Popup in a tab

Is it possible to attach a popup to a tab in a TabbedPane in java5 (without embbeding a component in the tab, that is a java 6 feature)?

Attach the popup to the JTabbedPane via setContextMenu().
Note that if you want the popup to appear ONLY if a tab is clicked (and not just anywhere in thee tabbed pane), you'll have to add the popup the "old school" way - register a MouseListener on the JTabbedPane and listen for mouseClicked events. On these events, if it was the RMB that was pressed/clicked, use JTabbedPane.indexAtLocation(int x, int y) to determine which (if any) tab they clicked on, and display your popup as appropriate. This method is more legwork, but is more flexible, and makes it easier to make your popups "dynamic" depending on what tab they click on.

Similar Messages

How to open the popup with in Tab navigator working area.

Hi,
I using the customized panel to open it as popup by using popup manager in the Tab navigator . The popup should be able to move with in the tab navigator's content area. Not outside of the tab navigator's content area. How to do this? .What is the difference between opening the popup by using popup manager and add children(); which one is best?
Regards,
Thiru

It depends on your purpose. A popup displays information to the user, and it might be modal if the user should repsond to the popup before continuing, but why constrain it's movement to the space occupied by the TabNavigator.
You could, in theory, check the x and y properties of the popup position, and then compare those with the x and y of the TabNavigator view area, though you might have to do some conversion between global and local coordinates.
You might want to consider your design. Is a popup necessary? Perhaps not. If so, maybe do not consider constraining its movement as you have indicated.
If this post answers your question or helps, please mark it as such.

Multiple TaskFlow instances in the UIShell - popup and dynamic tab

Hi all,
I have strange situation with JDev 11.1.1.6
First, I run the one, fragment based, bounded TF (named TF_A) in the one dynamic tab.
Also, run another TF (named TF_B) in the second dynamic tab.
Then, from that second dyn tab, I run second instance of the first TF, so TF_A, this time as a static region in the af:popup.
However, the instance in the popup does not show the jsf fragment at all.
This occurs _only when another instance of the same TF is already running elsewhere (on the first dynamic tab)
Otherwise, the TF_A in the popup behaves properly.
The TF_A does not have Controller transaction, and this behavior does not depend on the Sharing Data Controll setting. Is the same in both cases.
I am able to close the popup, and the application continues to behave normally.
Of course, there is no stackTrace anywhere.
Any advice ?
Anyone ?
Edited by: Cvele_new_account on Mar 1, 2013 4:08 AM

Hi Frank, thanks for response.
Do you think that somehow in my case there is only one instance of the TF_A ?
Here is relevant settings for my popup containing static region with TF_A
          <af:popup id="pB55" contentDelivery="lazyUncached"
                    popupFetchListener="#{myBean.crudPopupFetchListener}"
                    autoCancel="disabled" childCreation="deferred">
            <af:panelWindow ...>
              <af:region value="#{bindings.TF_A.regionModel}" id="r6"
            </af:panelWindow>
          </af:popup>myBean.crudPopupFetchListener :
   //Task flow activation code (for the TF binding 'active' property bellow)
   pageFlowScope.put("pB55", "true);
   // code for setting the TF parameters:
   .....and here i setting for TF_A binding from the pageDef:
    <taskFlow id="TF_A"
              taskFlowId="..."
              activation="conditional"
              xmlns="http://xmlns.oracle.com/adf/controller/binding"
              Refresh="ifNeeded" active="#{pageFlowScope.pB55 eq true}">
      <parameters>
      </parameters>
    </taskFlow>

How to stop javascript alert popups from stealing tab focus?

I have two gmail accounts, and usually a lot of tabs open. So sometimes I log into my other gmail account while a tab somewhere else still is logged in to my other. Sooner or later, the gmail with the old login session notices this, and makes a little alert() popup telling me I've been logged out, a couple minutes after I checked my emails on the other account.
Now the problem is, that firefox because of this alert() popup instantly jumps to that tab, and I lose my place in my tab-jungle. This is very annoying. How do I prevent this inactive tab from stealing my focus/alert messages autofocusing tabs?

Hello,
Yes I know, but I don't want to do this. Is there any way to stop firefox from behaving this way?
Thanks

Popup menu on tab components disables JTabbedPane mouse clicks

When I add a popup menu to the tab components, the underlying JTabbedPane doesn't respond to any mouse click. How can we solve this?
import java.awt.*;
import javax.swing.*;
import javax.swing.event.*;
public class TabPopupDemo extends JFrame {
    private JLabel jLabel1;
    private JLabel jLabel2;
    private JMenuItem jMenuItem1;
    private JPopupMenu jPopupMenu1;
    private JTabbedPane jTabbedPane1;
    public TabPopupDemo() {
        setDefaultCloseOperation(WindowConstants.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
        setSize(400, 300);
        setLocationRelativeTo(null);
        jPopupMenu1 = new JPopupMenu();
        jMenuItem1 = new JMenuItem("jMenuItem1");
        jTabbedPane1 = new JTabbedPane();
        jLabel1 = new JLabel("jLabel1");
        jLabel2 = new JLabel("jLabel2");
        jPopupMenu1.add(jMenuItem1);
        jTabbedPane1.addTab(null, jLabel1);
        jTabbedPane1.addTab(null, jLabel2);
        getContentPane().add(jTabbedPane1, BorderLayout.CENTER);
        int tabCount = jTabbedPane1.getTabCount();
        for (int i = 0; i < tabCount; i++) {
            JLabel jLabel = new JLabel("Testing the tab" + (i + 1));
            jTabbedPane1.setTabComponentAt(i, jLabel);
            jLabel.setName(String.valueOf(i));
            jLabel.setComponentPopupMenu(jPopupMenu1);
        jPopupMenu1.addPopupMenuListener(new PopupMenuListener() {
            public void popupMenuCanceled(final PopupMenuEvent evt) {
            public void popupMenuWillBecomeInvisible(final PopupMenuEvent evt) {
            public void popupMenuWillBecomeVisible(final PopupMenuEvent evt) {
                JPopupMenu source = (JPopupMenu) evt.getSource();
                JLabel invoker = (JLabel) source.getInvoker();
                JLabel component = (JLabel) jTabbedPane1.getComponentAt(Integer.parseInt(invoker.getName()));
                jMenuItem1.setText(invoker.getText() + ": " + component.getText());
    public static void main(final String args[]) {
        EventQueue.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
            public void run() {
                new TabPopupDemo().setVisible(true);
}

I don't know what the best solution would be.
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import javax.swing.*;
import javax.swing.event.*;
public class TabPopupDemo2 extends JFrame {
private JLabel jLabel1;
private JLabel jLabel2;
private JMenuItem jMenuItem1;
private JPopupMenu jPopupMenu1;
private JTabbedPane jTabbedPane1;
public TabPopupDemo2() {
    setDefaultCloseOperation(WindowConstants.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
    setSize(400, 300);
    setLocationRelativeTo(null);
    jPopupMenu1 = new JPopupMenu();
    jMenuItem1 = new JMenuItem("jMenuItem1");
    jTabbedPane1 = new JTabbedPane();
    jLabel1 = new JLabel("jLabel1");
    jLabel2 = new JLabel("jLabel2");
    jPopupMenu1.add(jMenuItem1);
    jTabbedPane1.addTab(null, jLabel1);
    jTabbedPane1.addTab(null, jLabel2);
    getContentPane().add(jTabbedPane1, BorderLayout.CENTER);
    int tabCount = jTabbedPane1.getTabCount();
    TabMouseListener tml = new TabMouseListener(jTabbedPane1);
    for (int i = 0; i < tabCount; i++) {
      JLabel jLabel = new JLabel("Testing the tab" + (i + 1));
      jTabbedPane1.setTabComponentAt(i, jLabel);
      jLabel.setName(String.valueOf(i));
      jLabel.addMouseListener(tml);
      jLabel.setComponentPopupMenu(jPopupMenu1);
    jPopupMenu1.addPopupMenuListener(new PopupMenuListener() {
      public void popupMenuCanceled(PopupMenuEvent evt) {}
      public void popupMenuWillBecomeInvisible(PopupMenuEvent e) {}
      public void popupMenuWillBecomeVisible(PopupMenuEvent e) {
        //JPopupMenu source = (JPopupMenu) e.getSource();
        //JLabel invoker = (JLabel) source.getInvoker();
        int index = jTabbedPane1.getSelectedIndex();
        JLabel invoker = (JLabel) jTabbedPane1.getTabComponentAt(index);
        JLabel component = (JLabel) jTabbedPane1.getComponentAt(index);
        jMenuItem1.setText(invoker.getText() + ": " + component.getText());
static class TabMouseListener extends MouseAdapter{
    private final JTabbedPane tp;
    TabMouseListener(JTabbedPane tabbedPane) {
      this.tp = tabbedPane;
    private void dispatchEvent(MouseEvent me) {
      JLabel l = (JLabel)me.getSource();
      tp.dispatchEvent(SwingUtilities.convertMouseEvent(l,me,tp));
    public void mouseClicked(MouseEvent me) { dispatchEvent(me); }
    public void mouseEntered(MouseEvent me) { dispatchEvent(me); }
    public void mouseExited(MouseEvent me)   { dispatchEvent(me); }
    public void mousePressed(MouseEvent me) { dispatchEvent(me); }
    public void mouseReleased(MouseEvent me) { dispatchEvent(me); }
public static void main(final String args[]) {
    EventQueue.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
      public void run() { new TabPopupDemo2().setVisible(true); }
import java.awt.*;
import javax.swing.*;
import javax.swing.event.*;
public class TabPopupDemo3 extends JFrame {
private JLabel jLabel1;
private JLabel jLabel2;
private JMenuItem jMenuItem1;
private JPopupMenu jPopupMenu1;
private JTabbedPane jTabbedPane1;
public TabPopupDemo3() {
    setDefaultCloseOperation(WindowConstants.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
    setSize(400, 300);
    setLocationRelativeTo(null);
    jPopupMenu1 = new JPopupMenu();
//     jPopupMenu1 = new JPopupMenu() {
//       public void show(Component c, int x, int y) {
//         int i = jTabbedPane1.indexAtLocation(x, y);
//         if(i>=0) {
//           JLabel tab = (JLabel) jTabbedPane1.getTabComponentAt(i);
//           JLabel component = (JLabel) jTabbedPane1.getComponentAt(i);
//           jMenuItem1.setText(tab.getText() + ": " + component.getText());
//           super.show(c, x, y);
    jMenuItem1 = new JMenuItem("jMenuItem1");
    jTabbedPane1 = new JTabbedPane();
    jTabbedPane1.setComponentPopupMenu(jPopupMenu1);
    jLabel1 = new JLabel("jLabel1");
    jLabel2 = new JLabel("jLabel2");
    jPopupMenu1.add(jMenuItem1);
    jTabbedPane1.addTab(null, jLabel1);
    jTabbedPane1.addTab(null, jLabel2);
    getContentPane().add(jTabbedPane1, BorderLayout.CENTER);
    int tabCount = jTabbedPane1.getTabCount();
    for (int i = 0; i < tabCount; i++) {
      JLabel jLabel = new JLabel("Testing the tab" + (i + 1));
      jTabbedPane1.setTabComponentAt(i, jLabel);
      jLabel.setName(String.valueOf(i));
      //jLabel.setComponentPopupMenu(jPopupMenu1);
    jPopupMenu1.addPopupMenuListener(new PopupMenuListener() {
      public void popupMenuCanceled(final PopupMenuEvent evt) {}
      public void popupMenuWillBecomeInvisible(final PopupMenuEvent evt) {}
      public void popupMenuWillBecomeVisible(final PopupMenuEvent evt) {
        JPopupMenu source = (JPopupMenu) evt.getSource();
        int i = jTabbedPane1.getSelectedIndex();
        JLabel tab = (JLabel) jTabbedPane1.getTabComponentAt(i);
        JLabel component = (JLabel) jTabbedPane1.getComponentAt(i);
        if(tab.getMousePosition()!=null) {
          jMenuItem1.setText(tab.getText() + ": " + component.getText());
        }else{
          jMenuItem1.setText("aaaaaaaaa");
public static void main(final String args[]) {
    EventQueue.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
      public void run() { new TabPopupDemo3().setVisible(true); }
}

Popups making original tab blank, can you help?

Recently i have had a problem where pop ups are causing my original tab to become blank. for example: say i was on this page and i click a link that caused a pop up. this page would go blank and my pop-up blocker successfully blocks the pop-up. I noticed it one day when i clicked on a video on the internet (i forget which site). when i clicked play an avertisement pop-up opened causing my video page to go blank. I couldnt watch the video.

Which pop-up blocker are you using?
Did you check their setting or disable this extension or program?
*https://support.mozilla.org/kb/Troubleshooting+extensions+and+themes

Popup vs. the tab....help please

I love the speed of the new safari, but I have a major pet peeve that I am hoping there is a work around.
When working in a WYSIWYG online editor how can I get the dialogue box in a pop up instead of opening in a new tab?
ex: adding a link-- instead of popping up a little window it opens in a new tab and then makes me confirm closing it..
how can I get around this?

Yes, this annoys me too. Does anyone have a fix for it?

Tab focus issue with 2 popups open

Hi!
I've just got a nasty problem with 2 popups and a tab focus.
First poup automatically opens second popup and if you press TAB
key focus goes to the first popup window - underneath the top one.
As a matter of fact - if you open the second popup by
clicking on the button in the first window - no problem. It happens
only if the first window opens second via AS.
I've found on the internet the following
article:
But my joy was premature - this piece code:
quote:
SystemManager.activate( popup );
is simply uncompilable. I tried other methods, like:
this.systemManager.activate(this);
without any luck.
Does anybody know the solution to this problem?
Thanks in advance!
Cheers,
Dmitri.

Manfred,
Thanks for your reply. I tried requestFocus() and it gives the same results. Also Sun's 1.4.0 API (http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4/docs/api/) mentions the following with respect to the requestFocus() method in the JComponent class:
Because the focus behavior of this method is platform-dependent, developers are strongly encouraged to use requestFocusInWindow when possible.
That is why I used requestFocusInWindow.
S.L.

By default first tab should open, when user clicks on the Open popup.

Hi Team,
I am working on Jdev11g.
I am facing problem to Open Fisrt tab from popup when i revisite to it irrespective of the Tab which was earlier selected while closing the popup.
Currently i am populating one list for records in ADF table and in fisrt column i am providing commandImageLink to open popup which contains 5 different tabs.
when i select first record from table and click to open popup it's working fine .If i select any tab apart from first tab and i close the popup it is getting closed properly.
But when i revisite that popup it shows me the popup with default Tab opened which i was earlier selected when i checkout from that popup.
I want Open Fisrt tab from popup when i revisite to it irrespective of the Tab which was earlier selected while closing the popup.
Thanks
Jaydeep

Luis,
See: Can I "catch" a click on a sortable column header of a report?
Take a look at Anton Nielsen's answer with regards to hiding a column and displaying its value instead of the sortable column.
Asumming the following simple report query:
select product,sales
from <table>
Change that into:
select product
,sales*-1 as reverse_sales -- Select this one as an extra column
,sales -- Hide this column
from <table>
In your report column attributes (of column reverse_sales), html-expression, type #sales#. It then displays the normal sales. However apex will generate a 'order by 2 asc' for the first time. The '2' will refer to the sales*-1 value: sorting it asc, is the same as sorting sales descending...
Toon

Open in Tabs always replaces all other open tabs ?

This is unacceptable. Suppose I have 5 open tabs and then I pres Open in Tabs (this command is available on the Toolbar when I create collections)
This will close down all the 5 open tabs and replace them with the tabs in the folder!! I want to keep my 5 tabs open aswell.
Message was edited by: Bomiboll

Yes, I use the internet extensively most days and just switched to Mac/Safari from Windows/Internet Explorer. I love Apple and the Mac. So much easier to use in many ways, especially when you learn shortcuts. On Windows/IE I could have 3-6 browsers open, each with their own tabs, and see in them in the task bar and easily choose them. I am having trouble with this kind of visibility while switching in Safari. One thing I do love is the tab collections. Excellent! I have one for the weather, with 2 tabs in it, and one for my investments, with 3 tabs. I would agree strongly that their needs to be an option to open these collections in tabs, where it added to the existing browser's tabs instead of replacing them. Also, another need: Allow me to see titles of my open browsers and when I hit Apple` (Command`) to switch browsers, I see the focus change to the other browser title, on the bottom of the screen like the tabs go across the top. Or have them pop up where the tabs are now, when Command` is hit. Then they switch back when you let go of Command`. For people like me who are on sometimes 10 browsers, each with 3-5 tabs, all day long, there needs to be much more visibility to what is open, and easy ways using both shortcuts and mouse to navigate all of the browsers and tabs and be able to see your browser titles with tab titles underneath. Like a sitemap or an outline with indents. It could me similar to when you hit Command-tab. I actually think Command tab should be expanded to include the browser windows, each one becoming an "application" along side of Word, Mail, iCal, Address Book, etc, all of which I have open all day. Then I can easily switch between my apps and browsers and have good visibility. Now I have to switch to Safari, then a second motion and process to switch to the correct browser out of 3-6, or even 10 browsers. So you could put them in the popup when Command - tab is hit. Then under each browser, show me an abbreviated title of the browser, and under it, show me abbreviated tab titles associated with that browser. Allow me in preferences to show or not show the tab titles. Expose is great but I would rather have the choice to do everything with Command - tab. For how much I use the internet, Command-tab keeps my hands on the keyboard and saves me so much time because I don't have to take my hands off the keyboard. Expose is great, but I loose time. Clicking on the Safari dock icon and holding is good too, but again my hands leave the keyboard, maybe 50 times a day and it costs me time and is inefficient. This whole thing I just wrote is a fabulous idea. It would be revolutionary if Apple did this. Apple - If you like this idea I have another one that is completely revolutionary and a whole new product/communication concept. I need to get a provisional patent on it first before sharing it. Anyway, I'm an ideas guy and commonly have great ideas and would like to know how I can do that with Apple on a consulting basis through my company, Kokopelli's Earth, Inc. www.kokopellisearth.com. Meanwhile, I'm just going to keep posting on these boards. Watch my posts. They may not be often, but when I say something, it will usually be a pretty good idea. Or at least start the thinking process on how to improve something greatly. At least I think so. I love what you are doing. I have changed over all of my stuff to Apple. 2 Mac Books in the house, 2 iPhones, Mobileme, Time Capsule, Apple TV, Airport. Love it all, works so well and easy, great support on the phone and fabulous in the store. Amazing stuff. Sorry to ramble but I just needed to say all of that. Hope this helps someone. Peace

Queue Monitor and Inbound Adapter Tabs in RWB are empty

Hi,
When we process messages in PI and want to see some monitoring data in the RWB we found that some screens do not show data. (PI 7.10)
RWB --> Message Monitoring --> Integration Engineselect a message --> Details
Then we get a new popup with 5 tabs:
1. Mesage Data: OK
2 Message Content: OK
3. Inbound Adapter: when I log in an empty screen is shown
4. Queue Monitor: when I log in an empty screen is shown
5. end-to-end Monitoring : ends in Java dump
I've looked into sap help and OSS, but I can't find any hints.
Somebody any suggestions
Thanks in advance
Ron

Hi Gokhan,
Our technical consultants are having a look into the sap note.
We have activated end-to-end montioring and now you'll see in the message monitor of the RWB that end-to-end monitoring is available.
You activate it with RWB --> configuration
Hope this clarifies it.
Best regards
Ron

How do I get rid of popups like Mackeeper?

I just got a new Mac Book Pro (Yosemite) with retina and its been working great; however, in the past week I have been getting a ton of popups and new tabs opening while I am using the Internet. The problem is in BOTH Safari and Chrome and it is starting to get really annoying. I have adblocker in chrome and it works great with ads and such and I have the popup blocker turned on in both browsers, but they still appear. Is there a way to stop all of these popups? And I'd prefer a pretty permanent solution so that I don't have to fix it every week. Thanks in advance!

Adware?
1. Use free AdwareMedic by clicking “Download ” from here
     http://www.adwaremedic.com/index.php
     Install , open, and run it by clicking “Scan for Adware” button   to remove adware.
     Once done, quit AdwareMedic by clicking AdwareMedic in the menu bar and selecting
    “Quit AdwareMedic”.
2. Safari > Preferences > Extensions
    Turn those off and relaunch Safari.
    Turn those on one by one and test.
               or
    Remove the adware manually by following the “HowTo” from Apple.
    “Remove Genieo, also known as InstallMac”
    http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203987

WHY IS GOOGLE NOW SHOWING UP IN MY NEW TABS AFTER THE UPDATE?? I AM FURIOUS

As a default, the new tabs screen should be blank, just like it always was.
I do not want a work around, or to have to mess with this.
I DO NOT want to see google, or any other product, showing up by default when i open a new tab.
This feels like the Microsoft strong arm tactics of the late 1990s. If I want to use google I will...BUT I DO NOT WANT IT FORCED ON ME!!! I trusted Firefox and allowed their updates and today they abused my trust by trying to shove products down my throat. I am furious.
Google seems to be the new evil empire, just like Microsoft used to be....
"MEET THE NEW BOSS, SAME AS THE OLD BOSS".
It looks like it is time to find a new browser, it looks like Firefox has sold out to Google, this is sad day.
I do not want a work around, I want new tabs and windows blank by default.
I hope this is fixed in the next day or so, otherwise I switch to the new browser my friend told me I should be using anyway.... JUST LIKE WHEN I LEFT INTERNET EXPLORER LONG AGO.... AND I NEVER LOOKED BACK and I have never opened IE again.
Please don't make me reboot my whole system and clean it all out....
I would rather stick with Firefox, but you need to fix this. I need to be able to trust you.

OK, so I tried the instructions again... and maybe I can
help someone else who comes along by explaining a different way.
1) open a new tab in Foxfire like you always do.
2) copy/paste, or type the phrase about:config in where you normally type a website's name. I will separate it to make it clear what need to be entered.
about:config
Press enter.
3)An error looking screen will come up, read it,
and then click on the button that says " I'll be careful, I promise ".
4)A screen will open up with a long list of phrases starting with...
accessibility.accesskeycausesactivation
accessibility.blockautorefresh
accessibility.browsewithcaret;false
you need to scroll all the way down this list until you see
browser.newtab.url
Highlight those words and double click it.
A box will open saying "Enter String Value"
5)What I did is- delete the words where you are
supposed to type something, leaving it empty,
click OK... and close that tab.
6)Now when I open a new tab it is blank, just like it should be.
6)I guess you can also type in your favorite
web site into the box and click OK and your favorite
website will come up when you open a new tab, but
i like it blank, it is faster.... and I can move along.
I am still not happy that Mozilla is allowing Google to
do what Microsoft was doing back in the late 1990s,
back when Microsoft tried forcing everyone to use
Internet Explorer by making it the default.... and the
mad people angry..... and the back lash against Microsoft
is still being felt today, so I don't know why Google would
try the same strong oar default tactics.... but then again,
history does tend to repeat itself, as it is today, as I am
again doing searches for a new web browser, juts like I
did back when I stopped using internet Explorer, but the
good news today is there are a lot more web browsers to choose from.
I hope Mozilla back pedals on this decision to make google
the default popup in new tabs, it just makes them look bad.
Thnak you for the help above and I hope my instruction can help someone else who is not all that tech savvy, but want to do this.
Respectfully,
Max

Cannot send emails in Mac Mail using third party SMTP via BT Infinity Broadband

EUREKA!!
I have a Mac Book Pro and recently had my home broadband upgraded to BT Infinity. Prior to this upgrade sending emails via my Mac mail was working perfectly. Since the new installation I could no send any external emails using the Hotmail.co.uk or 123-Reg.co.uk smtp outgoing servers. Googlemail.com was ok.? very strange.
So when I connected the same macbook to other wireless connections it would work perfectly.???
So after many hours wasted messing around, I managed to get the right person at the right time via BT helpline in the UK not India. (India helpine just say "we are not trained in Apple".
So the very polite man from UK Helpline provided me with the solution.
GO TO > Apple Icon top left > System Preferences > Network > Wireless >
Select your wireless connection > Click Advanced lower right on popup
Select DNS tab
Click on the + under DNS left pane and type the following :- 208.67.222.222
Click Apply
BINGO!!!!
I hope this helps someone, as I know how painful these types of issues can be.
Cheers

Hi Haggie
Had a similar experience but couldn't work out why macbook was working and imac not. I hate verification with bt. Anyway, tried your method and as you say eureka! Did have imac plugged in before and put it on wifi to try your fix I will try plugging broadband back in to see if that works and will post back but at the moment just enjoying the moment!
Just to say a big thank you for not only sorting the problem out but equally importantly posting the answer! Too many people sort out their problems without letting other people know how!
Many thanks

How to call webhelp from C#

I don't want to seem too simplistic, but I've spent at least
2 hours trying to call webelp files from c#, without any luck at
all. All I ever get is three little beeps from my computer, and the
IE browser never shows up at all. Here is some background
information:
I read all the documentation, beginning to end.
(On WinHelp_4) I compiled up the CSH_CS (csharp version)
project, and am able to call my simple RH WinHelp file (Dummy.chm)
just fine, using a primary url of "c:\\Docs and
Settings\\etc\\RoboHelp 6.0\\Dummy\\!SSL!\\WinHelp_4\\Dummy.hlp". A
MapID = 1 is required in the CSH test dialog in order for my help
file to load. This loads my help from the little CSH test dialog
fine.
(On WebHelp) After getting the WinHelp_4 version to work, I
switched the primary output to WebHelp in the SingleSource Layout
section, and specified that RH should create a subdirectory
(HTMLHelp) to store the WebHelp files. I regenerated the project,
and successfully viewed the resulting web output using the View
Results or the View Primary Layout on the RH toolbar. So I'm
thinking my help files are ok. But..... I can't get the WebHelp to
display from the CSH test dialog, no matter what I try.
Currently I am using roughly the same primary URL in the CSH
c# project: "c:\\Docs and Settings\\etc\\RoboHelp
6.0\\Dummy\\HTMLHelp\\!SSL!\\WebHelp\\Dummy.htm". I do not append a
window >main to end of the primary URL. It doesn't matter if I
use a MapID of 1 or blank. It doesn't matter if I choose Context,
Index, Search, etc. No matter what combination of things, the help
file will not show. The file exists---if I double click the
Dummy.htm file, the help file loads immediately in IE.
So my help files seem ok, and the CSH_CS code seems ok (at
least it works with WinHelp_4). All I have changed is the path to
my help file. (Oh, and I tried to point at an existing example
*.htm in the RH Samples directory, with the same results---just a
couple of little clicks from IE (presumably to say "There's an
error somewhere").
Could anyone give me specific instructions on what I might
try to solve the problem? I'd like to know the specific syntaxes
for using windows, and MapIDs in my URL string too, if you know
that. Here is what I think they are:
url = "Startpage.htm" - to load the whole help system
url = "Startpage.htm>main" - to display in a particular
window
url = "Startpage.htm<id=2" - to display mapid 2
Thanks for your help

Well, another hour and a little more progress. Now I can
display WebHelp from C# through the RoboHelpAPI (although it seems
pointless, because of the bugs and problems in the CSH_CS example
program and IE web browser popup window problems). First, here is
the code that displays the WebHelp system (from the top level, in a
standalone IE browser instance)
// try 2
int cmd = CRoboHelpAPI.CSH_DISPLAY_CONTEXT;
CRoboHelpAPI cHelp = new CRoboHelpAPI ();
int ID = 1; // context id; the number doesn't matter at all
string foobar;
foobar = "C:\\my pathname\\RoboHelp 6.0";
foobar += "\\Dummy\\HTMLHelp\\!SSL!\\WebHelp\\Dummy.htm";
string second = foobar;
cHelp.RH_AssociateOfflineHelp (foobar, second);
cHelp.RH_ShowHelp ((int) this.Handle, foobar, cmd, ID);
return;
From RoboHelp_CSH_CS.cs:
// reset the command
switch (nCommand) {
case CSH_DISPLAY_CONTEXT:
// notice that I commented this line out -- this is what
allows it to "work"
// This is also why the ContextID number above doesn't
matter--we ignore it.
//strHelpURL += "#<id=" + nData.ToString();
break;
From RoboHelp_CSH_CS.cs:
public static IWebBrowserApp
GetBrowser () {
for (int nIdx = 0; nIdx < 2; nIdx++) {
try {
if (m_cExplorer == null)
m_cExplorer = new InternetExplorer ();
if (m_cBrowser == null)
m_cBrowser = (IWebBrowserApp)m_cExplorer;
// I had to add this code myself, because the browser is not
made
// visible by the Adobe CSH_CS.cs example program. A defect,
// in the example program, for sure.
==> m_cBrowser.Visible = true;
So to summarize, if you fix the CSH_CS example code (1) to
make the browser visible, and (2) to ignore the contextID number,
the code in this posting will show your WebHelp system in a new IE
window, with the usual TOC frame on the left, and the topic window
on the right, in a main window. But wait... there's more...
IE POPUP WINDOWS
The example above commented out some code under the case
branch for CSH_DISPLAY_CONTEXT. The code appended some extra
characters to the URL to tell the browser to display a specific
page, rather than just the start page. Similarly, the code for
CSH_DISPLAY_TOC/INDEX/SEARCH branches also appends characters to
the URL, to tell the browser to display a specific page in the help
system.
The problem with all of this is that IE treats all these
single page displays as pop-up windows, and blocks them. So that's
why in my original case at the top of this posting I only heard a
couple of clicks (and saw nothing) when I tried to display my
WebHelp. I saw nothing because the browser was not made visible by
the code. I heard the two double clicks (click-click, click-click)
because IE "plays a sound when a pop-up window is blocked".
So there will probably be a big policy collision on user
desktops if your C# app tries to display specific web pages in
WebHelp. If users want to block popups for general web surfing,
they can't see specific WebHelp pages, and vice versa. Ugh.
One possible workaround is to tell IE to "Always display
popups in separate tabs" (in Options/General/Tabs/Settings). I
tried this setting, and then uncommented my CSH_DISPLAY_CONTEXT/etc
code blocks. As expected, all the appended characters on the URLs
forced the display of specific pages, which meant that IE treated
them as popups, and forced them into new tabs.
So what you actually see is
(1) a new instance of IE becomes visible,
(2) the pathname to the help system (plus appended control
characters) is shown on the first tab (in my case,
file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/kkkwj/My%20Documents/RoboHelp%206.0/Dummy/HTMLHelp/ !SSL!/WebHelp/whcsh_home.htm#id=2).
This is odd, because the primary URL I fed in to the API in the
code above was "C:\\...path\\Dummy.htm" (with a ContextID = 2
parameter). I have no idea how my Dummy.htm was changed to
whcsh_home.htm by the API. Go figure. I suppose the switch takes
place if appended characters are found on the end of the URL, and
the switch is done to support context IDs somehow.
(3) the desired page is displayed in a separate tab in IE.
My conclusions are that:
(1) Adobe should fix their examples to save people all this
headache. They should fix the code, make the browser visible, and
provide some nice documentation on what the secret syntaxes are for
the appended characters (<id=, cmd=idx, cmd=fts, cmd=toc,
<windowname), how and when you should use the secret syntaxes in
the URLs you feed into the RH API, how the whcsh_home.htm switch
works to support appended characters, what will happen on the user
end with popups if you use appended characters, and the policy
collisions that will result, and a recommended course of action for
developers.
(2) The hassle with the popups just isn't worth it. So I will
be calling my help system from the top level all the time, and will
forego the utility of context sensitive help. It's WAY too much of
a problem with WebHelp. (Of course, context sensitive help works
great with the old WinHelp_4, but WinHelp_4 has other limitations.)
What a long process to debug all this stuff. Adobe fell way
short on this one. But hopefully others can use my postings here in
a time of need. (Thanks to Adobe for the forums, and for Peter's
fast response.)

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