Configuring help content for ClearQuest Eclipse clients

Content

Introduction

Installing local help on your computer

Installing help on an intranet server

Changing help content connections

Introduction

Products that use an Eclipse client have an installed help infrastructure that presents help content. Some help content might be included locally. Typically, Eclipse clients display help that is on a remote IBM Knowledge Center on the Internet. You can download and install help in the client on your computer so that you can access help without an Internet connection.

To open the help from the product with any of these methods, click Help > Help Contents.

You can configure the product help content in one of three ways. You can use the default connection to the remote IBM Knowledge Center that is on the Internet. Team members can download product help and deploy the help locally on their computers. Or, an administrator can download product help and deploy the help on a server on the network for access by team members.

Installing local help on your computer

You can install help content on your computer and access it locally from your standalone web browser and/or from a ClearQuest Eclipse client.

About this task

The help in your product client is configured by default to show content that is dynamically accessed from IBM Knowledge Center. This configuration, which requires an Internet connection, ensures that you are viewing the most recent version of the help content. To access help locally without an Internet connection, you can download the help content, disable the remote help connection, enable access to the downloaded help, and open the help locally.

Procedure

1. Download the compressed file that contains the product help:
   1. In a web browser, go to the help download site.
   2. In the rcp_content directory, download the compressed file that corresponds to your installed product and the version needed. There are versions for 32-bit Windows and Linux, and 64-bit Windows and Linux. For example, if your local server for the remote help is a Linux machine, select the appropriate Linux choice.
2. Extract the contents of the compressed help file into the directory where you want to store the help.
3. Edit the help.ini file:
   • Remove or comment out the first two lines of code so that -startup is at the beginning of the file.
   • In -Dserver_port, set a unique port number for the RCP help. In this example, the port number is set to 8787. You can use whatever port number is available.
     Example (Windows):
     

     -startup
     plugins/org.eclipse.equinox.launcher_1.2.0.v20110502.jar
     --launcher.library
     plugins/org.eclipse.equinox.launcher.win32.win32.x86_1.1.100.v20110502
     -vmargs
     -Xmx512m
     -Dserver_port=8787

4. Run the help command to confirm that the help opens. (For Windows, double-click help.exe. For Linux, enter ./help where you unzipped the compressed help file.) Keep the help open.
   Notes:
   • On some Windows systems, you might have to launch the help.exe from a command prompt.
   • If the help does not open, for example, you get error messages about Java (such as “no JAVA found in path”) or Eclipse closes with Java exit codes, you might have to do the following:
     • Ensure that Java is set in your system path, or
     • Add the -vm option and its full path to your Java JRE to the help.ini file. If you have to use this option, be sure to add it before the -vmargs option.
       Example (Linux):
       

       -vm
       /opt/ibm/java-x86_64-60/jre/bin/java
       -startup
       plugins/org.eclipse.equinox.launcher_1.2.0.v20110502.jar
       --launcher.library
       plugins/org.eclipse.equinox.launcher.gtk.linux.x86_1.1.100.v20110505
       -vmargs
       -Xmx512m
       -Dserver_port=8787

5. To access the local help later, create a shortcut for the help command on your desktop. Always launch the help through this shortcut whenever you want to open the local help.
6. In ClearQuest Client and ClearQuest Designer (where it is possible to do this), disable the default remote help connection and enable access to the locally installed help from within these product clients:
   1. Click Window > Preferences, expand the Help section, click Remote Assistance Configuration, select your product name, click Disable.
   2. Click New and enter local help or whatever name you want in the Name field and then enter the URL to the installed help on your local machine in the format http://hostname:portnumber/help.
      Note: To determine your hostname, in the RCP help that is already opened from a previous step, open a help topic, right-click on it, and select Properties. On the window that opens, look at the Address (URL) field to see the hostname and port number the help is running on. For example, if the field shows http://127.0.0.1:8787/help/topic/..., then 127.0.0.1 is your hostname and 8787 is your port number.
   3. To ensure that the URL is valid, click Test Connection.
      Note: To avoid the possibility of having the help duplicated on the Help window, only one help entry should be enabled on Remote Assistance Configuration.
   4. Save your changes.

Note: Always open the help outside the product client before you open the product client and before you try to access the help from inside the product client.