Preface
This book is about JavaHelp™ from Sun Microsystems. JavaHelp is an online help system developed for the Java™ programming language. It is similar to other help systems, such as WinHelp and HTML Help, in that you use a table of contents (TOC), index, or word-search index to find and display help topics. JavaHelp can be used for many online documentation purposes, but its primary function is to provide an online help system to support Java applications.
Of course, as with any new online help system, people have many questions they need answered and demands they need addressed. This book attempts to address those questions and demands and teaches you how to develop usable online help systems with JavaHelp. To provide a comprehensive look at JavaHelp development, this book covers the main features and options of JavaHelp by presenting the following topics:
Understanding JavaHelp
Creating your first HelpSet
Planning the JavaHelp project
Preparing help topics
Creating HelpSet data and navigation files
Enhancing the HelpSet
Using the JavaHelp API for advanced presentation options
Deploying the help system to your users
Using third-party, help-authoring tools
Audience
While it would probably suffice to say that this book is for any person interested in learning JavaHelp and developing usable JavaHelp systems, I can think of two specific groups of people who will likely get the most out of this book: Java developers and technical writers.
Many Java developers don’t have technical writers to handle ...