A HelpSet consists of multiple files—one for each help topic, one for each graphic, and several JavaHelp-specific files (HelpSet file, map file, etc.). In designing your installation strategy, consider whether you want to encapsulate all these files into a single Java archive (JAR) file. To minimize storage requirements, the utility that creates a JAR file compresses the data automatically.
Even if you have never heard of JAR files before, you might be more familiar with them than you think. JAR files are very similar to the popular ZIP files. In fact, if you have a ZIP utility, you can decompress and examine the contents of JAR files.
JavaHelp works the same way, whether or not you install the HelpSet as a JAR file. The only difference is that the HelpSet Viewer must extract individual HelpSet files from the JAR file, which involves a minor performance hit. In Chapter 8, I discuss JAR compression in greater detail and provide tips for when and when not to use JAR files.
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