Generate HTML files. Publish them online. Let modules include a help URL and when herp is invoked, find out via the classloader.
A netty based web server can run in an 8mb memory footprint. Have an "offline help" module that bundles them and a tiny web server. For third party modules, have the help HTML build process generate a bundle for offline use. If you install the offline help module, have it ask you "Download offline help for all modules you have installed?" and do the same when new modules that indicate offline help is available are installed. Browser technology is more than up to the task. It would be a pointless exercise in reinventing the wheel to write a "help viewer" - there are few things better suited to HTML than this. -Tim On Tue, Sep 25, 2018 at 7:22 AM Peter Nabbefeld <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Am 25.09.18 um 01:00 schrieb Jan Tosovsky: > > On 2018-09-24 Peter Nabbefeld wrote: > >> Am 23.09.18 um 21:20 schrieb Jan Tosovsky: > >>> On 2018-09-18 Peter Nabbefeld wrote: > >>>> What about some JavaHelp 3.0 (which probably needs a new name), > >>>> building on Lucene but with a replaceable GUI (probably based on Servo > >>>> renderer)? > >>>> > >>> JavaHelp format is kind of standard, it can be produced by many tools. > >>> So before inventing the new format we could just improve the client. > >>> > >>> ... > >>> So only viable option seem to be rewriting the client to some > JavaScript > >>> based Single Page App (it would read .jar and render it in same way as > >>> hsviewer, but directly in a browser). > >> I've found sth. about a new HTML renderer called "Servo", developped by > >> Mozilla and Samsung, so I thought it to be a good idea, to propose it's > >> usage for a new UI. But I must admit, I definitely don't know anything > >> further, yet. > > I expect any solid web engine takes at least 50 MB. Whis is IMHO too > much. I'd rather use browser available on user computer. If JavaScript > route is too radical, I would prefer JavaFX client with Java-friendly HTML > renderer like JavaFX WebView or JxBrowser (the latter is commercial if not > used for open source projects): > > > https://jxbrowser.support.teamdev.com/support/solutions/articles/9000013137-jxbrowser-vs-javafx-webview > > 1TB or more of disk space are not unusual nowadays, so 50MB would be > less than 50ppm - IMHO that's not too much. But, of course, every > browser will do. Just told about servo, because a specific browser might > make life easier (i.e. just follow specifics of one browser instead of > juggling with every browser's ones), and proposing a not yet widely used > one propapbly avoids a "fight" for the favorite one. > > However, if we really would have to write our own help viewer, this > could also be done using some API, providing for plugin development, so > it'd only be the question what would be provided as a default. And, of > course, it would have to be selectable, which implementation to be used, > if there're more than one. > > Peter > > > > > Jan > > > > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > > To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected] > > For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected] > > > > For further information about the NetBeans mailing lists, visit: > > https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/NETBEANS/Mailing+lists > > > > > > > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected] > For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected] > > For further information about the NetBeans mailing lists, visit: > https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/NETBEANS/Mailing+lists > > > > -- http://timboudreau.com
