User Guide > Overview > Desktop   

The Help Browser


Most likely, this page is being viewed in Houdini's internal help browser. The help browser offers access to web-based documentation from within Houdini without having to call up a separate application. The internal browser also recognizes hscript commands embedded in the html that can be used to drive interactive lessons.

For the typical Houdini artist, the help browser will be a way to get information about using Houdini while technical directors and in-house technical writers can develop hscript-based documentation to serve the production pipeline. You can also customize the contents of the Go menu to create a studio-specific menu.

Topics covered:
Accessing the help browser
Navigating the browser
Writing Hscript-based documentation

Customizing the Go menu


Accessing the browser

There are several ways of accessing the help browser in Houdini. You can choose whichever method best suits your way of working. The different methods include:

The Show Help Button - At the top right of the desktop just under the titlebar is a question mark icon. When you click on this button, This opens a Help pane from the right and shifts the rest of your current desktop to the left. This gives you quick access to online documentation.

The Pane Menu - To turn any Houdini Pane into a Help Browser, select Pane > Help Browser from the chosen pane's menu.

The Help Menu - Select Help > Online Help Contents from the main menu bar to open a floating pane if there are no Help Browser panes visible. If a Help browser pane is in place then the contents will go into that pane.

Operator Help Button/Menu - You can get help for an existing operator from the Parameter Pane by either clicking on the Help icon in the upper right of the pane or by selecting Operator > Help from the pane menu. Either of these choices will generate a floating pane if there are no help browser panes visible. If a help browser pane is in place then the operator help will go into that pane.


Navigating the browser

The browser has a few navigation tools to help you move around the help. These include the familiar Forward, Back, and Home(Contents) buttons. The browser also contains a URL field where you can access not only help files on your computer but also web sites via the internet.

The Help Menu - The Help menu on the main menu bar will take you to key parts of the documentation.

The Contents Menu - The browser pane includes a Contents menu which has been set up to point you key parts of the documentation. In-house documentation writers and technical directors can alter this menu to include custom menu entries.

Operator Help Button/Menu - You can go directly to help for an existing operator from the Parameter Pane by either clicking on the Help icon in the upper right of the pane or by selecting Operator > Help from the pane menu.

Writing Hscript-based documentation

If you are a Technical Director who needs to communicate custom workflows to your artists or an in-house documentation writer, you may want to create your own hscript-based documents. This process involves a combination of javascript and hscript placed into the html document.

Hscript setup - This is a description of what html, javascript and hscript components are needed to create an hscript-enabled web page.

Hscript Cookbook - This cookbook offers examples of hscript being integrated into a web page. These examples can be used to inspire your own use of this capability.


Customizing the Go menu

The Help Browser Go menu contains useful links to Houdini documentation. This menu can also be customized with extra links and URLs. This is accomplished using a file called HelpPaneLinks that contains a list of menu item names and their associated paths.

1. Create the HelpPaneLinks File

Create a file called HelpPaneLinks (no extensions) in the following location:

$HOME/houdini6/config/

Note: By default there is no config directory in $HOME/houdini6 therefore you will have to create one.

Menu items will be added for each file houdini6/config/HelpPaneLinks found in the Houdini path.

For example, you could add site-specific menu items by creating the file: $HSITE/houdini6/config/HelpPaneLinks. This would create a file that would be shared by everyone in a production facility who has their $HSITE variable set to the same location. This will make it much easier to make site wide internal training documents available from the Go menu.

2. Add entries to the Go menu

In the HelpPaneLinks file, add a line containing the menu item name followed by the corresponding URL for the menu item. For example, this line will add an items for Google:

Google http://www.google.com

Note that URL's may contain houdini variables that get expanded. For example, Houdini will expand ${HFS} in the following URL:

file://${HFS}/houdini/help/index.html

3. Add Nested entries to the Go menu

Menu item names may contain the text "<nest>" to create nested menu entries. For example, the following menu item name will create a menu item Go > 3D site > odForce:

3D Site <nest>od[force] http://www.odforce.net

4. Add a Separator to the Go menu

Lines in the HelpPaneLinks file containing just <sep> as the menu name (with no associated URL) will add a separator to the menu.

<sep>

5. Quit and Re-launch Houdini