System and methods for interactively generating and testing help systems
First Claim
1. A computerized authoring system providing an interactive environment for generating a help system compatible with a plurality of different platforms, the authoring system comprising:
- a display device for displaying information from the system, the display device having an input;
an input device having an output for inputting information to the system;
a memory having inputs and outputs for storing data, the memory including a set of topic records each including a build tag field for storing a value to identify corresponding compatible platforms in order to provide functionality to the plurality of different platforms, means for displaying the set of topic records, and means for generating, from the topic records, a help system which operates alongside but apart from an application program in response to selections by a user of the application program; and
a processing unit for controlling the means for displaying and the means for generating, the processing unit coupled to the display device, the input device, and the memory.
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Abstract
An authoring system for interactively generating and testing help systems preferably comprises a central processing unit (CPU), a display device, an input device, a data storage device and a memory. The memory further comprises a code generator, display routines, linking routines, indexing routines, a plurality of topic records, a plurality of table records and a plurality of graphic files. The present invention stores the information explaining the features and functionality of an application program in topic records. The authoring system of the present invention uses the topic records for organization and for displaying the data to the user. The CPU under direction of routines in the memory displays the contents of each topic record using the graphic files, and creates, updates and deletes topic records. The display routines are also used in conjunction with test routines to display the data as it will be presented by the help system during operation. Methods for creating, revising and testing help systems include: methods for creating, deleting and editing topic records in a help system; methods for creating, deleting and editing links between topic records in a help system; methods for inserting, deleting and editing objects in a topic record of a help system; methods for creating, deleting and editing tables in a help system; and methods for producing the help system from the topic records.
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Citations
30 Claims
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1. A computerized authoring system providing an interactive environment for generating a help system compatible with a plurality of different platforms, the authoring system comprising:
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a display device for displaying information from the system, the display device having an input; an input device having an output for inputting information to the system; a memory having inputs and outputs for storing data, the memory including a set of topic records each including a build tag field for storing a value to identify corresponding compatible platforms in order to provide functionality to the plurality of different platforms, means for displaying the set of topic records, and means for generating, from the topic records, a help system which operates alongside but apart from an application program in response to selections by a user of the application program; and a processing unit for controlling the means for displaying and the means for generating, the processing unit coupled to the display device, the input device, and the memory. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A computer implemented method for generating a help system compatible with a plurality of different platforms, the method comprising the steps of:
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creating a topic record; accepting data for the help system from a user; storing the data in the topic record; identifying in the topic record platforms that are compatible with the data; displaying the data that has been stored; generating coded data, in response to the stored data; and responding to selections by the user of the application program by using a code generator and the coded data as input to the code generator to produce the help system, which operates alongside but apart from an application program and explains functions and features of the application program. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A computer system for automatically generating a help system compatible with a plurality of different platforms, the computer system comprising:
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means for creating a topic record; means for accepting data for the help system from a user; means for storing the data in the topic record; means for identifying in the topic record the platforms that are compatible with the data; means for displaying the data that has been stored; means for generating coded data, in response to the stored data; and means for responding to selections by the user of the application program by using a code generator and the coded data as input to the code generator to produce the help system, which operates alongside but apart from an application program and explains functions and features of the application program. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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21. A computer useable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein for causing a computer to generate a help system compatible with a plurality of different platforms by performing steps comprising:
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creating a topic record; accepting data for the help system from a user; storing the data in the topic record; identifying in the topic record platforms that are compatible with the data; displaying the data that has been stored; generating coded data, in response to the stored data; and responding to selections by the user of the application program by using a code generator and the coded data as input to the code generator to produce help system, which operates alongside but apart from an application program and explains functions and features of the application program. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A computerized authoring system providing an interactive environment for creating a help system compatible with a plurality of different platforms, the authoring system comprising:
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a display device for displaying information from the system, the display device having an input; an input device for inputting information to the system, the input device having an output; a memory having inputs and outputs for storing data, the memory including the set of topic records; means for displaying the set of topic records; means for creating a help system from the topic records wherein the topic records are created separate from an application program using the topic records, each of said topic records including a build tag field for storing a value to identify corresponding compatible platforms in order to provide functionality to the plurality of different platforms; a processing unit for controlling the means for displaying and the means for generating, the processing unit coupled to the display device, the input device, and the memory.
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30. A computer implemented method for creating a help system compatible with a plurality of different platforms, the method comprising the steps of:
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creating a topic record separate from an application program using the topic records; accepting data for the help system from a user; storing the data in the topic record; identifying in the topic record platforms that are compatible with the data; displaying the data that has been stored; generating coded data, in response to the stored data; and producing the help system using a code generator and the coded data as input to the code generator.
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Specification