This book covers the main features and options of JavaHelp. It presents concepts, chapter by chapter, until you have a complete understanding of how to create usable JavaHelp systems and how to integrate them into applications and Java applets. The key phrase here is create usable JavaHelp systems. I emphasize this phrase because this book not only teaches you how to create JavaHelp systems but also provides tips for making those systems usable. If you are an experienced help author, you may not need this extra information. But if you are creating a help system for the first time, you may find that the help-authoring tips are quite helpful. Use them and your application users will be thankful.
Now that you know what this book is about, I should explain what this book is not about. This book is not a manual that focuses on the technical aspects of the JavaHelp application programming interface (API). In fact, you won’t find a lot of low-level technical information about JavaHelp in this book. I do cover enough technical information to help you understand how JavaHelp works, and I provide code samples to help you understand how to deploy JavaHelp with your applications. However, the book’s focus is primarily on how to work with JavaHelp and how to design and create usable JavaHelp online help systems. If you are interested in learning more about lower-level technical specifications of JavaHelp, you can access technical documents through Sun Microsystems’ Java Technology web site at http://www.javasoft.com. One technical document in particular you might want to review is the JavaHelp specification.
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