1. Power Hour November 2010 Implementing Context-Sensitive Help
Ben Allums
Conference Number: Participant Code:

2. December 2010 Power Hour Cancelled!
Power Hour – November 2010
Agenda
Survey Results
Implementing Context-sensitive Help
Webinars of Interest
December 2010 Power Hour Cancelled!
See you in January!

3. Power Hour – November 2010
Survey Results

4. Survey Results
When to meet:
January

5. Survey Results
Topics to cover:
January

6. Survey Results Topics to cover:
Easy and efficient ways to generate HTML man pages via FM9 and WW2010 Webinar: Study Hall
Effective strategy for use of external CSS - what NOT to use in Style Designer, exactly HOW WW outputs HTML in WebWorks Help & other HTML formats - so we know HOW to impl. CSS (Div and Span for example), a block by block analysis of Pages.asp, so we know intelligently how to alter, etc. Topic: Power CSS - Understanding ePublisher Page Templates and generated HTML

7. Survey Results Topics to cover:
Implementing context-sensitive help (the 24th doesn't work, can you do a second one after the holiday?) Rescheduling to some other day (how about the 22nd for November and December) would be easier to schedule/commit to in light of holidays Recording: Power Hour Archive
Conditional publishing with DITA Webinar: Show Me! on December 16th
Customize the look of the Dynamic HTML style to have a 3 pane look like the WebWorks5 template only minus the Search tab/JavaScript portion Topic: Tri-pane HTML - Customizing Dynamic HTML : WebWorks Reverb (see November Show Me! recording)

8. Implementing Context-sensitive Help
Power Hour – November 2010
Implementing Context-sensitive Help

9. Implementing Context-sensitive Help
Questions to answer
What is context-sensitive help?
How does one author for help?
How do developers integrate help?
What are the pitfalls to success?

10. Implementing Context-sensitive Help
What is context-sensitive help?

11. What is context-sensitive help?
Associating a specific program context to a specific content context

12. What is context-sensitive help?
Requirements:
Identify content
Link application to content

13. What is context-sensitive help?
Identify
Context
Topic
Context
Topic
Context
Topic
Topic
Context
Topic
Topic
Topic

14. What is context-sensitive help?
Identify Microsoft HTML Help
reference.chm
3241
6324
concepts.chm
1324
tasks.chm
3456
#define topic_hlp 1324
#define topic_x 3241
#define topic_y 6324
2345
8767

15. What is context-sensitive help?
Identify Eclipse Help
com.help.ref
idx
idy
com.help.cncpt
idhlp
com.hlp.task
idask
idrep
idsug

16. What is context-sensitive help?
Identify WebWorks Help
reference x y
concepts
hlp
tasks
ask
rep
sug

17. What is context-sensitive help?
Identify
Context
Topic

18. What is context-sensitive help?
Link
Content
Application

19. What is context-sensitive help?
Link
Content authors
Embedded topic identifiers
External contexts
Developers
APIs
URIs

20. What is context-sensitive help?
Meet in the middle!
Content
Application
Map + API/URI

21. Implementing Context-sensitive Help
How does one author for help?

22. How does one author help?
Content authors
Embedded topic identifiers
External contexts

23. How does one author help?
Topics:
Adobe FrameMaker TopicAlias marker
Microsoft Word WebWorks TopicAlias marker (uses custom field codes)
DITA <resourceid> Provides an identifier for applications that require them in a particular format, when the normal id attribute of the topic can't be used <resourceid id="fred" appname="sql0375"/>

24. How does one author help?
Topics:
DITA (non-standard) <othermeta> The <othermeta> element can be used to identify properties not otherwise included in <metadata> and assign name/content values to those properties <othermeta name="Topic" content="metric" /> ePublisher treats these like markers Set “TopicAlias” behavior

25. How does one author help?
Contexts:
Microsoft HTML Help Path to .chm C:\Program Files\Application\Help.chm

26. How does one author help?
Contexts:
Eclipse Help plugin.xml <?eclipse version="3.0"?> <plugin> <extension point="org.eclipse.help.toc"> <toc file="hierarchy.xml"/> </extension> </plugin>

27. How does one author help?
Contexts:
Base URI

28. How does one author help?
Contexts (with ePublisher):
ePublisher top-level groups
Explicit contexts via Merge Settings dialog

29. Implementing Context-sensitive Help
How do developers integrate help?

30. What is context-sensitive help?
Link
Developers
APIs
URIs

31. How do developers integrate help?
APIs:
Microsoft HTML Help #include "topics.h" HtmlHelp(hwnd, "hlp.chm", HH_DISPLAY_TOPIC, idh_topic)

32. How do developers integrate help?
APIs:
Eclipse Help WorkbenchHelp.setHelp(myDialogBoxn, org.eclipse.demo.doc.example.select_a_wizard_dialog);

33. How do developers integrate help?
APIs:
WebWorks Help (C/C++) #include "wwhelp/wwhapi.h" WWHelp_Startup(BaseHelpURL); ... WWHelp_DisplayHelp("beta", "section1"); ... WWHelp_Shutdown();

34. How do developers integrate help?
APIs:
WebWorks Help (JavaScript) var MyHelpset;
help = new WWHAPI_Object(" "help_window"); ... help.WWHAPI_DisplayHelp("volume1", "myTopicAliasValue"); ... help.WWHAPI_CloseHelp();

35. How do developers integrate help?
URIs:
Browser based help

36. How do developers integrate help?
URIs:
WebWorks Help

37. Implementing Context-sensitive Help
What are the pitfalls to success?

38. What are the pitfalls to success?
The Arena!
Development
Help Authors
Content
Application
Map + API/URI

39. What are the pitfalls to success?
Assuming too much responsibility
Assuming too little responsibility
Battling for supremacy!
Not listening

40. What are the pitfalls to success?
Assuming too much responsibility
Development
Help Authors
Content
Application
Map + API/URI

41. What are the pitfalls to success?
Assuming too little responsibility
Development
Help Authors
Content
Application
Map + API/URI

42. What are the pitfalls to success?
Battling for supremacy!
Development
Help Authors
Content
Application
Map + API/URI

43. What are the pitfalls to success?
Not listening
Hearing suggestions as recommendations You say “I have a way to manage that in the documentation.” They hear “Tech Pubs is taking control away from Development!”
Negative feedback Translates to “I haven’t thought about it!”

44. What are the pitfalls to success?
Can’t we all just get along?
Development
Help Authors
&
Developers
Help Authors
Content
Application
Map + API/URI

45. What are the pitfalls to success?
Meet in the middle!
No single best way for every case
Tech Pubs manages topic maps
Development manages topic maps
Joint committee with topic maps in spreadsheets
Common XML format to inject into source and documentation
Find one that works for your project

46. Implementing Context-sensitive Help
Practice
Authoring in FrameMaker, Word, DITA
Configuring in ePublisher
Delivering
Let’s try it!

47. Power Hour – November 2010
Webinars of Interest

48. Webinars of Interest Show Me: December 16th at 11:30am Central
Topic: Conditional Text – Maintaining Content for Multiple Audiences
Learn what the ePublisher platform can do for you right out of the box.
Hosted by members of the WebWorks staff
Repeats on the 3rd Thursday of every month
Sign-up at

49. Webinars of Interest Study Hall: November 24th at 1:00pm Central
Open forum for ePublisher users
Ask questions or request help on custom projects
Hosted by members of the WebWorks development staff
Repeats on the 2nd and last Wednesdays of every month
Join at

50. December 2010 Power Hour Cancelled!
Webinars of Interest
Archives:
Power Hour
Show Me!
December 2010 Power Hour Cancelled!
See you in January!

51. Power Hour November 2010 Implementing Context-Sensitive Help
Ben Allums