To deliver help on multiple platforms, you need a solution that runs on all those platforms. This solution helps you avoid complications of each platform and allows you to deliver one solution that meets the needs on all your platforms. This common solution can save development time and effort.

ePublisher supports several Java-based help output formats, such as Eclipse Help, Oracle Help, and Sun JavaHelp, that provide a common solution for multiple platforms without JavaScript support. WebWorks Help and WebWorks Reverb also provide a cross-platform solution, but it requires JavaScript support. If you are delivering a Java-based application, or if your environment does not support JavaScript, a Java-based help solution can help you deliver your help content.

The Oracle Help format is a Java-based help format that produces the complete set of files required to deliver online help based on the Oracle Help for Java technology. Oracle Help for Java is a set of Java components and an API for developing and displaying HTML-based help content in a Java environment. Oracle Help is recommended to produce help for an application written in the Java programming language.

To view Oracle Help, users must have a Java Virtual Machine (JVM) installed. If you produce help for a Java application, the JVM will be installed on computers running the application. The Oracle Help components must also be installed on the computer.

The Oracle Help output format produces content that conforms to the HTML 4 and XHTML 1.0 standards and uses Cascading Style Sheets that conform to the CSS1 standard. This output format also produces files that are specifically required for Oracle Help. For more information about the Oracle Help technology, see the Oracle Web site at www.oracle.com/technology/tech/java/help.

When deciding whether to use the Oracle Help output format, review the following considerations: