Program Help for web pages

This information is for developers connecting context-sensitive Help topics to web pages.

  1. Talk to the Help author to determine the following:

    • Who provides the map numbers.

    • If the project has context-sensitive Help.

    • Where the Help system resides (locally or on a server).

  2. Open your web pages.

  3. Link the pages to RoboHelp_csh.js.

  4. Call the function contained in RoboHelp_csh.js wherever you call Help from the website.

Program Help for web pages (WebHelp/Pro)

Use the context-sensitive Help support files. These files allow developers to call built-in functionality.

The example below shows one way to declare a JavaScript function that displays a secondary dialog. The ShowHelp function shows the specified topic in a custom window with the attributes defined by the strHelpOptions variable.

var strHelpOptions = "location=no"; 
strHelpOptions += ",toolbar=no"; 
strHelpOptions += ",menubar=yes"; 
strHelpOptions += ",status=yes"; 
strHelpOptions += ",scrollbars=yes"; 
strHelpOptions += ",resizable=yes"; 
strHelpOptions += ",top=0"; 
strHelpOptions += ",left=0"; 
strHelpOptions += ",width=400"; 
strHelpOptions += ",height=400"; 
function ShowHelp(strUrl) 
{  
    window.open(strUrl, "Help", strHelpOptions); 
}

To use ShowHelp, place the above script between the </HEAD> and <BODY> tags in the HTML file. Include an anchor tag like the following where users can get help:

Help!

This tag makes a hyperlink with the text Help! When an end user clicks the hyperlink, widget.htm opens in a secondary browser.

Function calls from web pages

Note: This information is for developers connecting context-sensitive WebHelp, WebHelp Pro, FlashHelp, or FlashHelp Pro topics to web pages.

In the following examples, the API shares the same parameters regardless of output type. The only change made is the location of the Help file.

RH_ShowHelp syntax

function RH_ShowHelp(hParent, a_pszHelpFile, uCommand, dwData)

Parameter

Data Type

Description

 
hParent

var

Reserved for future versions of API. Use "0."

 
a_pszHelpFile

var

Help source For WebHelp: "<Path to project start page>" (Can be local or on a server) For WebHelp Pro: "http://[server name]/roboapi.asp"

*Optional: To specify a window, use ">WindowName" at the end of this parameter

 
uCommand

var

Constants:

HH_DISPLAY_INDEX Displays Index pane and default topic.

HH_DISPLAY_SEARCH Displays Search pane and default topic.

HH_DISPLAY_TOC Displays Contents pane and default topic.

HH_HELP_CONTEXT Opens topic associated with map ID in dwData parameter.

 
dwData

var

Map ID of the topic displayed. To obtain the map ID, the author can export the map file for a programming language using HH_HELP_CONTEXT in the uCommand parameter.

RH_OpenHelpTopic Syntax

Call the "RH_OpenHelpTopic" function to open a WebHelp/FlashHelp topic.
function RH_OpenHelpTopic(a_pszHelpMainPage, a_pszRelTopicUrl)

Parameter

Data Type

Description

a_pszHelpMainPage

var

Help source for WebHelp/FlashHelp: "Path to project start page". To specify a window, append ">WindowName" at the end Path to the project start page.

a_pszRelTopicUrl

var

Relative path of the topic corresponding to the main page.
To launch the entire Help system (open to the default topic), make a Help call that sets uCommand to HH_DISPLAY_INDEX, HH_DISPLAY_SEARCH, or HH_DISPLAY_TOC, and dwData to "0". In WebHelp Pro systems, default window settings for default navigation buttons override the HH_DISPLAY constant.

Call a context-sensitive function for WebHelp Pro

  1. Call the following API for getting the context-sensitive information from the server.

    The following example assumes that you have stored the full path to your RoboHelp server and a window name (optional) in a string variable called StrPathAndWindow. The project name is required if the Auto-Merge option is set to Off in the RoboEngine Configuration Manager. Examples of the value of this string are “http://RoboHelp Server:port/robohelp/server” or “http://RoboHelp Server:port/robohelp/server?project=MyProject>MyWindow.”

    Note: Ask your technical writer which windows to call. Also, if the writer creates the map files, ask the writer to export the map files to the location.

    For example:

    To open the topic mapped as number 1:

    <p>Click for Help (map number 1)</p>

  2. Run the application and test the Help call.

Note: In WebHelp Pro projects, the new context-sensitive Help API is supported only in RoboEngine 3.0 or later.

Call a context-sensitive function for WebHelp or FlashHelp

  1. Call the following API for getting the context-sensitive information from the server.

    http://servername>/robohelp/rest/robowindow?wtype=ctx&context=<MAP ID>

    For example:

    To open the topic mapped as number 1, change the <MAP ID> with 1.

  2. Run the application and test the Help call.