixels The popup window is 325 pixels wide and 150 pixels tall Components of a JavaHelp System Enhancements Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts Contents What is JavaHelp? Demo

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. Secondary and Pop-Up Windows The ‘text’ parameters specify the text to display on a button, the text color, font size, and font weight The text in this button says ‘JavaHelp Note’, is red, is of medium size, and has a plain weight (as opposed to bold) Components of a JavaHelp System Enhancements Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts Contents What is JavaHelp? Demo

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. Custom Lightweight Components  Multimedia  Related topics  Whatever you create Components of a JavaHelp System Enhancements Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts Contents What is JavaHelp? Demo

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. Merging HelpSets  Two ways to merge HelpSets  Dynamically, through programming using the JavaHelp API  Statically, through the HelpSet file  Static merging uses the tag to specify a secondary HelpSet to merge with the master HelpSet  Can use an optional “dataless” HelpSet  TOCs, indexes, and word-search indexes merge in same components Components of a JavaHelp System Enhancements Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts Contents What is JavaHelp? Demo

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. Merging HelpSets In the master HelpSet file, specify the relative URL(s) to the secondary HelpSet file(s) Components of a JavaHelp System Enhancements Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts Contents What is JavaHelp? Demo

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. Presenting a JavaHelp System  Application without help  Standalone help  Context-sensitive help  Screen-level  Field-level  Embedded help Presenting a JavaHelp System Enhancements Components of a JavaHelp System Contents What is JavaHelp? Demo Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. Application Without Help F1 does not activate help system Presenting a JavaHelp System Enhancements Components of a JavaHelp System Contents What is JavaHelp? Demo Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. Application Without Help No ‘Help’ menu Presenting a JavaHelp System Enhancements Components of a JavaHelp System Contents What is JavaHelp? Demo Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. Application Without Help No ‘Help' button Presenting a JavaHelp System Enhancements Components of a JavaHelp System Contents What is JavaHelp? Demo Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. Standalone Help System F1, ‘Contents’ menu item, and ‘Help’ button all launch same standalone help system Presenting a JavaHelp System Enhancements Components of a JavaHelp System Contents What is JavaHelp? Demo Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. Context-Sensitive Help: Screen-Level ‘Contents’ menu item launches default standalone help system Presenting a JavaHelp System Enhancements Components of a JavaHelp System Contents What is JavaHelp? Demo Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. Context-Sensitive Help: Screen-Level F1, ‘For This Screen’ menu item, and ‘Help’ button launches CSH for current screen Presenting a JavaHelp System Enhancements Components of a JavaHelp System Contents What is JavaHelp? Demo Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. Context-Sensitive Help: Field-Level First click field-level help button and then a control—system displays help for that control Presenting a JavaHelp System Enhancements Components of a JavaHelp System Contents What is JavaHelp? Demo Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. Embedded Help Good practice to provide mechanism for hiding embedded help Presenting a JavaHelp System Enhancements Components of a JavaHelp System Contents What is JavaHelp? Demo Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. Help-Authoring Tools  Major vendors provide JavaHelp support  eHelp RoboHELP  ForeFront ForeHTML  WexTech Doc-to-Help  Visit Sun’s JavaHelp Web page for complete list   Make process easier and faster  Less room for error  Best if you have strong knowledge of both the HAT and JavaHelp so that you can better customize your JavaHelp system  Should still understand JavaHelp without HAT in case you must troubleshoot problems Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools JavaHelp System Enhancements Components of a JavaHelp System Contents What is JavaHelp? Demo Closing Thoughts

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. RoboHELP  RoboHELP HTML provides single source for developing Web-based systems:  Sun Microsystems JavaHelp  Oracle Help for Java  Microsoft HTML Help  eHelp WebHelp  Get more product information at eHelp’s Web site  Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools JavaHelp System Enhancements Components of a JavaHelp System Contents What is JavaHelp? Demo Closing Thoughts

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. RoboHELP When creating new projects, RoboHELP provides a wizard to specify information you would otherwise manually enter in HelpSet data files Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools JavaHelp System Enhancements Components of a JavaHelp System Contents What is JavaHelp? Demo Closing Thoughts

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. RoboHELP A common interface enables the user to work on both data files and topic files without switching to different screens Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools JavaHelp System Enhancements Components of a JavaHelp System Contents What is JavaHelp? Demo Closing Thoughts

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. RoboHELP RoboHELP has a related topics feature that embeds its own lightweight component into the help topic to implement a related topics control Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools JavaHelp System Enhancements Components of a JavaHelp System Contents What is JavaHelp? Demo Closing Thoughts

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. RoboHELP RoboHELP has an auto-generate TOC feature, but it typically requires modification to get what you want Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools JavaHelp System Enhancements Components of a JavaHelp System Contents What is JavaHelp? Demo Closing Thoughts

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. RoboHELP RoboHELP’s Smart Index Wizard automatically creates indexes (including the primary and secondary index terms) and is good in a pinch, but it requires a lot of modification to create a solid index Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools JavaHelp System Enhancements Components of a JavaHelp System Contents What is JavaHelp? Demo Closing Thoughts

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. RoboHELP Generating a the final help system is easy, and you can select different types of help platforms (such as HTML Help or Web Help)—this illustration shows that I chose a JavaHelp system Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools JavaHelp System Enhancements Components of a JavaHelp System Contents What is JavaHelp? Demo Closing Thoughts

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. RoboHELP One of my favorite features during the JavaHelp system generation is a pop-up box that reminds the user of JavaHelp’s limitations Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools JavaHelp System Enhancements Components of a JavaHelp System Contents What is JavaHelp? Demo Closing Thoughts

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. RoboHELP RoboHELP handles displaying the help system so that you don’t have to manually run the HelpSet Viewer Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools JavaHelp System Enhancements Components of a JavaHelp System Contents What is JavaHelp? Demo Closing Thoughts

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. RoboHELP RoboHELP’s finished system would require a bit of modification to match the system I created manually—but it certainly makes the development process much less painful and offers a few great enhancements Presenting a JavaHelp System Help-Authoring Tools JavaHelp System Enhancements Components of a JavaHelp System Contents What is JavaHelp? Demo Closing Thoughts

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. Future of JavaHelp  Version is the latest  Future versions unknown  Viewer module (JEditorPane) is being improved  Java SDK 1.4 will contain important performance improvements  More efficient memory usage  Added HTML 4 tags  Bug fixes  Serious investigation about adding an XML editor kit  Need (or no need) for JavaHelp? Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts Presenting a JavaHelp System Enhancements Components of a JavaHelp System Contents What is JavaHelp? Demo

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. Closing Thoughts  WinWriters survey  JavaHelp authors’ experience levels 1% could write a book on it 5% used it frequently in several projects 17% experimented or used it a bit 31% read or heard about it 45% had no experience  Help authors’ views on JavaHelp’s importance 4% found it invaluable, a core component 6% found it very important to their projects 9% found it useful, but could get along without it 11% used it very little in their projects 69% had no need for it Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts Presenting a JavaHelp System Enhancements Components of a JavaHelp System Contents What is JavaHelp? Demo

© 2000 Kevin Lewis All rights reserved. More Information  JavaHelp Web site   JavaHelp list archives  interest.html  “Creating Effective JavaHelp”   These slides maintained on the Web  Help-Authoring Tools Closing Thoughts Presenting a JavaHelp System Enhancements Components of a JavaHelp System Contents What is JavaHelp? Demo