How to access ArcGIS Java Help content in Eclipse IDE

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About accessing ArcGIS Java Help content in Eclipse IDE

The ArcGIS Java Help System provides information on using ArcGIS Java application programming interfaces (APIs) to build ArcGIS Engine applications. The ArcGIS Java Help System includes more than 200 topics on various ArcObjects APIs as well as a comprehensive list of samples that are available with the ArcGIS Engine software development kit (SDK). The ArcGIS Java Help System is based on the Eclipse plug-in development platform and is built with plug-in architecture. The ArcGIS Java Help System is available as a stand-alone system.
The stand-alone Eclipse Help System can be opened by using the startJavaHelp.bat file under <ArcGIS Install Dir>\java\docs in Windows or by using the startJavaHelp.sh file under <ArcGIS Install Dir>\java\docs folder in a UNIX environment. This topic discusses using the Java Help System Infocenter mode of the ArcGIS Java Help System to integrate the ArcGIS Java Help content into the Eclipse integrated development environment (IDE).

Integrating ArcGIS Java Help content with Eclipse Help

To integrate ArcGIS Java Help content with Eclipse Help, perform the following steps:
Confirm you are using the latest supported version of Eclipse IDE (at a minimum, version 3.3.x).
  1. To set up the ArcGIS Java Help System in Infocenter mode, execute the Java Help Server scripts located at %AGSDEVKITJAVA%\java\ docs\. 
  2. To start the ArcGIS Java Help System in Infocenter mode, execute the startJavaHelpServer.bat file. The Java Help System Infocenter runs on the 2112 port by default. To specify a different port, use the <port> option at %AGSDEVKITJAVA%\java\docs\startJavaHelpServer.bat [<port>].
  3. From the tools menu in Eclipse IDE, select Window and select Preferences. The Preference dialog box opens. 
  4. Expand the Help node and click Content. See the following screen shot:



    The Content dialog box opens.
  5. The Eclipse Help System uses the address (server name or Internet protocol [IP] address) and port of the remote server to integrate with the local system. Select the radio button next to "Include remote help and give local help priority", click the New button, and fill in the location (server) information as follows:
        
Click the Test Connection button or the OK button.

ArcGIS Java Help content is now included in the Eclipse Help System as shown in the following screen shot:

To browse the ArcGIS Java Help topics in Eclipse IDE, press the F1 key or select Help and click Help Contents in the Eclipse IDE main menu.
To stop the remote Infocenter, run the %AGSDEVKITJAVA%\java\docs\stopJavaHelpServer.bat or stopJavaHelpServer.sh script.

Searching ArcGIS Java Help content

When you search for a keyword in the Eclipse Help System, all Help topics are searched. You can restrict the scope of an Eclipse search to include only ArcGIS Java Help content by performing the following steps:
  1. To open the Eclipse Help System, select Help and click Help Contents. The Eclipse Help window opens, and the search scope includes all topics as shown in the following screen shot:

  2. Click Search scope. The Select Search Scope dialog box opens as shown in the following screen shot:

  3. Click the Search only the following topics radio button and click New. The New Search List dialog box opens.
  4. Type the List name, click the ArcGIS node in the Topics to search pane, and click OK. See the following screen shot:



    The new search scope, ArcGISSearch, has been added to the list as shown in the following screen shot:

  5. Click OK to close the dialog box.
    The search scope has been updated to ArcGISSearch as shown in the following screen shot:



    Now when you type a keyword in the Search text box, only the ArcGIS Java Help content will be searched, not the entire Eclipse Help System.


See Also:

How to access ArcObjects Javadoc in Eclipse IDE
How to install ArcGIS plug-ins



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