Patent Document ID: 7770123
Application ID: 09074544

Base Claim:
1. A method for displaying a plurality of information topics that are available via an online help system for a computer, comprising the steps of: creating a plurality of folders that are respectively associated with said plurality of topics, and storing the folders in a memory of the computer; storing, in a hierarchical arrangement, one or more HTML source files of information for given topics, where each file is stored in the respective folder associated with its given topic; detecting, by the computer, the selection of one of said plurality of folders, said folder being associated with a topic of interest; searching, by the computer, each of the files at the first hierarchical level in the selected folder to identify files of a predetermined type; examining, by the computer, each of the identified files to locate HTML metatags that pertain to the display of help information; retrieving, from the computer memory, a stored HTML template file; merging data associated with the HTML metatags into the HTML template file, by said computer, to thereby generate an HTML file containing data associated with each of the located HTML metatags; and displaying, on a display device, an HTML page in accordance with said generated file to thereby provide a table of contents for the topic of interest associated with the selected folder.

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Claim 2:
2. The method of claim 1 , further including the step of filtering the identified files, prior to said examining step, to select files having a predetermined designation.