Java Help

[Lori H Guillory <lhguillory -at- JUNO -dot- COM>]

I have been sending this memo out to individuals asking about Java help.
With all the questions that have been popping up on the list, I thought
it might be beneficial (and take  less time for me) to post it.

-----------------------------------

One thing about Java applications is that if the application is
cross-platform, the help should be too.  Also, are you insisting that
your users have a 3rd party browser?  If so, which one?

We ran into these problems, and decided that we would provide a Java
browser with our application since users will have different setups,
defaults, etc.

Here's a small memo that I put together that summarizes my research.
Since I use Juno and it doesn't have attachment capabilities, I'll have
to paste it in.


Review of Java Browsers and Online Help Authoring Systems

Browsers

1. HTML Browser  (barium.tn.tudelft.nl/people/good/java/html/Html.html)
HTML Browser is an applet called by the Java application.  It supports
HTML 2.0, but cannot handle frames, forms, or tables.  We must contact
Frans van Gool (F -dot- A -dot- van -dot- Gool -at- tn -dot- tudelft -dot- nl) for the cost of commercial
use.

2. ICE Browser by DataTechnology
(www.bgnett.no/datatech/ICEBrowser/index.html)
 ICE Browser is used for embedding an HTML browser into a Java
application.  It supports HTML 3.2. A multi-user license with source code
costs $5000.  Included in the cost is one year of upgrades and there are
no run-time fees.  For the cost of a corporate license, contact
DataTechnology.

3. JHelp (w3.nai.net/~rvdi/jhelp/jhelp2/jhelp.html)
 JHelp supports popups, frames, topic printing, resource bundling, and
automatic generation of index.  It supports HTML 2.0, with some 3.2
functionality.  JHelp?s cost for over 500 end users is $650 with source
code.

4. JelpViewer (www.jelp.com)
JelpViewer is a Java browser used with Jelp online help.  This product
has only recently entered beta testing.  Using JelpViewer would require
that the documentation team learns a new online help software.


Online Help Solutions

1. Write the online help in straight HTML.  Writing an entire help system
in straight HTML will be difficult since straight HTML does not provide
any user interface or much control over page layout.

2. Convert a Word document to Java using Net-It Now.  Net-It-Now would be
the perfect solution if we didn?t use hypertext links.  Net-It-Now
accepts hypertext links, but only when they are created manually within
Net-It-Now.  Manually inserting hypertext links would be an unnecessarily
time-consuming task, since we normally have many hypertext links, which
change often.  Net-It-Now costs $295 for one license.

3. Create help in Robohelp and use Robohelp?s RTF-to-HTML converter.  The
documentation teams know Robohelp thoroughly.  With Robohelp 95, any
Robohelp file can be converted to HTML on the fly, which means that the
document can be easily updated and/or modified as often as necessary.
Robohelp can automatically generate a table of contents and an index,
both of which are made into HTML topic pages.  Robohelp costs nothing
because we already own licenses.

4. Use FrontPage to create and/or enhance HTML pages.  The only problem
with FrontPage is that it uses ActiveX controls for some functionality.
If we decide to use FrontPage, we will have to convert any ActiveX
controls to JavaBeans.  FrontPage costs nothing because we already own
licenses.

5. Create HTML pages using Microsoft?s HTMLHelp.  HTMLHelp uses ActiveX
controls for some functionality.  Microsoft is creating an HTMLHelp
version that uses Java instead, but it hasn?t yet been deployed.

6. Create Java help using FutureTense Texture.  FutureTense Texture is a
drag-and-drop Java program that separates form from content.  Using
FutureTense Texture would require that the documentation teams learns
another software during a tight timeline.

7. Use Jelp to create the Java help.  Jelp supports context sensitivity,
popups, and RTF-to-HTML conversion.  However, Jelp is only in beta
version, and no support is provided for the beta version. Jelp is to Java
what Robohelp is for Winhelp.

Another good Java resource is //www.gamelan.com.

Hope this helps.  Good luck!!!

Lori H. Guillory
lhguillory -at- juno -dot- com

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