Patent ID: 8069413

Claim:
A system, executed by a processor, for extending online help for an integrated development environment, comprising: a help system configured to merge documentation content of an integrated development environment extension with current documentation content of the integrated development environment upon import of the integrated development environment extension into the integrated development environment, wherein the help system includes context-sensitive help topics; and a help display, wherein search capabilities and table of contents are automatically updated to reflect the documentation content after the integrated development environment extension is imported, wherein the help display is configured to display the documentation content in a web browser; wherein the documentation content for the integrated development environment extension is integrated with the help system during the import of the integrated development environment extension, wherein when a control is installed, documentation for the control is integrated with the help system during the installation of the control into the integrated development environment, wherein the integrated development environment issues a context ID to the help display when a context-sensitive help gesture is performed, wherein the context ID comprises a uniform resource name that is a fully qualified Java class name for control classes, and wherein the help system is integrated with an extension installation mechanism of the integrated development environment.