org.eclipse.ui.help
Class WorkbenchHelp

java.lang.Object
  |
  +--org.eclipse.ui.help.WorkbenchHelp

public class WorkbenchHelp

extends Object

Provides methods for accessing the help support system and for hooking it in.

The help support system is optional, to allow some products to be configured without one. The getHelpSupport method returns the help support system if available.

The various setHelp methods allow help to be hooked in to SWT menus, menu items, and controls, and into JFace actions. This involves furnishing a help context id. When the user requests help for one of the established widgets (for instance, by hitting F1), the context id is retrieved and passed to the help support system using IHelp.displayHelp(helpContexts,position).

In cases more dynamic situations, clients may hook their own help listner then call displayHelp with a context id or IContext.

This class provides static methods only; it is not intended to be instantiated or subclassed.

See Also:

IHelp, getHelpSupport()

Method Summary

static void	displayHelp(IContext context) Calls the help support system to display the given help context.
static void	displayHelp(String contextId) Calls the help support system to display the given help context id.
static Object	getHelp(Control control) Deprecated. as context computers are no longer supported
static Object	getHelp(Menu menu) Deprecated. as context computers are no longer supported
static Object	getHelp(MenuItem menuItem) Deprecated. as context computers are no longer supported
static IHelp	getHelpSupport() Returns the help support system for the platform, if available.
static boolean	isContextHelpDisplayed() Returns true if the context-sensitive help window is currently being displayed, false if not.
static void	setHelp(Control control, IContextComputer computer) Deprecated. context computers are no longer supported, clients should implement their own help listener
static void	setHelp(Control control, Object[] contexts) Deprecated. use setHelp with single context id parameter
static void	setHelp(Control control, String contextId) Sets the given help context id on the given control.
static void	setHelp(IAction action, IContextComputer computer) Deprecated. context computers are no longer supported, clients should implement their own help listener
static void	setHelp(IAction action, Object[] contexts) Deprecated. use setHelp with a single context id parameter
static void	setHelp(IAction action, String contextId) Sets the given help context id on the given action.
static void	setHelp(Menu menu, IContextComputer computer) Deprecated. context computers are no longer supported, clients should implement their own help listener
static void	setHelp(MenuItem item, IContextComputer computer) Deprecated. context computers are no longer supported, clients should implement their own help listener
static void	setHelp(MenuItem item, Object[] contexts) Deprecated. use setHelp with single context id parameter
static void	setHelp(MenuItem item, String contextId) Sets the given help context id on the given menu item.
static void	setHelp(Menu menu, Object[] contexts) Deprecated. use setHelp with single context id parameter
static void	setHelp(Menu menu, String contextId) Sets the given help context id on the given menu.

Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object

clone, equals, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, toString, wait, wait, wait

Method Detail

displayHelp

public static void displayHelp(String contextId)

Calls the help support system to display the given help context id.

May only be called from a UI thread.

Parameters:

contextId - the id of the context to display

Since:

2.0

displayHelp

public static void displayHelp(IContext context)

Calls the help support system to display the given help context.

May only be called from a UI thread.

Parameters:

context - the context to display

Since:

2.0

getHelp

public static Object getHelp(Control control)

Deprecated. as context computers are no longer supported

Returns the help contexts on the given control.

Instances of IContextComputer may use this method to obtain the prevviously registered help contexts of a control.

Parameters:

control - the control on which the contexts are registered

Returns:

contexts the contexts to use when F1 help is invoked; a mixed-type array of context ids (type String) and/or help contexts (type IContext) or an IContextComputer or null if no contexts have been set.

getHelp

public static Object getHelp(Menu menu)

Deprecated. as context computers are no longer supported

Returns the help contexts on the given menu.

Instances of IContextComputer may use this method to obtain the prevviously registered help contexts of a menu.

Parameters:

menu - the menu on which the contexts are registered

Returns:

contexts the contexts to use when F1 help is invoked; a mixed-type array of context ids (type String) and/or help contexts (type IContext) or an IContextComputer or null if no contexts have been set.

getHelp

public static Object getHelp(MenuItem menuItem)

Deprecated. as context computers are no longer supported

Returns the help contexts on the given menu item.

Instances of IContextComputer may use this method to obtain the prevviously registered help contexts of a menu.

Parameters:

menuItem - the menu item on which the contexts are registered

Returns:

contexts the contexts to use when F1 help is invoked; a mixed-type array of context ids (type String) and/or help contexts (type IContext) or an IContextComputer or null if no contexts have been set.

getHelpSupport

public static IHelp getHelpSupport()

Returns the help support system for the platform, if available.

Returns:

the help support system, or null if none

isContextHelpDisplayed

public static boolean isContextHelpDisplayed()

Returns true if the context-sensitive help window is currently being displayed, false if not. This avoid activating the help support if it is not already activated.

setHelp

public static void setHelp(IAction action,
                           Object[] contexts)

Deprecated. use setHelp with a single context id parameter

Sets the given help contexts on the given action.

Use this method when the list of help contexts is known in advance. Help contexts can either supplied as a static list, or calculated with a context computer (but not both).

Parameters:

action - the action on which to register the computer

contexts - the contexts to use when F1 help is invoked; a mixed-type array of context ids (type String) and/or help contexts (type IContext)

setHelp

public static void setHelp(IAction action,
                           IContextComputer computer)

Deprecated. context computers are no longer supported, clients should implement their own help listener

Sets the given help context computer on the given action.

Use this method when the help contexts cannot be computed in advance. Help contexts can either supplied as a static list, or calculated with a context computer (but not both).

Parameters:

action - the action on which to register the computer

computer - the computer to determine the help contexts for the control when F1 help is invoked

setHelp

public static void setHelp(Control control,
                           Object[] contexts)

Deprecated. use setHelp with single context id parameter

Sets the given help contexts on the given control.

Use this method when the list of help contexts is known in advance. Help contexts can either supplied as a static list, or calculated with a context computer (but not both).

Parameters:

control - the control on which to register the contexts

contexts - the contexts to use when F1 help is invoked; a mixed-type array of context ids (type String) and/or help contexts (type IContext)

setHelp

public static void setHelp(Control control,
                           IContextComputer computer)

Deprecated. context computers are no longer supported, clients should implement their own help listener

Sets the given help context computer on the given control.

Use this method when the help contexts cannot be computed in advance. Help contexts can either supplied as a static list, or calculated with a context computer (but not both).

Parameters:

control - the control on which to register the computer

computer - the computer to determine the help contexts for the control when F1 help is invoked

setHelp

public static void setHelp(Menu menu,
                           Object[] contexts)

Deprecated. use setHelp with single context id parameter

Sets the given help contexts on the given menu.

Use this method when the list of help contexts is known in advance. Help contexts can either supplied as a static list, or calculated with a context computer (but not both).

Parameters:

menu - the menu on which to register the context

contexts - the contexts to use when F1 help is invoked; a mixed-type array of context ids (type String) and/or help contexts (type IContext)

setHelp

public static void setHelp(Menu menu,
                           IContextComputer computer)

Deprecated. context computers are no longer supported, clients should implement their own help listener

Sets the given help context computer on the given menu.

Use this method when the help contexts cannot be computed in advance. Help contexts can either supplied as a static list, or calculated with a context computer (but not both).

Parameters:

menu - the menu on which to register the computer

computer - the computer to determine the help contexts for the control when F1 help is invoked

setHelp

public static void setHelp(MenuItem item,
                           Object[] contexts)

Deprecated. use setHelp with single context id parameter

Sets the given help contexts on the given menu item.

Use this method when the list of help contexts is known in advance. Help contexts can either supplied as a static list, or calculated with a context computer (but not both).

Parameters:

item - the menu item on which to register the context

contexts - the contexts to use when F1 help is invoked; a mixed-type array of context ids (type String) and/or help contexts (type IContext)

setHelp

public static void setHelp(MenuItem item,
                           IContextComputer computer)

Deprecated. context computers are no longer supported, clients should implement their own help listener

Sets the given help context computer on the given menu item.

Use this method when the help contexts cannot be computed in advance. Help contexts can either supplied as a static list, or calculated with a context computer (but not both).

Parameters:

item - the menu item on which to register the computer

computer - the computer to determine the help contexts for the control when F1 help is invoked

setHelp

public static void setHelp(IAction action,
                           String contextId)

Sets the given help context id on the given action.

Parameters:

action - the action on which to register the context id

contextId - the context id to use when F1 help is invoked

Since:

2.0

setHelp

public static void setHelp(Control control,
                           String contextId)

Sets the given help context id on the given control.

Parameters:

control - the control on which to register the context id

contextId - the context id to use when F1 help is invoked

Since:

2.0

setHelp

public static void setHelp(Menu menu,
                           String contextId)

Sets the given help context id on the given menu.

Parameters:

menu - the menu on which to register the context id

contextId - the context id to use when F1 help is invoked

Since:

2.0

setHelp

public static void setHelp(MenuItem item,
                           String contextId)

Sets the given help context id on the given menu item.

Parameters:

item - the menu item on which to register the context id

contextId - the context id to use when F1 help is invoked

Since:

2.0