wxHelp

wxHelp is a stand-alone program, written using wxWindows and hyText, for displaying hypertext help. It is necessary since not all target systems (notably X in the guise of XView and Motif) supply an adequate standard for on-line help. wxHelp is modelled on the Windows 3.1 help system, with contents, search and browse buttons, but does not reformat text to suit the size of window, as WinHelp does, and its input files are uncompressed ASCII with some embedded font commands and an .xlp extension. Most wxWindows documentation (user manuals and class references) is supplied in wxHelp format, and also in Windows Help format.

Note that an application can be programmed to use Windows Help under Windows 3.1, and wxHelp under X. An alternative help viewer under X is Mosaic, a World Wide Web viewer that uses HTML as its native hypertext format. However, this is not currently integrated with wxWindows applications.

wxHelp works in two modes---edit and end-user. In edit mode, an ASCII file may be marked up with different fonts and colours, and divided into sections. In end-user mode, no editing is possible, and the user browses principally by clicking on highlighted blocks.

When an application invokes wxHelp, subsequent sections, blocks or files may be viewed using the same instance of wxHelp since the two programs are linked using wxWindows interprocess communication facilities. When the application exits, that application's instance of wxHelp may be made to exit also. See the wxHelpInstance entry in the reference section for how an application controls wxHelp.