An author organizes help information into a logical framework.
Most times, but not always, this results in an outline, or a hierarchy
of topics. The topic hierarchy in Figure 1-8 “Hierarchy of
topics” consists of a main level, three
sections, and subordinate topics. Although Help has been optimized
for information that is organized in a hierarchy, you are free to
create any kind of organization you want.
Help Topic |
 |
A help topic
is a unit of information identified with a unique ID. A set of tags
provided by the Help System is used to mark help topics and create
a structural framework. The Help Viewer, which is part of the Help
System, is able to directly access and display a help topic.
Help Volume |
|
A help volume is a collection of topics
that describe an application or a particular subject. If you are
developing application help, typically there's one help volume per
application. However, for complex applications, or a collection
of related applications, you might develop several help volumes.
Help Family |
|
Often, software is available as a set of related applications
known as a product family. For example, a set
of office productivity applications may include a word processor,
a spreadsheet application, and a drawing program. Because each application
may have its own help volume, it may be desirable to group the related
help volumes in a help family. A help family
can include a single help volume or several volumes.
Assembling your help volumes into a help family is optional.
It is required only if you want your help available for browsing
within a help browser such as the Help Viewer
in the Front Panel.
Refer to “To Create a Help Family”
for a description of help family files and how they are used.
Help Index Volume |
|
The desktop provides a special help volume called the index
volume that lists help installed on your system. Clicking the Help
Viewer control in the Front Panel displays the index volume shown
in Figure 1-9 “Browser help
volume”
It lists help families (underlined titles) and any volumes
that are members of the help family.
The browser volume allows access to application-specific help
without using the application. Or, if you are writing standalone
help, this is the only way for users to get to your help. Even if
you have only a single help volume, it must belong to a help family
to be browsable using the Help Viewer.
“Adding
Your Help to the Index Volume” describes
how to create a family file and what you need to do to make your
help volume accessible from the browser help volume.
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