NetHelp2 FAQ

What is Netscape Help?

Netscape Help (or NetHelp) is a collection of HTML-based online help technologies created to solve various online help needs for Netscape products.

NetHelp 2.0 is the latest NetHelp technology, and is used for the online help in the Communicator product line. The NetHelp 2.0 SDK (Software Development Kit) provides tools and information for help authors to create and distribute their own NetHelp 2.0 help systems.

NetHelp technologies use Netscape Navigator 3.0 or later as an HTML-based online help viewer. Through code that we make available on our web site, any application can launch Navigator and have Navigator display specified HTML files in a NetHelp window. Additionally, NetHelp can be run entirely from a server, and accessed solely through HTML pages.

Why is Netscape developing an online help system?

Netscape needs to provide online help for Netscape client, server, and tool products. Since Netscape products work across a large variety of platforms, online help also has to work across many platforms. At the same time, Netscape's Technical Publications organization needs to single-source content for manuals, online help, and the Web. Since no other help authoring environments meet those needs, we developed NetHelp as
the solution.

So you're competing with Microsoft's HTML Help?

No. NetHelp was developed primarily to provide online help for Netscape products. At the same time, we realized that help authors outside the company might also benefit from a truly cross-platform, single-sourced, online help technology. That's why NetHelp has been released to the public.

What's different about NetHelp 2.0?

NetHelp 2.0 extends NetHelp 1.0's context-sensitive API and ID mapping functions to include the following features:

nethelp: URL designator Table of Contents Keyword Index tools JavaScript Button Control Dynamic HTML Layers and Absolute Positioning Dynamic Style Sheets Text Find function Print function Secondary Windows

Is NetHelp designed only to provide Help for Web-based content or is it a replacement for context-sensitive and procedural Help for any kind of application?

It's both. NetHelp can reside on a web site, and be accessed entirely through HTML, or it can be called from a local application to view its HTML help files.

NetHelp is just HTML, right?

NetHelp content is uncompiled, straight HTML. NetHelp functionality is provided through JavaScript functions, Dynamic HTML, and calls to the browser's built-in functions. There is no native code in NetHelp--all code is cross-platform.

What platforms will NetHelp support?

NetHelp supports all platforms supported by Netscape Navigator. For Navigator 4, part of the Communicator client suite, this list includes the following platforms:

What does it cost?  Do I need to license Navigator?

NetHelp, including the API, sample code, and SDK, is free. Much of NetHelp's functionality is already built in to Netscape Navigator. Sample code used to hook up native applications may be used in your product and distributed without a licensing fee. Graphic files, such as the buttons used in the SDK's sample help system, can be reused without a licensing fee.

Since Navigator is currently the only browser that supports the level of JavaScript needed to run NetHelp, Navigator is required. Bundling Navigator with your product requires a licensing fee.

Will NetHelp work on other browsers besides Navigator 4?

NetHelp exploits new methods and functions available only in the latest version of JavaScript. Currently, that version, JavaScript 1.2, is supported only in Navigator 4. Other browsers, including Internet Explorer, also support their versions of JavaScript, albeit perhaps a down-rev version.

The NetHelp 2.0 implementation supplied in the SDK exploits the new nethelp URL, which also is currently supported only in Navigator 4.

What do I need to construct a NetHelp system?  Do I need special tools?

To construct a NetHelp system, you need only to create help content files. NetHelp content is standard HTML with a few special tags to denote index and table of contents data. Any means of generating standard HTML, including simple text editors to WYSIWYG tools, is valid for producing NetHelp content. Table of Contents and Index data files are produced by the Java applet provided in the SDK.

All other files are provided in the SDK.

Does each topic have to be a separate HTML file?

That's up to you as the help designer. If you want each topic to be its own file, the system handles that. If you prefer to have one large file, with each topic jumping to a named anchor, you can do that too.

Note however, that the NetHelp Builder included in the NetHelp 2.0 SDK is optimized for larger files containing multiple topics. At this time, using separate HTML files for each topic requires some manual editing of the help project files.

What do you provide for Table of Contents and Index navigation?

NetHelp provides JavaScript Table of Contents and Index tools. Because they're implemented in JavaScript, these tools work across all Netscape platforms without changes.

How do the Table of Contents and Index tools work?

The NetHelp SDK provides a Java applet -- the NetHelp Builder -- that scans through your HTML content files for special tags. The Builder generates Contents and Index data files that are displayed by the JavaScript tools.

What about Find and Search?

NetHelp provides a simple Find function to search the contents of the topic pane for a specified text string. A more robust search solution is under investigation.

Is NetHelp customizable?

Yes. Customization of the NetHelp user interface (UI) is one of NetHelp's primary design features. For example, you might want to customize the look of the help window to better match your application's UI. To get help authors jump-started, the NetHelp 2.0 SDK includes a Template Gallery on our SDK site.

What UI modifications will you support? (buttons, etc.)

It's easy to change colors, layout, and sizes of panes. Using the JavaScript button control provided in the SDK, you can simply change the supplied graphics to provide your own custom look. Other UI elements and design concepts will be provided in subsequent updates to the SDK.

Will you have popup windows ala "What's This" help? If no, how will you handle that form of Help?

NetHelp 2.0 does not support What's This help for Windows applications, where a small window of limited size and capabilities is "popped up" over a native application UI. Since the small window does not make any use of the benefits of an HTML-based help system, this function is better left to a native help system. If this feature is important to you, we'd recommend a hybrid Help system. Continue to use the OS-specific method for "What's This" and tool tips, in addition to HTML-based reference and procedural Help.

For Crossware applications, where UI is coded in Dynamic HTML, NetHelp's nethelp URL feature allows easy connection of What's This-style windows to event triggers in the DHTML interface.

Does NetHelp support popup windows?

Regular popup windows can be implemented in NetHelp using Dynamic HTML. For example, other popup implementations require an ActiveX control to provide the popup window. That's available only on Windows. A popup window using Dynamic HTML, like NetHelp's, would be available on any platform and will work on any DHTML-capable browser.

We're working on updating our popup implementation from the earlier LAYER tag to a Dynamic HTML implementation. These functions will be provided in an update to the SDK.

Does NetHelp support multiple secondary windows?

Yes. You can use either JavaScript to create multiple windows. NetHelp secondary windows are "owned" by the help implementation, that is, unlike secondary windows spawned from a regular browser window, NetHelp secondary windows can be controlled from the help system.  For example, you can specify that when a particular NetHelp window is closed, accompanying secondary windows are closed as well.

We'll provide an addendum to the SDK documenting the secondary window support.

Will you have differing windows for procedural help vs context-sensitive Help?

Netscape Help supports different windows. You can design as many different types of windows as you feel appropriate. The NetHelp 2.0 Template Gallery includes UIs with differing windows.

If someone wanted to build a "local" (disk or CD-ROM based) title, could they use your system?

Yes.

It sounds like for stand-alone use, a setup of some kind will probably be required.

As part of an application's help system, the multiple HTML files could be installed during the setup program for the application itself, much in the same way WinHelp .hlp files are installed today. WinHelp authors have the same problem if they use multiple .hlp files in a help system; the files are usually installed together in a help directory off the application's directory on the local drive in order for interfile jumps (using the JumpID macro, for example) to work correctly. The same solution works for NetHelp--the files would be installed in the same directory during setup.

In terms of standalone help files, we're seeing a trend of that information delivery mechanism migrating to the Web. Lots of help authors extended WinHelp into uses besides online help, such as online policy manuals, or electronic books, prior to the advent of HTML and the World Wide Web. These types of information have started to migrate to web-based solutions. For example, online policy manuals are now implemented on many Intranets.

Netscape Help is intended for use as online assistance. For non-help uses, Intranets and conventional web sites seem to be the direction many people are taking.

One other alternative is digital paper formats, such as Adobe Acrobat. Netscape Help supports Acrobat (PDF) files through the Adobe plugin, so you can display PDF files in your NetHelp system.

Does all components have to reside on the server, not the client? Or will things reside in both places?

That will be up to the Help designer. Depending on the situation, either solution (or both) may be appropriate. For example, you may not want the user to install large multimedia files locally--you might choose to keep them on the server.

In addition, you might keep information that gets updated frequently on the server, and have Netscape Help access the server-based file. Information that needs to be accessed without a server connection could reside locally.

The current version of the NetHelp 2.0 SDK emphasizes the creation of NetHelp 2.0 systems that reside on the client. More information on developing served NetHelp 2.0 content will be available in future updates.

What about some form of ExecFile function that lets us author a hotspot to open an app or applet?

Yes. You can use Netscape LiveConnect technology (JavaScript, plug-ins, Java applets, and HTML elements working together) to interact with other apps or applets.

In NetHelp, can I do anything I can do in Navigator?

Anything that you can display in Navigator, you can display in your Help system--animated GIFs, tables, dynamic HTML, CSS and CSSP, plug-ins, RealAudio, Real Video, other multimedia formats, JavaScript code and even Java applets--anything that Navigator 4.0 supports.

Where can I find more information on NetHelp2?

Check out the NetHelp Developer's Site at http://home.netscape.com/eng/help.

How can I ask a question of my own?

Send all queries to nethelp.


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