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Bug 37666

Summary: Aid ongoing learning
Product: [Eclipse Project] Platform Reporter: Jim des Rivieres <jeem>
Component: UIAssignee: Mike Wilson <Mike_Wilson>
Status: CLOSED WONTFIX QA Contact:
Severity: enhancement    
Priority: P4 CC: a7laamoune, dejan, islam1magd, konradk, Lars.Vogel, mortench2004
Version: 2.1   
Target Milestone: ---   
Hardware: All   
OS: All   
Whiteboard:

Description Jim des Rivieres CLA 2003-05-15 10:43:20 EDT 
Aid ongoing learning. Users who work with a complex Eclipse-based product need 
not be familiar with all of its function in order to be productive. When they 
do come to use function which they have never used before (or not recently 
enough to be fresh in memory), it is important that the product be able to 
quickly train and guide the user in using that new function. The current 
Eclipse has many elements that aid learning (examples, tips and tricks, F1 
help, active help links); the work item is to apply them effectively in the 
Eclipse UI and recommend how other plug-ins do similarly. [Platform UI, Help] 
[Theme: User experience]
Comment 1 Dorian Birsan CLA 2003-09-29 09:43:47 EDT 
*** Bug 43818 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
Comment 2 Morten Christensen CLA 2003-09-29 10:27:43 EDT 
Somebody marked Bug 43818 as a duplicate of this bug. However, since this 
bugreport is VERY vague and 43818 VERY precise I have taken the liberty of 
copying the text below from 43818 here:

"Eclipse is a GREAT platform but difficult and scary for new users. One of the 
key reasons it is scary, is that the basic HELP feature is missing. I am not 
taking about something advanced - just what just about what every easy-to-use 
(Windows) application in the universe has.... What I am refering to is simple 
HELP buttons and/or icons!!!

What I would like eclipse to have is a HELP button on EVERY eclipse dialog. The 
user presses it and the eclipse help screen is launched, pointing to the 
corresponding section in the documentation.

Help buttons/icons will only help usability of eclipse in general (a lot in 
fact), it is absolutely required for the new friendly "rich client 
applications" targeted towards non-developers (many of which would never think 
of pressing F1 or be satisfied with the incomplete help F1 currently provides).

If eclipse GUI components does not have HELP BUTTONS/ICON they may be unusable 
for many end-users and eclipse will be a less interesting rich client platform.

so please HELP :-)"
Comment 3 Nick Edgar CLA 2003-09-29 23:50:53 EDT 
Morten,

See also bug 37667, which is probably the closest matching plan item to the 
enhancement you suggest (it's also relevant here, and in the RCP plan item PR 
which you annotated).

This is definitely something that's on the list for R3.0.  Timing is still TBD.
Comment 4 Michael Van Meekeren CLA 2004-05-25 12:35:03 EDT 
deferring
Comment 5 Morten Christensen CLA 2004-08-24 07:13:11 EDT 
What is happening to this bug - in particular the missing "HELP" buttons as a 
user-friendly alternative to F1 ? It was not fixed in 3.0 show up under 
Eclipse 3.1 plans.
Comment 6 John Arthorne CLA 2006-08-16 11:48:05 EDT 
This is no longer a plan item.
Comment 7 Lars Vogel CLA 2014-04-28 17:27:20 EDT 
(In reply to John Arthorne from comment #6)
> This is no longer a plan item.

I mark this one as WONTFIX, 8 years of inactivity are sufficient.