Method and system for delivering integrated user assistance information and traditional help from the same source

• US 6,573,906 B1
• Filed: 12/17/1999
• Issued: 06/03/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 04/26/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Russell, John David, Harding, Andrew Richard, Kowalski, Lee Anne
• Primary Examiner(s): Luu, Sy D.
• Application Number:
  US09/466,349
• Time in Patent Office: 1,264 Days
• Field of Search: 345/705-715, 345/760, 707/501.1, 707/513
• US Class Current: 715/705
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/453 Help systems

Abstract

A method and system in accordance with the present invention allows the help information to be shared independent of its invocation method, so that the information can be displayed in both integrated user assistance mechanisms and traditional online help windows. The method includes receiving an invocation of one of a plurality of user assistance mechanisms; and collecting help information from an information source, the information source comprising a structure indicating what portion of the information source is to be displayed based upon the invoked user assistance mechanism. With a method and system in accordance with the present invention, help authors place a metastructure or secondary structure in the information source. This secondary structure indicates which parts of the information source should be displayed by that particular integrated user assistance mechanism. A method and system in accordance with the present invention reads the information source and secondary structure and then takes the information defined by the secondary structure and passes it to the integrated user assistance mechanism to be displayed. For example, the same text information can be retrieved from one source and displayed in the following three places—a traditional online help window, inline text in a software dialog, inside a pop-up window over a control. With the method and system in accordance with the present invention, the author only has to maintain one source, so that both the integrated user assistance mechanism and the traditional online help will contain the accurate information.

Claims

1. A method for providing help information, comprising the steps of:

(a) receiving an invocation of a first user assistance mechanism or a second user assistance mechanism, wherein the first user assistance mechanism is a different type of mechanism than the second user assistance mechanism;

(b) collecting help information from a single integrated information source, the information source comprising a structure indicating that a first portion of the information source is to be displayed if the first user assistance mechanism is invoked and that a second portion of the information source is to be displayed if the second user assistance mechanism is invoked, wherein the first portion is a subset of the second portion; and

(c) displaying the first portion of the information source if the first user assistance mechanism is invoked and displaying the second portion of the information source if the second user assistance mechanism is invoked, wherein the first portion is displayed without first displaying the second portion, and wherein the second portion is displayed without first displaying the first portion.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first or second user assistance mechanism comprises at least one of:

wizards;

inline text

hover help

pop-up window; and

traditional online help.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the information source is in a markup language format.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the collecting step (b) comprises:

(b1) finding a start marker associated with the invoked user assistance mechanism in the information source; and

(b2) collecting the help information until an end marker is reached.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein prior to the finding step (b1) comprises:

(b1i) obtaining a name of the information source for a current dialog; and

(b1ii) obtaining a name of the start marker.

6. A computer readable medium with program instructions for providing help information, the instructions for:

(a) receiving an invocation of a first user assistance mechanism or a second user assistance mechanism, wherein the first user assistance mechanism is a different type of mechanism than the second user assistance mechanism;

(b) collecting help information from a single integrated information source, the information source comprising a structure indicating that a first portion of the information source is to be displayed if the first user assistance mechanism is invoked and that a second portion of the information source is to be displayed if the second user assistance mechanism is invoked, wherein the first portion is a subset of the second portion; and

(c) displaying the first portion of the information source if the first user assistance mechanism is invoked and displaying the second portion of the information source if the second user assistance mechanism is invoked, wherein the first portion is displayed without first displaying the second portion, and wherein the second portion is displayed without first displaying the first portion.

7. The medium of claim 6, wherein the first or second user assistance mechanism comprises at least one of:

wizards;

inline text

hover help

pop-up window; and

traditional online help.

8. The medium of claim 6, wherein the information source is in a markup language format.

9. The medium of claim 6, wherein the collecting instruction (b) comprises instructions for:

(b1) finding a start marker associated with the invoked user assistance mechanism in the information source; and

(b2) collecting the help information until an end marker is reached.

10. The medium of claim 9, wherein prior to the finding instruction (b1) comprises instructions for:

(b1i) obtaining a name of the information source for a current dialog; and

(b1ii) obtaining a name of the start marker.

11. A method for providing help information, comprising the steps of:

(a) receiving an invocation of a first user assistance mechanism or a second user assistance mechanism, wherein the first user assistance mechanism is a different type of mechanism than the second user assistance mechanism;

(b) obtaining a name of a single integrated information source for a current dialog;

(c) obtaining a name of a start marker associated with the invoked user assistance mechanism;

(d) finding the start marker in the information source;

(e) collecting help information until an end marker is reached, wherein the collected help information comprises a first portion of the information source if the invoked user assistance mechanism is the first user assistance mechanism, wherein the collected help information comprises a second portion of the information source if the invoked user assistance mechanism is the second user assistance mechanism, wherein the first portion is a subset of the second portion; and

(f) displaying the collected help information, wherein the first portion is displayed without first displaying the second portion, and wherein the second portion is displayed without first displaying the first portion.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the first or second user assistance mechanism comprises at least one of:

wizards;

inline text

hover help

pop-up window; and

traditional onlined help.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the information source is in a markup language format.

14. A computer readable medium with program instructions for providing help information, the instructions for:

(a) receiving an invocation of a first user assistance mechanism or a second user assistance mechanism, wherein the first user assistance mechanism is a different type of mechanism than the second user assistance mechanism;

(b) obtaining a name of a single integrated information source for a current dialog;

(c) obtaining a name of a start marker associated with the invoked user assistance mechanism;

(d) finding the start marker in the information source;

(e) collecting help information until an end marker is reached, wherein the collected help information comprises a first portion of the information source if the invoked user assistance mechanism is the first user assistance mechanism, wherein the collected help information comprises a second portion of the information source if the invoked user assistance mechanism is the second user assistance mechanism, wherein the first portion is a subset of the second portion; and

(f) displaying the collected help information, wherein the first portion is displayed without first displaying the second portion, and wherein the second portion is displayed without first displaying the first portion.

15. The medium of claim 14, wherein the first or second user assistance mechanism comprises at least one of:

wizards;

inline text

hover help

pop-up window; and

traditional online help.

16. The medium of claim 14, wherein the information source is in a markup language format.

17. A memory structure containing program instructions for providing help information, the instructions for:

(a) receiving an invocation of a first user assistance mechanism or a second user assistance mechanism, wherein the first user assistance mechanism is a different type of mechanism than the second user assistance mechanism;

(b) collecting help information from a single integrated information source, the information source comprising a structure indicating that a first portion of the information source is to be displayed if the first user assistance mechanism is invoked and that a second portion of the information source is to be displayed if the second user assistance mechanism is invoked, wherein the first portion is a subset of the second portion; and

(c) displaying the first portion of the information source if the first user assistance mechanism is invoked and displaying the second portion of the information source if the second user assistance mechanism is invoked, wherein the first portion is displayed without first displaying the second portion, and wherein the second portion is displayed without first displaying the first portion.

18. The structure of claim 17, wherein the first or second user assistance mechanism comprises at least one of:

wizards;

inline text

hover help

pop-up window; and

traditional help.

19. The structure of claim 17, wherein the information source is in a markup language format.

20. The structure of claim 17, wherein the collecting instruction (b) comprises instructions for:

(b1) finding a start marker associated with the invoked user assistance mechanism in the information source; and

(b2) collecting the help information until an end marker is reached.

21. The structure of claim 20, wherein prior to the finding instruction (b1) comprises instructions for:

(b1i) obtaining a name of the information source for a current dialog; and

(b1ii) obtaining a name of the start marker.

22. A memory structure containing program instructions for providing help information, the instructions for:

(a) receiving an invocation of a first user assistance mechanism or a second user assistance mechanism, wherein the first user assistance mechanism is a different type of mechanism than the second user assistance mechanism;

(b) obtaining a name of a single integrated information source for a current dialog;

(c) obtain a name of a start marker associated with the invoked user assistance mechanism;

(d) finding the start marker in the information source;

(e) collecting help information until an end marker is reached, wherein the collected help information comprises a first portion of the information source if the invoked user assistance mechanism is the first user assistance mechanism, wherein the collected help information comprises a second portion of the information source if the invoked user assistance mechanism is the second user assistance mechanism, wherein the first portion is a subset of the second portion; and

(f) displaying the collected help information, wherein the first portion is displayed without first displaying the second portion, and wherein the second portion is displayed without first displaying the first portion.

23. The structure of claim 22, wherein the first or second user assistance mechanism comprises at least one of:

wizards;

inline text

hover help

pop-up window; and

traditional online help.

24. The structure of claim 22, wherein the information source is in a markup language format.