Re: Question: Context Help for Java Apps (kinda long)

[""Renée L. LaPlume"" <rlaplume -at- RORKE -dot- COM>]

Note to listers:  I wrote this reply for and to Kathryn, but decided
to copy it to the list as well in case anyone else was interested.
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At 12:08 PM 7/7/98 -0700, you wrote:
>Yes, if you don't mind, I'd like to hear what your programmers have to
>say. Any reason why you chose to do HTML Help? That's what we were
>originally going to do because we though the app would run on both PC
>and Mac; also we were trying to plan for the future transition to
>Internet-based applications.
>
>But it ended up that this application runs on PC only, which is why I
>chose just to use WinHelp (also I'm not too familiar with HTML Help).
>It's not an Internet application either.

We chose to create an HTML based type of help system because our
application runs on both Macintosh and PC clients, and thus we needed a
cross platform help solution.  Also, our product is available through
both an intranet interface (through a browser), as well as a regular
application interface.  I've created our online help system using
the Create Web Site option on RoboHELP.  Thus, it isn't a true
Microsoft HTML Help system type of system - it's more like a web site
that has been designed to look like online help.  I'll probably be using
RoboHELP's WebHelp for their cross platform solution during our next release.
I'll also be looking into Sun's JavaHelp, Oracle Help, and possibly
other products such as Jelp, to see what they offer and if we would use
them instead of or in addition to RoboHELP's WebHelp.  I haven't done the
research to know which product or combination of products would work for us
yet, and I know several of them are not in a final release state yet.

I sent your question to several of our Java programmers and have so far
received the following two responses (if I get more, I'll pass them on too):

>So, do any of you know any real reason why Java couldn't be
>used to call WinHelp for a context sensitive help system?

Programmer #1's response:
   It could (I think), but of course it wouldn't be cross platform.

   If WinHelp runs as a standalone application,  runtime.exec()   (a java
method)
   could be used to exectute the winHelp application.

Programmer #2's response:
   I am assuming with the sentence

   >> >but the programmer tells me that context-sensitive help is
   >> >not possible because of the limitations of Java. Is this true?

   the programmer meant that native WinHelp is not possible with Java. Well,
   yes and no.

   Of course, context sensitive help is possible with Java. See FLEXSTOR.db.

[Note from Renee:  FLEXSTOR.db is our product, which has context sensitive
                   help at the window level.]

   If he means WinHelp, i.e. the Windows Help File Format (which, by the way,
   is replaced by HTML help in Win98), and implementing it with native calls
   to the Windows API, naturally, you bind yourself to the Windows platform
   and give up PureJava as well as portability. I would say it is possible,
   but it might not be the solution you want.