Member Avatar for rajashreeshinde

Hello All,
I am developing a GUI application in wxPython on linux.
I have to provide help menu describing tool's usage.
I am not able to get any modules realated to this.Can anybody know how to develope help in wxPython?

Thx,
rajashree

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This thread centers on adding user-facing help to a wxPython GUI on Linux. already pointed toward HTML-based help and asked for a CHM-like experience. Below are practical, portable options and short, ready-to-use examples that build on those ideas while keeping distribution and cross-platform behavior in mind.

A robust workflow is to write docs as plain reStructuredText or Markdown, generate static HTML (Sphinx or any static-site tool), and ship the generated files with the application. Serving local HTML keeps formatting and search intact and avoids platform-specific help formats. To open the installed help in the system browser:

import os, webbrowser

def open_help():
    base = os.path.dirname(__file__)
    index = os.path.join(base, "docs", "index.html")
    webbrowser.open("file://" + os.path.abspath(index))

For an embedded, in-app display (more "native" feel), use a WebView control when available. The following example creates a simple help window that loads a local index.html:

import wx, wx.html2 as webview
import os

class HelpFrame(wx.Frame):
    def __init__(self, parent):
        super().__init__(parent, title="Help", size=(800,600))
        browser = webview.WebView.New(self)
        path = os.path.abspath(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__),"docs","index.html"))
        browser.LoadURL("file://" + path)

Notes and packaging tips: CHM is Windows-only; prefer HTML or PDF for Linux. When bundling, include the docs folder as data (PyInstaller/packaging tools) and resolve paths at runtime with importlib.resources or pkg_resources so the help works from an installed package or a single-file build. Quick troubleshooting: always use absolute paths, test with spaces and special characters in filenames, and verify that the HTML assets (CSS, JS) are present relative to index.html.

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Member Avatar for vegaseat

Python allows you to add documentation strings to a class, module or method and access it later ...

# a look at the Python documentation string
# you can just use single quotes for a one liner

import math

def getDistance(x1, y1, x2, y2):
  """
  getDistance(x1, y1, x2, y2)
  returns distance between two points using the pythagorean theorem
  the function parameters are the coordinates of the two points
  """
  dx = x2 - x1
  dy = y2 - y1
  return math.sqrt(dx**2 + dy**2)

print "Distance between point(1,3) and point(4,7) is", getDistance(1,3,4,7)

print '-'*50
print "The function's documentation string:"
# shows comment between the triple quotes, use double underline each side
print getDistance.__doc__

With wxPython you can use a button marked help that brings up a dialog window containing help text.

Member Avatar for rajashreeshinde

thx but this is not wht i m looking for.
It's to give help to understand the code! I m in need of Help creation which will guide user how to use the application.
for e.g. in .Net we can do it by developing .chm files.

Member Avatar for vegaseat

Now I understand what you want to do. You can insert a help menu item that brings up a .chm or .html file. There are a number of Python programs that do it that way.

Member Avatar for rajashreeshinde

yes....and i m looking for those ways!!!!
do u have any idea how it is done? which wxPython modules can be used do that?

Member Avatar for rajashreeshinde

Hey Thanks a lot :)!!!
I think this will help me!

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