1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of user interactive computer systems. Specifically, the present invention relates to the manipulation and the display of help information on a computer display.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventional computer systems usually provide help information to a user in some form. Typically, help files are initially installed in a computer system and made accessible to a computer user in various ways. In some systems, the installed help files are simply listed for selection by a user. In other systems, a context sensitive help utility displays specific help information as a particular command or menu item is selected. In still other systems, the cursor position and the particular region of the display in which it is located is used to activate a particular help file related to that portion of the display screen.
In addition to various help utility implementations, conventional computer systems typically provide a means for running multiple application programs, usually under a single operating system program. In some cases, multiple operating systems are supported. In most cases, these application programs and/or operating systems are developed and distributed by more than one software vendor. As a result, it is not uncommon to encounter various help utility implementations. In most cases, the help utility implementations are incompatible between various applications and/or operating systems. Thus, help utilities tend to be application or operating system specific. Because various operating systems and applications have different user interface functionality, different organizational structures, and different help file naming conventions, providing an integrated help utility that operates across more than one application has proven difficult. Because conventional help utilities are application specific, prior art help utilities cannot provide a hierarchical organizational structure that spans multiple independent applications.
Thus, a hierarchical integrated help utility that integrates help information across multiple independent applications is required.