![\"Java](\"https:\/\/tregner.com\/flare-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/java-app-and-help.png\")
<\/p>\n
MadCap provides conceptual information and instructions for programmers and authors about how to configure applications to use context sensitive help with Flare HTML5 outputs. This post covers some of that workflow. The example is less complicated but not as flexible as MadCap’s suggested workflows. However this post goes into greater detail about how to connect an application to HTML5 help in the context of a Java application.<\/p>\n
MadCap Software: CSH Calls for HTML5 Output (WebHelp 2.0)<\/a><\/p>\n The example Java and Flare projects are configured such that the application opens a URL for the Flare HTML5 output using the CSHID number in the URL For simplicity, the CSHID number value used is 1 and the topic is Topic.htm (topic.htm in the sample output). Additional calls to open help can be added with the same technique. For more information about CSHID and CSH calls, see the preceding link.<\/p>\n With the arrangement established by the samples in this post, a Flare author would manage the mapping of ID numbers to topics. A programmer would call the same function for every help button click or F1 press and pass the desired ID number. No lookup is necessary on the Java application side. A programmer only needs to know which values to use for actions and UI locations in the application. There is no need to supply a properties file to a programmer with this setup. One possible workflow is the author informs a programmer which IDs to use and the programmer implements those. Another workflow is a programmer assigns IDs and the author updates the Flare project to map those IDs to the topics. Either way the mapping is managed through the Flare HTML5 system.<\/p>\n Other scenarios may be explored in subsequent posts. The Flare documentation describes a workflow in which a copy of a header or a properties file is used by the application so that the application is aware of the mapping between the ID name and number. That workflow adds some flexibility. But that workflow is not demonstrated in this post.<\/p>\n This example uses NetBeans to create the Java sample. The steps use the IDE options so that those who do not program regularly with Java can replicate the steps more easily. However designing forms in an IDE such as NetBeans involves a reliance on the mechanisms the IDE uses to generate code. For example a NetBeans project with a JFrame form may contain an additional XML file with a .form<\/em> extension to facilitate form building. The Java class for the JFrame is sufficient to run the program. But the .form<\/em> file is required for the form designer in NetBeans.<\/p>\n NetBeans wiki: What is the .form file?<\/a><\/p>\n The window user interface for this example is implemented with a JFrame. The steps which follow describe adding a a JFrame to a Java project in NetBeans.<\/p>\n The JLabel is just an embellishment for this example to place some text on the JFrame. The JButton provides an interface to click to show a help topic.<\/p>\n <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n To create F1 behavior, a handler must be added for every control on the form which should cause help to open when F1 is pressed. In this case the only control to worry about is the JButton since it is the only control which can be active. By default, JLabels cannot be activated. A handler is also added to the JFrame itself.<\/p>\n <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n The technique employed in this example relies on a call to a showHelp<\/em> method within every event and handler that should cause help to open. The context for the help comes from the ID passed to showHelp<\/em>. The showHelp<\/em> method appends the ID to a base URL for the help system. The base URL is the path to the main help file followed by #cshid=<\/em>. Once the URL is built, it is passed to a method to open a web page.<\/p>\n Stack Overflow: Open a Link in Browser with Java Button<\/a><\/p>\n <\/li>\n Open the java file that contains the main method. For this example, the file is JavaAppFlareHtml5Help.java<\/em>. The main method should create and show an instance of the JFrame. Change the main method to this:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Create a new Flare project with the Empty template. Use HTML5 as the default target.<\/p>\n Add an extra topic named extra-topic.htm<\/em> and set that as the default topic on the HTML5 target. This ensures the default topic is not the topic opened by the application. That demonstrates the application opens a specific topic and not just the default.<\/p>\n Set the topic alias. Open the alias file and assign Topic.htm<\/em> to the identifier in the alias file. The header file will update when the alias file is saved.<\/p>\n MadCap Software: Creating and Assigning Identifiers<\/a><\/p>\n A handful of changes were made to the template for this example. Some of the changes are shown in the screen shot that follows. The order of items in the screen shot is:<\/p>\n Build the target an place the output somewhere. Adjust the path in the showHelp<\/em> method to reflect the location of the help files.<\/p>\n To run the program from the IDE, with the project open and active, select Run<\/strong> > Run Project<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Downloads:<\/p>\n This post describes the creation of a simple Java application and Flare project and HTML5 output to demonstrate opening a Flare HTML5 help topic with a button click or an F1 keypress from a Java application. This is a “hello world” level example. Downloads: Zipped (Flare-style) Flare project for test HTML5 help Zipped copy of… Continue reading Create a Java Application That Uses Flare HTML5 Help<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[72,73,53,71,5],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tregner.com\/flare-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tregner.com\/flare-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tregner.com\/flare-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tregner.com\/flare-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tregner.com\/flare-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=553"}],"version-history":[{"count":86,"href":"https:\/\/tregner.com\/flare-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":651,"href":"https:\/\/tregner.com\/flare-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553\/revisions\/651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tregner.com\/flare-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=553"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tregner.com\/flare-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=553"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tregner.com\/flare-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=553"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Create a Java Application with NetBeans<\/h2>\n
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\n<\/a>![\"netbeans-ide\"](\"https:\/\/tregner.com\/flare-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/netbeans-ide.png\")
<\/a><\/li>\n
\n![\"new-project-screen\"](\"https:\/\/tregner.com\/flare-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/new-project-screen.png\")
<\/a>
\n<\/span><\/li>\n
\n<\/span><\/li>\nAdd a JFrame Form to the Application<\/h2>\n
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\n![\"new-jframe-form-menu-option\"](\"https:\/\/tregner.com\/flare-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/new-jframe-form-menu-option.png\")
\n<\/a><\/span><\/span>The New JFrame Form<\/strong> screen appears.
\n<\/span><\/li>\n
\n<\/span>![\"new-jframe-form-screen\"](\"https:\/\/tregner.com\/flare-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/new-jframe-form-screen.png\")
<\/a><\/li>\n
\n![\"new-jframe-in-designer\"](\"https:\/\/tregner.com\/flare-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/new-jframe-in-designer.png\")
<\/a>
\n<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\nAdd a JLabel and a Help JButton to the JFrame<\/h2>\n
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\n<\/span><\/li>\n
\n<\/span>![\"label-in-jframe-designer\"](\"https:\/\/tregner.com\/flare-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/label-in-jframe-designer.png\")
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\n<\/span><\/li>\n
\n![\"button-in-jframe-designer\"](\"https:\/\/tregner.com\/flare-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/button-in-jframe-designer.png\")
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\n<\/span><\/li>\n private void jButton1ActionPerformed(java.awt.event.ActionEvent evt) { \r\n showHelp(\"1\");\r\n }<\/pre>\nAdd F1 Events<\/h2>\n
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\n![\"handlers-for-keypressed-screen\"](\"https:\/\/tregner.com\/flare-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/handlers-for-keypressed-screen.png\")
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\n![\"add-handler-screen\"](\"https:\/\/tregner.com\/flare-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/add-handler-screen.png\")
<\/a><\/li>\n private void jFrameKeyPressed(java.awt.event.KeyEvent evt) { \r\n if (evt.getKeyCode() == 112){\r\n showHelp(\"1\");\r\n }\r\n } \r\n\r\n private void jButtonKeyPressed(java.awt.event.KeyEvent evt) { \r\n if (evt.getKeyCode() == 112){\r\n showHelp(\"1\");\r\n }\r\n }<\/pre>\nAdd Methods to Open Help<\/h2>\n
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public void showHelp(String key){\r\n URI uri;\r\n try {\r\n uri = new URI(\"http:\/\/tregner.com\/example-projects\/java-app-help\/java-app-help.htm#cshid=\" + key);\r\n openWebpage(uri);\r\n } catch (URISyntaxException ex) {\r\n Logger.getLogger(JFrameHtml5Example.class.getName()).log(Level.SEVERE, null, ex);\r\n }\r\n }\r\n\r\n \/\/see: http:\/\/stackoverflow.com\/questions\/10967451\/open-a-link-in-browser-with-java-button\r\n public static void openWebpage(URI uri) {\r\n Desktop desktop = Desktop.isDesktopSupported() ? Desktop.getDesktop() : null;\r\n if (desktop != null && desktop.isSupported(Desktop.Action.BROWSE)) {\r\n try {\r\n desktop.browse(uri);\r\n } catch (Exception e) {\r\n e.printStackTrace();\r\n }\r\n }\r\n }\r\n\r\n public static void openWebpage(URL url) {\r\n try {\r\n openWebpage(url.toURI());\r\n } catch (URISyntaxException e) {\r\n e.printStackTrace();\r\n }\r\n }<\/pre>\n<\/li>\nimport java.awt.Desktop;\r\nimport java.net.URI;\r\nimport java.net.URISyntaxException;\r\nimport java.net.URL;\r\nimport java.util.logging.Level;\r\nimport java.util.logging.Logger<\/pre>\n
![\"import-classes-screen\"](\"https:\/\/tregner.com\/flare-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/import-classes-screen.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nCode the Main Method to Open the JFrame<\/h2>\n
public static void main(String[] args) {\r\n JFrameHtml5Example frame = new JFrameHtml5Example();\r\n frame.setVisible(true);\r\n }<\/pre>\nCreate a Flare Project to Build the Help<\/h2>\n
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![\"everything-for-hello-world-csh\"](\"https:\/\/tregner.com\/flare-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/everything-for-hello-world-csh.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nTest the Application and Help<\/h2>\n
public void showHelp(String key){\r\n URI uri;\r\n try {\r\n uri = new URI(\"http:\/\/tregner.com\/example-projects\/java-app-help\/java-app-help.htm#cshid=\" + key);\r\n openWebpage(uri);\r\n } catch (URISyntaxException ex) {\r\n Logger.getLogger(JFrameHtml5Example.class.getName()).log(Level.SEVERE, null, ex);\r\n }\r\n }<\/pre>\n\n