ColdFusion Builder Help System

While you work in ColdFusion Builder, you can display context-sensitive Help for specific user interface elements of the workbench (views and dialog boxes) and language-reference help for code elements.

    Adobe Community Help Client

    Adobe Community Help client (CHC) is an AIR application that displays help content for ColdFusion Builder. The Help content is served directly from the web. When you open the CHC for the first time, an Internet connection is needed. You can then download the Help content to your desktop to use and search offline.

    To open and view the ColdFusion Builder Help system, select Help > ColdFusion Builder Help.

    Use context-sensitive Help

    1. Select a view, dialog box, or any other user interface element in the workbench.

    2. Press F1 (Windows) to open the associated Help page in the Community Help Client.

    To use context-sensitive Help on Mac OS, set a keyboard shortcut to the Dynamic Help command. To specify a keyboard shortcut for the Dynamic Help command, do the following:

    1. Select Adobe ColdFusion Builder > Preferences.

    2. In the tree view, select General > Keys.

    3. Select the Dynamic Help command.

    4. Press the key binding combination that you want to set. For example, to enter Ctrl+Shift+1, press and hold the keys Ctrl and Shift and then press 1. A plus sign (+) between the keys indicates that you must press the keys in succession.

    Community Help Client Preferences

    You can set CHC preferences to control the Help content display.

    1. In the CHC, select Edit > Preferences.

    2. In the Preferences dialog box, set the following options, as required.

    General Settings

    • You can select a light or dark theme for the CHC. A theme is a formatting choice that determines the appearance of the CHC. For example, when you apply a dark theme, the CHC has a dark background and theme-specific fonts.

    • The CHC is launched as an AIR application, by default. You can, however, choose to launch the CHC in your web browser. To do so, select On (Launch Help In Browser).

    Download Preferences

    You can select the products and Help packages that you want to have available for offline use.

    Updater Settings

    CHC provides content updates and feature enhancements without reinstalling the AIR application. Select Notify Me When Updates Are Available to be prompted for new updates when you either open or close the CHC. You can also choose to manually search and install updates.

    Local Content

    You can manually delete the Help packages that you downloaded to your desktop.

    Search and Filter options

    CHC lets you search across different Help packages and search locations.

    Click Search Options to display the following Search locations.

    Local Help
    Searches the Help package downloaded to your desktop for offline viewing. Click Filter Results to narrow down your search results to a specific book in the Help package.

    Adobe.com
    Searches up-to-date definitive reference content across all online resources available on adobe.com, including Developer Center articles, tutorials, and knowledgebase articles.

    Community Help
    This search is cumulative of all the resources available on adobe.com as well as the most relevant content contributed by experts from the Adobe community.

    Code Search
    The integrated code search lets you search through relevant code snippets available on adobe.com

    Dynamic navigation

    CHC provides dynamic navigation based on search results to find related content. All related content appears in the Related Topics tab.

    Feedback and rating

    You can comment on, rate, and contribute to Help content if you have a valid Adobe ID. If you do not have an Adobe ID, you can get one by registering yourself at https://www.adobe.com/membership.

    Click Feedback And Rating in the bottom left-corner of the CHC, and provide your feedback. You can provide feedback in the form of a tip, example, or by suggesting a link to a relevant online resource.

    Eclipse Help System

    The Eclipse Help system displays CFML reference Help for code elements. The Eclipse Help system also displays Help for any third-party plug-ins that you install or that come packaged with ColdFusion Builder.

    To open and view the Eclipse Help system, select Help > Help Contents.

    Display CFML Reference Help

    The CFML Reference is integrated into ColdFusion Builder, letting you quickly review the reference Help for a CFML tag or function.

    • To open the Help topic for a CFML tag or function, do the following:

      1. In the CFML editor, select a CFML tag element or function by highlighting or placing the pointer on the built-in tag or function name.

      2. Press F1 (Windows) or the equivalent keyboard shortcut for Mac OS. A link to the Help page for the selected tag is displayed in the docked Help window.

        Note: In Mac OS, when you press Command+Shift+/ to view Help for a CFML tag or function, generic editor Help appears in the docked Help window. To see the tag or function-specific Help, click the selected tag or function name in the CFML Editor again.

      3. Click the Help page link. The Help page for the selected tag or function is displayed.

    Set Help Preferences

    You can set Help preferences to control how Help is displayed in the Eclipse Help system.

    1. In ColdFusion Builder, select Window > Preferences.

    2. In the Preferences dialog box, you see a tree-view structure on the left side. Select Help.

    3. Set the following options, as required.

      Use External Browser
      Lets you display help in a web browser of your choice. By default, the embedded browser of the IDE displays Help. Select the Use External Browser check box and then select the Web Browser link to select your web browser.

      Open Window Context Help
      Determines how to display context-sensitive Help links for an open window. By default, context-sensitive Help links are displayed in the Dynamic Help view which, when opened, is docked into the current perspective like all other views. To display context-sensitive Help links in an infopop (similar to a tooltip), select In An Infopop.

      Open Dialog Context Help
      Determines how to display context-sensitive Help links for an open dialog box. By default, Help is displayed in the dialog box. To display context-sensitive Help links in an infopop (similar to a tooltip), select In An Infopop.

      Open Help View Documents
      Determines where to display documents that are opened from links in Dynamic Help. By default, In-place is selected, and Help documents open in the Dynamic Help view window. To open Help documents in the ColdFusion Builder IDE editing area, select In-place.

    Use dynamic Help

    Dynamic Help is docked to the current perspective and displays topics for the associated views and dialog boxes.

     Select Help > Dynamic Help.

    To change the default keyboard shortcut binding, select Window > Preferences > General > Keys, and change the associated binding for the Dynamic Help command. For more information on changing keyboard shortcuts, see Keyboard shortcuts.