[brailleblaster] Re: Is there a library for context-sensitive help?

  • From: "John J. Boyer" <john.boyer@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: brailleblaster@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Fri, 25 Feb 2011 22:44:08 -0600

Thanks, Chris. I might use this for extended help, but I think that 
context-sensitive help is usually a short explanation of what a 
particular menu choice does and how to proceed, or an explanation of 
something in the text. It seems to me that the most user-friendly way to 
present this information would be with a dialog box with an OK button. 
This can be done using the SWT MessageBox class. Hsow much  is this used 
in applications? When I tried presing F1 on some MSWord menu choices it 
certainly was not what I got.

Time for more dumb questions from someone who hasn't been coding in Java 
very long. Answers from the experts will considerably speed up 
development. 

I imagine that I have to designate a listener for whatever key is used 
for help. Can I set this up for the whold GUI or do I have to do so for 
the Braille view and Daisy view individually?

Once the listener gets control, how does it determine where in the 
context it was called from?

Thanks,
John

On Fri, Feb 25, 2011 at 04:26:14PM -0800, Chris von See wrote:
> Minor update: Desktop.browse() takes a URI, not a URL.
> 
> Chris
> 
> 
> On Feb 25, 2011, at 4:19 PM, Chris von See wrote:
> 
> >If you want to implement basic HTML help you can display it using  
> >the java.awt.Desktop class in Java 1.6 - it has a browse() method  
> >that takes a URL argument.  The URL can point to either a Web site  
> >serving help pages or to a local file.  The Desktop.browse() method  
> >can be invoked by whatever means a user would use to invoke help  
> >(F1, for example) - you just need to be careful that whatever  
> >mechanism you use isn't already mapped to something else by the OS.
> >
> >
> >Cheers
> >Chris
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >On Feb 25, 2011, at 3:46 PM, John J. Boyer wrote:
> >
> >>Susan,
> >>
> >>I wouldn't worry too much about the frames, though I don't see why
> >>anyone bothers with them. The documentation you mention mibht be
> >>helpful. What I need is some information on context-sensitive help
> >>algorithms. If I have to come up with my own it will take longer.
> >>John
> >>
> >>On Fri, Feb 25, 2011 at 11:00:01AM -0700, Susan Jolly wrote:
> >>>I think you will need a library that interfaces with your GUI.  SWT
> >>>provides context-sensitive help for Eclipse plug-ins but I don't  
> >>>know how
> >>>it works when you use SWT outside of Eclipse.
> >>>
> >>>The online Eclipse documention seems to make a weird use of frames  
> >>>so I
> >>>don't know how a screen reader would navigate it. I think what you  
> >>>want is
> >>>something called Data Tools Platform Help-Helper Documentataion  
> >>>which is a
> >>>section in the DAta Tools Platform Plug-in Developer Guide.
> >>>
> >>>Susan
> >>>
> >>
> >>-- 
> >>John J. Boyer; President, Chief Software Developer
> >>Abilitiessoft, Inc.
> >>http://www.abilitiessoft.com
> >>Madison, Wisconsin USA
> >>Developing software for people with disabilities
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
> 

-- 
John J. Boyer; President, Chief Software Developer
Abilitiessoft, Inc.
http://www.abilitiessoft.com
Madison, Wisconsin USA
Developing software for people with disabilities


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