Javadoc2Help is a java based tool for converting the javadoc generated html ouput into Java Help, HTMl Help(CHM) and Oracle Help For Java(OHJ) format.

Javadoc2Help will generate the necessary support map, toc, helpset, etc for Java Help, HTML Help and Oracle Help for Java. If Microsoft HTML Help workshop is installed and the CHM compiler path is provided in bin/javadoc2help.properties, a CHM file is also created automatically in the specified destination directory.

The Oracle Help for Java (OHJ) jars are not shipped with Javadoc2Help anymore. This is due to licensing restrictions. Read tips for using Oracle Help for Java with Javadoc2Help

• Download the latest Javadoc2Help version from http://sourceforge.net/projects/javadoc2help/
  
  
• Extract the distribution. This will create a directory called javadoc2help. This directory has all the source and binary files.
  
  
• Open bin/javadoc2help.properties file located in the javadoc2help folder created above and set the various properties. The supported properties are
  
  
  • chm_compiler.path - Set this to the actual path of the CHM compiler if you need to create CHM files automatically.
    
    
  • javax.xml.transform.TransformerFactory - Set this to the appropriate implementation of the transformer factory.
    Default value set is that of xalan(org.apache.xalan.processor.TransformerFactoryImpl).

Javadoc2Help can be invoked from the command line using the following command

java -jar path-to-javadoc2help/lib/Javadoc2Help.jar COMMAND [OPTIONS] [PARAMETERS]..

COMMANDS
    -h      : Display this help and exit successfully.
    -v      : Display version information and exit successfully.
    -chm    : Generate the html help content file(.hhc)
              and html help project file (.hhp).
              If HTML Help Compiler is installd on the system and the
              compiler path is specified in javadoc2help.properties a compiled
              chm file is also generated.
    -jhelp  : Convert javadoc to java help.
              If -param index_files=y is passed an index is created.
              If -param launch_viewer=y is passed then the output is
              launched in a java help viewer.
    -ohj    : Convert javadoc to oracle help for java (OHJ).
              If -param index_files=y is passed an index is created.
              If -param launch_viewer=y is passed then the output is
              launched in a java help viewer.
OPTIONS:
   -src <file-name>     : The src(javadoc) dir path.
   -dest <path>         : The output directory path.

 PARAMETERS:
    -param name=value   : Additional parameter to be passed to the converter.

Samples

• Convert javadoc to Java Help with index and view option
  java -jar lib/Javadoc2Help.jar -jhelp -src input-dir -dest output-dir -param "index_files=y" -param "launch_viewer=y"
  
  
• Convert javadoc to Java Help with index and view option
  java -jar lib/Javadoc2Help.jar -ohj -src input-dir -dest output-dir -param "index_files=y" -param "launch_viewer=y"
  
  
• Convert javadoc to CHm format
  java -jar lib/Javadoc2Help.jar -chm -src input-dir -dest output-dir
  
  

Compiling CHM on Unix:
The HTML Help Compiler can be installed and configured even on unix/linux so that the CHM file is created automatically. Follow these steps to install and configure the HTML Help Compiler.

1. Install WINE form http://www.winehq.com/
2. Install HTML Help Compiler by following the steps mentioned here: http://htmlhelp.berlios.de/howto/mshh4wine.php
3. Create a shell script hhc.sh with the following line in it
   
   path-to-wine-program 'C:\Program Files\HTML Help Workshop\hhc.exe' $@
   
   In the above code replace path-to-wine-program with the actual path to the wine executable.
4. Change the permission of the above shell script(hhc.sh) to make it executable.
5. Modify bin/javadoc2help.properties and add the path to hhc.sh as the value of the chm_compiler.path property.

OHJ - Creating Index Files and Viewing Helpset:
Javadoc2Help is not shipped with the Oracle Help for Java(OHJ) jars any more due to licensing restrictions. Inorder to use the OHJ indexing and viewing functionality install the OHJ jars as follows:

1. Download and install OHJ. OHJ can be downloaded from http://otn.oracle.com/software/tech/java/help/index.html
2. Copy following jars from OHJ installation directory into Javadoc2Help's lib directory.
   - help4-indexer.jar
   - help4.jar
   - help4-viewer.jar
   - ohj-jewt.jar
   - oracle_ice5.jar