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Subject:RE: JavaHelp: real world deployment? From:"Keith Soltys" <keith -at- soltys -dot- ca> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Tue, 14 Aug 2001 09:36:58 -0400
We looked at JavaHelp and OracleHelp earlier this year, as part of a
web-based application that was built around a Java API and an Oracle
database.
We decided that it wasn't ready for prime-time -- there were just too many
issues relating to problems with lack of control over formatting, stability,
and general usability. It just wasn't polished enough to be included with
the application. We liked OracleHelp better, but we finally decided to go
with just a plain HTML-based help system. It was faster and more stable.
There will be a new version of JavaHelp out in the fall. I'd wait until that
comes out and reevaluate then. In the meantime stick with plain HTML. If
JavaHelp 2 looks good, you should be able to reuse your source files.
Regards
Keith
>
> Anyone out there deploying JavaHelp for cross-platform help? WinNT + all
> Unix flavours (Solaris, IBM, SGI, HP, Linux)?
> I'd like to hear experiences from people who are shipping
> JavaHelp in "real
> world" production software.
>
> I looked at JavaHelp about 18 months ago. It worked OK at a basic
> level but
> was slow to start up and authoring tools were non-existent. Has anything
> changed in this respect?
>
> I suspect that JavaHelp (or Oracle Help for Java) may be worth considering
> for pure Java apps. But good old HTML may be an easier cross-platform
> alternative in most cases.
>
> TIA
> Michael
>
>
--
Keith Soltys
keith -at- soltys -dot- ca
Host of "Internet Resources for Technical Communicators" since 1994
Now at http://www.soltys.ca/techcomm.html
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