Creating Effective JavaHelp

Chapter 8. Deploying the Help System to Your Users

This chapter discusses issues involved in deploying a JavaHelp-based help system to users—delivering the files in the HelpSet(s) you’ve developed along with the Java class files that implement the JavaHelp system itself. This chapter covers the following topics:

• Encapsulating the HelpSet

• Delivering all the required files

• Ensuring basic Java support

Encapsulating the HelpSet

A HelpSet can comprise hundreds or even thousands of files. When you deliver your JavaHelp system to users, you probably want to encapsulate each HelpSet into a single Java archive (JAR) file. (Some people call this “JARing the HelpSet.”) This is usually preferable for you and your users, avoiding the need to handle vast multitudes of files. It saves space, too: a JAR file is stored in compressed format.

This decision has no effect on the authoring process or on the logical functioning of the JavaHelp system. A HelpSet’s directory and file structure work the same way whether encapsulated in a JAR file or stored in the regular filesystem.

Before deciding whether or not to JAR your HelpSet, consider whether users (or you) will need to customize the help topics after they are installed at the user’s site. If users need to customize the help topics in your HelpSet, you shouldn’t place the HelpSet into a JAR file. Depending on the background of your users, they might not know how to retrieve files from the JAR file or how to JAR the HelpSet files again after they make ...