Package javax.help
JavaHelp supports the notion of a HelpSet that encompases all documentation information. There is a simple way to read a HelpSet, create a presentation for it, and interact with it and there is also a collection of Swing components that can be used directly for additional control. JavaHelp presents content using Swing's EditorKits, which provide for extensibility of content. JavaHelp also provides for extensibility of context via the notion of a NavigatorView; several views are standard. One of the standard views provides full-text search, which relies on a simple search package to communicate with search engines.
Basic Classes
HelpSet
is the main class, providing
access to a HelpSet file.
A visual presentation of a HelpSet can be obtained through
a HelpBroker
which is an abstraction
that permits interaction regardless of the presentation
details;
the default presentation is DefaultHelpBroker
.
An application can provide online help using only these two classes.
Helpsets can be merged dynamically or statically, and can be associated with Beans.
Swing components
JavaHelp provides a collection of Swing components that are used to implement the DefaultHelpBroker and can also be used directly. The components follow the standard MVC from Swing.HelpModel
models changes to the location within a
HelpSet--components that want to respond to these changes should
listen to events originating within the model (this is how
synchronized views work). TextHelpModel
provides
additional information when the content is textual.
DefaultHelpModel
is the default model that implements both
models.
JHelpContentViewer
is the Swing component for HTML content,
while context corresponds to several subclasses of
JHelpNavigator
.
JHelp
is a common grouping of these
classes into synchronized views of content.
Extensibility
Context extensibility is described through aNavigatorView
which provides access to context
information, plus a way of presenting this information.
TOCView
, IndexView
, and
SearchView
are standard views for table of contents,
index, and full-text search.
The standard views yield standard JHelpTOCNavigator
,
JHelpIndexNavigator
, and
JHelpSearchNavigator
Swing components. The standard
views also provide access to the content--this access is
provides through subclasses
of TreeItem
.
New views can be added, for instance a new TOC presentation can be obtained by subclassing TOCView and changing the JHelpNavigator returned by it.
Context Sensitive Help
JavaHelp supports aMap
between identifiers and URLs.
FlatMap
and TryMap
are two
implementations.
The main class used to associate specific content with graphic
objects is CSH
, while DialogSupport
provides support in Dialogs (this may migrate to Swing at some
point).
Search
JavaHelp supports a standard full-text search view and navigator. The view interacts with a search engine through the types in thejavax.javahelp.search
package. The reference
implementation provides a search engine that implements these interfaces,
but others can also be used. The specific search engine is part
of the information given to the search view. This separation
provides the full-text search functionality but does not
imposing specific formats.
Related Documentation
For overviews, tutorials, examples, guides, tool support, and other documentation, please see the JavaHelp System User's Guide.
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ClassDescriptionAppend merge typeAn ID was attempted to be created with incorrect argumentsA convenience class that provides simple access to context-senstive help functionality.An ActionListener that displays help on a selected object after tracking context-sensitive events.An ActionListener that displays the help of the object that currently has focus.An ActionListener that gets the helpID for the action source and displays the helpID in the help viewer.CSH Manager Interface to support dynamic
HelpSet
andID
for object.An implmentation of the HelpBroker interfaceDefaultHelpHistoryModel is default implementation of HelpHistoryModel interfaceThis class implements the javax.help.HelpModel API and notifies the JHelpModel listeners when changes occur.A default implementation of TextHelpModel.HighlightA class for individual favorites items.A class for Favorites node.Navigational View information for the FavoritesA default TreeItemFactory that can be used to parse Favorites items as used by this navigator.A FlatMap is a simple implementation of a Map.View information for a Glossary NavigatorThe HelpBroker is the default presentation of a HelpSet.The interface to the history model.The interface to the model of a JHelp that represents the HelpSet being presented to the user.A HelpSet is a collection of help information consisting of a HelpSet file, table of contents (TOC), index, topic files, and Map file.The default HelpSetFactory that processes HelpSets.HelpSet Presentation class.This exeception reports generic failures in HelpSet.Provides a number of utility functions: Support for Beans, mapping from a Bean class to its HelpSet and to its ID.A class for individual index items.Navigational View information for an IndexA default TreeItemFactory that can be used to parse TOC items as used by this navigator.The HelpSet is not a (transitive) sub-HelpSet of some context HelpSet.JHelpNavigator cannot deal with given NavigatorView.Displays HelpSet data with navigators and a content viewer.A component to represent the Help viewer that can be embedded if desired.JHelpFavoritesNavigator is a JHelpNavigator for Favorites.JHelpGlossaryNavigator is a JHelpNavigator for a GlossaryJHelpIndexNavigator is a JHelpNavigator for an Index.A JHelpNavigator is a control that presents navigational help data.A JHelpNavigator for search data.A JHelpNavigator for a TOC.MainWindow is a class that will create a single main help window for an application.A Map is the interface to ID<->URL mapping.An ID is a pair of String, HelpSet.Common superclass for all merge typesDefault Merge factory which creates concrete Merge objectsCommon utilities for merge typesNavigational View informationNo merge typePopup is a Presentation class that will create a popup help window for an application.Presentation is an abstract class providing a generic interface for the development of alternative Presentations.Stores search information for individual Search hits.Stores Search TOC items.Navigational View information for a SearchMainWindowPresentation is a class that will create a single main help window for an application.An implmentation of the HelpBroker interface for ServletsSort merge typeProvides a number of utility functions: Support for Beans, mapping from a Bean class to its HelpSet and to its ID.The interface to a HelpModel that manipulates text.This is very similar to javax.swing.text.Highlighter.Highlight except that it does not use the notion of HighlightPainter.A class for individual TOC itemsNavigational View information for a TOC.A default TreeItemFactory that can be used to parse TOC items as used by this navigator.The base items known to TOC, Index and Favorites Navigators.A factory for creating TreeItems.A Map that can combine a number of other Maps in an efficient manner.Unite-append merge typeThis is a platform-independent stand-in for the java.lang classWindow Presentation is an abstract class providing a generic interface for the development of Window Presentations.