Online help
The internal context-sensitive online help system of Lobster Data Platform / Orchestration can be extended via Online help.
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XML name |
core:OnlineHelp |
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Class name |
de.lobster.scm.onlinehelp.OnlineHelp |
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Rights |
Administration/Masterdata/onlineHelp |
The internal context-sensitive online help system of Lobster Data Platform / Orchestration can be easily extended via Online help.
Additional content can be optionally provided in one of the following ways:
Upload a PDF file that is stored directly in the 'Online Help' object (field documentContent).
Specify an absolute or relative URL that points to a document that the browser can display.
A relative URL is interpreted as a subpage of the address used to call the Lobster Data Platform / Orchestration client. For example, it is possible to refer to documents uploaded to the web folder or its subdirectories via the File manager.
In both cases, the uploaded or linked document is displayed in a new browser tab when one of the Online help is called, provided that the browser directly supports the displayed file format. Otherwise, depending on the browser being used, a dialog for opening and/or downloading the content will appear.
The user can usually access the appropriate 'context help' (see Manual (Help)) via the 
icon (top right in the title bar of almost every view; see screenshot), provided the role used allows this and there is at least one 'appropriate' page in the manual for the context.
Access to Online help works according to the same principle. If there is access to the manual for a context, 'suitable' Online help for the same context appear as additional options in a context menu when the
icon is clicked.
Whether any 'Online Help' is offered and where it appears depends on the Association criteria and the context key specified as the Function name (for details see the following section).
►NOTE◄ If specific Online help should be displayed depending on the Current locale of a session, this must be explicitly regulated via Association criteria. For each 'multilingual' content to be offered, several 'Online Help' instances must then be configured, each of which is assigned a suitable 'language-specific' association criterion.
Runtime example:
Besides the standard 'Help' (Manual (Help)) for Company authorizations, as seen in the screenshot, an additional 'Online Help' document titled 'DON'T PANIC!' appears when the user clicks the
icon.
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Since the 'DON'T PANIC!' document to display is a PowerPoint presentation, the browser tab cannot just open it in a tab. Instead, the browser ('Firefox' in the example) offers the file for download. It can be saved or opened e.g. with the default application 'PowerPoint' (if installed). |
If a suitable application is installed on the client side, the document referenced via a URL (here in *.ppsx format) can be handed over to open it. Alternatively, a download is usually supported. Depending on browser settings, the download may also be executed directly upon click. |
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Overview for 'Online Helps'
The 'Administration/Master Data/Online Help' menu item opens a combined view that lists all configurations for Online help in the list area that can be accessed in the current login context. The predefined details area shows the configuration options described below.
►NOTE◄ Role permissions and authorizations for Online help refer exclusively to the configuration, not to the operational availability of the configured content. The latter depends only on the Association criteria (2) assigned by configuration, for which there must be at least read access in the login context for the content to be successfully assigned.
The ribbon buttons New, Delete, Cancel, Copy, Save (1) can be used to create, change/save, copy or delete configurations for Online help.
Via the ribbon button Association/Assign (2), existing Association criteria can be assigned or existing assignments of Association criteria can be deleted. Online help can only appear as options if at least one of the assigned Association criteria applies and is readable.
The selection for the Owner (3) is (if necessary in connection with Company authorizations) only decisive for access to the configuration of the respective 'Online Help'.
The Function name (4) must match one of the context keys of a view, so that the corresponding 'Online Help' is assigned when clicking on the
icon.
The context keys applicable to a view appear in a notification box if you hold down the Ctrl+Alt keys while clicking the
icon.
Runtime example: Strg+Alt+
in the overview for Online help provides the following context keys:
Each of these keys can be entered as a Function name (4) to define 'Online Help' for the overview. However, some keys may also apply in the context of other views:
The first two rows only refer to the class of the 'Shipment' (Shipment) entity. If one of these keys is used as a Function name (4), then the 'Online Help' is available for associated Input forms and Custom overviews.
In the second and third row, the specific view name appears, which includes not only the view type (here: listSearchWindow) for Custom overviews but also their names.
Keys that contain the wildcard symbol (*) access...
for views of different types for one class ( ...|Shipmment|* ),
for all views of a certain type for a class (...|listSearchWindow|*) or
for all views (*) without reference to a class.
The shipment/shipmentOverview key refers to the menu node name, which is valid at runtime only if the view was actually opened via the menu bar.
►NOTE◄ If the 'Online Help' uses the wildcard symbol (*) as the Function name (4), whether and where the corresponding content is offered as help text depends only on the assigned Association criteria. This may make it more difficult to access context help from the manual (see Manual (Help)), since the additional 'Online Help' available 'everywhere' then requires an additional click in the displayed context menu. However, if a certain user group ('end user') does not have access to the manual, it is useful to globally assign a general document (e.g. 'Terms of Use') as 'Online Help' for them, e.g. based on a Role rule in an association criterion, which can then be opened in all forms by clicking on the
icon.
The Document name (5) appears in the context menu for the help, which is only displayed if several help contents for the same context apply at runtime.
The Document type (6) with the options 'PDF' and 'URL' defines whether the content of the 'Online Help' should be uploaded as a PDF or linked by a URL.
The Document (7) is defined via a File element (for uploading) for the Document type (6) 'PDF' or a Text field for the Document type (6) 'URL'.
►NOTE◄ In both cases, the value for Document (7) is stored in a Base64-encoded format in the documentContent field. This must be taken into account if configurations for Online help are to be created automatically or e.g. evaluated via a Search.