Non-Java DocBook WebHelp output

Question

Hi,

Has anyone managed to get DocBook content output to webhelp that does not use a java applet? We are currently designing a web application that uses Ext JS and want to output the DocBook XML content into a format that can be used in parallel with our app (i.e. no Java applets).

It is the desire of our management that we stick with DocBook but we need a platform independent integrated help output (not .chm) that can be integrated with our webapp.

Any recommendations, suggestions and advice would be appreciated.

Laurie.

Answer 1

Have you looked at Adobe RoboHelp? Fairly positive it's platform independent.

Answer 2

Hi there, I'm answering this after more than a year, but some may find this useful.

Under Google Summer of Code program, we created a WebHelp output format for DocBook. It does not rely on java-applets nor on frameset-based approach. It is pure css, JavaScript based so, it most probably fulfill your requirements. This is more search-engine friendly, as this does not rely on frame-sets.

Following links will give you a idea.

The demo is available here: http://www.thingbag.net/docbook/gsoc2010/doc/content/ch01.html The documentation for WebHelp is included in the demo. You can download a beta version of the package from there.

Final release notes are at: DocBook WebHelp Project

SVN location: http://docbook.svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/docbook/branches/webhelp/xsl/webhelp/

The proposal is at: Proposal for WebHelp output for DocBook.

Sorry for the huge no. of links. Contact us on DocBook mailing list if you need further help.