Patent ID: 6573906
Filing Date: 2003-06-03
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
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.