Help Object Library: 1 What Is Help?

GEOS provides four basic flavors of help ranging from simple descriptions to a full-featured information viewer complete with linked text and embedded graphics. GEOS help is both context-sensitive and random-access; a user may get help on the current dialog box, for example, or may invoke your help system's table of contents directly.

How a user gets help depends on the system in use: A standard desktop PC will allow keyboard access with the F1 key as well as help triggers throughout the application's UI. A small-screen device may hide the help triggers and allow only a special "hard icon," special pen gesture, or other means of activation to save screen space. (Such decisions are up to the specific UI.)

Nearly all applications will use "Normal Help," which provides a full-featured help viewer. The four types available are described below.

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2 Adding Help to Your Application