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1 \section{\class{wxHelpController}}\label{wxhelpcontroller}
2
3 This is a family of classes by which
4 applications may invoke a help viewer to provide on-line help.
5
6 A help controller allows an application to display help, at the contents
7 or at a particular topic, and shut the help program down on termination.
8 This avoids proliferation of many instances of the help viewer whenever the
9 user requests a different topic via the application's menus or buttons.
10
11 Typically, an application will create a help controller instance
12 when it starts, and immediately call {\bf Initialize}\rtfsp
13 to associate a filename with it. The help viewer will only get run, however,
14 just before the first call to display something.
15
16 Most help controller classes actually derive from wxHelpControllerBase and have
17 names of the form wxXXXHelpController or wxHelpControllerXXX. An
18 appropriate class is aliased to the name wxHelpController for each platform, as follows:
19
20 \begin{itemize}\itemsep=0pt
21 \item On Windows, wxWinHelpController is used.
22 \item On all other platforms, wxHelpControllerHtml is used if wxHTML is
23 compiled into wxWindows; otherwise wxExtHelpController is used (for invoking an external
24 browser).
25 \end{itemize}
26
27 The remaining help controller classess need to be named
28 explicitly by an application that wishes to make use of them.
29
30 There are currently the following help controller classes defined:
31
32 \begin{itemize}\itemsep=0pt
33 \item wxWinHelpController, for controlling Windows Help.
34 \item wxCHMHelpController, for controlling MS HTML Help. To use this, you need to set wxUSE\_MS\_HTML\_HELP
35 to 0 in setup.h, and link your application with Microsoft's htmlhelp.lib. Currently VC++ only.
36 \item wxExtHelpController, for controlling external browsers under Unix.
37 The default browser is Netscape Navigator. The 'help' sample shows its use.
38 \item wxHelpControllerHtml, using \helpref{wxHTML}{wxhtml} to display help. See {\tt wx/helpwxht.h} for
39 details of use.
40 \item \helpref{wxHtmlHelpController}{wxhtmlhelpcontroller}, a more sophisticated help controller using \helpref{wxHTML}{wxhtml}, in
41 a similar style to the Microsoft HTML Help viewer and using some of the same files.
42 Although it has an API compatible with other help controllers, it has more advanced features, so it is
43 recommended that you use the specific API for this class instead.
44 \end{itemize}
45
46 \wxheading{Derived from}
47
48 wxHelpControllerBase\\
49 \helpref{wxObject}{wxobject}
50
51 \wxheading{Include files}
52
53 <wx/help.h> (wxWindows chooses the appropriate help controller class)\\
54 <wx/helpbase.h> (wxHelpControllerBase class)\\
55 <wx/helpwin.h> (Windows Help controller)\\
56 <wx/msw/helpchm.h> (MS HTML Help controller)\\
57 <wx/generic/helpext.h> (external HTML browser controller)\\
58 <wx/generic/helpwxht.h> (simple wxHTML-based help controller)\\
59 <wx/html/helpctrl.h> (advanced wxHTML based help controller: wxHtmlHelpController)
60
61 \wxheading{See also}
62
63 \helpref{wxHtmlHelpController}{wxhtmlhelpcontroller}, \helpref{wxHTML}{wxhtml}
64
65 \latexignore{\rtfignore{\wxheading{Members}}}
66
67 \membersection{wxHelpController::wxHelpController}
68
69 \func{}{wxHelpController}{\void}
70
71 Constructs a help instance object, but does not invoke the help viewer.
72
73 \membersection{wxHelpController::\destruct{wxHelpController}}
74
75 \func{}{\destruct{wxHelpController}}{\void}
76
77 Destroys the help instance, closing down the viewer if it is running.
78
79 \membersection{wxHelpController::Initialize}\label{wxhelpcontrollerinitialize}
80
81 \func{virtual void}{Initialize}{\param{const wxString\& }{file}}
82
83 \func{virtual void}{Initialize}{\param{const wxString\& }{file}, \param{int}{ server}}
84
85 Initializes the help instance with a help filename, and optionally a server socket
86 number if using wxHelp (now obsolete). Does not invoke the help viewer.
87 This must be called directly after the help instance object is created and before
88 any attempts to communicate with the viewer.
89
90 You may omit the file extension and a suitable one will be chosen. For
91 wxHtmlHelpController, the extensions zip, htb and hhp will be appended while searching for
92 a suitable file. For WinHelp, the hlp extension is appended. For wxHelpControllerHtml (the
93 standard HTML help controller), the filename is assumed to be a directory containing
94 the HTML files.
95
96 \membersection{wxHelpController::DisplayBlock}\label{wxhelpcontrollerdisplayblock}
97
98 \func{virtual bool}{DisplayBlock}{\param{long}{ blockNo}}
99
100 If the help viewer is not running, runs it and displays the file at the given block number.
101
102 {\it WinHelp:} Refers to the context number.
103
104 {\it MS HTML Help:} Refers to the context number.
105
106 {\it External HTML help:} the same as for \helpref{wxHelpController::DisplaySection}{wxhelpcontrollerdisplaysection}.
107
108 {\it wxHtmlHelpController:} {\it sectionNo} is an identifier as specified in the {\tt .hhc} file. See \helpref{Help files format}{helpformat}.
109
110 This function is for backward compatibility only, and applications should use \helpref{wxHelpController}{wxhelpcontrollerdisplaysection} instead.
111
112 \membersection{wxHelpController::DisplayContents}\label{wxhelpcontrollerdisplaycontents}
113
114 \func{virtual bool}{DisplayContents}{\void}
115
116 If the help viewer is not running, runs it and displays the
117 contents.
118
119 \membersection{wxHelpController::DisplayContextPopup}\label{wxhelpcontrollerdisplaycontextpopup}
120
121 \func{virtual bool}{DisplayContextPopup}{\param{int }{contextId}}
122
123 Displays the section as a popup window using a context id.
124
125 Returns FALSE if unsuccessful or not implemented.
126
127 \membersection{wxHelpController::DisplaySection}\label{wxhelpcontrollerdisplaysection}
128
129 \func{virtual bool}{DisplaySection}{\param{const wxString\&}{ section}}
130
131 If the help viewer is not running, runs it and displays the given section.
132
133 The interpretation of {\it section} differs between help viewers. For most viewers,
134 this call is equivalent to KeywordSearch. For MS HTML Help, external HTML help
135 and simple wxHTML help, if {\it section} has a .htm
136 or .html extension, that HTML file will be displayed; otherwise
137 a keyword search is done.
138
139 \func{virtual bool}{DisplaySection}{\param{int}{ sectionNo}}
140
141 If the help viewer is not running, runs it and displays the given section.
142
143 {\it WinHelp, MS HTML Help:} {\it sectionNo} is a context id.
144
145 {\it External HTML help/simple wxHTML help:} wxExtHelpController and wxHelpControllerHtml implement {\it sectionNo} as an id in a map file, which is of the form:
146
147 \begin{verbatim}
148 0 wx.html ; Index
149 1 wx34.html#classref ; Class reference
150 2 wx204.html ; Function reference
151 \end{verbatim}
152
153 {\it wxHtmlHelpController:} {\it sectionNo} is an identifier as specified in the {\tt .hhc} file. See \helpref{Help files format}{helpformat}.
154
155 See also the help sample for notes on how to specify section numbers for various help file formats.
156
157 \membersection{wxHelpController::DisplayTextPopup}\label{wxhelpcontrollerdisplaytextpopup}
158
159 \func{virtual bool}{DisplayTextPopup}{\param{const wxString\&}{ text}, \param{const wxPoint\& }{pos}}
160
161 Displays the text in a popup window, if possible.
162
163 Returns FALSE if unsuccessful or not implemented.
164
165 \membersection{wxHelpController::GetFrameParameters}\label{wxhelpcontrollergetframeparameters}
166
167 \func{virtual wxFrame *}{GetFrameParameters}{\param{const wxSize * }{size = NULL}, \param{const wxPoint * }{pos = NULL},
168 \param{bool *}{newFrameEachTime = NULL}}
169
170 This reads the current settings for the help frame in the case of the
171 wxHelpControllerHtml, setting the frame size, position and
172 the newFrameEachTime parameters to the last values used. It also
173 returns the pointer to the last opened help frame. This can be used
174 for example, to automatically close the help frame on program
175 shutdown.
176
177 wxHtmlHelpController returns the frame,
178 size and position.
179
180 For all other help controllers, this function does nothing
181 and just returns NULL.
182
183 \wxheading{Parameters}
184
185 \docparam{viewer}{This defaults to "netscape" for wxExtHelpController.}
186
187 \docparam{flags}{This defaults to wxHELP\_NETSCAPE for wxExtHelpController, indicating
188 that the viewer is a variant of Netscape Navigator.}
189
190 \membersection{wxHelpController::KeywordSearch}\label{wxhelpcontrollerkeywordsearch}
191
192 \func{virtual bool}{KeywordSearch}{\param{const wxString\& }{keyWord}}
193
194 If the help viewer is not running, runs it, and searches for sections matching the given keyword. If one
195 match is found, the file is displayed at this section.
196
197 {\it WinHelp, MS HTML Help:} If more than one match is found,
198 the first topic is displayed.
199
200 {\it External HTML help, simple wxHTML help:} If more than one match is found,
201 a choice of topics is displayed.
202
203 {\it wxHtmlHelpController:} see \helpref{wxHtmlHelpController::KeywordSearch}{wxhtmlhelpcontrollerkeywordsearch}.
204
205 \membersection{wxHelpController::LoadFile}\label{wxhelpcontrollerloadfile}
206
207 \func{virtual bool}{LoadFile}{\param{const wxString\& }{file = ""}}
208
209 If the help viewer is not running, runs it and loads the given file.
210 If the filename is not supplied or is
211 empty, the file specified in {\bf Initialize} is used. If the viewer is
212 already displaying the specified file, it will not be reloaded. This
213 member function may be used before each display call in case the user
214 has opened another file.
215
216 wxHtmlHelpController ignores this call.
217
218 \membersection{wxHelpController::OnQuit}\label{wxhelpcontrolleronquit}
219
220 \func{virtual bool}{OnQuit}{\void}
221
222 Overridable member called when this application's viewer is quit by the user.
223
224 This does not work for all help controllers.
225
226 \membersection{wxHelpController::SetFrameParameters}\label{wxhelpcontrollersetframeparameters}
227
228 \func{virtual void}{SetFrameParameters}{\param{const wxString \& }{title},
229 \param{const wxSize \& }{size}, \param{const wxPoint \& }{pos = wxDefaultPosition},
230 \param{bool }{newFrameEachTime = FALSE}}
231
232 For wxHelpControllerHtml, this allows the application to set the
233 default frame title, size and position for the frame. If the title
234 contains \%s, this will be replaced with the page title. If the
235 parameter newFrameEachTime is set, the controller will open a new
236 help frame each time it is called.
237
238 For wxHtmlHelpController, the title is set (again with \%s indicating the
239 page title) and also the size and position of the frame if the frame is already
240 open. {\it newFrameEachTime} is ignored.
241
242 For all other help controllers this function has no effect.
243
244 \membersection{wxHelpController::SetViewer}\label{wxhelpcontrollersetviewer}
245
246 \func{virtual void}{SetViewer}{\param{const wxString\& }{viewer}, \param{long}{ flags}}
247
248 Sets detailed viewer information. So far this is only relevant to wxExtHelpController.
249
250 Some examples of usage:
251
252 \begin{verbatim}
253 m_help.SetViewer("kdehelp");
254 m_help.SetViewer("gnome-help-browser");
255 m_help.SetViewer("netscape", wxHELP_NETSCAPE);
256 \end{verbatim}
257
258 \membersection{wxHelpController::Quit}\label{wxhelpcontrollerquit}
259
260 \func{virtual bool}{Quit}{\void}
261
262 If the viewer is running, quits it by disconnecting.
263
264 For Windows Help, the viewer will only close if no other application is using it.
265