Writing a custom help file?

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Sat, 11/25/2017 - 07:48 pm

Hello All!

I have amassed a good deal of code in Igor which is being used by several people in my group. I have recently gone back to clean up my functions and make a nice panel/GUI for ease-of-use, especially for folks not used to programming or command line based operations. After spending a good bit of time laying out my functions and attempting to make them robust enough to withstand a barrage of mis-clicks or mis-use, I realized that a 'help page' may be a very useful tool. I found some references to custom help topics on the web and in the IgorPro documentation, but none of them gave a clear explanation of how I would write one and have it included in Igor. My goal would be to have a write up, with pictures and such, which could be accessed from a "help" button on my panel or through the command line using DisplayHelpTopic.

I tried to naively write some text into a notebook, save it as an Igor Help File in the appropriate Igor folders but I would get errors about needing to compile the file etc when starting Igor. I can't seem to find any documentation about how I can put something like this together. It is likely sitting under my nose, but I can't, for the life of me, find it.

I am using version 6.xxx, if it makes a difference.

Any help is much appreciated!
Help files require some attention to generate, especially when they are to be used cross-platform. I cannot imagine the manual does not have instructions. As I recall, you have to save the file as an Igor Help File, load it back in Igor by itself, and compile it. After that, it becomes accessible as a true help file.

I was in a habit to generate help files for my packages some time ago. Pick any one of these to see examples:

* http://www.igorexchange.com/project/SnapIt
* http://www.igorexchange.com/project/TidyScreen
* http://www.igorexchange.com/project/EasyNewNotebook

--
J. J. Weimer
Chemistry / Chemical & Materials Engineering, UAH

November 26, 2017 at 07:00 am - Permalink

Thank you Prof. Weimer for the hints.

I haven't finished this yet, but did manage to figure out a starting place. I will leave this here for others:

Follow this path: "...\WaveMetrics\Igor Pro Folder\More Help Files\" and open "Igor Help File Template". It can be used as both a template for your own help file and also links to the sub-topic on creating your own help file.

DisplayHelpTopic "The Igor Help Browser" will get you to the main topic and the subtopic's relating to creating and compiling help files are towards the bottom.

November 26, 2017 at 07:24 am - Permalink