Java Help is a swift Java API lookup program. Designed to be invoked from a text editor, Java Help lets you search multiple APIs with a single keystroke. Place the cursor on a word you want to search for and press a key; Java Help comes up instantaneously with a list to choose from. Most popular editors are supported, including CRiSP, EditPlus, Epsilon, jEdit, NoteTab, TextPad, UltraEdit, VEdit, WinEdit, ZeusEdit. Most others can be configured.
INSTALLATION
To install Java Help, run JHelp20.exe, which will guide you through the standard installation steps. The installer will add a 'Java Help' shortcut to your Start menu. Please note that running it from the Start menu is not the standard way to invoke Java Help; you are supposed to start it from your editor. In fact, in the ideal scenario, you will not explicitly run any of these executables! You press a function key and Java help comes up instantly.
To uninstall Java Help, use Add/Remove Programs from the Control Panel.
ADDING APIS FOR LOOKUP
After installing Java Help, you need to tell it what APIs you want to search. You can add APIs whenever you wish, but to begin with, you may like to add the Sun JDK API. This also ensures that when you set up your editor, Java Help will have something to show you.
Run Java Help from Windows Start menu and click the API icon in the toolbar. A dialog box titled "Java Help - API's To Be Searched" comes up. Click the Add New button and navigate to the directory where you installed the Sun JDK API documentation (Note that the directory always ends in docs\api and contains files such as allclasses-frame.html, deprecated-list.html etc.). Click Select. This brings up another dialog box, to create a file named Search.txt. Java Help uses this file for lookup purposes. Click OK and wait for the process to complete. Once the file is created, you will come back to the API's dialog box, and the new API is added to the list. Click OK. Now the API is ready to be searched. |
