Custom Documentation
Did you know Lazarus allows you to specify your own custom documentation website or tool? In this article we'll show you how to change a few options in Lazarus to use our feature filled documentation tool dynamically from within Lazarus.
The How and Why
For the uninitiated, our documentation site provides a wealth of new features above and beyond the default Run Time and Lazarus Class Library help. It's more current, it has an incremental searchable help index, it cross links properties, methods, and events in a single page manner without obscure popup windows. Compare the difference using the two links below.
Wouldn't it be nice if you could tell Lazarus to use a custom dynamic help site like ours instead of the default help? Well you can, and it's very easy to configure thanks to the good developers who manage the Lazarus IDE.
Video
Here is a video capture of demonstrating how to configure and use custom documentation from within Lazarus.
The Steps to Follow
Here are the steps to follow to configure Lazarus to work with our custom documentation tool.
- From within Lazarus go to the "Tools" menu and select "Options...".
- Using the tree on the left of the scroll down to the very bottom and click on "Help Options".
- With the "HTML Browser" selected go to the "Databases" list and click on "RTLUnits".
- For the "BaseURL" property enter "http://docs.getlazarus.org/rtl/".
- Repeat this for "FCLUnits" and "LCLUnits" using the values below.
Now try out the new dynamic documentation. Place your cursor on on class type or other type identifier and press F1. You should be directed to the new dynamic help site at get lazarus.