| Jan-Marek Glogowski | 14069d8 | 2021-05-24 14:12:18 +0200 | [diff] [blame] | 1 | # LibreOffice help build |
| 2 | |
| 3 | LibreOffice can build three kinds of help output from helpcontent2: |
| 4 | |
| Andrea Gelmini | c3ac0f8 | 2022-07-30 21:42:51 +0200 | [diff] [blame] | 5 | * XML (local, bundled with LibreOffice < 6.0) |
| 6 | * HTML (local, bundled with LibreOffice >= 6.0) |
| Jan-Marek Glogowski | 14069d8 | 2021-05-24 14:12:18 +0200 | [diff] [blame] | 7 | * HTML (online) |
| 8 | |
| Andrea Gelmini | c3ac0f8 | 2022-07-30 21:42:51 +0200 | [diff] [blame] | 9 | Both local help variants can be included in help-packs, which might be bundled |
| Jan-Marek Glogowski | 14069d8 | 2021-05-24 14:12:18 +0200 | [diff] [blame] | 10 | with the installer or provided as separate packages. They are supposed to be |
| 11 | installed by a user to provide localized help. Both HTML-based help types are |
| 12 | displayed in a browser, while the XML help uses an internal viewer component. |
| 13 | |
| 14 | The XML help is the only one supported in extensions. |
| 15 | |
| 16 | ## configure options |
| 17 | |
| 18 | --with-help: selects the help type to build |
| 19 | --with-omindex: prepares the online help for a Xapian Omega based search index |
| 20 | --disable-xmlhelp: removes support for the XML help |
| 21 | --with-helppack-integration: includes the help-packs in the installer |
| 22 | |
| 23 | Also see `configure --help`. |
| 24 | |
| Andrea Gelmini | c3ac0f8 | 2022-07-30 21:42:51 +0200 | [diff] [blame] | 25 | ## XML help, bundled |
| Jan-Marek Glogowski | 14069d8 | 2021-05-24 14:12:18 +0200 | [diff] [blame] | 26 | |
| Andrea Gelmini | c3ac0f8 | 2022-07-30 21:42:51 +0200 | [diff] [blame] | 27 | This type was bundled per-default until LibreOffice 6.0. |
| Jan-Marek Glogowski | 14069d8 | 2021-05-24 14:12:18 +0200 | [diff] [blame] | 28 | |
| 29 | This help output is generated by using two tools: HelpIndexer and HelpLinker. |
| 30 | It uses an internal viewer component. Extensions still use this help type to |
| 31 | ship their help. This output is originally based on JavaDoc. |
| 32 | |
| 33 | The main support for this help type is in the following directories: |
| 34 | |
| 35 | * helpcompiler: tooling and support library |
| 36 | * xmlhelp: the viewer component |
| 37 | * desktop/source/deployment/registry/help: extensions / help-pack support |
| 38 | |
| 39 | Most code is "marked" by HAVE_FEATURE_XMLHELP precompiler blocks or conditioned |
| 40 | by the XMLHELP flag in the $BUILD_TYPE variable. |
| 41 | |
| 42 | Interestingly the HelpIndexer and HelpLinker are used by gbuild to build the |
| Andrea Gelmini | c3ac0f8 | 2022-07-30 21:42:51 +0200 | [diff] [blame] | 43 | help inside bundled extensions, but both are not part of the LibreOffice SDK. |
| Jan-Marek Glogowski | 14069d8 | 2021-05-24 14:12:18 +0200 | [diff] [blame] | 44 | |
| Andrea Gelmini | c3ac0f8 | 2022-07-30 21:42:51 +0200 | [diff] [blame] | 45 | ## HTML help, bundled |
| Jan-Marek Glogowski | 14069d8 | 2021-05-24 14:12:18 +0200 | [diff] [blame] | 46 | |
| Andrea Gelmini | c3ac0f8 | 2022-07-30 21:42:51 +0200 | [diff] [blame] | 47 | This type is bundled per-default since LibreOffice 6.0 and displayed in a |
| Jan-Marek Glogowski | 14069d8 | 2021-05-24 14:12:18 +0200 | [diff] [blame] | 48 | browser. |
| 49 | |
| 50 | ## HTML help, online |
| 51 | |
| 52 | This help is the external one, currently provided by help.libreoffice.org. It |
| Andrea Gelmini | c3ac0f8 | 2022-07-30 21:42:51 +0200 | [diff] [blame] | 53 | differs from the bundled HTML help in three main aspects: |
| Jan-Marek Glogowski | 14069d8 | 2021-05-24 14:12:18 +0200 | [diff] [blame] | 54 | |
| 55 | * has a language chooser widget |
| 56 | * provides an additional Xapian Omega, CGI- / server-based search index |
| 57 | * includes some additional multimedia assets |
| 58 | |
| 59 | It is opened in a browser. |