Creating IDE Help

Help for IDE windows

The help for the IDE windows (i.e. 'Object Inspector' or the 'Compiler Options') are documented in this wiki. The IDE has a mapping file docs/IDEWindowHelpTree.xml, which contains the paths from the various IDE forms/controls to wiki pages. This mapping file editor is shown at any place in the IDE via Ctrl+Shift+F1. You can set the short cut in the editor options -> key mapping.

The root page of the IDE window docs is Lazarus IDE.

Help for FPC keywords

This is invoked when the cursor in the source editor is above a keyword and the user pressed F1.

Help for Messages

This is invoked when the user presses F1 or uses the Help menu item of the message window.

To add a wiki help page for a message, do the following:

• Create a wiki page under the root Build messages
• Open ide/helpfpcmessages.pas and add a AddFPCMessageHelpItem line like:

  AddFPCMessageHelpItem('Can''t find unit',
                        'FPC_message:_Can_not_find_unit',': Can''t find unit ');