In plugin help system

[Lindon]

So Im thinking of adding a help system to one or more of my products - and of course Im thinking of using the documentation/markdown system in HISE, so 2 questions:

1. is this the current preferred way to do this?
2. If the answer to 1. is "yes" then is the docLink api call available yet? - I cant see it in the online documentation.

[Lindon]

@Lindon tentative bump...

[d.healey]

@Lindon I used it with one project years ago, but generally I just put my docs on my website and add a link in the plugin.

What's docLink?

[Lindon]

@d-healey I understood it to be an api call that allowed you to "go to" a specifc place in your document.

[d.healey]

@Lindon Not sure, I haven't heard that term. But I think what you want is demonstrated in the tutorial project - https://github.com/christophhart/hise_tutorial/tree/master/DocumentationTutorial

[ustk]

@Lindon I use a markdown documentation in a standalone product, it works. though I'll probably don't do that way in the future, or am I...

The limited customisation available of the markdown panel (at the time I did it, at least) frustrated me a wee bit

no docLink on my side.

[Lindon]

@ustk @d-healey -- hmm Im beginning to think this is not the way to do this...

[aaronventure]

You can host the docs online on the website, and use a webview to just open that website. You can also cache the site in appdata (have it check to pull updates weekly or whenever the version changes) and load that in the webview.

You're probably doing the docs for the web anyway, this just lets you use it inside your plugin.

[Christoph Hart]

Yeah, at this point I wouldn't recommend that system for docs - unless I'm not aware of anyone using it, it's abandonware and most likely broken.

15 upvotes and it's gonzo. Just kidding...

[orange]

Instead of embedding a lot of data into the plugin, it makes more sense to run the classic pdf manual file with just a button using File.startAsProcess()

[ustk]

@orange the data isn't embedded but downloaded, allowing updates. But yeah, I'll go PDF too from now on...

[orange]

@ustk Yes, you are right, the data is not embedded, but until downloading the data.

After the download, when the plugin is loaded, also the data is loaded into memory together with the plugin. It’s similar to embedding then. In my opinion, it is an unnecessary loss of resources if many plugin instances are opened in the DAW.

[Dan Korneff]

@Christoph-Hart I'm using markdown for my embedded documentation. Please don't kill it

[Christoph Hart]

@Dan-Korneff alright then it stays, the people have spoken ;)

[Dan Korneff]

@Christoph-Hart This new found magical power is intoxicating!