Chapter 1 Introducing the HP Help System

Table of Contents

The HP Help System is a complete system for developing online help for application software. It allows authors to write online help that includes rich graphics and text formatting, hyperlinks, and communication with the application. HP Help provides a programmer's toolkit for integrating the help facilities into an application.

More specifically, here's what the HP Help System Developer's Kit includes:

For Authors.

The HP HelpTag markup language -- a set of "tags" used in text files to mark organization and content of your online help.
The HP HelpTag software -- a set of software tools for converting the HelpTag files you write into run-time help files.
The Helpview application -- a viewer program for displaying your online help so you can read it and interact with it just as your audience will.

Refer to “The Author's Job” to learn more about writing online help.

For Programmers.

The Xvh programming library -- an Application Programmer's Interface (API) for integrating help windows into your application.
A demonstration program -- a simple example that shows how to integrate the HP Help System into an OSF/Motif application.

Refer to “The Programmer's Job” to learn more about programming with the HP Help System.

This Manual Online. This manual is available online.

If you are using the HP Visual User Environment (HP VUE), version 3.0 or later, use Help Manager. Open the "HP Help System" family, then choose the "HP Help System Developer's Guide" title.
Or, if you are not using HP VUE, execute the following command in a terminal window:
/usr/vhelp/bin/helpview -helpVolume HPHelpKit &




	Tip!: The online version of this manual offers the time-saving advantage of making the examples accessible electronically. You can copy and paste them into your HelpTag files and then edit them to fit your needs.

Chapter 1 Introducing the HP Help System

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