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Subject:Re: online help for java applet? From:Bettina and Scott Wahl <bbormann -at- NETCOM -dot- CA> Date:Fri, 2 Jul 1999 12:11:22 -0400
Hi Elise,
We do our online help for our GUI, which runs as both a Java applet and a Java
application, in plain HTML. The Java code for each screen links to a specific
HTML file with a <frameset>. The <frameset> opens a TOC page and a content page
(TOC on the left, content on the right).
This solution provides context-sensitive information but also gives users the
ability to navigate to other sections in the online help. And we don't need to
create anything but straight HTML, using whatever HTML editor you prefer, from
Notepad to Dreamweaver. With minimal work, we can also put this HTML
information on our intranet and extranet sites. Many customers take our HTML
and put it on their own tech support intranet sites.
Scott
Kaplan, Elise wrote:
> We are developing a graphical front-end to our software product. The GUI
> front-end is a java applet that runs in a browser window. Here in the doc
> group, we have been working on producing HTMLhelp to support the GUI.
> Today, however, we learned that the java applet can't link to an individual
> file within the .chm, only the default location in the .chm itself. We
> really need some context-sensitivity than this--our application includes
> 3300 screens.
>
> The tech who has been working on the issue suggested javahelp, but I don't
> think this delivery will be acceptable because javahelp currently does not
> support printing. Our users definitely need the ability to print selected
> information as a reference.
>
> I've been thinking of investigating webhelp, as I've heard good things about
> it. Anybody have any other suggestions? We will be using Frame, and will
> also be using Frame's conditional text to produce a PDF online reference for
> our customers who are using the greenscreen front-end. Our documentation
> set is about 10,000 pages.
>
> Thanks in advance for any wisdom you can offer
