OpenOffice.org 2.0
Understanding, Authoring and Editing

OPENOFFICE.ORG HELP

Author:Frank Peters, Sun Microsystems (fpe@openoffice.org)

Version:

2.0_16Date:

Feb 3, 2006

Public Documentation License Notice
The contents of this Documentation are subject to the Public Documentation License Version 1.0 (the "License"); you may only
use this Documentation if you comply with the terms of this License. A copy of the License is available at
http://www.openoffice.org/licenses/PDL.html.
The Initial Writer of the Original Documentation is Sun Microsystems Inc. Copyright (C) 2005. All Rights Reserved. (Initial Writercontact(s): fpe@sun.com).
Contributor(s): ______________________________________.

Contents
1 How OpenOffice.org Help Works............................................................................9
Help Ingredients......................................................................................................................9
Extended Tips....................................................................................................................................9Context-Sensitive Help......................................................................................................................9
Hierarchical List of Contents............................................................................................................10
Index of Keywords...........................................................................................................................10
Full-Text Search..............................................................................................................................10
Bookmarks.......................................................................................................................................11
Help Agent.......................................................................................................................................11

Installed Help Files................................................................................................................13
Help Modules and Help Sections.....................................................................................................13
Help Module Configuration Files......................................................................................................14
Help Module Contents Files (Section Archives)...............................................................................15
Help Module Lookup Tables (Databases)........................................................................................15
Help Module Extended Tip Files......................................................................................................15
Help Module Index Files..................................................................................................................16
The Main Transformation Style Sheet..............................................................................................16
The Cascading Style Sheets............................................................................................................16

Application Help Calls...........................................................................................................16
Structure of the CVS Help Module........................................................................................18
Building the Help Set.............................................................................................................19
Setting Up a Build Environment.......................................................................................................19
Makefiles for the Help......................................................................................................................19
Help Build Process..........................................................................................................................21
Adding a help file to or Removing a help file from the set of help files.............................................22
Help Images.....................................................................................................................................22

2 Help File XML format Basics.................................................................................23
Basic Document Structure.....................................................................................................23
Using Variables.....................................................................................................................23
Paragraph Roles...................................................................................................................24
Defining Index, Contents, and Context Sensitivity................................................................25
Contents Branch..............................................................................................................................25
Index Branch....................................................................................................................................26"hid" Branch.....................................................................................................................................26

Switching Content.................................................................................................................27
Switching Complete Paragraphs or Sections...................................................................................27
Switching Text Fragments Inside Paragraphs..................................................................................28

Embedding Content...............................................................................................................28
Embedding Complete Sections........................................................................................................29
Embedding text fragments...............................................................................................................29

Images and Icons..................................................................................................................30
Localization Information........................................................................................................31
Auxiliary Files........................................................................................................................31
Files used for building the help........................................................................................................31
Main transformation stylesheet........................................................................................................32
Contents definition files *.tree..........................................................................................................32

3 Help File XML Reference.......................................................................................35
Common Attributes................................................................................................................35
xml-Lang..........................................................................................................................................35
localize.............................................................................................................................................36
id......................................................................................................................................................36

Help File (*.xhp) Elements.....................................................................................................37
ahelp................................................................................................................................................37
alt.....................................................................................................................................................38
body.................................................................................................................................................38
bookmark.........................................................................................................................................39
bookmark_value..............................................................................................................................40
br.....................................................................................................................................................41
caption.............................................................................................................................................41

case.................................................................................................................................................42
caseinline.........................................................................................................................................43
comment..........................................................................................................................................43
created.............................................................................................................................................44
default..............................................................................................................................................45
defaultinline......................................................................................................................................45
embed..............................................................................................................................................46
embedvar.........................................................................................................................................47
emph................................................................................................................................................48
filename...........................................................................................................................................48
helpdocument..................................................................................................................................49
help-id-missing.................................................................................................................................49
History.............................................................................................................................................50
image...............................................................................................................................................50
item..................................................................................................................................................51
lastedited.........................................................................................................................................52
link...................................................................................................................................................53
list....................................................................................................................................................54
listitem.............................................................................................................................................55
meta.................................................................................................................................................56
object...............................................................................................................................................57
paragraph........................................................................................................................................58
section.............................................................................................................................................59
sort...................................................................................................................................................60
switch...............................................................................................................................................61
switchinline......................................................................................................................................62
table.................................................................................................................................................63
tablecell...........................................................................................................................................64
tablerow...........................................................................................................................................66
title...................................................................................................................................................67
topic.................................................................................................................................................68
variable............................................................................................................................................69

Contents File (*.tree) Elements.............................................................................................70
Tree_view........................................................................................................................................70
help_section.....................................................................................................................................71
Node................................................................................................................................................72
Topic................................................................................................................................................72

4 Authoring Help With OpenOffice.org ..................................................................75
Setting Up the Environment .................................................................................................75
Directory Hierarchy..........................................................................................................................75
Installing the Import/Export Filters....................................................................................................76
Installing the Supporting Macros......................................................................................................76
Installing the Help Authoring Menu..................................................................................................77

Editing Help Files - Basics.....................................................................................................78
Paragraphs and Paragraph Formatting............................................................................................78
Sections...........................................................................................................................................79
Tables..............................................................................................................................................79
Images.............................................................................................................................................79
Lists.................................................................................................................................................79
Embedding.......................................................................................................................................79

Character Formatting............................................................................................................80
Working With the Help Files..................................................................................................80
Creating a Help File.........................................................................................................................80
Opening a Help File.........................................................................................................................81
Removing a Help File.......................................................................................................................81
Moving a Help File...........................................................................................................................82

Sections and Paragraphs......................................................................................................82
Where are the Sections?.................................................................................................................82
Adding a Section..............................................................................................................................83
Adding a Subsection........................................................................................................................84
Removing a Section.........................................................................................................................84
Linking to a Section.........................................................................................................................84
Embedding a Section.......................................................................................................................84
Adding a Paragraph.........................................................................................................................84
Editing a Paragraph.........................................................................................................................85
Paragraph Formatting......................................................................................................................86
Creating New Styles........................................................................................................................87
Changing a Paragraph Style............................................................................................................87
Changing a Character Style.............................................................................................................87
Moving a Paragraph Inside a Help File............................................................................................87
Moving a Paragraph to a Different Help File....................................................................................87
Excluding a Paragraph from Localization.........................................................................................88

Tables ...................................................................................................................................89

Adding a Table.................................................................................................................................89
Modifying the Table Layout..............................................................................................................89
Deleting a Table...............................................................................................................................90
Using a Table for Formatting Purposes...........................................................................................90
Adding a caption to an existing table...............................................................................................90

Lists.......................................................................................................................................90
Inserting, removing, modifying lists..................................................................................................90
Interrupting a List.............................................................................................................................90

Working with Images.............................................................................................................91
Help Image Repository....................................................................................................................91
Inserting a block image....................................................................................................................92
Inserting an inline image..................................................................................................................92
Adding an image caption.................................................................................................................93

Embedding Content ..............................................................................................................93
Embedding a Section or Variable.....................................................................................................93

Linking...................................................................................................................................94
Linking to another Help file..............................................................................................................94
Linking to the WWW........................................................................................................................94

Meta Data..............................................................................................................................94
Setting the topic title........................................................................................................................95
Setting the topic ID..........................................................................................................................95
Excluding a file from the search index.............................................................................................95
Changing the initial file creation comment.......................................................................................95
Changing the Last Edited comment.................................................................................................95

Bookmarks............................................................................................................................95
Adding a new bookmark set with Index Entries................................................................................95
Adding Index Entries to an existing bookmark set...........................................................................96
Modifying Index Entries in an existing bookmark set.......................................................................97
Adding a new bookmark set with TOC Entries[]...............................................................................97
Adding TOC Entries to an existing bookmark set.............................................................................97
Determining A Help ID.....................................................................................................................98
Adding a Help ID..............................................................................................................................98

Switching Content.................................................................................................................99
Inline switching................................................................................................................................99
Switching complete sections or paragraphs...................................................................................100

Miscellaneous......................................................................................................................103

Extended Tips................................................................................................................................103
Sorting...........................................................................................................................................103
Validating.......................................................................................................................................103

Troubleshooting...................................................................................................................104
A help file cannot be opened.........................................................................................................104
A help file cannot be saved............................................................................................................104
No Help file can be opened or saved.............................................................................................104
Paragraph content has vanished on Reload..................................................................................104

5 Appendix...............................................................................................................105
Glossary..............................................................................................................................105
XML Help Document Type Definition..................................................................................108

1 How OpenOffice.org Help Works
This chapter gives an overview of the OpenOffice.org 2.0 help system. It describes
the different features of the help system, how it is organized, and how it is built fromthe source files.

Help IngredientsThe OpenOffice.org help system comprises different help features, which are
explained in detail in the following sections.
Extended Tips
Extended Tips are yellow pop-up windows that appear on the application userinterface (UI), and display a short reference text for an element. An extended tip for aparticular UI element is triggered by resting the mouse over that element for a shortamount of time (approx. 1 second). On moving the mouse, the extended tip
disappears.
Display of extended tips is enabled by choosing HelpTools – Options –OpenOffice.org – General – Tips – Extended Tips, or by pressing
Shift+F1.

When the extended tips are enabled by pressing Shift+F1, the tips are displayed
without any delay. This mode is exited when a mouse button is clicked.
Extended tips use Help Ids, which are assigned to UI elements to find the correct text
for that UI element. The text itself is defined in the help files inside the ahelp element.
For more information about the structure of the help files, please refer to chapter 2:"Help File XML format Basics" on page 23.
Context-Sensitive Help
OpenOffice.org Help is context-sensitive, which means that the help viewer displays
reference information or instructions for the current application context when the help
is called from within the application.

9

Context-sensitive help is invoked by pressing F1 or clicking the Help button in a
dialog.
Help IDs are used to identify the context. A lookup table is used to find the correct
anchor inside the help file set (see also Application Help Calls on page 16).
▷ Not all contexts are actually mapped to help topics. In that case, the start page of the corresponding
help section is shown.

Hierarchical List Of Contents
There is a hierarchical list of help contents available from the Contents tab page ofthe help viewer. This should not be considered a complete table of contents, like in abook, but a selection of help topics sorted by different application/document types andtask groups (see Fig. 1 on page 12).
Help topics can appear more than once if they fit into multiple application/task groups.
Currently, these contents trees are manually compiled and saved in *.tree files.
In the future, these contents lists will be able to be defined within the help files
themselves. The *.tree files will then be created when the help is compiled in thesoftware build cycle.
▷ Note that, although the corresponding elements are included in the help format, these are not yet
evaluated by the help compiler. The tree files must still be generated manually.

Index Of Keywords
The Index tab page of the help viewer contains a two-level keyword index. These
two levels allow for a basic grouping of keywords. The index is displayed per help
module (see Fig. 2 on page 12).
After selecting an OpenOffice.org help module from the dropdown list at the top left ofthe help viewer, the corresponding list of keywords is loaded.
Typing a search term directly causes a jump to the next suitable first-level entry in theindex list.
The keywords are defined inside the help files as bookmarks. See also section
Bookmarks on page 95.
Full-Text Search
The Find tab page allows you to search through the help content. You can only
search through one help module at a time (see Fig. 3 on page 12).

10

By default, the search engine searches for case-insensitive substrings that appear
anywhere in a help file. You can restrict the search scope by specifying a search forcomplete words only, and to only search headings in help files.
The results are displayed sorted by search rank, showing the best matches at the topof the list.
Bookmarks
The Bookmarks tab page lists user-defined bookmarks that correspond to help
pages. User-defined bookmarks from all help modules can belong to this list. The icon
next to a bookmark indicates the help module to which the bookmark belongs (seeFig. 4 on page 12).
Double-clicking the bookmark takes you back to the corresponding help page.
Bookmarks can be named individually.
▷ Don't confuse these bookmarks with the bookmark element in the help XML format.

Help Agent
The Help Agent is a small notification window that appears when the user is in acertain context, for example, when the AutoCorrect function has automaticallymodified the text. Clicking the window opens the help at the location that is assigned
to that context.
As with the extended tips and the context sensitive help, the context for the Help
Agent is specified using Help IDs. The IDs that trigger the display of the Help Agentaredefinedinthefile
SFX.xcuinthedirectory
share/registry/data/org/openoffice/Office. This file is not part of thehelpcontent2 CVS project.

11

Fig. 1: List of contents

Fig. 2: Keyword Index

Fig. 3: Full Text Search

Fig. 4: Bookmarks

12Installed Help Files
On installation, a help directory is created as child of the main OpenOffice.org
directory. It contains all global files (currently only main_transform.xsl), and one ormore subdirectories with language-dependent files. The language directories aredesignated by ISO codes, for example, en-US for US-English. The contents of thislanguage directory are as follows:
Directory/File

Description

help/

The main help directoryhelp/main_transform.xsl

The main transformation style sheet (see The Main
Transformation Style Sheet below)

help/{lang}

The language dependent help files

help/{lang}/*.css

The cascading style sheets for displaying the help in the help
viewer (see The Cascading Style Sheets below)

help/{lang}/err.html

The error file. This file is called whenever a help page can not befound.

help/{lang}/shared.jar

The help file archive for shared help files

help/{lang}/shared.tree

The contents file for shared help files (see Help Module Contents
Files (Section Archives))

help/{lang}/schart.jar

The help file archive for help files dealing with charts [1]help/{lang}/schart.tree

The contents file for help files dealing with charts (see Help
Module Contents Files (Section Archives) )[1]

help/{lang}/{module}.cfg

The configuration files for a help module (see Help Module
Configuration Files )help/{lang}/{module}.db

The lookup tables for a help module (see Help Module Lookup
Tables (Databases) )help/{lang}/{module}.ht

The extended tips for a help module (see Help Module Extended
Tip Files )help/{lang}/{module}.idx/

The full text search index for a help module

help/{lang}/{module}.jar

The help file archive for a help module

help/{lang}/{module}.key

The index file for a help module (see Help Module Index Files )help/{lang}/{module}.tree

The contents file for a help module (see Help Module Contents
Files (Section Archives) )Table 1: Help files that are installed.

Help Modules And Help Sections
The help is divided into different help modules that can be selected using the drop
down list at the top left of the help viewer. These correspond to the applications or
modules of OpenOffice.org.

1

This is a legacy remainder of an older StarOffice help structure.

13

Each help file (*.xhp) has a scope that consists of one or more help sections andincludes the corresponding help file archives *.jar. These archives contain all help
files of a help section. A help section does not correspond to an application of
OpenOffice.org.
In the help file viewer, the index and the full text search work within this scope only.
▷ The distinction between help module and help section is confusing and will be eradicated in the
future. Basically, a help section contains all files that are found inside the text/{section} pathof the help source directory (see Structure of the CVS Help Module on page 18 for the structure of
the help source module). Each help section produces a *.jar archive containing all help files inthat path. A help module takes one or more sections and combines them to form the scope of amodule.

Help module

Help Sections (Scope)BASICsbasic + sharedCalc

scalc + shared + schart

Draw

sdraw + simpress + shared + schart

Impress

sdraw + simpress + shared + schartMathsmath + shared

Writerswriter + shared + schart

Base[2]shared/explorer/database

Table 2:OpenOffice.org help modules and scopes

From the table above, it follows that the scope for the Writer help module includes all
help files from swriter.jar, shared.jar and schart.jar. Each help module has a
set of six files (cfg, db, ht, jar, key, tree) and an *.idx directory associated with itexcept for Draw and Base, which have no *.tree file.[3]Help Module Configuration FilesThe *.cfg configuration files are ASCII files containing parameter=value pairs withconfiguration information. They are created and maintained manually:
Title=%PRODUCTNAME Writer
Copyright=Copyright 2004, Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Language=en-US
Order=2Start=text%2Fswriter%2Fmain0000.xhp
Heading=headingheading
Program=WRITER
07.07.04 00:00:00
2

This help section was introduced for version 2.0. For legacy reasons, all of its help files reside inside the shared directory tree.

3

For historical reasons, the contents for Draw are included in the simpress.tree file and the contents for Base (database) are included in
the shared.tree file.

14

•

Title specifies the help module title as displayed in the drop down list at the top

left of the help viewer.
•

Copyright is a copyright string.

•

Language specifies the help language for the help module.

•

Order was used in an earlier implementation and is deprecated.

•

Start defines the start page for a help module. The slashes in the path name are

encoded as %2F. The start page must be contained in the archive that has thesame name as the configuration file (swriter.jar for swriter.cfg)•

Heading defines an internal value that is used by the full text search engine.

•

Program specifies the application name that will be used for switching content(see Switching Content on page 99)•

The last line contains the creation date. Use of this is deprecated. It is notevaluated anywhere.

Help Module Contents Files (Section Archives)
The *.jar contents files contain the help topic files for a help section (see Help
Modules and Help Sections ). It is an archive file with a subdirectory structure that
contains all help xhp files. There is one archive per help section (sbasic, shared,
sdraw, simpress, scalc, schart, swriter, smath). Each help module comprises morethan one help section (see Help Modules and Help Sections ).
Help Module Lookup Tables (Databases)
The lookup tables *.db are Berkeley databases that contain a lookup table used by
the help application to find a help page to display for a given help ID. The tables areused for referencing context sensitive help pages when help is called from theapplication. They are not used for calling help files from within other help files. This isdesignated by the parameter UseDB=no in the help file URL (see Application Help
Calls on page 16). The data for that table come from the bookmark elements in thehelp files (see Bookmarks on page 95).
Help Module Extended Tip Files
The files *.ht are Berkeley databases that contain the extended help tip text for all
Help IDs. The application uses these files to fetch the text for an extended tip for agiven Help ID.
The data for that table come from the bookmark elements in conjunction with theahelp elements in the help files (see Bookmarks on page 95). It is extracted from thehelp files at compile time.

15

Help Module Index Files
The files *.key are Berkeley databases that contain the index entries for the help
modules.
The data for that table come from the bookmark elements in the help files (seeBookmarks on page 95). It is extracted from the help files at compile time.
The Main Transformation Style Sheet
The file main_transform.xsl is global for all languages and help files and is used forfinal transformation of the xhp help file to yield an html file that is displayed by the help
viewer component.
This style sheet is responsible for converting XML help elements and classes intoHTML elements and classes. The overall layout of the help file is specified using thisstyle sheet. The graphical appearance is controlled by the cascading style sheets (seeThe Cascading Style Sheets).
The Cascading Style Sheets
The cascading style sheets *.css describe the formatting style for the help page.
Since different locales require different fonts and font effects, the cascading style
sheets are language dependent. There is one set of style sheets per language.
The OpenOffice.org help viewer only recognizes some basic CSS2 commands. There
are five style sheets available, four of which account for special accessibility issues.
They are selected in the application using Tools – Options – OpenOffice.org– General – Help Formatting.

Application Help Calls
This section briefly describes what happens when a help file is called from theapplication or from within the help itself (links or embeddings).
Application(F1 or Help Button)

Help Viewer

1$module.db
2

3$module.jar

14
main_transform.xsl
5Viewer16
Fig. 5: Help Calls

1. When F1 or a help button is pressed in an OpenOffice.org application, a help
request is sent as an URL to the help content provider.
2. The help ID is resolved to a help file using the help lookup table for theapplication ($module.db).
3. When a help file is called from within the help, the URL sent to the help
content provider contains the file path. There is no need for resolving the ID.
4. The help file is extracted from the corresponding help file archive($module.jar).
5. Theextracted

help file is transformed into HTML using themain_transform.xsl style sheet and sent to the help viewer for display. The
stylesheet main_transform.xsl controls all conversion from xhp to html, andmust be adjusted whenever new elements, attributes, or attribute values must
be taken into account.

The URLs sent to the help content provider have two forms:
URLs from the application
vnd.sun.star.help://swriter/12345?Language=en-US&System=UNIX

URLs send within the help:
vnd.sun.star.help://swriter/text/swriter/main0100.xhp?Language=enUS&System=UNIX&UseDB=no&DbPAR=swriter•

The protocol identifier vnd.sun.star.help:•

The help archive jar file to use: swriter•

The help ID to look up, or the name of the file to extract: 12345 or
swriter/text/swriter/main0100.xhp•

A parameter for the current language: Language=en-US•

A parameter for the current operating system: System=UNIX•

A parameter to disable help ID lookup (only for help internal URLs): UseDB=no•

A parameter to describe the current help context (module): DbPAR=swriterThis can differ from the help archive jar file used (see also Help Modules andHelp Sections on page 13).

17

Structure of the CVS Help Module
The help source files and all helper files are located in the CVS module
helpcontent2. The directory layout is as follows:

Directory

Content

helpcontent2/

The module's main directory

helpcontent2/helpers

Files that are not used by the help content itself, likethe DTD for the XML help format.

helpcontent2/helpers/helpauthoring

The help authoring environment for OpenOffice.org,
see Authoring Help With OpenOffice.org on page 75.

helpcontent2/source

The help source files that are used to build the help.

helpcontent2/source/auxiliary

Auxiliary files that do not contain help content but are
still needed for building the help, style sheets,
configuration files (see Auxiliary Files on page 31)

helpcontent2/source/text

The help content source files, the makefiles for thehelp compiler, and the localized content. Every
subdirectory contains its own makefile and a file withall localized content.

helpcontent2/source/text/sbasic

Help files specific to BASIC (and the IDE).[4]helpcontent2/source/text/scalc

Help files specific to the Calc module.[4]helpcontent2/source/text/schart

Help files specific to charts.[4]helpcontent2/source/text/sdraw

Help files specific to the Draw module.[4]helpcontent2/source/text/shared

Help files common to two or more modules.[4]helpcontent2/source/text/simpress

Help files specific to the Impress module.[4]helpcontent2/source/text/smath

Help files specific to the Math module.[4]helpcontent2/source/text/swriter

Help files specific to the Writer module.[4]helpcontent2/prj

The build lists.

helpcontent2/util

The makefiles for the help linker (see Makefiles forlinking the compiled files on page 20).

Table 3: Structure of the Help CVS module▷ Note that the help images are no longer part of the CVS module. Starting with OpenOffice.org 2.0,
application icons are directly taken from the images.zip repository in the share/config
directory.

▷ Images specific to the help need to be added to the CVS default_images module in thehelpimg subdirectory. These will then also be included in the images.zip archive.

4

18

The subdirectory structure of this directory has historical reasons.

Building the Help Set
Setting Up A Build Environment
This is described on tools.openoffice.org.
Makefiles For The Help
The helpcontent2 module contains three types of makefiles:
1. Makefiles for compiling the help source files
These makefiles are found in the helpcontent2/source/text directories.
Every subdirectory that contains help files to be compiled has acorresponding makefile, for example (shortened for clarity):#***************************************************************#***************************************************************# edit to match directory level
PRJ= ..$/..$/..$/..
# same for all makefiles in "helpcontent2"
PRJNAME = helpcontent2# edit to match the current package
PACKAGE = text/sbasic/guide# uniqe name (module wide);# using a modified forme of package should do here
TARGET = text_sbasic_guide# edit to match the current module
MODULE = sbasic# --- Settings -----------------------------------------------.INCLUDE : settings.mk.INCLUDE : $(PRJ)$/settings.pmk# this list matches the *.xhp files to process
HZIPFILES = \control_properties.hzip \create_dialog.hzip \insert_control.hzip \sample_code.hzip \show_dialog.hzip# --- Targets ------------------------------------------------.INCLUDE : target.mk.INCLUDE : $(PRJ)$/makefile.pmk

You find a template for this makefile in helpcontent2/helpers. This
template is used when the makefiles are created using thecreatemakefile.pl script in helpcontent2/helpers. Use this script for
makefile creation and don't modify the makefiles manually.

19

2. Makefiles for linking the compiled files.
These makefiles are found in the subdirectories of helpcontent2/util (thedirectory itself contains the third type of makefile), for example (shortened forclarity):#**************************************************************#**************************************************************# edit to match directory level
PRJ= ..$/..
# same for all makefiles in "helpcontent2"
PRJNAME = helpcontent2# uniqe name (module wide);# using a modified forme of package should do here
TARGET = util_sbasic# --- Settings -----------------------------------------------.INCLUDE : settings.mk.INCLUDE : $(PRJ)$/settings.pmk.IF "$(SOLAR_JAVA)"!=""
common_build_zip:=
zip1generatedlangs=TRUE
zip1langdirs=$(aux_alllangiso)
ZIP1TARGET=xhp_sbasic
ZIP1FLAGS= -u -r
ZIP1DIR=$(MISC)$/$(LANGDIR)
ZIP1LIST=$(LANGDIR)$/text$/sbasic$/* -x "*.dphh*" \-x "*.hzip" -x "*.created".ENDIF# "$(SOLAR_JAVA)"!=""
LINKNAME=sbasic
LINKADDEDFILES= \-add sbasic.cfg$(PRJ)$/source$/auxiliary$/LANGUAGE$/sbasic.cfg \-add sbasic.tree$(PRJ)$/source$/auxiliary$/LANGUAGE$/sbasic.tree \-add sbasic.jar $(BIN)$/xhp_sbasic_LANGUAGE.zip

LINKADDEDDEPS= \$(PRJ)$/source$/auxiliary$/LANGUAGE$/sbasic.cfg \$(PRJ)$/source$/auxiliary$/LANGUAGE$/sbasic.tree \$(BIN)$/xhp_sbasic_LANGUAGE.zip

LINKLINKFILES= \text$/sbasic$/guide$/control_properties.hzip \text$/sbasic$/guide$/create_dialog.hzip \text$/sbasic$/guide$/insert_control.hzip \text$/sbasic$/guide$/sample_code.hzip \text$/sbasic$/guide$/show_dialog.hzip \# --- Targets -------------------------------------------------

20

.INCLUDE :.INCLUDE :target.mk$(PRJ)$/util$/target.pmk

You find a template for this makefile in helpcontent2/helpers. This
template is used when the makefiles are created using thecreatemakefile.pl script in helpcontent2/helpers. Use this script for
makefile creation and not to modify the makefiles manually.
3. A makefile for creating the stylesheet archive in helpcontent2/util(shortened for clarity):#**************************************************************#**************************************************************# edit to match directory levelPRJ= ..
# same for all makefiles in "helpcontent2"
PRJNAME = helpcontent2# uniqe name (module wide);# using a modified forme of package should do here
TARGET = plain_util# --- Settings -----------------------------------------------.INCLUDE : settings.mk.INCLUDE : $(PRJ)$/settings.pmk
ZIP1TARGET=helpxsl
ZIP1FLAGS= -u -r
ZIP1DIR=$(PRJ)$/source$/auxiliary
ZIP1LIST=main_transform*.xsl# --- Targets ------------------------------------------------.INCLUDE :target.mk

ALLTAR : $(COMMONBIN)$/helpimg.ilst$(COMMONBIN)$/helpimg.ilst: helpimg.ilst$(COPY) $< $@Help Build Process
The file helpconten2/prj/build.lst defines which directories are built using a
directory's makefile. Dependencies (which directories need to be built first) are also
defined here.[5]Initiate a help build by issuing the command build while in the helpcontent2
directory.

5

More information about the build process for OpenOffice.org in general can be found on http://tools.openoffice.org,
http://ooo.ximian.com/hackers-guide.html, or on http://go-oo.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page.

21

1. The help files from helpcontent2/source/text are compiled and written to themisc subdirectory of the platform directory of the output tree. This step produces
a set of *.hzip files and dependency files *.dphh. These files are the particles
that are used to create the help modules in the next – the linking – step.
2. The compiled help files are taken from the misc directory and linked into a zip
archive. Other files are added from the helpcontent2/source/auxiliary
directory to that archive as defined in the makefiles of the subdirectories in
helpcontent2/util. This results in one zip archive per help module andlanguage in the bin subdirectory of the platform directory of the output tree.
3. Thehelpxsl.zip

archiveis

built

accordingtothemakefileinhelpcontent2/util.

4. All archive files are delivered according to the d.lst file in helpcontent2/prj.[5]Adding A Help File To Or Removing A Help File From The Set Of Help Files
The makefiles need to be adjusted to reflect the changes you made to the set of files.
If you added a new file, add this to the makefile of its directory and to the link makefile(in helpcontent2/util/*) of any module that will contain the file. If you deleted ahelp file, remove it from the makefile of its directory and from the link makefile (inhelpcontent2/util/*) of any module that contains the file.
▷ The safest way is to run the create_makefiles.pl script from helpcontent2/helpers to update themakefiles.

If you rebuild the help after help files have been deleted, or after dependencies(references) between the files have been changed, you need to remove alldependency files from the misc directory that are no longer valid. To be perfectly safe,
you can remove the complete output tree for the platform of the helpcontent2
module.
Help Images
Images that are used inside the help are stored in different modules and accessed by
the help viewer using the images.zip archive on runtime. Therefore, you need to add
help images, such as screenshots, to the helpimg directory of the default_images
module. Including the help images to the images.zip repository is controlled by thehelpimg.ilst file that is found in the util directory of helpcontent2.
The helpimg.ilst file contains all image files to be included for helpcontent2, one
file per line. The variable %GLOBALRES% is used to designate the default image
directory:%GLOBALRES%/helpimg/calcein.png▷ Don't forget the localized files in the subdirectories.
22

2 Help File XML format Basics
Basic Document Structure
The basic structure of a valid help file for OpenOffice.org consists of a helpdocument
root element with one meta and one body sub-element containing the content (body)and meta information (meta). The minimum information is a topic title and the filename
inside the elements•/helpdocument/meta/topic/title and•/helpdocument/meta/topic/filename<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><helpdocument version="1.0"><meta><topic id="someid" indexer="include" status="PUBLISH"><title xml-lang="en-US" id="tit">Topic Title</title><filename>text/swriter/01/012345.xhp</filename></topic></meta><body></body></helpdocument>▷ The help file extension is xhp.

Using Variables
In the help files the following variables are used to designate the name and theversion of the product. This is to allow for correct branding of the product (forexample, OpenOffice.org vs. StarOffice). You must never use the literal name of the
product but instead one of the following variables[6]:6

In addition to these variables, the following two variables are still used in the help files for legacy reasons but deprecated: $[officename]and $[officeversion].

23

•%PRODUCTNAME

designates

the

name

of

the

product,forexampleOpenOffice.org.
•%PRODUCTVERSION designates the current version of the product, for example

2.0.
Both

variables

arereplaced

by

the

main

transformation

style

sheet

main_transform.xsl (see page 16) when the help is displayed. The corresponding

information is taken from the application's configuration information and passed to thestyle sheet (see The Main Transformation Style Sheet on page 16).

Paragraph Roles
The main element for help content is a paragraph. There is no heading element,
instead all headings are treated as paragraphs with a heading role. The role attributedefines the role of a paragraph with the paragraph role being the standard. The
values for the role attribute are not defined in the DTD.
During the conversion process (XML→HTML) the role attribute is mapped to a classattribute of the corresponding HTML element allowing to influence the layout of thecorresponding paragraph using cascading style sheets.[7]The following roles are currently suggested and defined in the help authoring
template. More roles can be defined as required (see also Paragraph Formatting on
page 86):

Role

Description

Converts to...

paragraph

A standard paragraph<p class="paragraph">...
</p>heading

A headingIf this role is assigned to a paragraph, theheading level has to be specified using
the level attribute of the paragraphelement.

<h1>...</h1>to<h6>...</h6>

note

A note<p class="note">...</p>warning

A warning<p class="warning">...</p>

tip

A tip

<p class="tip">...</p>code

A code fragment<p class="code">...</p>exampleAn example<p class="example"> ...</p>tablehead

A table head (first rows)<p class="tablehead">...</p>tablecontent

Table contents<p class="tablecontent">...</p>

Table 4: Paragraph Roles

7

24

Be advised that the help viewer component does not support all of CSS2.

If you use other roles, you must ensure that they are taken into account by the CSS
files that define the help file display format.

Defining Index, Contents, and Context Sensitivity
The help uses one unified bookmarking system to set anchors inside the help files
which are used by the Index tab, the Contents tab and for context-sensitive help.
The main element is the bookmark element. A bookmark has a branch attribute
representing the purpose of the bookmark. Currently there are three branches
defined: contents, index, and hid.
To define an anchor for a bookmark inside a help document, the element <bookmark>has to be positioned at the place the bookmark will point to. The branch attribute
specifies the type of bookmark to be defined (a content entry, an index entry, or a helpID), while the sub-element bookmark_value contains the visible bookmark text, if
applicable.
▷ The only child element that is allowed inside the bookmark_value is embedvar to allow
embedding of commonly used titles for content nodes or index entries. For examples of using
embedded fragments inside bookmark values, refer to the next sections.

Contents BranchContent entries are displayed on the Content tab page of the help viewer. The branch
attribute takes the value contents. The bookmark value can contain any number oflevels separated by slashes, with the last part of the bookmark value serving as theentry and the other parts serving as nodes.
▷ Note that currently the contents branch is not implemented in the help build process.

Example<bookmark branch="contents"
xml-lang="en-US" id="bm1"><bookmark_value>
Text Documents/
Objects in Text Documents/
Positioning Objects</bookmark_value></bookmark>A bookmark value can also contain embedded fragments for node titles. This reduces
redundancy, maintenance effort, and the risk of introducing errors through typos. Thiscan be avoided if the top level entries for the content tree are defined separately:25

<variable id="textdocs">Text Documents</variable><variable id="objtextdocs">Objects in Text Documents</variable>

and embedded as text fragments:<bookmark_value><embedvar href="/text/shared/00/variables.xhp#textdocs"/>/<embedvar href="/text/shared/00/variables.xhp#objtextdocs"/>/...
</bookmark>Index Branch
Index Entries are displayed on the Index tab page of the help viewer. The branch
attribute takes the value index Currently, index entries can contain two levels
separated by a semicolon.
Example<bookmark branch="index" id="bm1" xml-lang="en-US"><bookmark_value>
editor;contour editor</bookmark_value></bookmark>As with content entries, the bookmark values for index entries can contain embedded
text fragments by using the embedvar element, which can be useful if names of UI
elements are used that are subject to change.
"hid" BranchHelp IDs are never displayed but instead trigger context-sensitive help inside
OpenOffice.org. The branch attribute takes the value hid and in addition contains thehelp ID associated with the bookmark.
<bookmark id="bm_9876" xml-lang="en-US"
branch="hid/HID_SOME_HELP_ID"/>

A bookmark for a given help ID can only be used once inside the help files since thebookmark defines the entry point for the help viewer when context-sensitive help is
triggered from the UI either through the use of the F1 key or the Help button.
There are two types of help IDs currently used in the help files:•

Symbolic names, like SID_FM_CONVERTTO_IMAGECONTROL•UNO command names, like .uno:InsertCtrl

For details on determining the help ID for a UI element, see Determining A Help ID on
page 98.

26

Switching Content
In some cases it is necessary to distinguish between different platforms orapplications when displaying the help. For example, on one platform a key stroke toachieve a certain action can differ from the key stroke used on other platforms. To
avoid duplicating large amounts of text and to reduce redundancy, switching elements
are available, which are used to select the correct portion of the content at runtime.
The help content provider sends additional information along with a help request thatstates the current platform, language and application context. This information can beevaluated using the switch constructs to display the corresponding information.
There are two types of content switching:•

Switching complete paragraphs or sections•

Switching text fragments inside paragraphs

Currently, the following values are used for the select attribute of a switch andswitchinline element to specify the switching context:

Value

Switching context

Example/Comment

sys

Operating System

Switching content for Unix, Windows, or Mac
platforms.

appl

Application

Switching content for different OpenOffice.org applications (Writer,Calc,...) in files that are common to multiple applications.

distrib

Distribution[8]Switching content for different distributions, like OpenOffice.org
and StarOffice, which contains extra commercial features.

Table 5: Paragraph Switching Contexts

The following values are used for the select attribute of a case and caseinline
element within a given switching context:

Switching Context

ValuesOperating System (sys)

WIN UNIX MAC

Application (appl)

WRITER CALC DRAW IMPRESS MATH BASIC CHART

Table 6: Inline Switching Contexts

Switching Complete Paragraphs Or Sections
This type is used, for example, if contents of a paragraph differ considerably on
different platforms or for different applications, or if a certain paragraph or section is
only applicable to a certain platform or application.

8Note, that this switch is currently not evaluated in the main transformation step, since the help content provider does not provide thenecessary information. Currently, the main transformation style sheet uses the value of the product name to distinguish between open source
and commercial distributions, but this is only implemented for StarOffice and OpenOffice.org.

27

For example, while mounting a CD-ROM drive can be a necessary step on a Unix
system, it is usually not applicable on Windows computers. The switch element canbe used to accomplish this distinction:<switch select="sys"><case select="UNIX"><paragraph>Mount the cd rom drive.</paragraph></case></switch>

Switching Text Fragments Inside Paragraphs
This type is used if only small text fragments differ on different platforms orapplications. A typical case is the use of shortcuts on different systems, or thenotation of file paths on different platforms.
For example, while on Windows the standard installation path for OpenOffice.org
could be something like C:\Program Files\OpenOffice.org-2.0, it could be~/OpenOffice.org-2.0 on a Unix system, making it necessary to distinguishbetween the operating environments when talking about these paths. The
switchinline element can be used to accomplish the distinction:<paragraph>The software will be installed in the<switchinline select="sys"><caseinline select="UNIX">~/OpenOffice.org-2.0</caseinline><caseinline select="WIN">
C:\Program Files\OpenOffice.org-2.0</caseinline><defaultinline>home</defaultinline></switchinline>
directory.</paragraph>

In the code example above, there is also a default value defined by using the optional
defaultinline element, which is shown if neither UNIX nor WIN is set as the platform
value when calling the help.

Embedding Content
You can also reduce redundant content by defining reusable text fragments andblocks, which can be referenced from other places. The references are resolved atruntime when the help is displayed, and are temporarily resolved at compile time
when the full text search index is generated.
There are two ways of reusing content by means of embedding:28•

Embedding complete sections•

Embedding text fragments

Embedding Complete Sections
Single or multiple paragraphs can apply to more than one help file. For example,
standard steps inside procedures can be written once and embedded in multiple
places, reducing maintenance and translation effort.
The URL for the reference takes the form file#id. If, for instance, the section with
the ID 12345 from the file text/writer/01/012345.xhp is to be embedded, the URL
would be text/swriter/01/012345.xhp#12345. The file name refers to the path andname that is stored in the jar files.
Complete sections can be embedded using the embed element. The section to beembedded is referenced using the attribute ID, which must be unique within the file.
If, for example, multiple processes described in the help involve logging on to acomputer, this particular step can be written once and embedded wherever required:
ExampleOriginal location (filename: original.xhp):<section id="logon"><paragraph id="par_id12345" role="paragraph" xml-lang="en-US">
Log on to your computer using your user name and password.
</paragraph></section>

Referenced location:<paragraph id="par_id9876" role="heading" level="1" xml-lang="en-US">
Starting %PRODUCTNAME</paragraph><list><listitem><embed href="original.xhp#logon"/></listitem><listitem><paragraph id="par_id9877" role="paragraph" xml-lang="en-US">
Start %PRODUCTNAME</paragraph></listitem></list>This results in the following:
Starting OpenOffice.org
1. Log on to your computer using your user name and your password.
2. Start OpenOffice.org

Embedding Text Fragments
Text fragments can, for example, represent commonly used phrases or names of UI
elements. These can be specified once and used in multiple places, reducing
maintenance and localization effort.

29

The URL for the reference takes the form file#id. If, for instance, the variable with
the ID 12345 from the file text/swriter/01/012345.xhp is to be embedded, the
URL would be text/writer/01/012345.xhp#12345. The file name refers to the path+ name that is stored in the jar files.
These fragments can be embedded using the embedvar element if they are previously
defined as being variables, so that they can be referenced. The text fragment to beembedded is placed inside a variable element and assigned a unique ID using theelement's id attribute:
Original location (filename: original.xhp):<paragraph id="par_id1234">Press the <variable id="btn_prnprev"><itemtype="button">Print Preview</item></variable> button.</paragraph>

The fragment can then be referenced in other locations using the embedvar element:
Referenced location:<paragraph id="par_id9876">A preview can be shown using the <embedvar
href="original.xhp#btn_prnprev"/> button.

Result:A preview can be shown using the Print Preview button.

If, for example, the name of the button changes from "Print Preview" to "ShowPreview" you only need to update one location to make the change available in allreferenced locations.
You can also embed the content of paragraphs by referring to the paragraph ID. Notethat only the contents of the paragraph are embedded. The paragraph formatting
information is disregarded:
Referenced location<paragraph id="par_id433122"><embedvar
id="referenced.xhp#par_id9876"/>

Result:A preview can be shown using the Print Preview button.

Images and Icons
All images must be placed inside paragraphs. The image element contains
information about the image source in the src element and must be assigned aunique ID. Every image element must also contain a child element alt that contains a
short description of the image used if the visual content is not displayed or cannot be
accessed by visually impaired users.
30

In addition to the alt element, there is also an optional caption element that can takea long description as an image caption.
Starting with OpenOffice.org 2.0, the help retrieves all images from the central image
repository images.zip, which is available in the share/config directory of the
OpenOffice.org installation. This archive contains all images that OpenOffice.org
uses, separated by modules. The OpenOffice.org Help fetches any icons displayed in
the help files from here. Since this also is the place where the application fetched theicons to display in the user interface, the icons in the help will always be in sync withthe application, even if the images.zip archive contains a customized set of images.
The help itself also has a subdirectory inside the images.zip archive that contains all
images that are specific to the help and only used by it, for instance screen captures.
These images are stored under res/helpimg in the archive.

Localization Information
Content that is to be localized is found inside elements with the xml-lang attributethat contains the elements language code. Elements can be excluded fromlocalization by specifying the localize attribute and setting it to false. Any suchelement and all of its child elements will be excluded from the localization process.
▷ Note that the help does not as yet support the pseudo-language x-comment as value for xml-

lang to designate comments.

All paragraphs contain an l10n attribute, which is used to specify the localization
status of the paragraph. This attribute was only used in the migration phase and is notevaluated. It can be used to store a paragraph authoring status to implement basic
content management functionality.

Auxiliary Files
Some auxiliary files are necessary, apart from the help files *.xhp to build the help
set. These are found in the source/auxiliary directory of the helpcontent2
module. Some of them are just used for building the help, and some are included in
the helpset.
Files Used For Building The Help
Apart from the makefile for this directory makefile.mk, there are a number of XSLstylesheets used for help compilation:•

default.xsl

31•embed.xsl is used for resolving embedded sections in help files duringcompile time to correctly process embedded sections when creating keyword
and fulltext search index•

index.xsl is used by the corresponding JAVA routine for creating the full text

search index
Main Transformation Stylesheet
The main transformation stylesheet main_transform.xsl controls the lasttransformation step of the XML files to HTML before they are displayed in the help
viewer. The file contains instructions on how to transform elements of the XML files toHTML elements to be displayed. It also takes care of some formatting issues, and is
responsible for replacing variables used in the help files.
The help content provider passes some parameters to the stylesheet that are used forfile processing:•

Database – this parameter identifies the help module context (see also Help

Modules and Help Sections on page 13 ). It can have one of the values
swriter, scalc, sdraw, simpress, schart, sbasic, smath. This value isused to evaluate application switches (see Switching Content on page 27).
•

System – this parameter identifies the operating system/platform. This value isused to evaluate system switches (see Switching Content on page 27).
•

productname and productversion – these parameters contain the name andversion string of the product (e.g. "OpenOffice.org" "2.0", or "StarOffice" "8").
These are used to replace the variables %PRODUCTNAME and%PRODUCTVERSION in the help content (see Using Variables on page 23).
•

imgrepos – this parameter contains the physical path to the image repository
images.zip used for requesting the images in the help files.

•

Id – this parameter contains the help ID called. It is displayed in the error

message when the corresponding help file cannot be found.
•

Language – this parameter contains the current locale of the program.

Contents Definition Files *.tree
A number of *.tree files contain the information used to display the table of contentson the contents tab of the help viewer. These are XML files based on the following
simple DTD:<!ELEMENT tree_view (help_section)+><!ATTLIST tree_view
version CDATA #REQUIRED><!ELEMENT help_section (node|topic)*><!ATTLIST help_section

32>application CDATA #REQUIRED
id CDATA #REQUIRED
title CDATA #REQUIRED<!ELEMENT node (topic)*><!ATTLIST node
id CDATA #REQUIRED
title CDATA #REQUIRED><!ELEMENT topic (#PCDATA)><!ATTLIST topic
id CDATA #REQUIRED>The main element tree_view encapsulates one or more help_sections that containone or more nodes with one or more topics (or further subnodes). The
help_sections are the top-most element in the table of contents as displayed by thehelp viewer. Below that, there are nodes, represented by "book" icons in the help
viewer and, finally, topics that can be selected. A node can have sub-nodes.

33

3 Help File XML ReferenceThis chapter lists all elements of the XML help file DTD in alphabetical order as
presented in the Document Type Definition in the Appendix.
The element sections presented here all share a common structure. The name of theelement serves as a heading and is followed by element details:•

Element Description and Purpose•

Attributes•

Parent Elements•

Child Elements•

Element Definition•

Element Example

Examples for elements can show an element within its parent or child context.

Common Attributes
The following attributes are common to several elements.
Xml-Lang
The xml-lang attribute designates elements that need localization. The localization
process identifies elements to be localized by this attribute. It contains the language ofthe element it belongs to as a combination of language ISO code (ISO 639-1) andcountry ISO code (ISO 3166), separated by a dash.
xml-lang="en-US"

All elements containing text to be translated have an xml-lang attribute: alt,
bookmark, caption, paragraph, and title.
You can use the comment element to insert comments into the help file. But if they areoutside an element that will be localized they will not be recognized by the localizers.
35

Localize
The localize attribute can only take the value false and designates elements thatare excluded from the localization process. If an element contains the localize
attribute set to false, its contents and the contents of all child elements should not
be translated.[9] If the attribute contains any other value than false it will be ignored.
The attribute is optional.
localize="false"

All elements containing text to be translated or subelements with text to be translated
have an optional localize attribute: alt, body, bookmark, bookmark_value,
caption, list, listitem, paragraph, section, switch, table, tablecell,
tablerow, and title.
Id
The id element contains a unique string used to identify the element for localization
and referencing purposes. The ID must be unique within a help file so that referencing
across files and relocating sections and paragraphs across files is possible.
id="some_unique_value"

All elements that can be embedded or have to be translated contain a mandatory id
attribute: image, bookmark, paragraph, section, table, title, topic, andvariable.
Valid characters for the id value are capital or small letters from a-z, numbers from 09, and the underscore, in any combination. Other characters are not allowed.[10]9They are automatically excluded in the Sun release engineering localization process.

10 For legacy reasons, the help files contain many IDs that are not valid XML "id" types. Therefore, the id attribute is defined in the DTD to be of
the type CDATA.

36

Help File (*.xhp) Elements
Ahelp
This element designates text that is to be used as extended tips (for instance, tool tips
or active help). It can contain text (PCDATA) and child elements. It can only be used asa child of a paragraph.
Attributes
Attribute

RequiredContents

hid

yes

CDATA

visibilitynofixed value

Values allowed

Description
The symbolic help ID for which
the content is to be displayed.

"hidden", "visible"

The visibility of the ahelp content
inside the help viewer. If set to"hidden" the content is only
visible in the extended tips popup.

Table 7: Attributes of the ahelp Element

Parent Elements
caseinline, defaultinline, paragraph, variable

Child Elementscomment, embedvar, br, emph, item, link, variable

Element Definition<!ELEMENT ahelp (#PCDATA | embedvar | br | comment | emph | item |link | switchinline | variable)*><!ATTLIST ahelp
hid CDATA #REQUIRED
visibility (hidden | visible) #IMPLIED>

Example<ahelp hid="HID_SOME_HID" visibility="hidden">
You will only see this text in the extended tips for the ui control
with the help id HID_SOME_HID.
</ahelp>37

Alt
This element is used to specify an alternative text for an image. It corresponds to theHTML attribute of the same name and can only contain PCDATA that is localized (nomarkup).
Attributes
Attribute

RequiredContents

Values allowed

xml-lang

yes

CDATA

See Common Attributes on page
35.

id

yes

CDATA

A unique ID to identify theelement, see Common Attributes
on page 35.

localize

nofixed value"false"Description

See Common Attributes on page
35.

Table 8: Attributes of the alt element

Parent Elements
imageChild Elements
none
Element Definition<!ELEMENT alt (#PCDATA)><!ATTLIST alt
xml-lang CDATA #REQUIRED
id CDATA #REQUIRED
localize CDATA #IMPLIED>

Example<image src="img/imagefile.png" id="img_id1235"><alt xml-lang="en-US" id="alt_id1235">Dialog File Open</alt></image>

Body
This element contains all help content information. It cannot itself contain any
PCDATA, but rather only child elements.
Attributes
Attribute

RequiredContents

Values allowed

Description

localize

nofixed value"false"See Common Attributes on page
35

Table 9: Attributes of the body element

38

Parent Elements
helpdocument

Child Elements
section, paragraph, table, comment, bookmark, switch, embed, list, sort

Element Definition<!ELEMENT body (section | paragraph | table | comment | bookmark |switch | embed | list | sort)*><!ATTLIST body
localize CDATA #IMPLIED>

Example<body><paragraph>This is the content of a help file</paragraph></body>Bookmark
This element contains information about a bookmark used in the help files. The
bookmark type is specified inside the branch attribute of the bookmark element while thebookmark value is defined in the child element bookmark_value. For more information
about the bookmarking system in the help please refer to Defining Index, Contents, andContext Sensitivity on page 25.
Attributes
Attribute

RequiredContents

Values allowed

Description

branchyes

CDATA“contents",“index","hid"

The bookmark type specified by thebranch inside the unified bookmarks
tree. See Defining Index, Contents, andContext Sensitivity on page 25.

id

yes

CDATA

A unique ID to identify the element, see
Common Attributes on page 35.

xml-lang

yes

CDATA

See Common Attributes on page 35.

localize

nofixed value"false"See Common Attributes on page 35.

Table 10: Attributes of the bookmark element

Parent Elements
body, case, default, section, topic, tablecell, listitem

Child Elements
bookmark_value

39

Element Definition<!ELEMENT bookmark (bookmark_value)*><!ATTLIST bookmark
branch CDATA #REQUIRED
xml-lang CDATA #REQUIRED
id CDATA #REQUIRED
localize CDATA #IMPLIED>

Example<bookmark branch="contents" xml-lang="en-US" id="bm_id1234"><bookmark_value>
StarOffice Writer Help/Working with Fields/Editing Field Contents</bookmark_value></bookmark><bookmark branch="index" xml-lang="en-US" id="bm_id9876"><bookmark_value>
Formulas/Exporting</bookmark_value></bookmark><bookmark branch="hid/12345"/>

Bookmark_value
This element contains the value of a bookmark. See Defining Index, Contents, andContext Sensitivity on page 25 for details.
Parent Elements
bookmark

Child Elements
embedvar

Element Definition<!ELEMENT bookmark_value (#PCDATA | embedvar)*>

Example<bookmark branch="contents" xml-lang="en-US" id="bm_123"><bookmark_value>
StarOffice Writer Help/Working with Fields/Editing Field Contents</bookmark_value></bookmark><bookmark branch="index/scalc" xml-lang="en-US" id="bm_543"><bookmark_value>
Formulas/Exporting</bookmark_value></bookmark><bookmark branch="index/scalc" xml-lang="de-DE" id="bm_543"><bookmark_value>
Formeln/Exportieren</bookmark_value></bookmark>40

BrThis element can be used to place a manual line break. It works like thecorresponding HTML <br> element. The element itself is empty.
Parent Elements
ahelp, caption, caseinline, defaultinline, paragraph, variable

Child Elements
none
Element Definition<!ELEMENT br EMPTY>

Example<paragraph>This line must have a<br/>manual<br/>line
break.</paragraph>

CaptionThis element specifies the (optional) caption of an image or a table.
Attributes
Attribute

RequiredContents

Values allowed

xml-lang

yes

CDATA

See Common Attributes on page
35.

id

yes

CDATA

A unique ID to identify theelement, see Common Attributes
on page 35.

localize

nofixed value"false"Description

See Common Attributes on page
35.

Table 11: Attributes of the caption element

Parent Elements
image, table

Child Elements
embedvar, br, emph, item, link, switchinline, variable

Element Definition<!ELEMENT caption (#PCDATA | embedvar | br | emph | item | link |switchinline | variable)*><!ATTLIST caption
xml-lang CDATA #REQUIRED
id CDATA #REQUIRED
localize CDATA #IMPLIED>

41

Example<table><caption xml-lang="en-US" id="cp_1234">
List of all <item type="productname">StarOffice</item> slots.
</caption></table>Case
This elements holds the cases of a switch statement.
Attributes
Attribute

RequiredContents

selectyes

CDATA

Values allowed

Description
Contains the value that is to beevaluated. See Switching Content
on page 27 for more information.

Table 12: Attributes of the case element

Parent Elements
switchChild Elements
paragraph, table, comment, bookmark, embed, list, switch, section

Element Definition<!ELEMENT case (paragraph | table | comment | bookmark | embed |link | list | switch | section)*><!ATTLIST caseselect CDATA #REQUIRED>

Example<switch select="sys"><case select="WIN"><paragraph>This appears in Windows.</paragraph></case><case select="UNIX"><paragraph>This appears in Unix.</paragraph></case><default><paragraph>This appears in all other cases</paragraph></default></switch>

42

Caseinline
This element holds the cases for an switchinline statement.
Attributes
Attribute

RequiredContents

selectyes

CDATA

Values allowed

Description
Contains the value that is to beevaluated. See Switching Content
on page 27 for more information.

Table 13: Attributes of the caseinline element

Parent Elements
switchinline

Child Elements
image, embedvar, br, emph, item, link, switchinline, variable, ahelp, object

Element Definition<!ELEMENT caseinline (#PCDATA | image | embedvar | br | emph |item | link | switchinline | variable |ahelp | object)*><!ATTLIST caseinline
select CDATA #REQUIRED>

Example<paragraph>Press the<switchinline select="sys"><caseinline select="WIN">Ctrl</caseinline><caseinline select="MAC">Apple</caseinline><defaultinline>any</defaultinline></switchinline>
key to start.
</paragraph>Comment
This element is used for inserting comments into the help files used by theauthor/editor/translator. They are to be removed when the help files are compiled.
Attributes
none
Parent Elements
body, case, default, list, listitem, section, switch, tablecell

43Child Elements
none
Element Definition<!ELEMENT comment (#PCDATA)>

Example<section><comment>FPE: This section is in a draft state!</comment></section>

CreatedThis element holds the date of document creation and additional information (author
or comment).
Attributes
Attribute

RequiredContents

date

yes

CDATA

Values allowed

Description
Contains the date of document
creation in the format

YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss
where:YYYY = four-digit year
MM = two-digit month
DD = two-digit day of monthhh = two digits of 24 hour
mm = two digits of minutess = two digits of second

Table 14: Attributes of the created element

Parent Elements
historyChild Elements
none
Element Definition<!ELEMENT created (#PCDATA)><!ATTLIST createddate CDATA #REQUIRED>

Example<meta><history><created date="2002-05-20T15:15:00">New topic created</created><lastedited date="2002-06-20T15:15:00">Made changes</lastedited></history></meta>44

Default
This elements holds the default values for a switch. It is evaluated if all caseelements of a switch element evaluate to false.
Attributes
none
Parent Elements
switchChild Elements
paragraph, table, comment, bookmark, embed, list, section

Element Definition<!ELEMENT default (paragraph | table | comment | bookmark |embed | link | list | switch | section)*>Example<switch select="sys"><case select="WIN"><paragraph>This appears in Windows.</paragraph></case><case select="UNIX"><paragraph>This appears in Unix.</paragraph></case><default><paragraph>This appears in all other cases</paragraph></default></switch>

Defaultinline
This elements holds the default values for an inline switch. It is evaluated if allcaseinline elements of a switchinline element evaluate to false.
Attributes
none
Parent Elements
switchinline

Child Elements
image, embedvar, br, emph, item, link, switchinline, variable, ahelp, object

Element Definition<!ELEMENT defaultinline (#PCDATA | image | embedvar | br | emph |item | link | switchinline | variable |ahelp | object)*>

45

Example<paragraph>Press the<switchinline select="sys"><caseinline select="WIN">Ctrl</caseinline><caseinline select="MAC">Apple</caseinline><defaultinline>any</defaultinline></switchinline>
key to start.
</paragraph>

Embed
This element is used to embed content from a different source at the current position.
The only elements that can be embedded from somewhere else are sections orparagraphs, which are identified by their URL. For smaller text fragments, embedvar
can be used. See Embedding Content on page 28.
The optional role attribute can override the role of a paragraph. For embedded
sections, the role attribute has no effect.
Attributes
Attribute

RequiredContents

href

yes

URL

role

no

level

no

fixed values

Values allowed

A URL pointing to the content tobe embedded. The URL has theform filepath#id. Filepath isthe path of the file as contained in
the jar archive.
see Paragraph
Roles on page 24.

The role in which the embedded
paragraph will appear. If this
attribute is specified theparagraph is displayed with thisrole overwriting its original role(not applicable for sections).

numerical value

The heading level if the role
attribute is set to "heading"

Table 15: Attributes of the embed element

Parent Elements
body, case, default, listitem, section, tablecell

Child Elements
none
Element Definition<!ELEMENT embed EMPTY><!ATTLIST embed
href CDATA #REQUIREDrole CDATA #IMPLIED
level CDATA #IMPLIED>

46

Description

Example<embed href="text/swriter/guide/editing#4711"/><embed href="text/scalc/01/0123456#9876" role="warning"/>

Embedvar
This element is used to embed smaller text fragments with and without markup, whichwere previously declared as being variables. See also Embedding Content on page
28.
Attributes
Attribute

RequiredContents

href

yes

URL

markupno

fixed values

Values allowed

Description
A URL pointing to the content tobe embedded. The URL has theform filepath#id. Filepath isthe path of the file as contained in
the jar archive.

"keep""ignore"Specifies whether markup
contained in the variable to beembedded is ignored or kept in
the target position. The default is
to keep markup within the text
fragment.

Table 16: Attributes of the embedvar element

Parent Elements
ahelp, caption, caseinline, defaultinline, link, paragraph, variable

Child Elements
none
Element Definition<!ELEMENT embedvar EMPTY><!ATTLIST embedvar
href CDATA #REQUIRED
markup (keep | ignore) #IMPLIED>

Example<paragraph>This element can be found on the <embedvar
href="text/swriter/01/dialogs#fileopen" markup="ignore"/>dialog.</paragraph>

47

Emph
This element is used to mark emphasized content. It can only contain PCDATA.
Attributes
none
Parent Elements
ahelp, caption, caseinline, defaultinline, link, paragraph, variable

Child Elements
item, comment, help-id-missing

Element Definition<!ELEMENT emph (#PCDATA | item | comment)*>

Example<paragraph><emph>Never</emph> delete the paragraph</paragraph>

Filename
This element contains the path and name of the help topic file as included in the jar
file, for example, text/swriter/01/1234567.xhp.
Attributes
none
Parent Elements
topicChild Elements
none
Element Definition<!ELEMENT filename (#PCDATA)>

Example<filename>text/swriter/01/08154711.xhp</filename>48Helpdocument
This is the root element of a help document and contains the meta and body part of
the help topic.
Attributes
Attribute

RequiredContents

version

yes

CDATA

Values allowed

Description
Contains the Help XML format
version number currently 1.0) forcompatibility to future versions.

Table 17: Attributes of the helpdocument element

Parent Elements
noneChild Elements
meta, body

Element Definition<!ELEMENT helpdocument (meta, body)><!ATTLIST helpdocument
version CDATA #REQUIRED>

Example<helpdocument version="1.0"><meta></meta><body></body></helpdocument>

Help-id-missing
This element is only used to display the help ID for a help file that cannot be found. It
is only used in the help error page and replaced by the missing help ID.
Parent Elements
Child Elements
None
Element Definition<!ELEMENT help-id-missing EMPTY>

49

History
This element contains information about the author and the date of creation, as wellas the same information about the last editing cycle.
Attributes
none
Parent Elements
metaChild Elements
created, lastedited
Element Definition<!ELEMENT history (created, lastedited)>

Example<meta><history><created date="2002-05-20T15:15:00">New topic created</created><lastedited date="2002-06-20T15:15:00">Made changes</created></history></meta>Image
This element carries information about images in the document.
Attributes
Attribute

RequiredContents

src

yes

URL

Description

width

no

CDATA

The image width. If missing, it is
set to 100%.

heightno

CDATA

The image height. If missing, it is
set to 100%.

id

yes

CDATA

A unique ID to identify the image,see Common Attributes on page35.

localize

no

CDATA

Used to designate images thatneed localization. Used by thetransformation style sheet. Only
the value true is recognized.

A URL pointing to the image as

included in the picture archive
picture.jar.

Table 18: Attributes of the image element

50

Values allowed

Parent Elements
caseinline, defaultinline, paragraph, variable, tablecell

Child Elements
caption, alt

Element Definition<!ELEMENT image (caption* | alt+)?><!ATTLIST image
src CDATA #REQUIRED
width CDATA #IMPLIED
height CDATA #IMPLIED
id CDATA #REQUIRED>

Example<image src="picture/win/common/writermainwin.xhp" id="img4711"
width="75" height="75"><caption xml-lang="en-US" id="cp4711">
The <emph>main writer windows</emph> showing all
writer toolbars.
</caption><alt xml-lang="en-US" id="alt4711">Main program window</alt></image>

Item
This generic element is used to mark up objects that are to be formatted in a uniqueway. The attribute type is used to specify the item type (a keystroke, a menu item, adialog title etc). This element resembles the <span class=""> element in HTML.
Attributes
Attribute

Required

type

yes

Contents

Values allowed

Description
The item type that is used toformat the data, for example"menuitem".

Table 19: Attributes of the item element

Parent Elements
ahelp, caption, caseinline, defaultinline, link, paragraph, variable, emphChild Elements
none
Element Definition<!ELEMENT item (#PCDATA)><!ATTLIST item
type CDATA #REQUIRED>51

Example<paragraph>You see the <item type="dialog">File Open</item> dialog.
</paragraph>

LasteditedThis element contains the date when the document was last edited inside the date
attribute. Additional information can be specified as PCDATA.
Attributes
Attribute

RequiredContents

date

yes

CDATA

Values allowed

Description
Contains the date when the
document was last edited, in theformatYYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss

where:YYYY = four-digit year
MM = two-digit month
DD = two-digit day of monthhh = two digits of 24 hour
mm = two digits of minutess = two digits of second

Table 20: Attributes of the lastedited element

Parent Elements
historyChild Elements
none
Element Definition<!ELEMENT lastedited (#PCDATA)><!ATTLIST lastedited
date CDATA #REQUIRED>

Example<meta><history><created date="2002-05-20T15:15:00">New topic created</created><lastedited date="2002-06-20T15:15:00">Made changes</lastedited></history></meta>52

Link
This element contains a link to another document inside or outside the help system.
For links to other help files, the URL syntax isfilename#anchor_target

with•filename

Path and name of the help file as contained in the help jar archive, forinstance text/swriter/01/123345.xhp.
•

anchor_target

Anchor target to jump to (optional). These can be the IDs of bookmarks,
sections, or paragraphs.
Attributes
Attribute

RequiredContents

Values allowed

Description

href

yes

URL

name

yes

This is the link name, needed tofulfill accessibility requirements.

type

no

This specifies the link type, forexample, a popup. Currently notevaluated.

targetno

Can be used to specify a target
frame.

This contains the link address as
URL.

Table 21: Attributes of the link element

Parent Elements
ahelp, caption, caseinline, defaultinline, paragraph, variable

Child Elements
emph, item, variable, embedvar, switchinline

Element Definition<!ELEMENT link (#PCDATA | embedvar | emph | item | variable |switchinline)*><!ATTLIST link
href CDATA #REQUIREDname CDATA #REQUIRED
type CDATA #IMPLIED
target CDATA #IMPLIED>

53

Example
Please refer to <link href="http://www.openoffice.org" name="Link to
the OpenOffice.org Website">the <emph>OpenOffice.org</emph>
website</link> for further details.
More details can be found in <linkhref="text/common/guide/overview.xhp" name="Link to the overview">theoverview</link>.

List
This element represents ordered (numbered) and unordered (bulleted) lists. The
element itself does not contain any PCDATA, but only child elements that carry thecontent or comments.
Attributes▷ Note that not all attributes are currently evaluated in the transformation style sheet (see also The
Main Transformation Style Sheet on page 16)

Attribute

RequiredContents

Values allowed

Description

type

yes

fixed
values"ordered" or"unordered"

Describes the list type as either beingordered (numbered) or unordered(bulleted).

startwith

no

CDATA

formatno

fixedvalues"1", "i", "I", "a","A"

The number format used in numbered(ordered) lists:"1": arabic numerals"i": small roman numerals"I": capital roman numerals"a": small letters"A": capital letters
If omitted the list uses "1".

bulletno

fixedvalues"disc", "circle","square"The bullet to be used in bulleted(unordered) lists.

localize

nofixed value"false"See Common Attributes on page 35

sortedno

fixedvalues“asc", “desc"

Specifies whether the list should be
sorted, either ascending or descending. If
this attribute is not given, the list is not
sorted. If it is given, the listitem childelements are sorted according to thecurrent locale.

The starting number of an ordered list; ifomitted, the list starts with 1.

Table 22: Attributes of the list element

Parent Elements
body, case, default, section, tablecell

Child Elements
listitem, comment

54

Element Definition<!ELEMENT list (listitem | (comment)*)+><!ATTLIST list
type CDATA #REQUIRED
startwith CDATA #IMPLIED
format (1 | i | I | a | A) #IMPLIED
bullet (disc | circle | square) #IMPLIED
localize CDATA #IMPLIED
sorted (asc | desc) #IMPLIED>

Example<list type="ordered" startwith="5" format="a"><listitem>...</listitem></list>ListitemThis element holds the contents of a list in child elements.
Attributes▷ Note that not all attributes are currently evaluated in the transformation style sheet (see also The
Main Transformation Style Sheet on page 16)

Attribute

RequiredContents

ValuesallowedDescription

formatno

fixed values"1", "i", "I", "a","A"

The number format used in numbered(ordered) list items:"1": arabic numerals"i": small roman numerals"I": capital roman numerals"a": small letters"A": capital letters
If omitted the list item uses the value set
in the list.

bulletno

fixed values"disc", "circle","square"The bullet to be used in bulleted(unordered) list items.

localize

nofixed value"false"See Common Attributes on page 35

class

no

Table 23: Attributes of the listitem element

Parent Elements
list

Child Elementscomment, section, paragraph, table, switch, embed, bookmark

55

Element Definition<!ELEMENT listitem (comment | section | paragraph | table |switch | embed | bookmark)*><!ATTLIST listitem
format (1 | i | I | a | A) #IMPLIED
bullet (disc | circle | square) #IMPLIED
localize CDATA #IMPLIED
class CDATA #IMPLIED>

Example<listitem bullet="disc"><paragraph>Insert the CD.</paragraph></listitem>

Meta
This element contains sub-elements with data used to organize the help.
Attributes
none
Parent Elements
helpdocument

Child Elements
topic, history

Element Definition<!ELEMENT meta (topic, history?)>

Example<helpdocument><meta><history>...</history></meta><body></body></helpdocument>

56

Object
This generic element contains information about objects to be embedded into the help
page like audio or video files. It is reserved for future use.
Attributes
Attribute

RequiredContents

Values allowed

Description

type

yes

CDATA

Specifies the mime type of theembedded object data.

id

yes

CDATA

A unique ID to identify the image,see Common Attributes on page
35.

data

yes

CDATA

Specifies the object file.

heightno

CDATA

Specifies the width of the object.

width

no

CDATA

Specifies the height of the object.

Table 24: Attributes of the object element

Parent Elements
paragraph, caseinline, defaultinline, variable

Child Elements
none
Element Definition<!ELEMENT object EMPTY><!ATTLIST object
type CDATA #REQUIRED
id CDATA #REQUIRED
data CDATA #REQUIRED
height CDATA #IMPLIED
width CDATA #IMPLIED>

Example<object data="clock.svg" id="objClock" type="image/svg+xml"
width="200" height="200">

57

ParagraphThis element is the standard element holding content. The role attribute defines its
context in greater detail. See also Paragraph Roles on page 24.
Attributes
Attribute

RequiredContents

ValuesallowedDescription

role

yes

CDATA

level

no

Defines the heading level if the paragraphrole is set to "heading".

id

yes

See Common Attributes on page 35.

l10n

yes

Contains the localization status of the oldhelp files and is only used for migration
purposes.

xml-lang

yes

CDATA

See Common Attributes on page 35.

oldrefno

CDATA

This contains the reference number used by
the old help files and is only used for
migration purposes.

localize

nofixed value

Describes the current role of the paragraph,for example a simple paragraph or a headingor an example or a note. See also Paragraph
Roles on page 24.

"false"See Common Attributes on page 35

Table 25: Attributes of the paragraph element

Parent Elements
body, case, default, listitem, section, tablecell

Child Elements
image,

embedvar,

br,

emph,

help-id-missing,

item,

link,

switchinline,

variable, ahelp, object, bookmark

Element Definition<!ELEMENT paragraph (#PCDATA | image | comment | embedvar | br |emph | item | link | switchinline | variable |ahelp | object | bookmark)*><!ATTLIST paragraphrole CDATA #REQUIRED
level CDATA #IMPLIED
id CDATA #REQUIRED
l10n CDATA #REQUIRED
xml-lang CDATA #REQUIRED
oldref CDATA #IMPLIED
localize CDATA #IMPLIED>

58

Example<paragraph role="heading" level="1" id="par4711_001" xml_lang="en-US">
Italic characters</paragraph><paragraph role="paragraph" id="par4711_002" xml_lang="en-US">
Proceed as follows to write an italic character</paragraph>

SectionThis element serves as a generic container for multiple elements to make them able
to be embedded in other documents. Each section takes a unique ID which is used
to identify it when embedded in other documents. Subsections are allowed. A
section can only contain sub-elements.
Attributes
Attribute

Requiredid

yes

localizenoContents

Values allowed

Description
See Common Attributes on page
35.

fixed value"false"See Common Attributes on page
35

Table 26: Attributes of the section element

Parent Elements
body, listitem, section, tablecell, case, default

Child Elements
section, paragraph, table, list, comment, bookmark, embed, switch, sort

Element Definition<!ELEMENT section (section | paragraph | table | list | comment |bookmark | embed | switch | sort )*><!ATTLIST section
id CDATA #REQUIRED
localize CDATA #IMPLIED>

Example<section id="4711"><paragraph>This applies to multiple
applications</paragraph><section>

59

Sort
This element is used to mark up a set of sections that are to be sorted. The sequenceof the sections inside the sort element plays no role for the display sequence.
▷ Note that sorting does not work for embedded sections.

Attributes
Attribute

RequiredContents

Values allowed

Description

order

no

fixed values"asc", "desc"

Defines the sorting order as being
ascending or descending.

Table 27: Attributes of the sort element

Parent Elements
body, section

Child Elements
sectionElement Definition<!ELEMENT sort (section+)><!ATTLIST sortorder (asc | desc) #IMPLIED>

Example<sort order="asc"><section id="123243">...</section><section id="24345">...</section></sort>60

SwitchThis element is used to switch sections or paragraphs for different platform,
application, distribution, target medium or language context. For switching content
inside paragraphs, switchinline must be used.
Attributes
Attribute

RequiredContents

Values allowed

Description

selectyes

fixed values"sys""appl""distrib""target""lang""ver"

Defines the context that is to beevaluated, see also Switching
Content on page 27.

localize

nofixed value"false"See Common Attributes on page
35

Table 28: Attributes of the switch element

Parent Elements
body, listitem, section

Child Elements
case, comment, default

Element Definition<!ELEMENT switch ((case | comment)* | default?)*><!ATTLIST switch
select (sys | appl | distrib | target | lang | ver) #REQUIRED
localize CDATA #IMPLIED>

61

Example<switch select="sys"><case select="WIN"><paragraph>This appears in Windows.</paragraph></case><case select="UNIX"><paragraph>This appears in Unix.</paragraph></case><default><paragraph>This appears in all other cases</paragraph></default></switch>

Switchinline
This element is used to switch parts of paragraphs for different platform, application,
distribution, target medium or language context. For switching complete paragraphs or
sections switch must be used.
Attributes
Attribute

RequiredContents

Values allowed

Description

selectyes

fixed values"sys", "appl","distrib", "target","lang", "ver"Defines the context that is to beevaluated, see also Switching
Content on page 27.

Table 29: Attributes of the switchinline element

Parent Elements
caption, caseinline, defaultinline, paragraph, variable, linkChild Elements
caseinline, defaultinline

Element Definition<!ELEMENT switchinline ((caseinline)+, (defaultinline?)?)><!ATTLIST switchinline
select (sys | appl | distrib | target | ver | lang) #REQUIRED>

Example<paragraph>Press the<switchinline select="sys"><caseinline select="WIN">Ctrl</caseinline><caseinline select="MAC">Apple</caseinline><defaultinline>any</defaultinline></switchinline>
key to start.
</paragraph>62

TableThis element defines a table containing one or more tablerows. The table element
itself only contains child elements.
Attributes▷ Note that not all attributes are currently evaluated in the transformation style sheet (see also The
Main Transformation Style Sheet on page 16)

Attribute

RequiredContents

Valuesallowed

name

no

CDATA

Contains a table name.

width

no

CDATA

Contains the width of the table in units asgiven in the units attribute. If omitted, thetable width is set by the help viewer.

heightno

CDATA

Contains the height of the table in units asgiven in the units attribute. If omitted, thetable height is set by the help viewer.

unit

no

fixed
values

class

no

CDATA

Contains a class descriptor for the table
which can be used to assign special formats.

id

yes

CDATA

See Common Attributes on page 35.

localize

nofixed value"px", "pt","cm", "in","pct""false"Description

Contains the unit to be used for table widthand height:
px = pixels
pt = points
cm = centimetersin = inches
pct = percent (%)
If omitted, pixels (px) are used as units.

See Common Attributes on page 35

Table 30: Attributes of the table element

Parent Elements
body, case, default, listitem, section

Child Elements
caption, tablerow

Element Definition<!ELEMENT table (caption*, tablerow+)><!ATTLIST tablename CDATA #IMPLIED
width CDATA #IMPLIED
height CDATA #IMPLIED
unit CDATA #IMPLIED
class CDATA #IMPLIED
id CDATA #REQUIRED
localize CDATA #IMPLIED>

63

Example<table id="tab4711" name="List of Shortcuts"
width="90" unit="pct" class="shortcutlist"><caption><paragraph>List of shortcuts</paragraph></caption><tablerow>...</tablerow></table>TablecellThis element contains child elements taking the cell content. Complex tables can becreated using the rowspan and colspan attributes of tablecell.
Attributes▷ Note that not all attributes are currently evaluated in the transformation style sheet (see also The
Main Transformation Style Sheet on page 16)

Attribute

RequiredContents

colspanno

CDATA

Contains the number of columns
spanned by this cell. If omitted,
the cell spans 1 column.

rowspanno

CDATA

Contains the number of rows
spanned by this cell. If omitted,
the cell spans 1 row.

width

no

CDATA

Contains the width of the table
cell in units as given in theunits attribute. If omitted, thetable cell width is set by the help
viewer.

unit

nofixed values

class

no

CDATA

localize

nofixed value

Table 31: Attributes of the tablecell element

Parent Elements
tablerow

64

Values allowed"px", "pt", "cm", "in","pct"

Description

Contains the unit to be used forwidth:
px = pixels
pt = points
cm = centimetersin = inches
pct = percent (%)
If omitted, pixels (px) are used asunits.
Contains a class descriptor for thetable cell, which can be used toassign special formats.

"false"See Common Attributes on page
35

Child Elements
section, paragraph, comment, embed, bookmark, image, list

Element Definition<!ELEMENT tablecell (section | paragraph | comment | embed |bookmark | image | list)*><!ATTLIST tablecell
colspan CDATA #IMPLIED
rowspan CDATA #IMPLIED
width CDATA #IMPLIED
class CDATA #IMPLIED
unit CDATA #IMPLIED
localize CDATA #IMPLIED>

Example<tableid="tab_4711" name="List of Shortcuts"
width="90" unit="pct" class="shortcutlist"><tablerow><tablecell>Column 1</tablecell><tablecell>Column 2</tablecell><tablecell>Column 3</tablecell></tablerow><tablerow><tablecell colspan="2">This cell spans 2 columns, namely column 1 and 2</tablecell><tablecell>This cell spans 1 column, namely column 3</tablecell></tablerow></table>65

Tablerow
This element contains table rows, which themselves only contain table cells.
Attributes
Attribute

RequiredContents

height

no

CDATA

unit

no

fixed values

class

no

CDATA

localize

nofixed value

Table 32: Attributes of the tablerow element

Parent Elements
tableChild Elements
tablecell

66

Values allowed

Description
Contains the height of the tablerow in units as given in theunits attribute. If omitted, thetable row height is set by the help
viewer.

"px", "pt", "cm", "in","pct"

Contains the unit to be used forheight:px = pixels
pt = points
cm = centimetersin = inches
pct = percent (%)
If omitted, pixels (px) are used asunits.
Contains a class descriptor for thetable row which can be used toassign special formats.

"false"See Common Attributes on page
35

Element Definition<!ELEMENT tablerow (tablecell+)><!ATTLIST tablerowheight CDATA #IMPLIED
class CDATA #IMPLIED
unit CDATA #IMPLIED
localize CDATA #IMPLIED>

Example<table id="tab_4711" name="List of Shortcuts"
width="90" unit="pct" class="shortcutlist"><tablerow><tablecell>Column 1</tablecell><tablecell>Column 2</tablecell><tablecell>Column 3</tablecell></tablerow></table>Title
This is the title of the help page as displayed in the list on the Contents tab page, theIndex list and the search results. The title content cannot contain HTML entities like&apos; or &amp;.

Attributes
Attribute

RequiredContents

Values allowed

xml-lang

yes

CDATA

See Common Attributes on page
35.

id

yes

CDATA

See Common Attributes on page35.

localize

nofixed value"false"Description

See Common Attributes on page
35.

Table 33: Attributes of the title element

Parent Elements
topicChild Elements
none
Element Definition<!ELEMENT title (#PCDATA)><!ATTLIST title
xml-lang CDATA #REQUIRED
id CDATA #REQUIRED
localize CDATA #IMPLIED>

67

Example<topic><title xml_lang="en-US" id="tit1233">Opening a text document</title></topic>

Topic
This element contains child elements with information about the current help topic.
Attributes
Attribute

RequiredContents

id

yes

CDATA

indexernofixed value

Values allowed

Description
See Common Attributes on page35.

"exclude", "include"

Specifies whether the current file
is to be excluded from theindexing process. An excluded filecannot be found using the help
search facility.

Table 34: Attributes of the topic element

Parent Elements
metaChild Elements
title, bookmark, filename

Element Definition<!ELEMENT topic (title+, filename, bookmark*)><!ATTLIST topic
id CDATA #REQUIRED
indexer (exclude | include) #IMPLIED>

Example<topic id="4711" indexer="exclude"><title xml_lang="en-US">Invisible help file</title><filename>text/swriter/01/08154711</filename></topic>

68

Variable
This element is used to define reusable text fragments. The fragments can beembedded in other contexts by means of the embedvar element.
Attributes
Attribute

RequiredContents

id

yes

CDATA

visibilitynofixed values

Values allowed

Description
See Common Attributes on page35.

"hidden", "visible"

Specifies whether the element
content will be shown in the help
viewer. If this attribute is omitted,
the variable will be visible.

Table 35: Attributes of the variable element

Parent Elements
ahelp, caption, caseinline, defaultinline, link, paragraph, variable

Child Elements
ahelp, embedvar, br, emph, item, link, variable, image, object, switchinline

Element Definition<!ELEMENT variable (#PCDATA | ahelp | embedvar | br | emph |item | link | variable | image | object |switchinline)*><!ATTLIST variable
id CDATA #REQUIRED
visibility (hidden | visible) #IMPLIED>

ExampleYou may use the <variable id="dlg_FileOpen"><item type="dialog">Open afile</item></variable> to open a file.
<comment>List of menu names to be embedded</comment><paragraph xml_lang="en-US"><variable id="menu_File" visibility="hidden">File Menu</variable><variable id="menu_Edit" visibility="hidden">Edit Menu</variable><variable id="menu_View" visibility="hidden">View Menu</variable></paragraph>69

Contents File (*.tree) Elements
The contents files (*.tree) are used to specify the hierarchy displayed on theContents tab page of the help viewer (see also Hierarchical List of Contents on page10).
Tree_view
This is the root element for a contents file.
Attributes
Attribute

RequiredContents

version

yes

CDATA

Values allowed

Description

Table 36: Attributes of the tree_view element

Parent Elements
noneChild Elements
help_section

Element Definition<!ELEMENT tree_view (help_section)+><!ATTLIST tree_view
version CDATA #REQUIRED>

Example<tree_view version="24-Aug-2004"><help_section application="swriter" id="01" title="Installation">...
</help_section></tree_view>70Help_section
The help_sections are the top-most elements in the table of contents as displayedby the help viewer.
Attributes
Attribute

RequiredContents

application

yes

CDATA

id

yes

CDATA

title

yes

CDATA

Values allowed

Description
Designates the help modulethat a help_section is referringtoThis is the title of ahelp_section as displayed in
the help viewer

Table 37: Attributes of the help_section element

Parent Elements
tree_view

Child Elements
node, topic

Element Definition<!ELEMENT help_section (node|topic)*><!ATTLIST help_section
application CDATA #REQUIRED
id CDATA #REQUIRED
title CDATA #REQUIRED>

Example<tree_view version="24-Aug-2004"><help_section application="swriter" id="01" title="Installation">...
</help_section></tree_view>

71

Node
Nodes are the hierarchical elements that represent topic groups and contain help
topics. In the help viewer, they are represented by book icons. Nodes can havesubnodes.
Attributes
Attribute

RequiredContents

id

yes

CDATA

title

yes

CDATA

Values allowed

Description

This is the title of a node asdisplayed in the help viewer

Table 38: Attributes of the node element

Parent Elements
help_section

Child Elements
node, topic

Element Definition<!ELEMENT node (topic)*><!ATTLIST node
id CDATA #REQUIRED
title CDATA #REQUIRED>

Example<tree_view version="24-Aug-2004"><help_section application="swriter" id="10" title="Common Topics"><node id="1001" title="General Information"><topic id="shared/text/shared/main0400.xhp">Shortcut
Keys</topic>...
</node></help_section></tree_view>

Topic
Topics are links that point to help files. The id attribute contains the URL of the file tobe loaded. The element contains the file title.
▷ When the script update_tree.pl from the helpers directory in the helpcontent2
module is used to update the tree files, the element content is automatically updated based on thefile titles. This also applies to localized languages.

72

Attributes
Attribute

RequiredContents

id

yes

CDATA

Values allowed

Description

Table 39: Attributes of the topic element

Parent Elements
help_section, nodeChild Elements
none

Element Definition<!ELEMENT topic (#PCDATA)><!ATTLIST topic
id CDATA #REQUIRED>

Example<tree_view version="24-Aug-2004"><help_section application="swriter" id="10" title="Common Topics"><node id="1001" title="General Information"><topic id="shared/text/shared/main0400.xhp">Shortcut
Keys</topic>...
</node></help_section></tree_view>734 Authoring Help With OpenOffice.org▷ You need OpenOffice.org 1.1.x to use the help authoring environment. The authoring environment
also is not yet compatible with OpenOffice.org 2.0.

Setting Up the Environment
There is an import/export filter available that allows for direct editing of OpenOffice.org
help files without the need of extra conversion steps. The following describes how you
set up the filter.
The filters are xsl files that are used in conjunction with an import template and takes
advantage of OpenOffice.org xsl filter functionality.
▷ The help files use the extension xhp.

Directory Hierarchy
The correct function of the help authoring environment with OpenOffice.org relies on
the CVS module directory layout. Since all help file and image references are
expressed relatively, the environment needs to know the absolute paths to be able toassemble and disassemble the references correctly for display in OpenOffice.org.
Us the following directory structure when checking out the modules from CVS. If you
work in a Child Workspace, this is the default directory layout:$root|__default_images<-- check out from CVS|__helpcontent2<-- check out from CVS|__helpers|__util|__prj|__source|__text|__auxiliary

Before you set up the environment you need to select and create a root directory forworking on the help files ($root), for example: /opt/ooohelp or D:\ooohelp
75Creating the image directory
The CVS module default_images contains all images thatare used by the help.
•

Check out the module default_images from OpenOffice.org CVS into thehelp root directory (as described above).

Creating the help files directory•

Check out the module helpcontent2 from OpenOffice.org CVS into the help
root directory (as described above).

Installing The Import/Export Filters
Ensure that the XML Filter option is installed in OpenOffice.org. If this option is notinstalled, install it using the option from the the OpenOffice.org setup.
1. Get the filter package from the helpers/helpauthoring directory of thehelpcontent 2 CVS module. There is one common package for Windows
and Unix.
2. The packages contain the XSLT Import/Export filters and the template.
3. Open a text document in OpenOffice.org. The menu item for the XML Settings
will only be visible if a document is loaded.
4. Choose Tools - XML Filter Settings
5. Click Open Package
6. Browse to the filter package and click Open.
7. Click Close
You can now open and save files in OpenOffice.org help format.
Note that occasionally, OpenOffice.org seems to corrupt the packaged files while
unpacking. If you are unable to load or save help files, check the xsl files in theuser/xslt/Help directory and the template in the user/template/Help directory.
You can also, extract the file manually from the package using a zip file utility.
Installing The Supporting Macros
The macro set is used to perform tasks inside the help files.
▷ The macros are only tested with OpenOffice.org versions 1.1.x
Feel free to contact fpe@openoffice.org if you want to port them to OOo 2.0!

76

1. Get

the

macro

archive
HelpAuthoring.tar.gz
fromhelpers/helpauthoring directory of the helpcontent 2 CVS module.

the2. Unpack it to a temporary directory.
3. Choose Tools - Macros - Macro
4. Click Organizer
5. Click the Libraries tab
6. Click Append and browse to the temporary directory with the unpacked
macros
7. Select the file script.xlb inside the macro directory and click Open
8. Select Replace existing libraries and click Ok
9. Close the macro dialogs
You can now use the macros for help authoring. The macros create a configuration
file helpauthoring.cfg to store various information and settings in youruser/config directory.
▷ For some tasks, the macro set needs to recognize the paths to your help files and images as
described on page 75. You will be asked to provide these paths once a macro needs it. The paths
will then be stored inside your user/config directory in the file helpauthoring.cfg. You
need to delete this file when the paths to your help files or images change.

Installing The Help Authoring Menu
The Help Authoring menu allows easy access to the macros to perform standard
tasks with the help files.
▷ This procedure overwrites any menu customization that you have made!

1. Getthemenuarchive

helpauthoring_menu.zip

from

the

helpers/helpauthoring directory of the helpcontent 2 CVS module.

2. Choose Tools - Configure and select the Menu tab
3. Click Load
4. Locate the helpauthoring_menu.zip file
5. Select the file and then click Ok

77

If all steps were performed successfully, you should now be able to use the menu.

Editing Help Files - Basics
Since OpenOffice.org cannot simply be used as an XML edito,r we need to makesome effort to map elements and attributes in the help file to elements that arerecognized by OpenOffice.org.
▷ For now, not all attributes for the elements are supported for editing in OpenOffice.org. The majorones, however, are available.

Paragraphs And Paragraph Formatting
Paragraphs are the central content carrying element in a help file. A paragraph in thehelp file maps to a paragraph in OpenOffice.org. The role attribute of a paragraphmaps to a paragraph style in OpenOffice.org.
For every paragraph role in the help file there is a paragraph style beginning with hlp_
and ending with the role name, e.g. the role paragraph maps to a style named
hlp_paragraph.
There are also special paragraph styles that start with hlp_aux_. These are used for
identifying special elements and should never be used for paragraphs.
▷ Any paragraph that does not have a paragraph style starting with hlp_ will be disregarded onexport by the export filter. Its content will be lost on the next reload of that file.

The default paragraph styles for a help file (that is, the default roles of a paragraph)
are already pre-defined in the help authoring template (xmlhelptemplate.stw) that isused for loading the help files in OpenOffice.org. This template is part of theimport/export package and automatically installed in your user/template directory.
You can define new paragraph styles that are transformed to roles in the help files onexport by creating a custom style beginning with hlp_ and ending in the role name.
This new style will be recreated on loading that file in OpenOffice.org next time.
However, there will be no formatting information for OpenOffice.org associated with it.
For that, the style needs to be added to the template.
Note, that these styles don't have any effect on the help as it is displayed as such. Inorder to adjust the help appearance the roles that are created from the paragraphstyles must be transformed by the main transformation style sheet and/or assigned toformats using the cascading style sheets of the help.

78Sections
A section in the help file maps to a section in OpenOffice.org. You can use thenavigator to get an overview of existing sections or use the Insert - Section andFormat - Sections menus to modify existing sections. The section ID maps tothe section name in OpenOffice.org. Nested sections are supported.
Tables
A table in an OpenOffice.org help file transforms to a visible table in the
OpenOffice.org file. The table name holds all attributes for that table. If the table has acaption defined in the help file, a paragraph is created directly after the table that
contains the caption. It is important that this sequence is not modified since the export
filter relies on that sequence.
Tables should no longer be used for formatting purposes, for instance, to place
images or to mimic numbered lists. Nevertheless, there still is a considerable amountof legacy help files that do that.
ImagesImages are mapped to image objects in OpenOffice.org that are linked (notembedded) to the OpenOffice.org file and anchored as character. The alternative text
is defined in the Alternative property of the image object that can be accessed
through the Graphics properties dialog (by double-clicking the image) on the
Options tab page. The ID of an image is stored in the name of the image object andshould not be altered manually.
▷ The images will only be displayed in OpenOffice.org correctly if the path to the image files wascorrectly specified in the import and export filters (see on page ).

Lists
There are two types of lists in the help (unordered and ordered) that match to thecorresponding list type in OpenOffice.org.
Embedding
The embedding technique is unique to the help. Therefore, we use some workarounds
to implement embedding when editing the help files in OpenOffice.org:•

Sections to be embedded are represented as sections.

•Paragraph parts to be embedded are surrounded by a variable tag pair.

•

Places where sections are embedded are designated by an embed tag.

•Places where parts of paragraphs are embedded are designated by anembedvar tag.
79

Character Formatting
Direct (hard) formatting is not supported. Any character with a direct format will lose
its format definition on export. Instead, character formatting is achieved using
character styles. The importing template already contains a list of pre-defined
character styles. All styles that begin with hlp_ can be used for character formatting
except for the styles beginning with hlp_aux_ because those are used for internal
purpose.
Similar to the paragraph styles, you can define new character styles that aretransformed to type attributes of item elements in the help files on export. To do this,create a custom character style beginning with hlp_ and ending in the type name(e.g., hlp_dialogname). This new style will be recreated on loading that file in
OpenOffice.org next time. However, there will be no formatting information for
OpenOffice.org associated with it. For that, the style needs to be added to the help
authoring template.
▷ Note that these styles don't have any effect on the help as it is displayed as such. In order to adjust
the help appearance, the item types that are created from the character styles must be transformedby the main transformation style sheet and/or assigned to formats using the style sheets of the help.

Working With the Help Files▷ Ensure that you have set up your work environment correctly as described in Setting Up the Environment on page 75.

Creating A Help File
1. Start OpenOffice.org and open a new empty Writer window.
The help authoring menu is only available in the Writer context. So you needto have a Writer window open.
2. Choose Help Authoring - Create New Help File.
You should always create a new file this way to ensure that all settings are
made correctly.
3. Select a file name inside the help directory structure
The directory structure is described on page 75. You will be automatically
prompted to save the file. You need to save it before you can actually work on
it.
4. Insert an initial comment (optional)
You will be prompted to insert a comment on file creation. This comment will
be stored in the file metadata and cannot be changed using OpenOffice.org.

80Now you have created a fresh empty help document. The file title is set to the genericterm <Set Topic Title>. To adjust the topic title see Meta Data on page 94.
Switch the Stylist to show Custom styles to view a list of all styles that are allowed in
the help file. None but these (and the ones created by you following the guidelines
above) can be used.
▷ After the file is finished it needs to be added to the list of files to be processed by the help compiler.
This is done by adding the file to the makefile of its directory. You can either do that manually or run
the createmakefiles.pl script when you have finished working on the help files. For details,
see Building the Help Set on page 19.

Opening A Help File
1. Choose File – OpenBrowse to the file you want to open and select Help (*.xhp) as the filetype
2. Click Open
Removing A Help File
Since a help file is referenced from multiple locations, simply deleting a file from disk
is not sufficient for removing a help file from the set of help files.
To remove a help file from the set of help files that are compiled, you need to remove
it from the makefile of its directory. In this way, it will not be included in the index, orthe full text search. However, it will still be included in the help files archive *.jar.
To delete a help file completely, you need to remove it from your local disk andremove its entry in the makefile of its directory. If you work on the CVS you also needto remove it from the CVS repository.
You also need to remove all dependency files in the output tree that are createdduring a help build that refer to the deleted file See also Building the Help Set on page
19. If you haven't built the help set before you don't need to worry about this. If you
have changed multiple files it is safer to remove the output tree completely and rebuild
the help from scratch.
Finally, you need to ensure that the deleted file is not referenced by other help files orby the content files *.tree in the auxiliary directory.
To remove a help file
1. If this change will be committed back to the CVS, remove the help file fromthe CVS repository, for example, using the cvs remove command. [11]11 See http://tools.openoffice.org/ for information about OpenOffice.org CVS81

2. Delete the help file on your local disk.
3. In the makefile.mk of its directory, locate the help file's entry (it has theextension .hzip instead of .xhp) and delete the corresponding line.
This step is not required if you use the createmakefile.pl script fromhelpcontent2/helpers to update all makefiles before building the help.
4. Check if the help file is referenced in on of the *.tree files in
helpcontent2/source/auxiliary and delete its reference there, if required.
5. If you have built the help before and you have an existing output tree withdependency files *.dphh, delete any dependency files that reference thedeleted help file. A dependency file lists all files that it depends on.
Moving A Help File
From the build environment's view, moving a help file from one directory to another isequivalent to removing a file from one directory and creating a file in another directory.
1. Copy the help files to the new directory.
2. Follow the procedure described previously for removing a help file.
3. Ensure that all links inside the moved help file to itself have been adjusted.
4. Add the file to the makefile of the new directory.
This step is not required if you use the createmakefile.pl script fromhelpcontent2/helpers to update all makefiles before building the help.
▷ Note that moving a help file can create new localization effort since the moved help file looks like abrand new file to the localization process. However, translation memory systems should be able toautomatically translate it because the content did not change - except for internal links.

Sections and Paragraphs
Sections are used to specify parts of help files that are used for referencing purpose inother files. Sections can be embedded and linked.
Where Are The Sections?
Since OpenOffice.org natively supports sections, we make use of them to represent
sections in help files. The ID attribute of a section in the help is represented by thename property of the section in OpenOffice.org.
All other properties of sections inside OpenOffice.org have no influence on the help
sections. Any layout settings made to sections (background, visibility...) are lost on
next reload.
82

You can use the navigator to view and navigate sections. Nested sections are also
supported ,both by the help and by OpenOffice.org.

SectionSections start and end with a section tag that is placed in the first paragraph directly
after the section starts, and in the last paragraph before the section ends:

Fig. 6: Section tags and section areas

If you want to insert something before or after a section, ensure that you place it
before or after the section delimiter line, not just before or after the section tag.
If the section starts at the top of the document and you want to insert something
before that section, go to the top of the section and press Alt+Return to create aparagraph in front of the section.
If the section ends at the bottom of the document and you want to insert something
after that section, go to the bottom of the section and press Alt+Return to create aparagraph after the section.
Adding A Section
1. Depending on whether you want to insert a new empty section or build a
section around existing text, do one of the following:•

Place the cursor where you want to insert the new empty section.

•

Mark the piece of the document that you want to include in a section.

2. Choose Help Authoring - Insert Section
3. Insert an identifier for the section in the text box.
This section identifier will be used as ID attribute for the section in the help
file. It must be unique within the file. It is advisable to use some kind of
descriptive name. Use only letters, numbers and the underscore.

83

Adding A Subsection
A subsection is a section that is the child of another section. OpenOffice.org supports
nested sections. The procedure to insert a subsection is the same as inserting asection, except that if you insert a section with the cursor inside an existing section
you will create a subsection.
You cannot create overlapping sections. Neither the help format nor OpenOffice.org
support this.
Removing A Section
1. If you want to remove a section including its content, delete the section
content first.
2. Choose Format – Sections.
3. Select the section you want to remove from the list of sections and click
Remove.
If you remove a section that has subsections only, the selected section will be
removed while the subsections will be preserved.
▷ If you remove a section, ensure that no other file references it to avoid broken links.

Linking To A Section
You can create a link to a section by specifying the section ID as the target in thehyperlink URL when creating a link, for example<link href="text/shared/guide/file_name.xhp#section_id">

For details, see Linking on page 94.
Embedding A Section
You can embed a section using the embed element. You need the file name and the
ID of the section that you want to embed. The embedded section preserves its
structure. For details on embedding, see Embedding Content on page 93.
Adding A ParagraphParagraphs in the Help have some attribute values that cannot be represented in
OpenOffice.org without using certain workarounds. Therefore, you need to follow thefollowing instructions to create valid paragraphs.
You can write the paragraph content in the usual way. You only have to ensure that•84

the paragraph has meta information associated with it•

the paragraph has a valid paragraph format assigned

The paragraph meta information consists of the paragraph ID, the language (which inthe source files is always en-US), the localize attribute, and some other attributes
that are not relevant in this context.
All of these values are stored in a variable field at the beginning of the paragraph. The
paragraph ID identifies the paragraph contents in the localization database.
▷ If the ID of a paragraph gets lost or is changed it is regarded as new for the database and needs tobe localized again. So tampering with IDs must be strictly avoided.

Before saving the final file, each paragraph must have a valid and unique ID. The
easiest way to do this is to place the cursor somewhere in the paragraph and tochoose Help Authoring - Paragraph - Set Paragraph ID. If the paragraphdoes not have the correct style associated (see below) ID creation will be denied.
Paragraph IDs are also be assigned when the file is validated using HelpAuthoring– Validate.
Not all paragraphs get IDs. Some paragraphs only contain structural information, suchas opening and closing tags, or bookmarks, and don't need an ID because they don'ttransform back to content paragraphs in the help file. All these paragraphs have aparagraph style assigned that starts with hlp_aux_.
If you forget to assign IDs to all corresponding paragraphs, the application will do thatfor you on saving, provided the template was correctly installed.
Editing A ParagraphEditing the contents of a paragraph does not need any further action. The localization
process finds out for itself when in the content of a paragraph has changed.[12]This has two consequences for the writers:
1. You do not need to worry about whether a change has an influence on thelocalization.
2. You cannot force re-translation of a paragraph by just setting any editing flag.
For basic content management purposes, the l10n attribute of a paragraph can beused for setting paragraph status values, since this attribute was only relevant for the
migration phase.
For instance, you can set the paragraph status to NEW or CHG (changed) to allow
reviewers to easily spot these paragraphs for content review. Any other values comefrom the migration phase and are no longer relevant. Paragraphs that have beenreviewed don't carry an l10n attribute (or carry an empty one).
12 For details on the localization process see l10n.openoffice.org.

85▷ Note that this attribute is evaluated nowhere. It only influences the display of the paragraph in
OpenOffice.org (the meta data appear with yellow background). If you want to use it, you will haveto take care of its evaluation in the context of content management yourself.

Paragraph Formatting
All paragraphs in a help file are formatted using paragraph styles. Direct formatting(borders, indentation, etc.) is strictly unsupported. In fact, all direct formatting will
simply be lost on export.
Use the predefined styles to format the paragraphs. The following styles are available
in the help authoring template (switch to the Custom view in the Stylist):•

hlp_default

This is the parent style for all hlp_* styles and only used as a fallback. It
translates to a paragraph@role="paragraph" in the help file.
•

hlp_paragraphThis is the standard style to be used for paragraphs. It translates to aparagraph@role="paragraph" in the help file.
•

hlp_head, and hlp_head1...hlp_head5

The hlp_head style is the parent style for the other hlp_head* styles andshould never be used as such. The hlp_head* styles designate heading
elementsofdifferent
levels.
Theytranslatetoparagraph@role="heading"@level="x" in the help file with x corresponding
to the heading level.
•

hlp_listitem

This is the style to be used for list items. Its use is optional, as paragraphs
inside list items can also have the paragraph style. It translates to aparagraph@role="listitem" in the help file.
•

hlp_tableheadThis is the style to be used for table header cells. It translates to aparagraph@role="tablehead"
in
the
help
file
when
the
main_transform.xsl stylesheet is used.
•

hlp_tablecontent

This is the style to be used for table content cells. It translates to a paragraph@role="tablecontent" in the help file.
•

A couple of hlp_aux_* styles
These are not meant to be used by the writers. These styles designate
paragraphs that contain structural information rather than content.

86

Creating New Styles
If the styles in the pre-defined set are not sufficient for your purpose you can create
new styles as long as they follow these rules:•

A new paragraph style must be based on the hlp_default style•

The style name must begin with hlp_•

The style name must not begin with hlp_aux_

You can use these styles in the help document. They will be transformed to values of
the role attribute for a paragraph in the help file, for instance, hlp_mystyle will resultin a paragraph with the role set to mystyle.
This style will be reconstructed when the help file is loaded. But any formatting
information for OpenOffice.org will be lost. Also, the style will only be available in that
file. If you want the style to be available for all documents and have a defined
appearance it must be added to the help authoring template.
In order to have a special appearance in the final help, the role must also be
addressed in the stylesheets that are delivered with the help and define its
appearance.

Changing A Paragraph Style
Changing the style of a paragraph has no impact on the localization process. Only thecontents of a paragraph (including inline elements) are subject to localization.

Changing A Character Style
Changing the style of a character inside a paragraph does have an impact on thelocalization of that paragraph since the character style transforms to an<item type=""> inline element.

Moving A Paragraph Inside A Help File
You can safely move a paragraph in a help file without the need of further action. The
paragraph styles might need adjustment if the paragraph is moved to a different
context in a help file.
▷ Ensure that you also move the paragraph meta data that are stored in the variable field at the startof the paragraph. If you copy a paragraph, however, never copy the meta data. The ID of a paragraph must be unique within a help file.

Moving A Paragraph To A Different Help File
Moving a paragraph from one file to another is a sequence of deleting and creatingthat can be accomplished by cutting and pasting the paragraph without its meta data.
87▷ For localization purposes, this will be recognized as a new paragraph.

Excluding A Paragraph From Localization
Paragraphs can be excluded from localization. In this case, the localized help files
contain the English source for the corresponding paragraph. This is controlled by the
localize attribute of a paragraph. If it is set to false the paragraph will not be
localized, in all other cases it will.
To exclude a paragraph from localization choose Help Authoring - Paragraph- Exclude from L10N.

88

Tables
Adding A Table
1. Choose Help Authoring - Table - Insert Table

2. Insert the initial number of rows and columns in the corresponding text boxes.
3. You can change the table layout after creation, if required.
4. The width and height values are currently unsupported.
5. If required, insert a table caption in the Caption text field.
6. You can exclude the caption from localization by clearing the Localize
check box.
7. Click Ok▷ Nested tables are unsupported. You cannot insert a table in another table.

▷ The meta data of the table are stored "encoded" in the Name property of the table in
OpenOffice.org. This must be left untouched.

The created table is followed by a paragraph containing the caption, if a caption was
defined.
Modifying The Table Layout
After creation of the table you can change the table layout to suit your needs. You can
add or remove rows or columns.
Initially, the column widths will be distributed equally. You can manually resize thecolumn widths but for now this will be lost on next reload.
▷ Never ever merge cells. Complex layouts are untested and can lead to unexpected results.

89Deleting A Table
Delete a table as usual in OpenOffice.org. Make sure that the trailing paragraph withthe caption is also removed.
Using A Table For Formatting Purposes
Don't do that.
There are still many places in the help files that use tables for formatting. We will try to
get rid of these occurrences over time.
Adding A Caption To An Existing Table
When you have created a table and want to add a caption to it proceed as follows:
1. Place the cursor after the paragraph containing the table attributes.
In any other place the script will reject adding a caption.
2. Choose Help Authoring - Table - Insert Table Caption
3. Specify the caption text and click Ok.

Lists
Inserting, Removing, Modifying Lists
You can work with lists as you would usually do in OpenOffice.org if you note thefollowing:
Interrupting A List
A list that is interrupted by a paragraph that is not part of the list, and then continued
with the next number as displayed below on the left, is unsupported. If you createsuch a list in OpenOffice.org it will transform to the list below on the right after the
reload. You will end up with two separate lists both starting with 1 (see Fig. 7).
A list where the paragraph is unnumbered but is still part of the list item is supported
and will work fine. In OpenOffice.org you achieve this by pressing the Backspace key
once to get rid of the list number.

90

after reload

beforeFig. 7: Incorrect list design

beforeafter reload
Fig. 8: Correct list design

Images in lists can be placed in such paragraphs. There is no need to mimic lists
using table constructions.

Working with Images
Help Image Repository
Help images are stored inside the res/helpimg subdirectory of the default_images
CVS module. Images that are used by the help need to be added to this repository
module. See tools.openoffice.org for details on working with the OpenOffice.org
CVS repository.
The helpimg directory contains all help images in English. Subdirectories for eachlanguage (except for the source language which is en-US) contain the localized
images. If an image does not need localization it only needs to be present in thehelpimg directory. The subdirectories are named using the ISO codes for language
and country as described on page 13.
To add an image to the repository
1. Place the English image inside the res/helpimg directory of thedefault_images module.
2. Place the localized images inside the corresponding language subdirectories ofres/helpimg, for example zh-CN for simplified Chinese.
You must mark the image as to be localized using the Help Authoring Image – Image needs L10N menu. An image that needs localization will91

appear with a red border in OpenOffice.org (not in the final help, of course).
You can use Help Authoring - Image – No L10N for Image to clear
the localization mark.
If the image is not marked as to be localized, the help will always display the English
image regardless whether there are localized images available.

3. Open the file helpimg.ilst in the util directory of the helpcontent2
module and add the English and all localized variants to the file. Keep the file
entries sorted.
To Remove an Image from the Repository
1. Remove the English and localized files from the CVS
2. Open the file helpimg.ilst in the util directory of the helpcontent2
module and remove the corresponding file entries.
Inserting A Block Image
A block image is an image that is located in a paragraph of its own. It can contain acaption.
1. Choose HelpAuthoring - Image - Insert Image.
2. Select an image file to insert and click Open.
The image must be located inside the help file hierarchy as described in
Setting Up the Environment on page 75.
3. Specify an alternative text for the image (mandatory). This text is needed tocomply with accessibility regulations.
4. Specify a caption text for the image (optional).
The image will be added on a paragraph of its own surrounded by img tags. If you
have specified a caption this caption text will appear inside imgcaption tags.
Inserting An Inline Image
An inline image is an image that is displayed inline in between paragraph text. It can
not contain a caption.
1. Choose HelpAuthoring - Image - Insert Inline Image.
2. Select an image file to insert and click Open.
The image must be located inside the help file hierarchy as described in
Setting Up the Environment on page 75.
3. Specify an alternative text for the image (mandatory).
This text is needed to comply with accessibility regulations. The image will be
added to the paragraph surrounded by img tags.

92

Adding An Image Caption
You can add a caption to an existing block image.
1. Choose HelpAuthoring - Image - Insert Caption.
2. Specify a caption and click Ok.

Embedding Content
Embedding A Section Or Variable
1. Choose Help Authoring - Embed Sections or Variables

2. Enter the name of the file that contains the section or variable to beembedded in the File Name text box or click Browse to browse for a file.
The path starts with the text directory in the help directory hierarchy (seepage 75).
3. Select whether a variable (text block in a paragraph or the complete contents
of a paragraph) or a section is to be embedded.
4. Insert the section or variable ID or click Browse to browse all sections,variables, and paragraphs in the selected file.

93

Linking
Linking To Another Help File
1. Mark the text that you want to appear as hyperlink.
2. Choose Help Authoring - Insert Link
3. Enter the name of the file to link to in the Link target box. The path starts
with the text directory in the help file hierarchy. The path can contain a target
anchor, for example, text/swriter/01/01020304.xhp#anchor
4. Click Ok
Linking To The WWW
Proceed as with links to help files, but instead specify a WWW URL as link target.

Meta Data
The meta data are available through the Help Authoring - Meta Data menu
that calls the Meta Data dialog:

94

Setting The Topic Title
On help file creation, the topic title is set to a generic string. This must be changed
before finally saving the file.
1. Choose Help Authoring - Meta Data
2. Insert a topic title in the corresponding text box or click Fetch to fetch the
topic title from the first heading in the document.
▷ The topic title must not be empty.

Setting The Topic ID
On document creation, the topic ID will be set from the file name. There is usually noneed for setting the topic ID manually but you can do so by entering the ID in thecorresponding text box. Characters that are not allowed are automatically strippedfrom the ID. Clicking Suggest creates an ID based on the filename (like when the fileis created).
Excluding A File From The Search Index
By default, all files are included in the full text search index creation. You can exclude
files form this search index by selecting the exclude option in the Indexing section.
Changing The Initial File Creation Comment
If you are do not like your initial comment you need to patch the xhp file.
Changing The Last Edited Comment
You can insert a comment when you edit and save a help file. This comment can beused to describe why a change was made and what changes were performed. A newcomment overrides existing comments.

Bookmarks
Bookmarks host index entries, help IDs, and entries for the table of contents(TOC)[13]Adding A New Bookmark Set With Index Entries
1. Place the cursor where you want the index entry to appear.
Remember that an index entry transforms to an anchor target in the help file.
Therefore, an index entry should always be placed directly above the text it
refers to. Index entries that refer to the complete help topic should be placedat the top of the file.
13 TOC entries are currently unused.

95

2. Choose Help Authoring - Bookmarks - Insert Index Entries.

Enter the first and second level of the index entry in the Index Entry text
boxes and click Add or press the Ins key to add it to the list of index entries.
You can remove index entries from the list by selecting them and clicking
Remove Selected.
3. Select Add parent bookmark tag to create a new set of index entries. If
you want to add index entries to an existing set you need to clear this box(see next procedure).
4. Click Ok.
Adding Index Entries To An Existing Bookmark Set▷ You cannot mix different types of bookmarks (index entries, help ids, and TOC entries).

1. Place the cursor inside the set of index entries where you want to add index
entries.
2. Choose Help Authoring - Bookmarks - Insert Index Entries.
3. Compile the list of index entries that you want to add to the bookmark set likedescribed in the previous procedure.
4. Clear the Add parent bookmark tag box.
If the box is checked a new bookmark set with the specified index entries willbe created after the set at the cursor position.
5. Click Ok.

96

Modifying Index Entries In An Existing Bookmark Set
If you need to modify an existing index entry (for instance, to correct a typographicalerror) delete and recreate this index entry as described previously.
Adding A New Bookmark Set With TOC Entries[14]1. Place the cursor where you want the TOC entry to appear.
2. Remember that a TOC entry transforms to an anchor target in the help file.
Therefore, a TOC entry should always be placed directly above the text it
refers to.
TOC entries that refer to the complete help topic must be placed at the start of
the help topic.
3. Choose Help Authoring - Bookmarks - Insert TOC Entries.

Enter the TOC entry string in the TOC Entry text box and click Add to add it
to the list of TOC entries.
The TOC levels are separated using a slash /, for details see page 25.
You can remove TOC entries from the list by selecting them and clicking
Remove Selected.
4. Select Add parent bookmark tag to create a new bookmark set of TOC
entries. If you want to add TOC entries to an existing bookmark set you needto clear this box (see next procedure).
5. Click Ok.
Adding TOC Entries To An Existing Bookmark Set▷ You cannot mix different types of bookmarks (index entries, help ids, and TOC entries).

1. Place the cursor inside the bookmark set of TOC entries where you want to
add TOC entries.
14 These bookmarks are currently not evaluated when the help is compiled.

97

2. Choose Help Authoring - Bookmarks - Insert TOC Entries.
3. Compile the list of TOC entries that you want to add to the bookmark set, as
described previously.
4. Clear the Add parent bookmark tag box.
5. If the box is checked a new bookmark set with the specified TOC entries willbe created after the set at the cursor position.
6. Click Ok.
Determining A Help ID
The help ID inserted into the help file must either be the symbolic ID or an UNO
command (see "hid" Branch on page 26). You can determine the numerical ID or the
UNO command from the UI by setting an environmental variable HELP_DEBUG andsetting it to TRUE before you start OpenOffice.org.
If the variable is set you will see the help ID of an element together with its extended
tip whenever you rest the mouse over it (provided the extended tips are enabled). This
help ID can either be•

a numerical ID, in this case it must be converted to the symbolic ID before
inserting it into the help file (see below)•

an UNO command. This can be inserted into the help file without need forconversion▷ To convert the numerical help ID into a symbolic help ID you need a matching table called

help_hid.lst that can be found in the helpers directory of the helpcontent2 module(see Structure of the CVS Help Module on page 18).

▷ You can either use this mapping table to look up a symbolic help ID yourself, or you can place it
into your local user/configuration directory of OpenOffice.org to allow the corresponding help
authoring macro convert it for you.

Adding A Help ID
1. Place the cursor where you want the Help ID to appear.
Remember that a Help ID transforms to an anchor target in the help file.
Therefore, the Help ID must be placed directly above the text it refers to andabove any extended tip that it corresponds to.
Help IDs that refer to the complete help topic must be placed at the beginningof the help topic.
2. Choose Help Authoring - Bookmarks - Insert Help ID.
98

3. Insert the Help ID in the Help ID text box
4. If you only have the numerical help ID, click Convert to Symbol to convert
it to the symbolic Help ID. If this button is disabled you need to place ahelp_hid.lst file into the user/configuration directory of your
OpenOffice.org installation.
5. Click Ok.

Switching Content
Inline Switching
Inline switching uses conditional tags to switch parts of a paragraph for different
context situations. An inline switch consists of an outer switchinline element that
encloses one or more caseinline elements that define the conditions and optionally
one defaultinline element. The complete switch must be in one paragraph.
<switchinline select="switch_type"><caseinline select="condition_1"></caseinline><caseinline select="condition_2"></caseinline>...
<defaultinline></defaultinline></switchinline>

1. Place the cursor where you want the inline switch to start or select the text
passage that you want in the first condition.
2. Choose Help Authoring - Switching - Open Switchinline

3. Select a switch type from the dialog. Currently, there are three switch types
available:•

System switches are used to switch between different platforms(Windows, Unix,...).

•

Application switches are used to switch between different applications(Writer, Calc, Draw,...)•

Distribution switches are used to switch between open source andcommercial distributions (OpenOffice.org, StarOffice,...) [15]15Not currently evaluated.

994. Click Ok
5. Select the first condition (caseinline).
You can either select one of the pre-defined conditions from the list or specify
your own condition string.

6. Enter further conditions by selecting text and choosing Help Authoring Switching - Insert Caseinline for the corresponding switch type.
There is no text allowed (including spaces or line breaks) between a closing
and an opening tag inside an inline switch, e.g.
wrong: </caseinline> <caseinline>
correct: </caseinline><caseinline>
7. Optionally, insert a default condition by selecting text and choosing Help
Authoring - Switching - Insert Defaultinline.
8. Insert a closing switchinline element directly after the last caseinline
element by choosing Help Authoring - Switching - Close
Switchinline.
If you have inserted a default condition as described above, theswitchinline element will automatically be closed.
If you are not sure if you have actually created a valid switch choose Help
Authoring - Validate and you will be notified of any errors.
▷ The pre-defined conditions are processed when the help is displayed. If you want to specify yourown condition string, you will have to ensure that the condition is processed when the help iscompiled (see page 19) and displayed. Usually, you will only use the pre-defined conditions.

Switching Complete Sections Or Paragraphs
Other than inline switches, this type of switches encloses one or more paragraphs
including graphics and tables. Similar to inline switches, they consist of an outerswitch element that encloses one or more case elements that define the conditions

100and optionally one default element. Each of those elements must be in a paragraphof its own that is assigned the hlp_aux_switch style. The macros handle all that foryou.
1. Place the cursor where you want the switch to start.
If you are in a non-empty paragraph the switch will start before thatparagraph.
2. Choose Help Authoring - Switching - Open Switch

3. Select a switch type from the dialog. Currently, there are three switch types
available:•

System switches are used to switch between different platforms(Windows, Unix,...).

•

Application switches are used to switch between different applications(Writer, Calc, Draw,...)•

Distribution switches are used to switch between open source andcommercial distributions (OpenOffice.org, StarOffice,...).

4. Select the first condition (case).
You can either select one of the pre-defined conditions from the list or specify
your own condition string.

5. Place the cursor where the condition ends.
If you are in a non-empty paragraph the condition will end after thatparagraph.

101

6. Choose Help Authoring - Switching - Close Case to close a
condition.
7. Now insert further conditions by•placing the cursor in the first paragraph of the condition•choosing Help Authoring - Switching - Open Case•

placing the cursor in the last paragraph of the condition•choosing Help Authoring - Switching - Close Case.

There are no paragraphs allowed between a closing and an opening tag
inside an switch, for example:
Wrong:</case>{Some other text, even an empty paragraph}<case>

Correct:</case><case>

8. You can optionally enter a default condition as follows:•

place the cursor in the first paragraph of the default condition•choose Help Authoring - Switching - Open Default•

place the cursor in the last paragraph of the default condition•choose Help Authoring - Switching - Close Default.

9. Close the switch by placing the cursor directly behind the last case element
and choosing Help Authoring - Switching - Close Switch.
If you have inserted a default condition the switch will automatically be closed.
If you are not sure if you have actually created a valid switch, choose Help
Authoring - Validate and you will be notified of any errors.
▷ The pre-defined conditions are processed when the help is displayed. If you want to specify yourown condition string you will have to ensure that the condition is processed when the help iscompiled (see page 19) and displayed. Usually, you will only use the pre-defined conditions.

102

Miscellaneous
Extended Tips
Extended tips come in two flavors, visible and hidden. Visible extended tips are part of
the normal help text while hidden extended tips are hidden from the normal help
content. Each extended tip is assigned a help ID to which it responds.
▷ In the current implementation, the hid attribute of the extended tip elements AVIS and AHID are
not evaluated. The corresponding Help IDs must be placed as bookmarks in a paragraph before theextended tip. The extended tip will be shown for all help IDs specified as bookmarks after the lastextended tip in the file.

1. Select the part of the paragraph that you want to use as extended tip.
An extended tip must not be spread over multiple paragraphs.
2. Choose Help Authoring - Insert Visible Extended Tip or Help
Authoring - Insert Hidden Extended Tip.
If you enclose text by a hidden extended tip this text portion will no longer bevisible in the help viewer.
3. Insert a help ID to be assigned to the extended tip. Note the comment about
help IDs above.
Sorting
Sorting is a new feature in OpenOffice.org Help. It can be used to sort sections basedon their content. This is useful, for example, for glossaries or other sorted lists that are
localized and would otherwise lose their correct sort order.
▷ Note that sorting does not work for embedded sections.

1. Place the cursor before the first section to be sorted.
In the current implementation the sort element sorts the content of sections.
The sort element must not have any other child elements than sections.
2. Choose Help Authoring - Sorting - Open Sort
3. Place the cursor after the last section to be sorted.
4. Choose Help Authoring - Sorting - Close Sort
Validating
There is a basic validation procedure available that tests the help files before they areexported from OpenOffice.org. To call it, choose Help Authoring - Validate.
Note that this procedure catches some of the most common and severe errors but it is
not fool-proof. It does not perform an XML validation on the file.
It is, however, recommended to validate a file before saving.

103Troubleshooting
A Help File Cannot Be Opened
The reason is probably an invalid help xhp file. To verify this, open the help file in any
XML or text editor and check its validity. Fix any invalid syntax and reload the file.
If the XML file is valid and you cannot open any help file, see below.
A Help File Cannot Be Saved
The reason could be insufficient access rights to the directory or file you want to save
to. Change the access rights accordingly.
If you cannot save any help file, see below.
No Help File Can Be Opened Or Saved
The reason is probably a corrupted XSLT export/import filter. Occasionally, installingthe help authoring filter produces an error in the xsl files. To repair this proceed asfollows:
If you are familiar with XSLT
1. Change to the user/xslt/Help directory of your OpenOffice.org installation.
2. Open the import and/or export xsl file.
3. Got to the end of the file and check if there is any obvious duplicated content.
Occasionally, the last lines of the stylesheet get duplicated. There must only
be one single </xsl:stylesheet> tag in the file.
If you are unfamiliar with XSLT
1. Get the help authoring filter package (see Installing the Import/Export Filters
on page 76) and unpack it to a temporary directory.
2. Copy the *.xsl files from the Help subdirectory of the files that you just
unpacked to the user/xslt/Help directory of your OpenOffice.org installation
overwriting the existing files.
Paragraph Content Has Vanished On Reload
The reason is probably the use of a wrong paragraph format. Remember, that forparagraphs with content you must use one of the predefined hlp_* paragraph styles.
See also Paragraphs and Paragraph Formatting on page 78.

104

5 Appendix
Glossary
Application – A OpenOffice.org "module" for different document types. There are the following
applications: Writer for text documents, Calc for spreadsheets, Impress forpresentations, Draw for drawings, Math for formulas, Basic for Macros.
Active Help - A synonym for an extended tip.
Anchor – A location inside a help file which serves as a bookmark to which the help viewer
jumps, displaying the help for a certain context.
Attribute – Component of an XML element carrying information that specifies the element ingreater detail, for example, the role attribute in the paragraph element.
Bookmark – 1. A help function that allows you to set user-defined bookmarks to help topics tomake them easier to access. 2. An element of a help XML file that is used to define
anchor points for help ids or keywords.
Build List – The file build.lst controls the build process of a module by defining module
directories to be built and application dependencies between them.
Cascading Style Sheet – The style sheet used to define the layout of a help page displayed in
the help viewer.
Context-Sensitive Help – When called from within the OpenOffice.org application, the help
receives information about the user interface context,such as active dialog, or selected
element. This information is used by the help to display information related to that
context, provided this relation is defined in the help files. Help IDs are used to define thisrelation.
CVS – Concurrent Versioning System, a widespread version control system that is also used by
OpenOffice.org. See tools.openoffice.org.
CVS Module – A part of the CVS that contains code for a section of the OpenOffice.org
product.
Dependency Files – When a module is re-compiled, only changed files and files that dependon them need to be compiled again. Dependency files describe these dependencies.
These files are used by the make utility.
DTD – Document Type Definition, a file that describes the document syntax for an XML
document. The DTD is needed to validate an XML file.
Embedding – In OpenOffice.org help files can contain references to parts of other help files
that are dynamically inserted when the help is displayed.
105

Extended Tip – Yellow "bubble" on the application user interface that contains information
about the element under the mouse cursor. Extended tips appear when the mouse
cursor rests over a user interface element. In OpenOffice.org 1.1.x they areenabled/disabled using Help – Extended Tips.
Full-Text Search – A help function that allows you to search through the text of the set of help
files. The function uses a search index that is created when the help files are compiled
and built. Help files can be excluded from this search index using the exclude value inthe indexer attribute of the topic element.
Help Authoring Template – The help authoring filter contains XSLT import/export filters and ahelp authoring template that specifies the layout of the help documents inside
OpenOffice.org.
Help Compiler – A program that compiles the help files into an intermediate "object" format
that is used by the help linker to assemble the final help files that are installed with
OpenOffice.org.
Help Content Provider – A service inside OpenOffice.org that provides the Help to the help
viewer.
Help IDs – Numerical or symbolic identifiers that are defined for user interface elements in theapplication code. Help IDs can be used to identify the context in which the help is called
and to define a relation between an application context and the help topic that isdisplayed.
Help Module – Each OpenOffice.org application has a help module associated: Writer, Calc,
Draw, Impress, Math, Basic.
Help Section – A subdirectory of helpcontent2/source/text. Each help module contains
the help files of one or more help sections.
Help Topic – The contents of a help file. Usually, a help topic describes one task or a logicalgroup of reference information.
Help Viewer - OpenOffice.org component that displays the help files and provides help
functionality.
Icon – An image that is taken from the resource repository of the application itself. Icons are
stored in different CVS modules and after installation are available in the images.zip
file.
Image – Graphical content that is specific to the help files. All images are stored in thehelpimg directory of the res CVS module and after installation are available in theimages.zip file.
Block Image – An image that is on a paragraph of its own. Block images can have captions.
Inline Image – An image that is part of another paragraph and surrounded by text content.
Inline images cannot have captions.
Import/Export Filter – XSLT files that control the conversion of the help files from xhp to
OpenOffice.org and vice versa. Using a template they also control the appearance of thefiles in OpenOffice.org.
Index of Keywords – A two-level list of keywords associated with help topics. Keywords are
explicitly defined in the help files.
Instructional Information – Information in OpenOffice.org help that provides instructions on
how to fulfill tasks.
makefile – File that describes the processes for "making" (compiling/linking) files inside a106directory. Used by the make utility.
Meta Data – Help file data that describe the help file, like file name, topic title, creation date.
These are stored inside the meta element of the help file.
Nested Sections – Sections containing other subsections. Nested sections are supported in
the help files.
Nested Tables – Tables containing other tables. Nested tables are unsupported in the help
files.
Node – A node is a part of the help content tree that is used to group help topics. See Contents
Branch on page 25.
Output Tree – A directory tree (aka solver) that takes all files that are produced on "making"(compiling/linking) source files. See tools.openoffice.org.
Platform – Operating System, such as Linux, Solaris x86, Solaris SPARC, or Windows.
Reference Information – Information in OpenOffice.org help that explains the effect or functionof a user interface element.
Role – In the help files that type of a paragraph is specified by its role attribute.
Section Delimiter Line – A section inside OpenOffice.org is delimited by two gray lines.
Solver – see Output Tree.
Style Sheet – A document containing commands for transforming an XML file (transformationstyle sheet) or for displaying an XML or HTML file (cascading style sheet).
Symbolic Name – The help IDs used in the applications can be transformed to symbolic
names that are defined in the list of help ids, hid.lst. They are symbolic identifiers thatgive the number a somewhat descriptive name.
Tool Tip – A synonym for an extended tip.
Topic ID – Each help file (aka topic) has a unique topic ID to be identified. It usually is createdfrom the help file name.
Transformation Style Sheet – The style sheet used for transformation.
Transformation – In this context, the process of converting the XML format of the help
document. The major transformation takes place when the help is displayed. The
transformation style sheet main_transform.xsl is used for that.
UNO Command Name – One type of help ID that is used in the applications. Other than"normal" help ids which are numerical, these command names are symbolic identifiersand don't need to be converted.
Validation – The process of checking the validity of a help file. See Validating on page 103.

107

XML Help Document Type Definition<!-Version 03-Feb-2006
added optional localize attribute to images--><!ELEMENT ahelp (#PCDATA | embedvar | br | comment | emph | item | link |switchinline | variable)*><!ATTLIST ahelp
hid CDATA #REQUIRED
visibility (hidden | visible) #IMPLIED><!ELEMENT alt (#PCDATA)><!ATTLIST alt
xml-lang CDATA #REQUIRED
id CDATA #REQUIRED
localize CDATA #IMPLIED><!ELEMENT body (section | paragraph | table | comment | bookmark | switch |embed | list | sort)*><!ELEMENT bookmark (bookmark_value)*><!ATTLIST bookmark
branch CDATA #REQUIRED
xml-lang CDATA #REQUIRED
id CDATA #REQUIRED
localize CDATA #IMPLIED><!ELEMENT bookmark_value (#PCDATA | embedvar)*><!ELEMENT br EMPTY><!ELEMENT caption (#PCDATA | embedvar | br | emph | item | link | switchinline |variable)*><!ATTLIST caption
xml-lang CDATA #REQUIRED
id CDATA #REQUIRED
localize CDATA #IMPLIED><!ELEMENT case (paragraph | table | comment | bookmark | embed | link | list |switch | section | sort)*><!ATTLIST caseselect CDATA #REQUIRED><!ELEMENT caseinline (#PCDATA | image | embedvar | br | emph | item | link |switchinline | variable | ahelp | object)*><!ATTLIST caseinline
select CDATA #REQUIRED><!ELEMENT comment (#PCDATA)><!ELEMENT created (#PCDATA)><!ATTLIST createddate CDATA #REQUIRED><!ELEMENT default (paragraph | table | comment | bookmark | embed | link | list
| switch | section | sort)*><!ELEMENT defaultinline (#PCDATA | image | embedvar | br | emph | item | link |switchinline | variable | ahelp | object)*><!ELEMENT embed EMPTY><!ATTLIST embed
href CDATA #REQUIREDrole CDATA #IMPLIED
level CDATA #IMPLIED><!ELEMENT embedvar EMPTY><!ATTLIST embedvar
href CDATA #REQUIRED

108

>

markup (keep | ignore) #IMPLIED<!ELEMENT emph (#PCDATA | item | comment | help-id-missing)*><!ELEMENT filename (#PCDATA)><!ELEMENT helpdocument (meta, body)><!ATTLIST helpdocument
version CDATA #REQUIRED><!ELEMENT history (created, lastedited)><!ELEMENT image (caption* | alt+)?><!ATTLIST image
src CDATA #REQUIRED
width CDATA #IMPLIED
height CDATA #IMPLIED
id CDATA #REQUIRED
localize CDATA #IMPLIED><!ELEMENT item (#PCDATA)><!ATTLIST item
type CDATA #REQUIRED><!ELEMENT lastedited (#PCDATA)><!ATTLIST lastedited
date CDATA #REQUIRED><!ELEMENT link (#PCDATA | embedvar | emph | item | variable | switchinline)*><!ATTLIST link
href CDATA #REQUIREDname CDATA #IMPLIED
type CDATA #IMPLIED
target CDATA #IMPLIED><!ELEMENT list (listitem | (comment)*)+><!ATTLIST list
type CDATA #REQUIRED
startwith CDATA #IMPLIED
format (1 | i | I | a | A) #IMPLIED
bullet (disc | circle | square) #IMPLIED
sorted (asc | desc) #IMPLIED><!ELEMENT listitem (comment | section | paragraph | table | switch | embed |bookmark)*><!ATTLIST listitem
format (1 | i | I | a | A) #IMPLIED
bullet (disc | circle | square) #IMPLIED
class CDATA #IMPLIED><!ELEMENT meta (topic, history?)><!ELEMENT object EMPTY><!ATTLIST object
type CDATA #REQUIRED
id CDATA #REQUIRED
data CDATA #REQUIRED
height CDATA #IMPLIED
width CDATA #IMPLIED><!ELEMENT paragraph (#PCDATA | image | comment | embedvar | br | emph | item |link | switchinline | variable | ahelp | object | bookmark | help-id-missing)*><!ATTLIST paragraphrole CDATA #REQUIRED
level CDATA #IMPLIED
id CDATA #REQUIRED
l10n CDATA #IMPLIED
xml-lang CDATA #REQUIRED
oldref CDATA #IMPLIED
localize CDATA #IMPLIED><!ELEMENT section (section | paragraph | table | list | comment | bookmark |109

embed | switch | sort )*><!ATTLIST section
id CDATA #REQUIRED><!ELEMENT sort (section+)><!ATTLIST sortorder (asc | desc) #IMPLIED><!ELEMENT switch ((case | comment)* | default?)*><!ATTLIST switch
select (sys | appl | distrib | target | lang | ver) #REQUIRED><!ELEMENT switchinline ((caseinline)+, (defaultinline?)?)><!ATTLIST switchinline
select (sys | appl | distrib | target | ver | lang) #REQUIRED><!ELEMENT table (caption*, tablerow+)><!ATTLIST tablename CDATA #IMPLIED
width CDATA #IMPLIED
height CDATA #IMPLIED
unit CDATA #IMPLIED
class CDATA #IMPLIED
id CDATA #REQUIRED><!ELEMENT tablecell (section | paragraph | comment | embed | bookmark | image |list)*><!ATTLIST tablecell
colspan CDATA #IMPLIED
rowspan CDATA #IMPLIED
width CDATA #IMPLIED
class CDATA #IMPLIED
unit CDATA #IMPLIED><!ELEMENT tablerow (tablecell+)><!ATTLIST tablerowheight CDATA #IMPLIED
class CDATA #IMPLIED
unit CDATA #IMPLIED><!ELEMENT title (#PCDATA)><!ATTLIST title
xml-lang CDATA #REQUIRED
id CDATA #REQUIRED
localize CDATA #IMPLIED><!ELEMENT topic (title+, filename, bookmark*)><!ATTLIST topic
id CDATA #REQUIRED
indexer (exclude | include) #IMPLIED
status (DRAFT | FINAL | PUBLISH | STALLED | DEPRECATED) #IMPLIED><!ELEMENT variable (#PCDATA | ahelp | embedvar | br | emph | item | link |variable | image | object | switchinline)*><!ATTLIST variable
id CDATA #REQUIRED
visibility (hidden | visible) #IMPLIED><!ELEMENT help-id-missing EMPTY>

110